Yard Full of Flowers

We had a little snow today

Snow on the pumpkin

Our house at Christmas

Personal photos and sightings from the CBC this morning

Location: MN-Olmsted-CBC section 7
Observation date: 12/20/08
Notes: Christmas Bird Count 2008. Temp in the morning 19°, noon 25°. Cloudy, heavy snow started about 8:30 AM that limited sightings and travel. About 20" of snow on the ground. Noon total for group was 54 species. I was the only observer in this section all morning. I quit at 1:30 because of weather. Main locations: 19th St, Landfill reservoirs, Oxbow Park, Seasons Hospice: Cabin in the Woods, Gravel roads. Best sighting: Ruffed Grouse.
Number of species: 25

Canada Goose X
Mallard 4
Ring-necked Pheasant 35
Ruffed Grouse 1
Wild Turkey 11
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Rough-legged Hawk 2
American Kestrel 1
Rock Pigeon 24
Barred Owl 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 4
Downy Woodpecker 7
Hairy Woodpecker 2
Blue Jay 21
American Crow 196
Horned Lark 5
Black-capped Chickadee 26
White-breasted Nuthatch 5
European Starling 62
American Tree Sparrow 10
Dark-eyed Junco 84
Northern Cardinal 11
House Finch 2
American Goldfinch 2
House Sparrow 52

Links:
Rochester CBC Map
Section 7 CBC Map
Rochester CBC Information
Rochester CBC Count Information

Snow!

Video of Florence Park

North Branch Root River in Florence Park at Stewartville, MN this afternoon after 3-4 inches of rain overnight.

Return of the Robins

Though I have seen a couple of Robins in January and February, the first real migrant Robins visited our home yesterday.

Halloween numbers and one year ago today

Last night we had 106 trick or treaters. Because Nancy has choir practice on Wednesdays, she sent a note around to her kids that if they wanted to stop by our house to see her, they would have to do it before 6:15 PM. So our first kid came before I got home from work at 4:30 PM. After she left there were just a couple of her kids who missed her. I took photos of the ones who came late. Then we had a bunch of "bigger" kids after that. I shut the light off at 8:00 PM.

Two years ago, we had 115 kids. So, why didn't we have a number for last year? Halloween day last year was the day Ben came home from the hospital and we didn't keep track for some reason. We are glad to be one year away from all that hospital stuff. Ben is doing great with his neck and ear. We will continue to see the ear doctor every 6 months or so and have his one year neurosurgery checkup in a month.

More Debris to Clean Up After the Storm

After Tuesday's 3:00 a.m. storm, we had no power for about five hours and some downed branches from the trees in our back yard. Lots more trees down in Bloomington, the second storm in the last few weeks. The girls got to stay home because of a power outage at their school. Today is sunny and less humid and beautiful, though.

Butterfly Count

Saturday afternoon was a local Butterfly Count, kind of like the Christmas Bird Count only not as popular. I don't go every year, but had some time this year. A total of 41 different kind of butterflies were seen and about 1200 individuals. There were about 15-20 people counting from 9-noon and then again from 1-3 pm. My team saw about 20 different kinds and here are some of the photos and names of a few of them.

click any photo to go to album

Rainstorm in July

I know I am repeating myself but...

Another new "yard bird" showed up this morning. A Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Number 65. I tried to take photo through my scope since it was so far away and this is the best one I could get. Our neighborhood must be more attractive to migrants than ever before.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Another new "yard bird"

I had another new sparrow visit on Saturday and got a photo of it along with some better shots of some of the same ones I posted earlier this week. I had another new yard bird (#64) later in the afternoon on Saturday, an Eastern Towhee, but so far it has eluded my camera. It also has a very distinct song and call that I could hear all day today as well.

New Yard Bird # 63: Lincoln's Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Harris's Sparrow

Chipping Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

Full thistle feeder

Robin

Robin and Mourning Dove

A new "Yard Bird"

I spotted a new yard bird (#62 heard or seen from or in my yard) this morning. A Harris's Sparrow. I have seen them before in Stewartville but not right here. They nest in the arctic so they are just moving through. I took a couple of pictures through the screen in the bedroom. Also in the same area were a White-throated and a White-crowned Sparrow. all three have been singing their own unique songs sometimes in unison. Click on each name below for their song.

