A Peregrine Falcon has returned to the Colonnade building in Golden Valley where falcons have nested for several years. It was seen this morning flying near the building, and later perched just above the location of the shallow box placed for nest use (15th floor, northeast corner). The building is in the northwest corner of the intersection of Highway 100 and I-394. The photo is of one of the falcons that nested there four years ago.  Â

In the past couple of days, birders in the metro area have reported Eastern Bluebirds, Eastern Meadowlarks (Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge), Common Grackles, Sandhill Cranes, Killdeer, Snow Geese, many species of waterfowl, including Green-winged Teal and mergansers, Great Blue Herons, Double-crested Cormorants, Brown-headed Cowbirds, Rusty Blackbirds, White-fronted Geese, Red-shouldered Hawks, Northern Harrier, Kestrel, Merlin, and Turkey Vultures. American Robins are everywhere, as are male Red-winged Blackbirds.( The males arrive first to claim breeding territories. Females will follow soon.) Pictured is a female Red-winged Blackbird carrying grass for her nest.Â

The northwest corner of Nebraska and a bit of adjoining territory to the north in South Dakota are the only places on the continent were you have a chance to regularly see all three bluebird species — Eastern Bluebird, Western Bluebird, and Mountain Bluebird. The latter is what we are seeing the past two days in South Dakota’s Custer State Park. Pairs are establishing territories and choosing from the nest boxes set here on fence posts along the wildlife tour route. Below, a female Mountain Bluebird approaches a nest box. The male was foraging in the prairie grass nearby, where he found this grub. Eastern Bluebirds should be in Minnesota any minute now, if not already there. They are our nesting species.

This flock of Canada Geese was flying over the North Platte River at sunset Tuesday. We saw huge flocks of Snow Geese from Kearney, Nebraska, up the river to Lexington. Then, only Canada Geese were in the air, heading northwest.

Taking photographs of a quarter million geese at a time has given me trouble. I can’t find a way to capture even the idea of that many birds in one flock. Below is a picture of a very large flock of mostly Snow Geese that rose off a sandpit pond as we left Kearney, Nebraska, yesterday afternoon. It looked more like a weather event than birds in the air. We followed the North Platte River northwest toward Scottsbluff, on our way to the Black Hills. The Canada Geese we found flying against the sunset offered a better photo op. The geese will be leaving the Platte River valley any day now, to be replaced by huge numbers of Sandhill Cranes. There’s still time for you to make the drive down there, but call ahead for a lodging reservation. Thousands of birders will be there, too.

One of the continent’s biggest bird spectacles is underway along the Platte River in central Nebraska. Uncountable numbers of Snow Geese, Canada Geese, Sandhill Cranes, and Horned Larks are here, feeding and resting before resuming their movement north. We are at Kearney, birding the river flats and farm fields south of town. From sunup to sundown the sky today was laced with strings and flocks of birds, thousands overhead at one time. At the Rowe Audubon Sanctuary here we found Harris’s, White-crowned, and Tree Sparrows, and male Lapland Longspurs just beginning to show breeding plumage. The geese are beginning to move out, while most of the cranes are still working their way here from wintering grounds in Texas. It’s cold, predicted warm weather apparently moving with those Texas cranes. But it certainly looks and sounds like spring. The photos show larks and geese.

 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.

  Every winter a handful of Varied Thrushes stray east into Minnesota and beyond from their forest homes in the Pacific Northwest. These visitors feed on fruit. They often hang around a bountiful tree for days. At first glance, Varied Thrushes can be mistaken for robins; they’re often found feeding with robins, another bird that feeds on fruit. But the bold stripe at the top of its breast and the orange slash on the Varied Thrush’s head can’t be missed it you look again. The bird shown here was feeding in a crab apple tree in Roseville. It was photographed in a nearby cottonwood tree.

 Boreal Chickadee is one of the bird species tracked in the recent study by National Audubon of climate-change impact on winter range. Minnesota has lost over 90 percent of its wintering Boreal Chickadees to northward movement, according to the study. Audubon used Christmas Bird Count data from the past 40 years from both the U.S. and Canada. It determined a line at which an equal number of birds of a particular species was reported on each side, north and south. In 1968, that line for Boreal Chickadees was almost 300 miles south of where it is now. When Bob Janssen published his 1987 book “Birds in Minnesota” he wrote that migrant Boreal Chickadees were reported “every fall” in Duluth. In addition to counting raptors, observers at Hawk Ridge in Duluth have for the past two years counted migrants of all species. Six Boreal Chickadees were seen in 2007, none in 2008, according to Debbie Waters, education director for the Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory. The habitat conditions this little bird needs are changing. Today, it can survive the weather found north of their former winter range. Other bird species reported in declining numbers here are American Three-toed Woodpecker and Bohemian Waxwing. On the other hand, 18 species are more common here in the winter than they were in 1968. They are Rough-legged Hawk, Dark-eyed Junco, Hermit Thrush, Purple Finch, Northern Harrier, Sharp-shinned Hawk, American Crow, Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck, Tundra Swan, Cedar Waxwing, White-throated Sparrow, Redhead, Mourning Dove, Red-breasted Merganser, Caroline Wren, Gadwall, and American Robin. Some of these birds are staying the winter. Others are able to linger longer before moving south (if they do) because, apparently, milder weather allows them to do so. Robins are an obvious example of increased winter population: thousands of robins have been observed in Minnesota this winter, and they’re doing just fine, thank you. (The Boreal Chickadee in the photo was found last week nibbling deer parts along Admiral Road in the Sax-Zim bog area northwest of Duluth.)

 

This is a Great Kiskadee about to eat a crab. The photo was taken last week, but not around here. It was foraging along the shore of the Caribbean Sea about an hour south of Cancun. The birding was good, but not as good as the weather. We saw as many bird species that breed up here as we did birds that spend the year down there. Red-eyed Vireos were common. I had my best looks ever at Hooded Warbler. Redstarts, Yellow Warblers, and Yellow-throated Warblers were not hard to find. A Little Blue Heron was on the beach one day, along with a Black-bellied Plover, a Willet, Ruddy Turnstones, and Sanderlings. The week was way too short.