American Coot

If you asked people what type of bird is in the photo above most people would probably tell you that it was a duck of some type. This would be incorrect. The American coot is actually a member of the rail family. So why is it that a bird that looks like a duck and acts like a duck is classified with a bunch of birds that you would usually find running around in the tall marsh grasses? Well it's all in the feet. Ducks, as most people know, have webbed feet which helps them to swim. Rails, like the American coot, have separate toes, each of which is lobed at the end. You can see the separate toes in the photo above, which I took back in 2007 at Lake Vadnais.

Watery Wednesday: Crex Waterfowl

As the spring progresses many of the waterfowl have already begun to return to the north country. So far besides mallards and Canadian geese, which stay in the area all winter long, I have also seen many types of ducks return.

Many of these birds that I photographed at Crex Meadows, on one of my last trips there last October, have probably already returned to the area. I have already spotted bufflehead ducks, like the female pictured above, on the ponds near Black Dog Lake.

I have also seen American coot around Black Dog Lake as well as Wood Lake and Whitewater State Park.

Although coots look like ducks they are actually part of the rail family. Because of this they have toed feet instead of webbed feet like ducks do.

Canvasback ducks are a bit more rare and I have not yet seen any of these so far this year.

This guy was hiding out in a migrating flock of coots.

Birding Black Dog Lake

On Saturday May 5th we had a bit of sun so I set out to do some birding. I decided to head down to Black Dog Lake, since most of the lake is open water now I was hoping to find some migrating waterfowl. I came down from Cedar Avenue and as I passed the marsh, which is a part of Fort Snelling State Park, I saw my first great egret of the year. As I stopped the car to get some better pics he flushed and flew further back into the marsh but I was able to get a couple of shots as he flew by.
There still quite a few American coots around. I like coots because although they look and act like ducks they are really rails so instaed of webbed feet they have long lobed toes like the rails do. I thought that this picture was unique because the bird seemed to be caught on some vegitation or something. the other cool thing about this shot is the eye. Doesn't it look like he has a red M&M for an eye? I guess that I have never quite seen a coots eye at that angle before.
The small flock of ruddy ducks that has been hanging out at Black Dog was still there. this was very cool since I do not remember seeing many of these around last year at this time.
It is the beginning of the ruddy duck breeding season. Some of the males are already in their breeding plumage, see the first ruddy duck photo, while others, like the one above are still in the process of changing. You can see that the ruddy or rust colored breeding plumage is replaceing the gray plumage that the ruddies have during the non-breeding season. The bill is still pretty gray but looks like it is starting to lighten up. The ruddy duck is one of only two, the cinnamon teal being the other, that breed in both North and South America.

My First Birding Trip to Rochester, MN

Here are some more pics from a time when the sun once shined on Minnesota, March 16th. Although by the time that I took these pics the clouds that we have seen most of the past week plus had already begun to role in.
These pictures were taken at Silver Lake Park in Rochester, MN. A lot of people feed the geese at Silver Lake so there were quite a few Canadian geese around.
There were also quite a few mallards. Mallards and Canadian geese are both pretty common year round in Minnesota.
One bird that I have not seen in Minnesota for a while is the American coot.
This was the first time that I had birded Rochester so I was not sure where else to go but since it is only about an hour drive from home I may have to do some research and make another visit.

First Bird of 2008

With the beginning of the new year a lot of people have been posting what was the first bird that they saw or heard in 2008 on the MOU list server. Most of them have seen some of our more colorful Minnesota winter birds like cardinals, robins, and goldfinch. I was not so lucky. The first bird that I spotted yesterday was a crow. Not much of a surprise there since we have a lot of crows around during the winter months. The first bird that I photographed in 2008 was this pair of eagles that I found on the river near Alma, Wisconsin.
After I checked out Alma for a bit I headed back up to the cities. Typically I take the MN side of the river but this time I opted for a bit of change and drove up the Wisconsin side. While I was heading north I spotted a red fox running on the side of the road near Pepin, WI.
I pulled over to the side of the road and snapped a few shots. I was not sure what he was at first so unfortunately I was only able to get a couple of pics of him running into the woods. It was still pretty cool. I also spotted an American goldfinch near Pepin.

I continued north up the Wisconsin side of the river until I got to Prescott, WI. There I stopped and looked for the barrow's goldeneye and harlequin duck that have been reported hanging around there. Unfortunately I was not able to spot either of them just a lot of Canada geese, mallards, common mergansers, and common goldeneye.There were also a couple of coots hanging around, including this one which was having a hard time holding on to its breakfast.The windchill was brutally cold so I had to make frequent trips to the truck to thaw out my fingers. After about an hour of freezing my butt off I decided to move on. I had planned to stop at Carpenter Nature Center since it is right down the road from Prescott and Point Douglas. Unfortunately due to the holiday Carpenter was closed. I was getting hungry so I decided to head home.

