Friday, April 18th…. with a stack of work on my desk and rain predicted, Tina and I went birding, again… what else happens in April. Seriously, we started the day spotting a lone female Green-winged Teal in the Crepeau pond with 2 male Mallards and took this as a sign. The day was cloudy, but we decided to check out some of the local lakes for loons & other water fowl. Reports were that ducks and geese were spending longer time in local lakes due to ice still be on northern lakes.
On Lexington, we saw our 1st Osprey of the year in Roseville. Looks like she is just starting her nest. We then decided to check on the Keller eagles, but before we could get around to Keller, Tina spotted another first of the year. A Belted Kingfisher was sitting next to the flow between Keller and Lake Gervais waiting to have his picture taken. After checking on the eagles, we watched a variety of ducks on Gervais, including Common and Red-headed Mergansers, Buffleheads, Scaups and Mallards.
Next stop, Goose Lake by the little bar west of Hwy 61. Ring-necked ducks and Red breasted Mergansers greeted us in the channel with several loons in the open water. We’ve read reports of up to 60 loons this week on Goose Lake.
Our almost last stop was at Lake Vadnais to view the Pelicans gathered. We also were treated to several hundred Cormorants, Mergansers and Bufflehead. As it started to rain, we decided to call it a day and drove home wondering “What’s the difference between a Greater and a Lesser Scaup?” April in Minnesota is really a fun time to learn about birding.