Lake Hollerberg WMA / Joanne Dial photo
While we certainly saw some noteworthy birds on this Thursday-Friday-Saturday three-county MBW, perhaps the most interesting part of it was how we lucked out with the weather. The forecasts had called for uncomfortable temperatures into the 80s each day, but mercifully our time was spent in the relatively cool (though humid) 70s, as the afternoon highs in Willmar never made it above 75 under mostly cloudy skies. (There were some overnight storms, but it hardly rained on us at all by day.) The heat certainly did arrive on Sunday when the high in Willmar reached 93 (!), which had originally been scheduled as this MBW’s fourth day, but a week earlier I had wisely canceled this day’s birding for reasons unrelated to the weather.
Overall, September statewide was warmer than normal, resulting in generally lackluster birding for the most part. Our three-day composite total of 110 species seems like respectable total, although there have been hardly any fall MBWs in this part of the state to make comparisons with and fairly judge how we did. Our slowest day was Thursday, mostly spent in Chippewa, where we could only manage to find 62 species, though we had an additional 8 birds in Kandiyohi and 2 others in Lac Qui Parle, bringing our total to 72. Our count improved to 77 species on Friday, with all but one of these in Sibley, and our highest count was on Saturday with 85 species in Kandiyohi.
On Thursday, though the woods were generally quiet, it was interesting – perhaps unprecedented – to see so many Ruby-crowned Kinglets. Indeed, there seemed to be more kinglets around than all the other woods birds combined. Near Gneiss Outcrops SNA, we called in a pair of noisy “two-fer” Barred Owls that flew across the Minnesota River from Yellow Medicine Co. A short time later near the SNA the skies brightened up a bit to prompt a modest flight of migrant raptors to appear, including several Broad-wingeds and a Peregrine. Later, near the LQP state park office, we were surprised by a flock of apparent goldfinches that included some Pine Siskins – and it seemed likely that siskins actually predominated. The afternoon finished up with both American Golden- and Black-bellied plovers and other shorebirds at Lake Shakopee.
Friday began with that two-fer road that wound along the Kandiyohi/Swift county line through a nice mix of habitats. Monson Lake State Park was next, where the woods birding was still somewhat on the slow side, but nearby Lake Hollerberg WMA yielded 3 shy but eventually cooperative LeConte’s Sparrows that provided nice views for everyone in the group. It then took some time to reach the Marsh Lake area farther west via the grasslands of Danvers WMA, but we found much of the lake filled with weeds rather than water due to prevailing drought conditions. But at least there was lots of blackbird activity along the road to Marsh Lake dam, and among the grackles was a partial albino with patches of white feathering on the head.
Sunday’s birding began at Robbins Island Park in Willmar, but the low overcast made it difficult to see many warblers or other woods birds, although we were entertained by a Cooper’s Hawk right next to the road that ignored us as it took its time to devour its prey. A traditional shorebird spot along shoulder-less CR 27 proved difficult to bird, but it eventually provided 9 shorebird species, including an unexpected Red-necked Phalarope. (In all, our MBW turned up a respectable total of 14 shorebirds.) The woods at Sibley State Park continued to be relatively quiet, though there was another modest flight of raptors viewed from our vantage point on 1375-foot Mt Tom, and we found some activity in the woods along relatively unknown Timber Lake Rd. (perhaps my most favorite road in the county). Our day and the MBW ended quite successfully at Spicer at Green Lake, where we turned up an unusual Lesser Black-backed Gull – while a distant and unidentified loon was swimming around out on the lake that just might have been a Pacific Loon.
Bird List
C = Chippewa County, Sept 28
S = Swift County, Sept 29
K = Kandiyohi County, mostly Sept 30
(species not annotated were found in all 3 counties)
Canada Goose
Trumpeter Swan
Wood Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler K
Gadwall K
Mallard
Northern Pintail Lac Qui Parle only
Green-winged Teal SK
Redhead S
Ring-necked Duck S
Ruddy Duck SK
Wild Turkey C
Ring-necked Pheasant SK
Pied-billed Grebe
Western Grebe Lac Qui Parle only
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove S
Mourning Dove
Common Nighthawk K
Ruby-throated Hummingbird C
American Coot SK
Black-bellied Plover C
American Golden-Plover C
Killdeer
Semipalmated Plover K
Stilt Sandpiper K
Baird’s Sandpiper C
Least Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper SK
Semipalmated Sandpiper CK
Wilson’s Snipe SK
Solitary Sandpiper S
Lesser Yellowlegs K
Greater Yellowlegs K
Red-necked Phalarope K
Franklin’s Gull SK
Ring-billed Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull K
Common Loon K
Double-crested Cormorant
American White Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret SK
Turkey Vulture
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk SK
Cooper’s Hawk
Bald Eagle
Broad-winged Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Barred Owl C (also in Yellow Medicine)
Belted Kingfisher SK
Red-headed Woodpecker CS
Red-bellied Woodpecker CK
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker CK
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker SK
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon C
Eastern Phoebe
Yellow-throated Vireo S
Blue-headed Vireo SK
Philadelphia Vireo K
Red-eyed Vireo K
Blue Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Tree Swallow SK
Barn Swallow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Cedar Waxwing
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper CK
Marsh Wren SK
Gray Catbird K
European Starling
Eastern Bluebird SK
American Robin
House Sparrow CK
American Pipit C
House Finch SK
Pine Siskin C
American Goldfinch
Chipping Sparrow K
Clay-colored Sparrow K
Dark-eyed Junco SK
White-crowned Sparrow S
Harris’s Sparrow K
White-throated Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow CS
LeConte’s Sparrow S
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow SK
Lincoln’s Sparrow CS
Swamp Sparrow SK
Western Meadowlark CS
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird S
Common Grackle SK
Black-and-white Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula S
Magnolia Warbler C
Palm Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler K
Northern Cardinal
CHIPPEWA - SWIFT - KANDIYOHI MBW SUMMARY
September 28 - 29 - 30, 2023
Saulsbury Park, Spicer / Doug Kieser photo