Other waterfowl at Vadnais Lake

I found some other water fowl at Vadnais Lake like an redhead duck. We do not usually do not see many redhead ducks here in the Twin Cities except during migration. Typically their summer range is more westerly and they winter further to the south. Due to loss of breeding habitat, marshes and prairie potholes, their numbers have been declining. Redheads usually mate with a new partner each year. After mating the males molt which leaves them flightless for almost a month.There were also some American coot swimming around.

Although many people think of coots as ducks they are actually a member of the rail family. The main difference between coots and ducks is that coots do not have webbed feet like ducks instead they have scalloped toes as you can see in the picture below.It is funny watching coots take off from the water. They usually have to run across the water while flapping their wings until they are airborne. Once in the air they are strong fliers. There are records of coots that have crossed the Atlantic Ocean into Western Europe.

Another trip to Anderson Lake and then off to Wood Lake

Wednesday I helped out at the Raptor Center after work so I did not get a chance to go out and do any shooting. Thursday I decided to head back to Anderson Lake Park to try and get some more pictures of the black-bellied whistling-duck. When I first arrived at the park I went and checked out the pond where the duck had been hanging out. The duck was not around only a couple of birders. Unfortunately the MOU list server was down that day, so I could not get any updates on whether people had still been seeing the duck, so I asked the other birders if any of them had seen it and was told that they had not had any luck. So I decided to go check out the lake. There were some flocks of waterfowl on the lake but they were on the far side and consisted mostly of mallards and Canadian geese from what I could see, definitely no whistling duck. I followed the path around and it took me back to the pond so I checked out the path that lead to the shore. I did not see the duck but I did spot a meadowhawk landing. It was very strange to be shooting pictures of a dragonfly on November 1st in Minnesota. I also spotted an American tree sparrow in one of the small trees lining that part of the pond.
But still no duck. So I decided to go back to the other side of the pond where I could stand on the hill and see the whole pond a bit better. I ran into another birder at the overlook and we began to converse about birding and photography. It is always cool to talk with someone like this who has been an active birder for a long time. We stood there and talked, while we looked for the duck, for about an hour and a half. I did not get another view of the duck but I had fun and learned a few new things. We did get a nice fly by from a red-tailed hawk.A little after 4:00 pm we decided that the duck had prolly moved on so we both decided to leave. It was still light so I decided to stop at Wood Lake Nature Center on my way home. As usual I checked out the trees on the shore by the visitors center first. This is always a good place to find passerines. On this day I found an American tree sparrow and a black-capped chickadee.
Further off in the woods I spotted a couple of American robins.
On the trail I found another meadowhawk. This was my last Minnesota dragonfly on 2007.On the lake where the usual mallards and Canadian geese with a few American wigeons mixed in.There was also a flock of about 20 or so American coots.I was getting hungry so I decided to take off but on my way home I found another red-tailed hawk scouting the roadside from a light poll.

Swans, coots, red-tailed hawks, and an immature eagle on my way home

On my way back home from Duluth, last Saturday, I made a quick stop by Crex Meadows. It was already late afternoon so I did not have much time before the sun set. I started out down by Phantom Lake where I found some trumpeter swans with a pair of cygnets.
The cygnets, which were prolly hatched in June, are almost the size of the adults. Their beaks are changing from the juvenile pink color to the black that they will have as adults and their feathers are changing from gray to white.The cygnets will stay with the parents and migrate south. They will return with the parents next spring and then will be on their own when the adults begin to nest again.
I also spotted a few American coots at Phantom Lake. Many people think that coots are a type of duck but they are actually a member of the Railidae family. One of the main differences between coots and ducks is that coots have lobed toes instead of webbed feet like ducks.

As I continued my tour around crex I spotted quite a few more trumpeter swans, they certainly are doing well breeding at Crex, as well as a large number of Canadian geese and mallards. Because Crex is pretty large most people tour it by car which makes it a bit more difficult to get pictures of passerines. I did get an American tree sparrow to come out and pose for me though.
The fall migration of raptors is in full swing. Many of the red-tailed hawks that have passed through Hawk Ridge recently stop at places like Crex to find food before continuing their migration. I saw quite a few re-tails that afternoon including this one who was perched in a tree right on the side of the road. Using my car as a blind I was able to get a few shots before he decided he did not like the car and he flew off. I also spotted an immature eagle who was perched in a tree a little ways off. Crex usually has a few pairs of breeding eagles in the spring. It is likely, as the weather gets colder and the water freezes, that this eagle will migrate south to the Wabasha, MN area. Typically in the winter 200 or more eagles migrate to the area between RedWing, MN and Wabasha in areas where the Mississippi River does not freeze. They do not migrate because they are directly affected by the cold they migrate because they require open water so that they can hunt fish.
Crex Meadows is the same location where Michelle and I rescued a different immature eagle in August. I contacted the Raptor center about the eagle again, last week, and they are still working with him trying to get his wing into flying shape so that he can be released.

