If you’re eager for spring and the return of waterfowl — something more sexy than our ubiquitous urban Mallards — you can get an early fix at the small lake immediately west of the Blackdog power plant. The lake is full of Common Mergansers. The plant is immediately east of the 35W bridge over the Minnesota River. There’s an exit off 35W as soon as you cross the bridge heading south. There are mergansers on the river, too, and there’s always a chance to find Bald Eagles there. A Belted Kingfisher recently was reported. The land is part of the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge. Watch for a parking area on the south side of Black Dog Road as you approach the plant from the west. A path leads to an observation platform that gives you good views of the lake and its birds. Binoculars and/or a spotting scope will be a big help. The mergansers in the photo are males. It’s not shown here, but there was a bit of courtship display by both male and female mergansers.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 23rd, 2009 at 10:50 am and is filed under Bird identification, Bird migration, Go places to go birding, Interesting sightings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.