[mou] TWO Say's Phoebes and Rock Wren at Felton, Tuesday

[Drewbec@aol.com]

Jim Mattsson and I arrived at the Felton Gravel Pits about 10:00am this 
morning. The Rock Wren was singing loudly as we pulled up near rock pile #6002. We 
hunted for the Say's for along time, nearly 5 hours without any luck and were 
about to give up. Ron Erpelding pulls in at that moment and tells us about 
Chuck Krulas' e-mail from this morning. We search again, and in about 15 minutes, 
Ron finds the first Say's Phoebe! Wanting scopes and cameras, he and I head 
back to our cars and flush a second Say's Phoebe. I don't recall that anyone 
else has reported both birds since the initial observation by Connie, Leslie and 
Susan. We all had great looks at both birds. Jim was able to get photos of 
both, but not together in one frame.

For others searching for the birds: The Say's were working the gravel pit 
edge beyond rock pile #6002 and curving east. They were extremely well 
camouflaged against the enbankment, and only easily noticed when in flight. Frequently, 
they would fly up  and over the edge, but always returned to the enbankment. 
They are/would be very easy to overlook here, and require a thorough, patient 
search. Unless you're fortunate enough to find them on one of the sand or rock 
piles in the open. 

Lots of other great birds on the prairie! It was a fun day to be there.

Thanks to all for their updates, and particularly to Ron Erpelding, for 
stumbling upon us at precisely the right moment!

Drew Smith
Eagan, Dakota County