I might have seen these also. My husband and I were canoeing on the MN River over Labor Day and I saw a number of large orange-billed terns with a rough voice (and the younger set had a high squeeky voice as described in Kaufman's book). They were hanging out with about 300 White Pelicans that flew directly over our heads at one point, about 8-10 Great Egrets, and 2-3 Great Blue Herons. After the pelicans flew over us I noticed the terns were squalking and a dark shape was diving toward them. It swooped low and missed them and then perched on a branch - a peregrine falcon! I had time to look at my bird book a number of times and back at the bird as it perched above me. The dark hood was unmistakable, along with the barred underside, shape when flying and perched, and size. Nice Day! -Melissa
Melissa A. Driscoll Land Protection Specialist - Native Prairie Bank Program Division of Ecological Services Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Box 25, 500 Lafayette Road St. Paul, MN 55155-4025 Phone: 651-259-5098 Fax: 651-296-1811 Cell: 612-390-9955 email: [email protected] >>> "Ronus J" <[email protected]> 9/3/2006 7:19 PM >>> Late afternoon, about 3-4 p.m., today, I watched at least 3 terns flying around and diving for fish on the Minnesota River. This was at the little bridge on Black Dog road just west of Hwy 77. I am pretty sure they were Caspian Terns, but being alone this time and never having seen one before, I cannot be 100% sure. Large white bird, distinctly orange beak, black cap, black legs, only slightly forked tail (when it hovered before diving, the tail was more fan-shaped), slight black tips on primaries from underneath, but not as distinctive as it shows in my books. If anyone else has seen them, please let me know if my ID is okay or not. Thanks! Sharon K. Minneapolis _______________________________________________ mou-net mailing list [email protected] http://cbs.umn.edu/mailman/listinfo/mou-net
