This past weekend around Big Stone, Marsh, and Lac qui Parle Lakes, I noted my first FOS arrivals:
Trumpeter Swans Snow Geese Greater White-Fronted Geese Common Mergansers Mallards Lesser Scaup Common Goldeneye (courting and mating like there's no tomorrow) Redheads Pintails Ruddy Ducks Buffleheads Ring-Billed Gulls Killdeer Western Meadowlarks Great Blue Heron Juncos have been gone from the yard for a week now and a late Northern Shrike was still hanging around near Plover Prairie. Bald Eagles are very active and it's amazing to see so many new nests pop up year after year. There is a low nest about 50 yards from the 119 bridge across Marsh Lake south of Appleton, but I don't know if it's active (I didn't see a bird sitting on it, but there were 4 Eagles of various ages perching nearby). Reminder: the Milan bridge over Lac qui Parle is still closed and Hwy 75 will close for resurfacing this year between Madison and the 75/7 intersection at the SE corner of Big Stone NWR. Big Stone NWR Wildlife Tour was not open as of Sunday afternoon. -- Jason M. Frank Ortonville Public Library Founder & Vice President Luddite Ornithologists League (LOL) Big Stone County, Minnesota ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
