[mou] Around the Metro & more

[Steve Weston]

Wednesday (about noon): Northern Shrike at Highway 96 and Round Lake Rd just 
east of I-35w in Arden Hills.

Red-tailed Hawks are thick along the main highways in the Metro area and 
appear to be far less concentrated as you leave the urban areas.  today I 
found a dark buteo in Coon Rabids on US 10 just west of Hanson Blvd. 
Despite a plumage that suggested otherwise, I believe this was just a dark 
Red-tail.   On Monday I had a Red-tail fly over my truck about ten feet 
above me as I exited I-94 at the 11th Street exit downtown.  It carried a 
small rodent in its talons.

Several people found my quote on Ring-neck Pheasants ("Male Ring-necked 
Pheasants ...also reduce nesting success by laying their eggs in 
prairie-chicken nests." ) interesting for reasons that I (and the authors 
and original editors) missed.   Further searches in the books in my library 
yield no other examples of male birds of any other species having such a 
disruptive impact.  I believe that it is important to remember that 
Ring-neck Pheasants are an alien species.

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