Red Wing Nature Notes

On December 27th, Kathy and I participated along with several other people in the Red Wing area Christmas Bird Count”.  This activity was the result of a considerable amount of hard work and planning by Laura Coble of Cannon Falls.  Laura is an avid birder, retired teacher and single handedly organized this fun and interesting event.  The first Audubon Christmas Bird Count in Minnesota was held in 1905 and Red Wing was one of the communities that was involved.  The Red Wing area participated off and on over the years with the last count being held in 1973.  Through Laura’s efforts, these counts started back up in 2007.

This count was conducted by eight different groups with each being assigned to a particular area within the larger Red Wing area.  Kathy, Al Larson of Lake City and I  were given the Frontenac area which included Frontenac State Park.  The count is conducted by travelling by car on various county and township roads with periodic stops along the way.  The species of birds observed along our morning route included: Wild Turkey, Red-Tailed Hawk, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Red-Bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Blue Jay, American Crow, Black-capped Chickadee, White-breasted Nuthatch, Eastern Bluebird, American Robin, European Starling, Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Cardinal, Purple Finch, House Finch and American Goldfinch.

In the afternoon, Kathy and I conducted a count based on observations in our backyard and feeding station.  The way this count works is that your count is based on the highest number of a certain species that you can see at one time.  Birds observed on the count included: Blue Jay, Dark-eyed Junco, Black-capped Chickadee, Northern Cardinal, Hairy Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Tree Sparrow, Purple Finch, House Finch, American Goldfinch, Red-bellied Woodpecker, White-breasted Nuthatch, American Crow, Mourning Dove and Cedar Waxwing.

For those who have been following Nature Notes, our brave chipmunk decided that enough was enough.  He hasn’t been seen since the sloppy rain/snow mix on Christmas Day.

The last couple days I have tried my hand at ice fishing in the Mississippi backwaters near Wabasha.  To get to our fishing spot, we drove on highway 61 as it passes through Reads Landing.  The number of eagles and American mergansers taking advantage of the feeding opportunities in the open water at the lower end of Lake Pepin was incredible  If you happen to be travelling in that area in the next few days, please stop at one of the wayside viewing areas and enjoy this seasonal spectacle.