[mou] Como Lake oddity?

[Thomas Maiello]

Birded my old digs around Lake Como today and got stopped by a woman  
and her two daughters who wanted to know the ID of this "duck" they  
saw.  Their descriptions were too varied to land anything that I  
thought would be there so off we went to find the feathered beastie.   
And Lo!  Standing on a rock!  And alone! And only 10 feet from shore  
in the southeast corner of the lake was a "one-year old" looking  
Lesser Scaup - a Blue Bill!  I did not expect it and took some cell  
phone photos to document the event.

Then proceeded to watch an odd Great Blue Heron wade in full leg deep  
water and then move to a rise in the middle of the lake!  Couldn't  
find the resident Black Crowned Night Heron but I am sure it is still  
there.  There were more Baltimore Orioles around the lake than I can  
ever recall.  And then I got straffed by a male Red-winged Blackbird  
as I walked between a tree and the lake.  The a Great Heron landed in  
a tree a few feet from where I was watching a female Wood Duck parade  
her 27 chicks!

But the high light - the reason I was there!  I saw a Great Heron  
feeding a few feet from shore and decided to see if I could see it's  
pupils dilate using my delightful binocs since it was so close and  
when I went to look - in flew two Baltimore Orioles who posed on a  
divider fence between me and the heron!  Wow!  I settled into a place  
of Egad-ness and headed for the car.

Another day in paradise!

Thomas Maiello
Angel Environmental Management, Inc.
Maple Grove, MN