[Mnbird] gob smacked # of mallards

[John Hamer]

Wow  Thanks for the ecology lesson.  The place where I found them was on
11th.  Some Of these ducks and geese go down on someplace west of here near
the new tracks for the transit that is being built.  I was out there the
other day but I haven't been able to pin it down yet.  Thanks for the info.

John Hamer

On Sun, Mar 5, 2023 at 10:00 AM DONALD GRUSSING Owner <
cdrussin at centurylink.net> wrote:

> Mallards have been wintering on 9 mile creek for decades.  It began when a
> plastics company (Thermotech) had a warm water pond on the front of its
> property, the water coming from cooling systems of some kind in the firm's
> manufacturing. My toddler daughters and I used to go there on Sundays and
> throw some millet out for them. That was 50 years ago. I believe some water
> from that company still keeps the creek open.
>
>
> These birds know the area and there are residents in Minnetonka and
> elsewhere that feed them.  I have seen large circling flocks near Williston
> Road and Excelsior Boulevard late in the day for decades.
>
> For many years flocks dropped to residences near Mckenzie Road in
> Minnetonka.  These mallards also go to open water on Minnehaha creek all
> winter, though not as many and few spending the evening.  They could get to
> spots near the Minnesota River quite easily (Sewage treatment lagoon-).  At
> flight speeds of 40-50 mph it is not a long trip.
>
>
> Lake Minnetonka has several aerators that provide open water and are
> visited by mallards during daylight hours. Perhaps a predatory mink
> frighted them from their favorite spot on 9 Mile creek for a few nights. No
> doubt they will be there for much of the rest of the year and summer.
>
>
> For several years a female mallard nested inside the parking ramp that
> once stood where your building or a neighboring building now stands on 9th
> Ave. North next to the post office.
>
>
> Don Grussing
>
> Minnetonka
>
>
> On Sat, 4 Mar, 2023 at 7:37 PM, John Hamer via Mnbird <
> mnbird at lists.mnbird.net> wrote:
>
> To: mnbird at lists.mnbird.net
> We moved into an apartment in Hopkins.  We are on the 9th floor, NW facing
> windows.  To my surprise we started seeing mallards coming by our windows
> in singles and doubles and in every combination In the last half hour of
> light I would count 50 t0 60 birds right through the winter. Being new here
> I had no idea where they were coming from or where they were going.  I was
> filling up the car at a gas station and there were mallards all over the
> place coming in, going out and I could figure out where they were coming
> from.  It was a place on 9 mile creek.  They were mostly just sitting on
> the shore.  There were a couple of houses where they were sitting.  I
> suspect corn.  Then a couple 3, 4 weeks  ago it went dead.  No birds
> anywhere.  Must have run out of corn. Only in the last few days have I
> started seeing them again. Before they all left I tried to count them in
> batches like you would for big flocks flying.  I estimated 5 to 6 hundred
> birds.  Where did they go after the corn ran out?  Because they are coming
> back they must not have all died.  One of these days I am going to go talk
> to the people I suspect were feeding them.  At one time if my memory is
> still good I read that the MN DNR estimates 50,000 mallards stay around the
> metro area.  Before I moved here in winters past I would see ducks on
> different parts of nine mile creek.
>
> Sorry for so long.  We have also seen mature bald eagles flying past the
> windows all winter.
>
> John Hamer
>
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