* * *
Beltrami County pre-MBW ~ June 18, 2010
(Summary by Craig Mandel)
I would like to thank you all for joining me on the Beltrami County portion of this Minnesota Birding Weekend. We were very lucky that the big storms went through on Thursday; otherwise, I believe we could have broken the windiest-ever MBW record. As it was, it was still quite windy with gusts in the mid-30 mph range. The intermittent rain also made for difficult birding at times. Doing a number of loops in the county offered us a nice variety of habitats, and I think everyone's favorite spot was the bog boardwalk.
Bird List: 89 species in Beltrami Co (+ 2 in Lake of the Woods Co only)
Canada Goose
Mallard
Common Goldeneye
Ruffed Grouse
Common Loon
American White Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron
Turkey Vulture
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Killdeer
Ring-billed Gull
(Herring Gull - Lake of the Woods only)
(Rock Pigeon - Lake of the Woods only)
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Olive-sided Flycatcher - heard-only on the boardwalk
Eastern Wood-Pewee - heard-only
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Yellow-throated Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Bank Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Boreal Chickadee - seen well along the boardwalk
Red-breasted Nuthatch
House Wren - heard-only / leader-only
Winter Wren
Sedge Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
Veery
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Pine Warbler
Palm Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Connecticut Warbler - singing bird heard, and sort of seen, along the boardwalk
Common Yellowthroat
Scarlet Tanager
Chipping Sparrow
Clay-colored Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow - heard and seen along the boardwalk
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Bobolink
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Brewer's Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Purple Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

Lily-livered lollygagging listers successfully add Blue Ox
(Bovinis azureus babeii) to their Beltrami County mammal lists.
* * *
Clearwater-Beltrami MBW Summary
June 15 - 16 - 17, 2018
There were times when it seemed we weren't seeing much, especially as we tried to find something to look at during the rain on Saturday, and trying places that weren't as active as we had hoped. But eventually it all added up and pieced together nicely as we somehow managed a grand total of 150 species for this MBWeekend and pre-MBW.
Friday's pre-MBW was especially successful since we came up with no fewer than 128 species (all but 2 of these in Clearwater Co), even though there were only a few places of real note that we visited. Our stop at Upper Rice Lake yielded nice counts of 69 Red-necked Grebes and 105 Trump(eter) Swans (a.k.a. Donald Ducks?), and that remote impoundment within the Red Lake Sovereign Nation featured several birds for our "non-Clearwater County" lists: e.g., American Bitterns, Green Heron, a baby-on-board Common Loon, an inexplicably-popular Belted Kingfisher, and heard-only Virginia Rails that refused to walk up into view in that tick-infested grass. In between, of course, was the day's best birding at the Skoe rice paddies. Here we found 13 duck species (including American Black Duck), 2 or 3 very surprising American Avocets, an apparent family of Marbled Godwits (with juveniles), at least 20 very late-lingering White-rumped Sandpipers, and a pair of Wilson's Phalaropes.
Our time on Saturday and Sunday morning in Beltrami Co featured more rain (and mosquitoes!) than in Clearwater Co, and our species total for the county was 118 (including Friday's Common Terns) – mostly due to fewer ducks and other water birds. But the always impressive Big Bog boardwalk on Saturday gave us a responsive Black-backed Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied (exceptional views) and Olive-sided flycatchers, Gray Jay, a distantly-heard Connecticut Warbler, and some close Palm Warblers on territory. En route from the parking lot to the boardwalk, there also were two fly-by Red Crossbills – along with one of the worst hordes of mosquitoes I can ever remember.
Sunday morning's loop in and around Bemidji mostly managed to avoid the rain, and en route to Bemidji State Park both groups had great looks at a close LeConte's Sparrow, a Red-headed Woodpecker along the same road, and some unexpected Dickcissels singing from two spots along Sunnyside Rd. Since the state park was on the quiet side, Doug suggested we move on to Three Culverts Rd, where things were more active. Along one stretch of this road we turned up a dozen species of warbler (including Northern Parula, Canada, Mourning, and an odd-sounding Blackburnian), and a bit later at another spot we tracked down some Black-throated Greens (for a total of 18 warblers on the weekend) as two Barred Owls serenaded us – with one of them finally emerging into view for all to see.
