Duck, duck, American Black Duck!

 

Blue skies and mild temps. Great day for a ride!

After several days of anticipation, Thursday finally came along and it was time for another bike trip! Weather was comparatively mild, high of about 24 degrees, much nicer than my last ride. I geared up and finally got going around 1030am or so. The sun was out, the sky was blue, and the wind light which made for a very nice ride over to my main destination - Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge and Blue Lake Wastewater Treatment Plant. After an uneventful 50 minutes or so going through town and an industrial area (where I made sure to scan for a Snowy Owl - no luck), I made it and was ready for a nice walk through the refuge. 

Overall, the woods were pretty quiet, a chickadee here, a woodpecker there, and a few deer darting across the trail, chuffing their displeasure at me. Overall, mostly just the sound of my feet crunching on gravel underneath me. As I got closer to the marsh and open water some movement caught my eye in the undergrowth - a flock of American Robins lingering in the woods, feeding on some berries. I rounded the last corner of woods and got into the opening where Blue Lake and the nearby sewage ponds (whose outlet keeps some of the lake open through the winter) were, hopeful for Rough-legged Hawk, Greater Scaup, American Black Duck, and Tundra Swan, among others.

The mostly frozen marsh of Blue Lake

I didn't have to wait long for Rough-legged Hawk! As long as I got to the edge of the ponds, one circled overhead. Nice! What was not so nice, however, is that the light on the settling ponds was right in my eyes, and the warmth of the ponds created a fog that made seeing the thousand plus ducks on the water very difficult. Unfortunately I didn't have my spotting scope as I wanted to take my camera, and don't have good packing gear for my bike yet. I figured I'd look over at the outflow into Blue Lake itself and scan through the smaller group of birds there while waiting for things to clear out - I could see Trumpeter Swans, maybe there was a Tundra Swan in there. 

Trumpeter Swans and some other waterfowl, resting on the ice and feeding

I wasn't able to find a Tundra, but I was able to find Common and Hooded Mergansers, Common Goldeneyes, plus a few hundred sleeping Mallards on the ice. I couldn't sift out an American Black Duck after some trying. Bald Eagles swooped overhead, which resulted in protests from the swans and encouraged a portion of the ducks to leave. I walked down the shore a bit to see if there might be something else hiding in some of the brush along the water. Nothing. Time to head back up to the settling ponds. 

The eagles were more interested in chasing each other than the waterfowl

On my way back up to the ponds I ran into a birder (and his dog) who looked familiar to me. After introducing myself he confirmed that we had indeed met on more than one occasion, including at the place where we were currently standing! We had a nice conversation and decided to head up to the ponds. He was hoping to find a Northern Shoveler, which he didn't have yet for the year. The light was better and he had a scope that he was kind enough to share, which made me hopeful that we'd get some good stuff. 

We started scanning through the rafts of ducks and got several species - more goldeneyes and many, many Mallards. Some smaller groups of Gadwall, Ring-necked Ducks, and Buffleheads, plus the elusive American Coot. No shoveler right away though. I did manage to sift out an American Black Duck, which was great! They are fairly reliable in winter here and at the next spot where I was going, but never a given. Good to get it. 

We moved over to the other side of the pond and focused on the shoreline a bit. There was a sleeping bird there that looked really good for a shoveler...but it was quite comfortable sleeping with it head tucked under it's wing and wouldn't move an inch! As we waited for the bird to give us a better look, other species came into focus nearby - Lesser Scaup, Ruddy Duck, and a few thousand more Mallards. Unfortunately the angle of the hillside meant we couldn't see right below us. We joked that the shovelers and other amazing species were probably hiding right next to us out of sight. 

We then started focusing on the far side of the pond, without much success. Then, I just so happened to glance down at the steep, close shore that we were just joking about - Northern Shovelers had drifted into view! Glad to get that for Kevin! Relieved, we started sifting through the rest of the birds for something new without much luck. It had been a while so we started talking about heading over to the nearby Shakopee Mill Pond, maybe something else would be there. I decided to pop down to the Blue Lake outlet to see if anything new had flown in, and Kevin said he'd look through the flocks on the sewage ponds a bit more.

I heard a Belted Kingfisher rattle down by the lake, but nothing else new. I saw Kevin still there looking through the scope and popped up there to let him know I was heading out. Much to my delight, he had found a Greater Scaup! A great finish to a solid bit of birding there. We said our goodbyes, and maybe we'd see each other over at the mill pond. 

Thanks Kevin (and Eureka) for being so generous with the use of your scope!

It was a fairly quick ride over to Shakopee Mill Pond. On the way, I got Wild Turkey, Mourning Dove, and Rock Pigeon (whew, ha ha!). I got there and there were so many Mallards - but not much species diversity. As I scanned through the flocks though...more black ducks! Several in fact, which was fun. There were a few right up close which gave great looks. Kevin pulled into the parking lot as I was getting ready to leave. We chatted briefly, then I packed up and started to ride out. Suddenly a large raptor flew in from the south. I watched it for a bit - it was big, but that head was smallish, and no messy white speckling underneath like a young Bald Eagle would usually have. The wings were in a slight V-shaped "dihedral". It turned and gave just enough a good look to confirm - GOLDEN EAGLE! This is a great bird for Minnesota, and I was thrilled! I rode quickly back to Kevin to ask if he'd seen it - he was focused on the ducks and hadn't. Hopefully it came back for him!

 

American Black Ducks - and a few thousand Mallard friends

On the way into downtown Shakopee, I started feeling something on my face, which I initially thought was sand/grit from the wheel. Nope - snowflakes. It was really light though, barely anything, so I stopped at Shakopee Brewhall downtown without thinking much of it. There wasn't any in the forecast until later in the day. I enjoyed a really delicious chai latte and a danish. It was so nice to drink something warm. As I finished my drink, I looked out the window...it had picked up and was more steady snow now. Whoa. Glad I was on the home stretch! 

Where did this come from all of a sudden? 

The temperature was comfortable still, but I didn't want to ride through too much sloppy stuff, so I worked a little harder to pick up the pace. I quickly (and admittedly halfheartedly) popped into a few small conifer stands on the way, hoping for an owl - none around this time. Up and down a few hills, and I was back. Good thing too, because it was starting to accumulate a little when I got home! 

A little different from when I started out a few hours ago! 

A nice 20.3 miles of riding and about 1.8 miles of hiking at the refuge. Some great birds which brought my green birding species total to 45 species. Golden Eagle was a major bonus - I did not expect that one at all. My camera was sadly packed up so you'll have to take my word for it. :) I had a really fun day - and am already thinking about my next bike trip...think owls... I'm hoping to get my camera working better too - my bird photos haven't been coming out as well as I'd like, hence why there aren't many here. Hopefully next time I'll have some nice flashy bird pictures to share with you. Thanks for reading!