A Very Successful 2025 Lake Links Trail Bird Survey
- Ian Harding
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
By Ian Harding
Lake Links volunteers equipped with the Merlin birding app on their smartphones were on the trail at select points at 6:45 a.m. on Saturday, May 10. It was a very pleasant 53 degrees with sunshine and almost no wind; perfect for bird watching.
In 15 minutes of observing at nine locations around the trail, we documented 173 bird calls and 64 different species (vs. 93 bird calls and 46 species in 2024). The spring migration is in full flow in this area.
Of note were 10 different warbler species and a somewhat rarer Greater Yellowlegs and a Purple Martin. One of the observers commented, “It's really nice to see this level of bird activity along the trail and that brings a richness to the trail experience.”
The main hot spots for birds around the lake are:
Matoska Park on Lake Avenue in White Bear Lake (14 species observed)
Halls Marsh on Jay Street in Birchwood (18 species observed)
Neville Nature area on Locust/Neville in N Mahtomedi (28 species observed)
Hamline Lake, about 200 yards north of the Mahtomedi District Education Center (22 species observed)
Streetcar Park on Quail in northern Mahtomedi (25 species observed)
Lincolntown Marsh just south of Hwy. 12 (21 species observed)
Dwinnell Marsh in Dellwood on the east side of 244 (14 species observed)
Noteworthy was that revitalization efforts (with buckthorn, dead trees and invasives removal, plus new plantings work done in 2025 by community resident volunteers) have greatly increased the number of birds seen at the Streetcar Park and Neville Nature area sites. The birds seem to like the new restored habitat as well as humans!
The full survey results are here:
Equipped with the easy-to-use Merlin app, you, too, can enjoy the richness of bird life along the trail. Matoska Park, Halls Marsh, Neville Nature Area, Streetcar Park and Hamline Lake all have benches to sit on to enjoy the bird life. The best time of day is before 8 a.m. and during May and June, when the birds are most active gathering nest material, food, etc. Take a look at the bird migration dashboard here (enter Washington County, Minnesota, to get the local forecast ) and see what birds are in the area. So slow down take a break at one of these spots and enjoy nature!
Thank you to Paul and Mary Hoff, Cindy Rasmussen, Dennis Lindeke, Lindsay Buck, Ellen Fuge, Jim and Pat Vincent, and Ann Delgehausen for coming out early on a Saturday to do the survey.