[mou] Delight at Wood Lake

[Thomas Maiello]

Spent a delightful day at Wood Lake in Richfield this afternoon from 
1:00 to 4:00 looking for the reported American Bittern.  No luck there 
but had the thrill to see two Common, 5 Hooded and 2 Red-Breasted 
Mergansers all on the large pond in the southeast corner of the park.  
At one point I could see a Bufflehead, a Common Merganser and two Hooded 
Mergansers all within 50 feet of each other.  Then a Ruddy Duck in full 
mating glory flew in with neon blue bill and dense cinnamon body.  On 
the way out I was wowed again with a male Hooded Merganser and two 
females as he took turns courting each with ritualized darting back and 
forth and flashing his brilliant white hood making his head go from this 
teensy little thing to something the size of a softball.  Each female 
would tease with a submissive lowering of the head and rise of their 
head feathers along with vertical tail feathers - only to reject him 
until he would chase off to the other one and do the whole thing over 
again.  I watched this from the wooden dock in the very northeast corner 
of the park.  With trail sharing with many Canadian Geese who 
suspiciously allowed me to pass within a few feet from them without even 
getting up, this was a glorious day out-of-doors.  To end it all I 
visited the Nature Center just as they were feeding the snakes and 
salamanders.  They invite a young boy to come and do the honors 
including picking up the snakes and feeding them with an extension grip.

I love Minnesota and the Great Northern Midwest.

Thomas Maiello