Cedar waxwings at Cedar Avenue

Instead of returning to the Upper Midwest Audubon Conference, after I ate on Saturday, I decided to start my field trip to the Bass Ponds early. This meant I would miss the program sessions that were scheduled from 1:00 to 2:00 but I figured that this way I could get back early enough to catch Laura Erickson's program which was scheduled as one of the alternatives for people who did not want to go on a field trip. The first place that I headed to when I arrived was the trees where I had been photographing warblers the week before. There were still a few yellow-rumped hanging around and so with a little patience I got a couple of pics.While I was sitting watching the warblers a red squirrel came over to check me out. It looks like he brought his own lunch to the stake out.
After I spent a bit of time watching warblers I decided to move on and check out the ponds. They were pretty quiet except for a group of canadian geese.The river channel was another story. In the river I spotted quite a few geese and mallards as well as a few egrets still hanging around and a flock of american coots.

I still had time before I needed to leave to get back to the convention so I continued on the trail under the new Cedar Avenue Bridge on my way to the old Cedar Avenue Bridge. This area is mostly fields with one small pond. There were plenty of insects there and I got some great shots, but I will put them in my next post so that this one does not get so long. In the fields there were also a few black-capped chickadees searching for seeds. When I passed by the new Cedar Avenue Bridge I saw a little larger bird fly. I did not get a good look so I could not ID it but it looked a bit larger then a robin so I was curious. After a bit of off road work I found out what type of bird that it was.I have always thought that cedar waxwings were cool but I did not know that they hung out on the side of Cedar Avenue.I worked my way around so that I could get a picture from the other side. The light was not great for shooting in that direction but I wanted to get a shot of the back side of the wings. If you look closely at the left wing you can see the wax that gives the waxwing it's name.

I was running out of time so I headed back to the convention and did arrive in time for Laura Erickson's program on prairie birds. Laura is a great speaker and her program was very interesting and humorous. Afterwards I picked up a copy of her book 101 Ways to Help Birds which she graciously signed for me. I have jut started reading the book and so far it is one that I would certainly recommend. More importantly it had been nominated for the Stephen T. Colbert Award for The Literary Excellence! I feel honored because, according to Laura, my copy was the first one to get the official Stephen T. Colbert Award for The Literary Excellence seal.

Playing hooky at Wood Lake Nature Center

On Saturday October 13th I participated in the Upper Midwest Audubon Conference in Bloomington, MN. I arrived at the conference at around 8:00am and after registration and the welcome I went to a very interesting program session entitled The Great Northern Owl Irruption of 2005. Having photographed many great gray and northern hawk owls during the irruption I was very interested in hearing the speaker, Dave Grosshuesch, talk about his research on the phenomenon. It was very interesting and it left me looking forward to the next northern owl irruption whenever that may be.

The second program session that I went to was not very exciting and it was all that I could do to keep from falling asleep. As soon as it ended I went outside to check the weather. As the weather man promised the clouds had left, the skies had cleared and the sun was shining. This was the first nice day in a week and I was going to be in the conference all day. I was scheduled for a field trip to the Bass Ponds at 2pm but I could not wait that long to get outside. So I took my camera and headed over to Wood Lake Nature Center, which was right down the road. I figured that I would skip one session then head back for lunch but sometimes plans just don't work out, especially when out shooting on a beautiful day.

When I first arrived, at Wood Lake, I checked the small trees down by the dock near the visitors center. These trees always have a lot of small birds to photograph and this Saturday things were no different. The first thing that I spotted were a few song sparrows in the brush next to the trees.Up in the trees there where northern cardinals.
The male looked like he had completed his molting.

The female looked like she was still missing some feathers around her face.

I also spotted some ruby-crowned kinglets. This one almost came right down to me. He got real close and flashed me his crown, unfortunately I was not fast enough to get that shot but I did get him a bit further up. I also caught this american goldfinch. The ruffled feathers kind of threw me off and I thought that it was a yellow-rumped warbler at first, but a helpful reader pointed out my error and when I looked at it closely I can see that it's beak looks too wide for a warbler.I guess I am not the only one who likes a good bath. Out on the trails I spotted a white-throated sparrow. The last one of these that I saw was in Duluth three weeks earlier.I also spotted a fox sparrow out on the trails. This was the first one of these that I have seen so far this fall.Even though it is already mid October there were quite a few insects around, like this autumn meadowhawk.George Bush finally admitted that there is such a thing as global climate change so I guess now it is real and the dragonflies can hang out here into winter. LOLThere were a few waterfowl out too. American coots have been moving through the area in the past week or so. I saw about 20 coots through out the park.I also got some shots of the pied-billed grebes that have been hanging around for about a month.

By the time I got through the park the lunch time for the convention was already half way over. So I decided to eat the food that I had with me instead. On my way back to the convention I took a wrong turn on 494 and somehow ended up at the Bass Ponds.