[mou] Dakota County

[Steve Weston]

Got out for a couple of hours mid-day in Dakota County.  I checked out Lake 
Byllesby where conditions were less than optimal with the lighting poor and 
heat shimmer interfering with the long view.  while the lake is high, there 
is still plenty of sand and mud to attract shorebirds.  Besides a couple of 
Killdeer, the only shorebird I was able to ID was a Greater Yellowlegs.  I 
saw a landing of a flock of probably a couple hundred peeps, but I was too 
far upstream to be able to see any details.  When I moved closer, I could 
not find any trace of the birds.

Other highlights:
Bonaparte's Gull fly-by of at least 5 at Lake Byllesby.  When I first heard 
them, I immediately started looking for a tern and was surprised when I 
found the Bonnies.
Am. White Pelican: good numbers at Byllesby.
Belted Kingfisher: watching the ditch at Highway 50 and Blaine west of 
Hampton.
Loggerhead Shrike: near presummed nesting area by the Nike installation on 
260th St, west of Blaine.
Vesper Sparrows: several locations.

180th Street marsh was quiet and empty.  Most of the fields were quite dry 
for this time of year.  Jirik sod farms did looked mostly dry.  Drainage 
lake on 160th St. south of Rosemount looked like good habitat, but I did not 
see anything.

Steve Weston on Quiggley Lake in Eagan, MN
sweston2 at comcast.net