Backyard wilderness

The Alum treatment of the lake took place, as scheduled, starting on May 15. When the first treatment was completed the next day, the water was unbelievably clear and a car was found and removed from the west end of the lake. I like to report on the types and ages of vehicles found in the lake but I missed this one. All I saw were the tracks where it was dragged out. The heavy rains clouded the water somewhat just after that. The rest of the treatment was finished in a few days. It is a big improvement, but it is not as clear and blue as it was before the rains. As promised, the treatment did not seem to affect the birds, reptiles or fish.

As park walkers have no doubt noticed, the Canada Geese have six goslings (the same as last year). I think there are four litters of Wood Ducks (ranging in numbers from six to 11 ducklings) and one or two small litters of Mallards (five to seven ducklings) about on schedule. A Pied-billed Grebe was back for a short visit and two Double-breasted Cormorants made a short visit after more than a year’s absence. Others that are still absent are Night Hawks, Common Terns and Green Herons. I have not seen a Black-crowned Night Heron since April and have not seen a Great Egret stop at the lake so far this year (but they keep flying right over the lake).

Also, Edgar the duck has been missing all month, but could be nesting around Hiawatha golf course and lake where she sometimes hangs out, instead of prestigious Powderhorn.

Now for the birds that have showed up and will probably stay. The usual Great Blue Heron is at the lake fairly regularly, and at times, a second one shows up and gets chased away by the regular. A pair of Eastern Kingbirds arrived around the 20th and is usually at the northwest corner of the lake, catching bugs as in past years. Swallows and Chimney Swifts are back over the water when bug conditions are good. Chipping Sparrows seem to be here for the summer after a one-year absence. Brown Creepers, White-breasted Nuthatches, Goldfinches and Hairy Woodpeckers can usually be found somewhere in the park’s trees. I see a Cooper’s Hawk every now and then in the park but not consistently in the same area at the same times as in some years.

Yellow-rumped Warblers, Yellow Warblers, Palm Warblers, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Veerys, and one Spotted Sandpiper made brief stops in May. As with the waterfowl last month, this is a much shorter list of songbirds, warblers and shorebirds than in the last couple of years. The two birding trips I have been on this spring and the two “Birding Boat on the Mississippi” trips I have volunteered on have been interesting and enjoyable, but have not been as productive, from a bird numbers standpoint as in past years. I don’t think this is a sign of a big problem, but is a weather and wind-related issue. The migrating birds got favorable winds and earlier warm temperatures in the North, and either stopped briefly or not at all in Powderhorn. That is just the way it goes some years.

The backyard, of course, was subject to the same set of circumstances. Three White-throated Sparrows visited for two days early in the month and two Swainson’s Thrushes for one day late in the month and that’s about it for migrants passing through.

A June Bug did show up two weeks before June and a migrating Monarch butterfly flew by on Memorial Day weekend. More butterflies, moths and such should be about now that consistent warmth seems to be here.

In Memoriam

Minnesota lost a great birder, naturalist, artist and environmentalist with the death of Walter Breckenridge (Breck) on May 22. He was one of the founders of the Salt Lake Western Minnesota bird trips that I have written about several times, including last month. He participated in the trips until the last couple of years. He was Director of the Bell Museum from 1946-1970 and personally created almost every piece of the various dioramas at the museum.
I got to know him a little bit on the bird trips, which he started when he was 72. I attended one of several 100th birthday parties held for him this March. On the bird trips, I soon learned to join his group, where I could learn the most and learn about the big picture rather than join the “speed birders” whose goal was to see the most species of birds. While birding at a marsh on one of those trips, some people were discussing what type of frog was making all the noise. Someone said, “Let’s ask Breck. He wrote the book,” and he did write about Minnesota frogs in the ’30s and ’40s. On another trip I spotted Yellow-rumped Warblers in a woodlot. Breck asked me to assist him in finding the birds and of course I did. What a thrill that was, helping the dean of Minnesota birders. He was only 95 or so at the time.

He had great concerns as many smart people do, about population growth. At his memorial service, it was stated that there were about 1 billion people on earth when he was born and about 6 billion when he died.

Birding on the Great River

On to something completely different. I am running out of room to tell you much about the Great River Birding Festival on the Lake Pepin-Wabasha area of the Mississippi River, but I will tell you more next month. The short version is the seminars and programs were outstanding, the small boat I was in ran “hard aground” on the river, as we nautical people say. There was a fairly severe storm on Mother’s Day. I got quite wet both days but learned of a fantastic bakery right next to the National Eagle Center in Wabasha, where I ate great pastries, and dried out and warmed up both days while watching the river flow by. It was a real adventure and great fun.

Comments and observations are always welcome. Send them to me, in care of the Southside Pride. Thank you.