Listening for the Saw-whet Owl

BY JOHN KARRIGAN

Last month I mentioned the Saw-whet Owl reports and said I had never seen them or heard them and I might try again that night (March 31). I did try again. It was actually 1:15 a.m., April 1, and again at 10:45 p.m. that same day. And I did hear them both times, and several times since, but I have still never seen them in the park. Every time I hear the owls, it is along the paved walk on the east side of the athletic fields. It can be on the north end, south end or middle section of the path, but in my experience, it has always been in that area of the park. Maybe someone could organize a middle-of-the-night owl listening event.

The Eastern Phoebes that another reader wrote about have returned, but of course I don’t know if they will stay, as they do some years. I do know they are sticklers for spelling and they are mad as hell that their name (Phoebe) was spelled wrong in the April Southside Pride. I will see to it that all the minions responsible for the error are harshly disciplined.

Activity in the lake itself is about at its usual level for this time of year, with many Mallards, Wood Ducks, Canada Geese, Ring-billed Gulls and Double-crested Cormorants.

Three other types of ducks—Northern Shovelers, Blue-winged Teal and Scaup (lessor or greater? I don’t know)—have passed through as they do many springs. At least one Pied-billed Grebe has been on (and under) the water since April 10 and has been joined by other Pied-billed Grebes at times. Other members of the Grebe family sometimes visit into early May, but I have not seen any yet.

I have seen one Great Egret (on April 20) and one or two Great Blue Herons on occasion, but the large Heron and Egret numbers of last year have not started yet. Various park walkers mention to me the high numbers of last year and hope they return. And of course so do I hope to see more Herons and Egrets, along with Black-crowned Night Herons and Green Herons, which should be here soon.
I am still not seeing many non-water oriented birds in the park. I have seen Flickers, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Chipping Sparrows and Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers but not many of them. So I am still complaining about the lack of various small birds and songbirds. Although I am sure I will see some in May, the strange early spring and high winds may change the whole picture. A very good birder from the block has seen Bluebirds, Yellow-rumped Warblers and Sandpipers in the park.

One thing there is no shortage of is turtles. On the really warm, sunny days, of which we have not had many, the southside (as in Southside Pride) of the island has many basking turtles. Once again, after a number of years, one of the snapping turtles is reaching large boulder size, and that’s what it looks like from the south lakeshore, unless you are looking closely.

The celebration of Earth Day on April 17 went well with quite a few volunteers and relatively nice weather. I picked up the usual food, drink and cigarette litter along with two pairs of broken glasses, a broken plate glass window and a condom. The rules say not to pick up condoms, but I use sticks to pick them up. I did not see any unusual birds that day, but I did see various neighbors and residents I had not seen for months.

A controlled burn was conducted by the park board on much of the south shore lake vegetation late in April. We will have to wait and see how that turns out. And some patching of the bad asphalt on the path around the lake has been done recently.

Another unusual park sighting, at least to me, was a 30-piece band followed by a six- or eight-person flag corps, marching, if it could be called that, around the lake in a clockwise direction, on April 28. I assume this had something to do with May Day, which of course, I am looking forward to.

Back to birds for a while. We went to the far western Minnesota, far eastern South Dakota Salt Lake area for birding on April 23 and 24. We had some good birding on Friday, the 23rd, in very dusty and windy conditions, with a few flooded roads just to add variety. We saw and identified 30 birds on our own. Had some “good looks” at Western Grebes, Marbled Godwits, Wilson’s Snipes and Upland Sandpipers. On Saturday morning, it was gray and drizzly; it had rained all night. Dirt/gravel roads were very bad with more flooding so we left a little earlier than planned—didn’t want to get stuck or slide into a ditch and create problems for ourselves or other birders. Plus the conditions interfered with our ability to enjoy the birding. Even with that, it was a pleasant adventure.

I am hoping for many more birds and mammals, large and small, for next month. I hope everyone had a great May Day.

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