[mou] RBA: Great-tailed Grackle in DAKOTA COUNTY

[Jim Ryan]

Birders:
4/26 at 11:15am @ 180th St. Marsh I observed and heard vocalizations from 1 
male Great-tailed Grackle. It was 5-10 feet from my SUV!!! Windows were open 
and I was in awe hearing the most bizarre sounds I have ever heard come from 
a bird. Clucks, descending whistles and that weird sucking/flushing sound 
had me stunned. I watched the bird amble its way across the road and pick 
around the marsh/road edge for a good half hour. It was last seen on the far 
eastern edge of the marsh grabbing corn from the field on the south side of 
the road.

Also of interest: Flock of about 30 Yellow-headed blackbirds, Mature Bald 
eagle who stole the prey of a successful Male Northern Harrier.

Ruddy ducks, Canvasbacks and a Swamp sparrow rounded out the other 
highlights for me@ 180th.

Jim in St. Paul



'If all the animals were gone, we would die from loneliness of spirit, for 
whatever happens to the animals soon happens to us. We are part of the 
earth, and it is a part of us. This we know: all things are connected like 
the blood which unites one family. Man did not
weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the 
web, he does to himself.'  Chief Seattle, 1854




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