Powderhorn Bird Watch

BY JOHN KARRIGAN

I have mentioned many times lately that I haven’t seen many small birds or much variety in the park. That is still true overall for this year. But one day, Oct. 22, was an exception. It was a nice, cool, calm sunny day in between two very windy days and I think that was the key. Besides the usuals for October (Canada Geese, Mallards, a few Wood Ducks, some Ring-billed Gulls and two Crows), there were Robins, a Cedar Waxwing, Brown Creepers, White-breasted Nuthatches, Golden-crowned Kinglets and at least three kinds of sparrows—Fox Sparrows, White-throated Sparrows, and Dark-eyed Juncos. I have since seen Field Sparrows and Tree Sparrows, and possibly Chipping Sparrows and Song Sparrows, but as usual, particularly in the fall, some of the birds in the brush and plantings near the lakeshore remain “mystery birds.” I usually eventually identify the LBJs (little brown jobs) in the brush, but maybe the ones I identify are not the same ones I tried to identify a few days earlier.

The Crow numbers are still very low as sometimes happens in the fall. I believe there is only one pair of Wood Ducks still on the lake, and the Canada Goose and Ring-billed numbers vary daily (from none to 200 for the geese, and from a few to over 50 for the gulls). I have not seen a Cooper’s Hawk (or any other raptor) in the park for at least a month.

Strange Disappearances
The basketball court south of the park building and the tennis courts near the exclusive southwest Powderhorn neighborhood disappeared in mid-October. Apparently few or no residents knew this was going to happen and some residents are quite concerned about the lack of communication and cavalier attitude of some Park Board members and staff. I am concerned but not surprised by either the attitude or lack of communication. Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association (PPNA) is addressing the issue. At least the weather has been fairly good for construction and both replacement projects seem to be coming along quite quickly so far.

Other Disappearances
The park director, Al Bangoura, also disappeared in October, but I don’t think it was a Third World political type of disappearance, though I don’t know what park he is now assigned to. Al did a very good job, particularly reaching out to minority youth, in his fairly long (by park director standards) tenure at Powderhorn. A recently completed program that Al and many others were involved in was called P6 (the Powderhorn Park Peer Pregnancy Prevention Program). Of course preventing teenage pregnancy is a great idea in Powderhorn or any neighborhood.

Thanks a lot, Al, and good luck in the future.

Back to Birds
The only new fall arrivals that I know of in the back yard have been Dark-eyed Juncos. They will hopefully be regular visitors to the yard and park until spring. I thought there was another new arrival and then realized that it was a Goldfinch, in complete non-gold fall colors. After regular Goldfinch visits all summer, it occurred to me that I hadn’t seen any for a month, and then, look at them, they come back in disguise! They do, for some unknown reason, completely disappear from the yard and park on occasion.

A few Robins and White-breasted Nuthatches are again in the yard once in awhile along with the usual Cardinals, Chickadees, English Sparrows and some Pigeons. We continue to get more Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers in the yard because of the dead Elm on the boulevard. A few days ago there were at least three Hairy (Haries?) and one Downy in the tree. The dead Elms are apparently a great bug source for the woodpeckers but probably not good for the spread of Dutch Elm Disease. Of the four Elms on the block that have been marked for removal, one was removed, I think it was in June. The other three have been marked for at least four months and nothing has happened. Not that I want to see them go. I already miss them, but if removal is the best way to slow or stop the disease, it should be done. (Another Park Board rant!)

Thanks to all who expressed concern about my stolen birdbath fountain. I got another “water feature” at a half-price, end-of-season sale, but neither the birds nor I like the new one nearly as much. They still make the old kind, so I will try to find one and hope it doesn’t get stolen for another eight to 10 years. But fountain season is pretty much over for this year.

But Eagle and Tundra Swan seasons are just getting going. The National Eagle Center in Wabasha will have its new deck opened by the time my two faithful readers see this, and the first 30 or so Tundra Swans will have arrived (Oct. 31) at the Alma, Wis., Swan Observation deck area at Reick’s Lake. They should be followed by thousands more swans and hundreds of Bald Eagles on both sides of the Mississippi and its various tributaries and backwaters from Hastings to the Iowa border. I hope to make a birding trip or two to the area in November.
I don’t have much time or space to write about my annual Rocky Mountain trip. I can probably do that next month. I did see at least one new bird for my “life list,” saw a Moose at the edge of town, and got a Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel and a Mountain Chickadee to eat out of my hand. Also my “pet” fox remembered me after two years, but he doesn’t eat out of my hand. And someone is building a $1.3 million log cabin next to “our place” (a modest timeshare condominium). There goes the neighborhood!

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