Pigs Eye Regional Park Hike Tuesday 09/22/26, Kathy Sidles
WE LEARNED ABOUT DRAGONFLIES ON THE CONCRETE BRIDGE FROM JOHN ARTHUR – John has been learning and teaching about dragonflies for many years. They spend most of their life in the water as aquatic insects. Then, when adults, they fly around eating insects, sometimes without stopping to rest. They can use the sun for energy too. And a few species migrate…with Kestrels traveling with them, hoping for a meal. As aquatic insects, they breathe through their butt, he said. Some of us snickered like the school kids he tells this to. I will look this up someday! A Damselfly flew by. John said they are related but generally put their wings together over their back instead of spreading them out like Dragonflies.
HEADING DOWN THE TRAIL – A Kestrel was still on the Kestrel nest box – looks like a more colorful male. Sometimes it would fly down to catch a meal (small birds, dragonflies, snakes, rodents) and fly back to eat it. We saw a second Kestrel – a female in my picture – in a woodland tree above a wetland. We saw a few dragonflies until we got closer to where Battle Creek flows into Pig’s Eye Lake, and then we saw a LOT of them. They were glinting in the sun, flying a few feet over the grassland near the creek. A cloud covered the sun, and then we didn’t see them…the sun came back, and we still didn’t see them! Barb said she and Kiki saw them at the bridge, so maybe they were moving around as a group chasing insects. The Dragonflies were not stopping for pictures. But John was able to ID four or more species by how they flew. He showed us a picture of Saddlebags in his ID book – and could see the “saddlebags” next to their wings as they flew by us.
AT PIG’S EYE LAKE – One highlight of the walk was seeing more than 200 Pelicans flying over and landing on the lake, then flying up and away! This was more Pelicans than many had ever seen at one time.
ON THE WAY HOME – Most people took the short loop mowed trail back. We took a picture of a Damselfly resting on a stick on the trail. And one of the handful of species of Katydids looking like a leaf – a Broad-winged Katydid maybe. A couple of people took the longer trail loop back. It was the first time most of these birders had been in this park. Despite the wood chipping, RR and airplane noise, and difficulty finding the park, it was fun for them to see the rich wildlife. I bet some will be back to Saint Paul’s biggest park and former dump waiting for cleanup. Maybe for special Saint Paul Bird Alliance or other events, or for Pig’s Eye Park Friends 9:30 AM walks on most Tuesdays and Saturdays.
Kathy Sidles
