Protect the birds, help out at the park, and celebrate Spring!

by John Karrigan

Doves can be seen in the area.

There were, of course, a lot of eather changes in March, from a blizzard at the beginning to an 81-degree record on March 26. Sort of "in like a lion, out like a lamb" but there are .three days left as I write this, so I don't really know how it will end.

Early in the month, some industrious people built and maintained a two-parallel lane, for a bobsled run in the park. There were no real bobsleds, but all kinds of people with all kinds of sleds having a great time. As is often the case after a big snow, I saw Hispanic families videotaping their children playing and sledding in the park, and I wondered what their relatives, far to the South, think of this place. Three weeks later (on the 81-degree day) there were teams of people practicing cross-country (running, not skiing) and Ultimate Frisbee from South High, and other groups playing soccer (futbol to our recent immigrants on those teams).

Still no more flying squirrels to report (since December 12) but I did see a flying mammal in the park: a bat, at dusk, on the 64-degree day, March 13. This is about two weeks earlier than my previous early bat sighting in 2004. I saw another mammal, Rocky Raccoon (most of the raccoons in the yard are named Rocky). I thought this might be an early record, too, but it turns out I saw one on March 4, five years ago. Finding Rocky in the yard might also explain why the birdbath has been tipped over several nights recently.

One more non-bird item: A Painted Turtle was sunning off the east end of the island on the 81-degree day. I think this is a record for early turtle sunning. The ice did not really go out until the day before that.

A Painted Turtle swimming - there are early sightings at Powderhorn Lake.

Robins have been in the park and neighborhood off and on since the 10th. Northern Flickers arrived then also. One of the Flickers died and, as sometimes is the case in Powderhorn, someone built a small memorial for the dead Flicker, on the north side of the large 3-trunked Cottonwood tree. There was no written component to the memorial, but it was unquestionably a sincere and thoughtful gesture.


Two Canada Geese and about 20 Mallards arrived on the 13th and Wood Ducks and Ring-billed Gulls on the 24th. There was still almost complete (but rotten) ice coverage at that time.

I heard Killdeers in Dakota County on the 21st. I have not seen or heard any in Powderhorn yet, but they hopefully will spend some time here. They never nest here (they are' ground nesters) but they often pass through, hanging around the athletic fields and sometimes even the parking lot.
An American Coot and two Pied-billed Grebes were on the water today (March 28) and Tree Sparrows "and Song Sparrows were in the lakeshore brush. I saw an unidentified hawk (probably a Cooper's) late in the month and a neighbor saw one over the block three days after that.

Not much new in the yard other than Rocky Raccoon. I am hearing Mourning Doves, and the regular yard birds seem happier and much more active with the milder weather. Migrants should be coming through soon. On the 23rd, a large flock of large white birds, probably Tundra Swans, flew over the house going northwest at about 9p.m.

I read in the "real" newspaper that two downtown office towers, Wells Fargo and Accenture, are the initial participants in the Lights Out—Twin Cities program I wrote about last month. The Lights Out program is holding training for volunteers to help survey dead and, hopefully, live birds, at various Twin Cities locations. The training will be held on Saturday, April 14, from 9 a.m. to noon, Ecology Building, Room 130, U of M St. Paul Campus. For more information, go to www.audubon.org/chap-ter/mn/mn.

Earth Day park cleanup is Saturday, April 21, starting 9:30-
10 a.m. at the park building, with food and prizes afterwards. Contact Shonda at 612-722-4817.

Some upcoming bird trips and festivals include the Salt Lake (MN) weekend, April 27-29, contact Ken Larson, phone 952-595-9265; Ramsey County Birds, May 3-6, phone 651-748-2500; Morris Birding Weekend, May 5-6, phone 800-248-5868; Great River Birding and Nature Festival, May 11-13 (Lake Pepin area), phone 877-525-3248; Detroit Lakes Festival of Birds, May 17-20, phone 800-542-3992, extension 730; Austin Oak/Savanna Birding Festival, May 18-20, twdorsey@charter.net.

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