First Birds of the Year

 I have never been much of a bird lister. My pictures are basically my bird list, but this year I am thinking of trying something new. I am going to try and post any new bird species that I photograph each week and then at this time next year I will be able to look back and count the number of species that I have seen throughout the year.

So I started 2014 off with a bang. I did not get out on the first but I spent most of the day Friday running around Dakota County, where I live. With the cold front that hit this past weekend we have a good influx of snowy owls (top). Snowy owls are usually found around the arctic circle but in years where there is a lack of food or they have a productive breeding year owl migrate south into southern Canada and the US. The northeast US has been experiencing a snowy invasion for a while now but it started out kind of slow here and just kicked in the past week. I found 4 different owls yesterday and it is estimated that we could have 7 or more just in this area. My second bird is another arctic visitor. The long-tailed ducks breed in pretty much the same range as the snowies do. Most long-tailed ducks migrate to the east or west coast of the US during the winter. For the past few years though we have had one or two that winter at the confluence of the St Croix and Mississippi Rivers. The water there usually stays open unless it gets really cold and the long-tailed duck usually join with flocks of other diving ducks, such as common goldeneye and mergansers, and fish the icy water. I hope that my next set of birds is this good but it is going to be hard to beat this pair.  

Lake Vadnais

This morning I decided to head over to Lake Vadnais in search of the Townsend's solitaire that has been hanging out in the area. Lakes, rivers and other water ways are usually good areas for finding nature but Lake Vadnais seems to find more then its share of interesting visitors.

During the winter the road which runs between the lakes is cosed and not maintained except for trails for cross country skiing. The dusting of snow that we had over night, maybe another inch or two, covered the trees making them look like they were flocked. It also covered the trails making them a bit more difficult to travel, but since it was sunny and relatively warm, about 15 degrees, I did not mind much.

I did not find the solitaire on this trip but I did manage to photograph him back in November. The Townsend's Solitaire is a bird that is not very common here but once in a while one will hang around over the winter as long as it can find enough food.

In November at around the same time that the solitaire showed up Lake Vadnais was also playing host to a male long-tailed duck. This duck was hanging out with a group of common goldeneye until the lake froze up. Since long-tailed ducks and goldeneye are both diving ducks I spent several afternoons in November watching them dive for fish.

Vadnais must have had a really good year for fish because not only did we have a host of diving ducks in the fall back in July we had around 100 white pelicans that spent time on the lake. White pelicans are common in the western portions of Minnesota but usually we only see them during migration here in the Twin Cities that is why it was quite a surprise to see such a large number here in the middle of summer. It must have been the luck of Lake Vadnais.

Long-tailed Duck

The long-tailed duck is a duck that is not very common here in Minnesota. These ducks spend the summer up on breeding territories up in the Arctic Circle and usually spend winters out on the open oceans. Last year however we had one, possibly two, that spent most of the winter on the open waters of the Mississippi River.

Only the male long-tailed duck has the long tail which the duck is named for, so this bird was obviously a female. Since these pictures were taken last December this duck is in its alternate plumage, which they were through out the winter. Long-tailed ducks actually have three different plumage phases and molt gradually through out the months of April through October.

I first photographed this bird in mid December on the Mississippi River near South Saint Paul. As the weather got colder and the river froze up I believe that the duck moved to open water near Prescott, WI and further down river where a female long-tailed duck was spotted off and on through out much of the winter. This is the same location where a harlequin duck, another Arctic duck that usually spend winters on the coast, has been seen for the past three winters. Since both the long-tailed duck and the harlequin duck are both diving ducks that eat mostly aquatic invertebrates and fish it is likely that these spots on the Mississippi have a good supply of prey. At least enough to support these ducks over the winter. Earlier this year we had a male long-tailed duck on Lake Vadnais that I had the pleasure of photographing. Perhaps if we are lucky he will stick around in the area this winter.

South St Paul Riverfront Trail

When I think of birding locations the Twin Cities suburb of South St Paul, the town which I grew up in, does not usually come to mind. In December of last year, however, I made numerous visits to my old home town. South St Paul, like much of the Twin Cities was built on the banks of the Mississippi River. I never ventured down to the river when I was growing up, I got grounded for going to the local pond so I probably would have been incarcerated for life for going to the river, which is probably why I was not aware of this gem that was right in my own back yard.

Back when I was young most of the area by the river was dominated by the stock yards which besides being the largest in the world were also dirty and smelly. Now most of the area has been redeveloped and it now includes a nice 6.5 mile trail that runs along the river. Since the trail is on the other side of the railroad tracks you have to access it by an overhead walkway.

As winter takes a hold of this area many of the birds that rely on water to live migrate south looking for open water. Up until the end of December the Mississippi River bordering South St Paul was still open providing habitat for many of these birds. Bald eagles could frequently be seen flying low over the river in search of a fish or perched in the trees that line parts of the river bank.

Down in the water there were plenty of waterfowl swimming around looking for food. There were plenty of Canada geese and mallards dabbling in the water looking for vegetation as well as several different types of diving ducks like common mergansers and common goldeneye looking for fish.

The big excitement this year was the presence of a female long-tailed duck. These ducks breed up in the Arctic circle and usually winter on the Atlantic or Pacific coast. Occasionally one or two is found inland, where there is open water, and fortunately this time it was our turn. The river in South St Paul has now frozen up, we have had several days of sub zero temps in a row, and many of the birds have probably moved further down river near Hastings, MN / Prescott, WI where there is still open water.