[Mnbird] Coon Rapids Dam East Side - Towhee & Thrashers

[Refsnider]

First-of-Year sightings this morning in Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park 
(Anoka County), east side of the dam:

- Eastern Towhee, calling, not singing, just north of the bike trail 
bridge over Coon Creek.  Eventually he popped into sight, giving us a 
visual treat.

- Brown Thrasher - 1 singing from the north side of Cenaiko Lake, 
finally appeared; another one quiet, seen foraging in the ski trail SW 
of the lake.

Other than the numerous song sparrows, there was a striking absence of 
sparrows this morning.  We've had a few white-throats at our home about 
1.5 miles south of the dam, but we couldn't find any in the park.  There 
were 10 d-c cormorants roosting in a snag in the river, the first flock 
we've noted this spring, although we have seen 1-2 individuals in the 
last week.

A note on the heron rookery this spring:  Up until today we'd seen only 
10-12 herons on the rookery nests, and all were in the western portion 
of the rookery.  Today we saw about 15 on the western nests and another 
6 in the more central nests.  For the first time this year we saw 1 pair 
involved in nest building.  In contrast to the onset of warm weather, 
heron arrival and nest construction seem to be very late at this 
rookery.  Compared to the 40-60 active nests in recent years, this 
rookery suddenly appears to be on a steep decline.  Hopefully more 
herons will return within the next week, proving that my fears are 
ungrounded.

We also could see the 3 ospreys on the two nests on the west side of the 
Dam.

---Ron Refsnider