Hit the road— to do some road birding

BY JOHN KARRIGAN

Once again, we had Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds in the yard at this time of year, but the sightings were so short (a few seconds each on Aug. 31 and Sept. 4) that I don’t think they count as my monthly highlights. Instead I will consider other events, such as Red-breasted Nuthatch on Sept. 12. There was a White-breasted Nuthatch last month and they are somewhat common at times in the yard and the park, but it has been many years between my Red-breasted Nuthatch sightings (1993 for the most recent documented yard sighting).

Another unusual sight was a Cooper’s Hawk (actually atop the neighbor’s pine tree 5 feet out of the yard), which flew from its perch once, caught some sort of large flying insect, and returned to the treetop to eat it. Then a Blue Jay landed midway up the tree and kept hopping up the tree till it was a couple feet from the hawk. And then flew at it. This happened several times, and involved various squawks and noises from both birds and I think some actual physical contact. The hawk finally left, chased at a safe distance by the Blue Jay.

Another interesting September event was a baby Cardinal (quite late for a baby Cardinal or any baby song bird) that would sit in the tree 10 feet from the tray feeder, making noise, waiting for its mother to feed it. You could stand very close (a few feet away) and watch this process. After a couple of weeks, the baby finally went to the feeder, still begging for food and then getting some by itself. I believe we were witnesses to its first trip to the feeder. It doesn’t sound that exciting, but it was! I don’t have any real children to watch.

Early in the month, some Nighthawks and Chimney Swifts passed over the yard. That will be the last I see of them for this year. The butterflies are gone for now, but with a few warm days in a row there could be a few more in October. There were still some large dragonflies in the park late in September.

The female Redstart I mentioned last month (or one like it) stayed for a few days, along with a more boldly colored male Redstart. Nashville Warblers and Yellow-rumped Warblers have also visited the yard and the park.

A flock of Robins had been in the yard and the block and may stay a long while. Some of them stay all year in the Minnesota River bottoms.

I finally saw the Raccoon family in the yard, which others had seen in July. And another Raccoon that lost two-thirds of his tail in an industrial accident.

The usual Mallards and Wood Ducks will be around the park for a while longer. They are joined off and on by from six to about 50 Canada Geese and so far only a few Ring-billed Gulls. The Great Blue Heron continues to hang around the island, and a Coot, a sometimes spring and fall visitor, has returned.

Northern Flickers are making their fall visits to the park, sometimes on the high northeast part of the park and sometimes near the lake. A large number of White-throated Sparrows are in the park, which, along with the Yellow-rumped Warblers, might stay for days or weeks. An Eastern Phoebe was near the lake, late in the month, and the first (of many) Juncos arrived about Sept. 26, for a five- or six-month stay. A few Common Yellow-throats (another warbler) were near the lake late in the month. The warblers, except for the Yellow-rumps, and other small birds almost always stay in the dense cover on the lakeshore. I saw all four species of the resident Powderhorn turtles in September and saw a Peregrine Falcon and a Cooper’s Hawk high over the park.

A park board planning meeting was held at the park on Sept. 21. This was one of a series of meetings held around the city. I was out of town then, but talked to people who were there. They said the attendance was very good and among the main issues were water quality, overall park maintenance and personal safety, all issues I would agree with.

Road birding was OK last month, but not outstanding. I saw a Northern Harrier in Wisconsin (near Somerset) and a few Turkey Vultures near New Ulm. The high point was seeing hundreds, possibly thousands, of American White Pelicans on the Minnesota River near St. Peter in the middle of the month. They were probably migrating or gathering to start migrating.

I don’t know the Duluth Hawk Ridge weekend migration numbers yet but a few days before the official event there was a 13,000-hawk day. At the end of the season, Friends of Hawk Ridge publish out a report breaking down the numbers, by species, by day, etc., and compare the current year with past years. Being the weird person that I am, I pour over these reports and, over the past years, we have adopted four raptors that were banded at Hawk Ridge. We still haven’t heard from any of them. You would think they could at least send me a Christmas card or something.

Here is an early reminder to consider the birds, mammals, and everything else in the environment when you vote next month. There is a chance I may be mauled by a bear or gored and trampled by a rutting bull elk while I am in the Rockies in early October, and I may not be able to write for a while.
Comments and observations are always welcome. Send them to me, in care of the Southside Pride. Thank you.