Harris's Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

Post-Bulletin article today

This was in the paper today. I was one of the "heavy - duty birders" who got a call. Unfortunately, I was at Mom and Dad's house on that Saturday morning when the call came. The bird left that same day.

Rare whooping crane makes a stop in area

4/30/2007 11:19:42 AM

By Edie Grossfield

The Post-Bulletin

Yep, that's a whooping crane
This whooping crane was photographed April 21 at the Silver Creek Reservoir in Haverhill Township. photo by Robert Ekblad

A recent sighting of a whooping crane in northeast rural Rochester has given hope to people rooting for the rare bird's survival.

Avid bird watcher Chuck Krulas of Rochester spotted the whooping crane on April 21 at Silver Creek Reservoir. He said he immediately got on his cell phone and called all the "heavy- duty birders" in town. Eight people showed up to see the giant white bird before it took off, Krulas said.

The consensus is that the crane, fitted with identification bands and a radio collar, is a yearling released last fall from the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in central Wisconsin, near Tomah.

That yearling, upon its release, migrated to Florida for the winter and returned earlier this month. Researchers already knew it was in the Rochester area.

The whooping crane is now back at the Necedah refuge, said Krulas, who has been in contact with researchers there.

"It's always wonderful to see a bird that you don't see very often," he said. "And, it's kind of nice to see something that's making ground; other (animals) are losing it right and left because of habitat loss."

Whooping cranes are some of the world's largest birds, and the tallest in North America. They typically reach a height of 5 feet, with a wingspan of between 7 and 8 feet, and they weigh up to 17 pounds. They live about 24 years in the wild.

With only about 450 whooping cranes left in the world, the bird is on the federal endangered species list. Of those surviving, about half are in captive breeding programs.

There used to be more than 10,000 whooping cranes in North America before habitat loss, hunting and egg poaching almost wiped them out. By the 1940s, there were only 15 to 20 birds left.

Canadian and U.S. government agencies, along with other organizations, have been working to bring the cranes back. They've had some success.

But there's still a ways to go, said Greg Munson, director of Quarry Hill Nature Center, who was thrilled to hear of the recent sighting.

"When you've only got 450 birds left, you are down to a critical mass," he said.

When Krulas and Robert Ekblad, a Rochester man who photographed the whooper, spotted it at Silver Creek Reservoir, they thought it might be one of 18 birds that were guided by ultralight aircraft on a 1,230-mile trip last fall from Wisconsin to Florida.

Unfortunately, all but one of those wintering yearlings died in severe February storms.

For more information on whooping cranes and other types of cranes, visit www.postbulletin.com/weblinks.

International Crane Foundation:

Operation Migration:

Audio file of whooping crane call:

Spring warmup

Yesterday was 89° and things are greening up fast. I had to mow grass for the first time on Friday and we ate outside on the deck for supper Sunday evening.

I went for a walk yesterday afternoon. The birds were quiet but the spring flowers were out.

click to enlarge and look closely for the blue and white flowers all over

"Bluebells"

"Anemone"

"Trout Lily"


"Spring Beauty"

"Bloodroot"

Life bird: Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher New Haven Township, Olmsted County, MN 4/23/2007

I got a call today that a rare bird was being seen near Douglas, NW of Rochester about 8 miles. It was a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher which is very common in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas but only a few are seen in Minnesota every year and only a couple have ever been seen around here. It is an unusual looking bird because it's tail is so long. I got one photo of it above but it was very skittish didn't stay in one place long. Here is a map of the location I saw it.

Here are my life bird numbers for the following locations after seeing this bird.

World #348
NA/USA #324
MN #299
Olmsted County #266

Grilling out

Our first day to grill out for the season...

...but, yes there is still snow on the ground.

At Whitewater today

Went to Whitewater State Park today. It was also the trout opener so I shared the stream with some fishermen. The woods were quiet except for a few Golden-crowned Kinglets calling The horsetails and the moss were the only green things in the woods.

and the watercress in the streams.

As I walked through the woods and along a small brook, I heard a Lousiana Waterthrush. I saw one in the same location a couple of years ago. They are a unique kind of warbler that live along fresh water streams. Here is their habitat and a couple of photos of them.