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I started the day by going to Pine City Natural Area to check out the Red-cockaded Woodpecker habitat.  I wouldn’t turn down a RCW if I saw one but I knew it was late in the season and was not expecting it.  I found the area and walked around.  The area to the north of Highway 86 was quickly submerged so I didn’t get to go far there.  I talked to Dennis who had seen 5 RCWs there 2 years ago and I think I located the habitat where he found them but it looked like private property so I didn’t go further.

On the way back I stopped at LPSP to walk the boardwalk.  It was very noisy and if I knew my bird calls better I would have come home with more.  Still being fairly earlier, it was dark inside the swamp.  I got fleeting glimpses of birds but mostly I had to identify them by call.

Finally, I decided to go to Saul’s as an excuse to try out my new spotting scope, a Meade ETX-90.  I’ve never seen Saul’s deader but the scope worked quite well and I did see two Ruddy Ducks (male & female) and two first of year Black Terns.

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*=First of Year

Species seen or heard at Pine City NA:

• Red-tailed Hawk
• Indigo Bunting
• Red-winged Blackbird
• American Crow
• Yellow-breasted Chat
• Mourning Dove
• Common Yellowthroat
• Great Egret
• Canada Goose
• Eastern Meadowlark
• Northern Cardinal
• Blue Jay
• Yellow-billed Cuckoo
• Tufted Titmouse
• Brown-headed Cowbird
• Little Blue Heron

Species seen or heard at Louisiana Purchase SP:

• Common Grackle
• Mourning Dove
• Prothonotary Warbler
• Red-eyed Vireo
• Blue Jay
• Acadian Flycatcher
• Northern Flicker
• Pileated Woodpecker
• Yellow-billed Cuckoo
• Carolina Wren
• Carolina Chickadee
• Indigo Bunting

Species seen or heard at Saul’s:

• Black Tern *
• European Starling
• Common Grackle
• Red-winged Blackbird
• Turkey Vulture
• Ruddy Duck
• American Crow

I needed to get out after 3.42 inches of rain yesterday but didn’t want to go far as they were predicting more so I put on my big rubber boots and waded into TRP. Before long my pants were wet to the knees in the tall grass. There was standing water 5” deep in many places. I walked the horse trail area first then walked down the main trail through the swamp area. In all, I traveled about 5.5 miles in 3 hours. I got 44 species in that time, which is a respectable tally for one person.

One thing of note, the city has been lining up large drainage pipes along County Farm Road and Isbell Lane. I assumed they were just improving the sewer lines for the residents. However, they’ve also cleared a large swath of land to extend Isbell Lane into the park boundaries in what looks like a new subdivision. I hope that’s not the case but the cleared area is definitely in the park property.

*=First of Year

Species seen or heard:

• Least Tern *
• Northern Mockingbird
• Eastern Meadowlark
• Red-winged Blackbird
• Mourning Dove
• Chimney Swift
• Great Crested Flycatcher
• Orchard Oriole
• Common Yellowthroat
• Baltimore Oriole
• Northern Bobwhite
• Carolina Chickadee
• Red-bellied Woodpecker
• Blue Jay
• American Crow
• Indigo Bunting
• Common Grackle
• Yellow-billed Cuckoo
• Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
• Dickcissel
• Northern Cardinal
• Mallard
• Mississippi Kite
• Eastern Bluebird
• Green Heron
• Turkey Vulture
• Cliff Swallow
• Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
• Brown-headed Cowbird
• Eastern Kingbird
• White-eyed Vireo
• Yellow-breasted Chat
• Purple Martin
• Bald Eagle
• Northern Flicker
• Fish Crow
• Belted Kingfisher
• Brown Thrasher
• Red-shouldered Hawk
• Carolina Wren
• Tufted Titmouse
• Eastern Wood-Pewee
• Great Egret
• Pileated Woodpecker

I arrived at the refuge at 7:45 with visions of ibises dancing in my head. Alas, no ibises but I did see a male Northern Pintail in breeding plumage. The plumage is no surprise but he should have left a month ago. He was also a first of year for me. Besides the birds, I saw a Swamp Rabbit and what looked like a dead coyote. Left at 10:30.

*=First of Year, getting harder to come by.

Species seen or heard:

• Northern Pintail *
• Eastern Meadowlark
• Northern Mockingbird
• Mourning Dove
• Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
• Red-winged Blackbird
• Indigo Bunting
• Dickcissel
• Great Blue Heron
• Canada Goose
• Tern sp.
• Great Egret
• Snowy Egret
• Black-necked Stilt
• Common Yellowthroat
• Yellow-billed Cuckoo
• Carolina Chickadee
• White-eyed Vireo
• Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
• Turkey Vulture
• Yellow-breasted Chat
• American Crow
• Fish Crow
• Eastern Wood-Pewee
• Tufted Titmouse
• Carolina Wren
• Red-bellied Woodpecker
• Little Blue Heron
• Green Heron
• Blue-winged Teal
• Barn Swallow
• Eastern Kingbird
• Red-shouldered Hawk
• Field Sparrow