Hyland Park

Went running at Hyland Park today. The trails we ran on were pretty good. Ran with Marilyn & Gloria. Maynard was walking in the park.


Birds found: a pair of Mallards, 4 Canada Geese, a pair of Common Mergansers, at least 7 Hooded Mergansers on the water plus some Bluebirds, and a Pileated Woodpecker. The turkeys were displaying their big tails and fighting with each other. I watched four of them pair up to fight and the noise attracted two more males. There were only 3 females to fight over.

The video is a Red-bellied Woodpecker looking for breakfast.

Signs of Spring

In our backyard today the snow is gone !

So far, I've seen a Mourning Cloak butterfly, 2 chipmunks, robins, cardinals, mallards and geese, a Mourning Dove, and spiders in the backyard. The daffodils are 1 -2" tall and some of the perennials are green ! Oh, and did I mention dandelions?

There were 7 eagles on the ice along Hwy 61 and the railroad yard in St. Paul this morning.

Other signs: woodpeckers drumming, squirrels adding to their nests.

Afton 3/14/2010

Tried running at Afton State Park on Sunday. It was about 95% ice on the trails. The other 5% was snow or grass or mud.

But we did see several Red-Tailed Hawks, American Robins, Black-capped Chickadees, Red-Bellied Woodpeckers, White-breasted Nuthatches, and a Merlin.

Just outside the park were 5 mature Bald Eagles and a American Kestrel.