Powderhorn Bird Watch

BY JOHN KARRIGAN

Last month I mentioned a Ruby-throated Hummingbird visit to the yard on August 24.

The hummingbirds—there are at least two of them—have stayed in the neighborhood through at least September 23. Most of the visits are still very brief, but I have actually seen two birds at once, seen a hummingbird using the hummingbird feeder (a first for me), and seen one stop and perch (on a wire and on tree branches). This puts this year way ahead of most years with one or zero hummingbird sightings. I also saw a hummingbird and a Hummingbird Moth (white-lined sphinx moth) on the same evening. This happened once before in 2004. The gardener of the house attributes this year’s hummingbird success to the success of the hummingbird magnet lobelia cardinalis (Cardinal Flower) and their brilliant red spikey blooms in the rain garden.

A pair of Red-breasted Nuthatches came through and spent some time on September 10. This is a first for a pair and fairly unusual for the yard, though there have been a few other September Red-breasted appearances. White-breasted Nuthatches have been spending more time than usual at the backyard feeders, I think because they have been spending a lot of time eating bugs at the dead elm tree on the boulevard. Downy and once in a while Hairy Woodpeckers have also been making bug trips to the dead elm and a few trips to the back yard.

There are still not many small birds in the park. The above-mentioned Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, some mystery Sparrows (probably Chipping) and some mystery Warblers (possibly Yellow-throats) are about it for small birds so far this fall. Some years there have been a lot of warblers and other migrants by this time of year, but I guess it’s not to be this year. There is still at least one Cooper’s Hawk, some Chimney Swifts and, once in a while, a few Crows in the park area.

I am doing better at seeing water-related birds. An immature Black-crowned Night Heron was on the island at least one day and the Great Blue Heron is often there. A Common Tern was over the lake on September 5 and Ring-billed Gulls are starting to show up, though they usually stay in the air. Once in a while, some land in the lake or on the ball fields.

A Pied-billed Grebe, a usual spring and sometimes fall guest, was on the lake at least one day, and today (September 25) I saw a pair of female or immature (or both) Green-winged Teal ducks. Some of the mature male Wood Ducks have returned to re-join their Powderhorn families and both the Wood Duck and Mallard families look to be doing well. The Canada Geese numbers vary from zero to 40 or so, as often happens this time of year. Other flying things include a bat in the middle of the month and an Eastern-Tailed Blue butterfly on September 5. This was a big deal to me, not just because it was a very small, very pretty butterfly, but because I found it in my new (last year) butterfly book, and I am sure I am right. Of course, a few days later I found a small orange butterfly, went home to the book, and did not find anything close to what I saw. Then I had better luck a few days ago when I saw a medium-sized butterfly (not at the park, but at the gardens of Schell’s Brewery in New Ulm). I got home and saw the butterfly on a Minnesota DNR poster. It was called an Alfalfa butterfly. I looked in my book, found out its proper name is Orange Sulphur Butterfly. So, I succeeded with the book two out of three times. This is progress. I hate it when I look something up in a guidebook, think I have it narrowed down and then find out that whatever I looked up is only found within five miles of the Mexican border, or when it strays from Siberia to the Alaskan coast.

Another non-bird observation: I saw an Eastern Spiney Soft-shelled Turtle and a Map Turtle in the lake in September along with the usual Painted and Snapping Turtles.

On a couple of short road trips in the last few weeks, mostly to the southwest of prestigious Powderhorn, I saw lots of Pelicans, Egrets, Great Blue Herons, Turkeys, Red-tailed Hawks, a couple of Bald Eagles, one Northern Harrier (a hawk), and Peacocks. Of course the Peacocks and Peahens were wandering around the Schell’s Brewery Gardens, the same place where I found the Orange Sulphur butterfly. The Peacocks seemed happy and healthy but they were not in their spring mating finery as usually pictured.

Today I learned some (but not all) details on the outcome of the white domestic duck abandoned in the park on April 1. The duck was doing fine but others and I were wondering what would happen when winter came. I last saw the duck on May 7 and had no idea what happened to it until last month, which I mentioned in my last column. I have now talked to one of the eight or so people involved in the duck rescue in early May. The rescue also involved a boat, a canoe, a local FOX TV crew, a veterinarian, and who knows what else! One of the people involved was “Kent the Pelican Man” who was also involved in a well-publicized Pelican rescue northwest of the Twin Cities last fall. Anyway, the operation succeeded. The duck named Sam, or rather Samantha (it turned out to be female), was checked by the vet and now lives in Chaska with two other ducks named Laurel and Hardy. That’s the short version of the story. If some or all of the people involved want to fill me in on more details, I would be happy to hear them. Thanks to all involved. I should have known the story would have a good, but offbeat, Powderhorn-type ending.

One more late-breaking item: Today’s (September 26) Strib had a story on page B1 about Powderhorn Lake being invaded by Brazilian elodea, also known as giant elodea or Brazilian waterweed. This is the first lake in Minnesota where the invasive plant has been found and one more issue for the Save Our Lake committee to look into. Michael Kehoe plans to reactivate the committee this fall.
Thanks to the duck rescue people, Mr. Kehoe and all the other people that make Powderhorn what it is.

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