BIRD LIST
C = Clearwater Co pre-MBW, June 15
B = Beltrami Co MBWeekend, June 16-17
Canada Goose CB
Trumpeter Swan CB
Wood Duck CB
Blue-winged Teal CB
Northern Shoveler C
Gadwall C
American Wigeon C
Mallard CB
American Black Duck C
Northern Pintail C
Green-winged Teal CB
Redhead C
Ring-necked Duck C
Lesser Scaup C
Common Goldeneye CB
Hooded Merganser CB
Common Merganser B
Ruffed Grouse B
Wild Turkey B
Pied-billed Grebe C
Red-necked Grebe C
Rock Pigeon CB
Mourning Dove CB
Black-billed Cuckoo C
Chimney Swift CB
Ruby-throated Hummingbird CB
Virginia Rail C
Sora C
American Coot C
Sandhill Crane CB
American Avocet C
Killdeer CB
Marbled Godwit C
White-rumped Sandpiper C
Wilson’s Snipe CB
Spotted Sandpiper CB
Wilson’s Phalarope C
Ring-billed Gull CB
Black Tern C
Common Tern B (on the June 15 pre-MBW)
Forster’s Tern C
Common Loon CB
Double-crested Cormorant CB
American White Pelican CB
American Bittern C
Great Blue Heron CB
Green Heron CB
Turkey Vulture CB
Osprey CB
Bald Eagle CB
Northern Harrier C
Cooper’s Hawk C
Broad-winged Hawk CB
Red-tailed Hawk CB
Barred Owl B
Belted Kingfisher C
Red-headed Woodpecker CB
Red-bellied Woodpecker CB
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker CB
Downy Woodpecker CB
Hairy Woodpecker CB
Black-backed Woodpecker B
Northern Flicker CB
Pileated Woodpecker CB
American Kestrel CB
Merlin CB
Olive-sided Flycatcher B
Eastern Wood-Pewee CB
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher B
Alder Flycatcher CB
Least Flycatcher CB
Eastern Phoebe C
Great Crested Flycatcher CB
Eastern Kingbird CB
Yellow-throated Vireo CB
Blue-headed Vireo C
Warbling Vireo CB
Red-eyed Vireo CB
Gray Jay B
Blue Jay CB
Black-billed Magpie CB
American Crow CB
Common Raven CB
Purple Martin CB
Tree Swallow CB
N. Rough-winged Swallow C
Bank Swallow CB
Cliff Swallow CB
Barn Swallow CB
Black-capped Chickadee CB
Red-breasted Nuthatch CB
White-breasted Nuthatch CB
House Wren CB
Winter Wren B
Sedge Wren CB
Marsh Wren C
Eastern Bluebird CB
Veery CB
Hermit Thrush CB
American Robin CB
Gray Catbird CB
Brown Thrasher CB
European Starling CB
Cedar Waxwing CB
House Sparrow CB
House Finch B
Purple Finch CB
Red Crossbill B
Pine Siskin B
American Goldfinch CB
Chipping Sparrow CB
Clay-colored Sparrow CB
Vesper Sparrow C
Savannah Sparrow CB
LeConte’s Sparrow B
Song Sparrow CB
Lincoln’s Sparrow B
Swamp Sparrow CB
White-throated Sparrow CB
Yellow-headed Blackbird C
Bobolink CB
Eastern Meadowlark C
Western Meadowlark CB
Baltimore Oriole CB
Red-winged Blackbird CB
Brown-headed Cowbird CB
Brewer’s Blackbird CB
Common Grackle CB
Ovenbird CB
Northern Waterthrush B
Golden-winged Warbler CB
Black-and-white Warbler CB
Nashville Warbler CB
Connecticut Warbler B
Mourning Warbler CB
Common Yellowthroat CB
American Redstart CB
Northern Parula B
Blackburnian Warbler CB
Yellow Warbler CB
Chestnut-sided Warbler CB
Palm Warbler B
Pine Warbler B
Yellow-rumped Warbler B
Black-throated Green Warbler B
Canada Warbler B
Scarlet Tanager CB
Rose-breasted Grosbeak CB
Indigo Bunting CB
Dickcissel B
Also see the 2010 pre-MBW summary
following the summary of the 2018 MBWeekend
__________