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STEARNS COUNTY PRE-MBW SUMMARY
MAY 22 - 23, 2015
"Major Fact!!! The Stabilization Ponds at Albany MN were first constructed in 1955.
This was the first stabilization pond system in Minnesota. They were updated in 1984
with two additional ponds and the pre-aeration cells were added in 2001."
– George Vania
________
Sure, I admit the birding in the woods on Friday morning was on the slow side at times, but, hey, Craig and I took you to the oldest sewage ponds in Minnesota! My Sewage Ponds Consultant Extraordinaire dug up this fact, and what better way to mark our 30th-Year MBW Reunion than to spend part of the pre-trip at one of Minnesota's best-known birding sites on its 60th birthday? (Hmm, I smell another one of my World-Famous MBW Trivia Questions brewing!)
We even saw a modest number of shorebirds at Albany, with all 10 species on our list there, including some close, comparative studies of a White-rumped Sandpiper or two. Some other nice finds among the waterbirds were the pair of Red-necked Grebes at Lake Isabelle and a pair of Sandhill Cranes with their colt (aw!) on Friday morning. And though some resident woods birds (e.g., cuckoos, Wood Thrush, Cerulean Warbler) were silent and missing from our list on Friday, there were a vocally entertaining pair of Barred Owls at Wildwood County Park and a decent showing of migrants, including Blue-headed and Philadelphia vireos, Swainson's Thrush, and half of our 16 warbler species. At least the woods at Birch Lake State Forest on Saturday were a bit more active, highlighted by a cooperative Golden-winged Warbler seen well by all.
I'm still not entirely sure what to make of the Blackpoll Warbler we studied at lunch on Friday in Millstream Park, since it appeared to be an adult male showing some female-like plumage characteristics. I'm now less inclined to think it was a hybrid, and maybe it was just a one-year-old male, but I was intrigued to observe a plumage I had never seen before. And I still wonder if we really heard a Red-shouldered Hawk at St John's, since there were Blue Jays nearby and they can do perfect Red-shouldered calls. And Craig's group had a presumed heard-only Blue-winged Warbler on Sunday, which I included on the list, although it's possible they heard a Golden-winged or a hybrid doing a Blue-winged's song.
So, in all, we managed a list of 130 species here if you include those two heard-onlys, a leader-only Cape May Warbler, and the Pine Siskin on the Sherburne County side of the river. (There were also 46 additional species on the main Cass County portion of this 4-day weekend that were not on this Stearns pre-MBW, for a grand total of 176.) I thank Craig and all of you for joining me in this portion of MBW's 30th-Year Reunion, since it was in Stearns County that I started birding in Minnesota while at St John's some 50 years ago. Thanks again for the memories and for allowing me to reminisce a bit about the Olden Days.
Bird List
Canada Goose
Trumpeter Swan
Wood Duck
Gadwall
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Hooded Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Wild Turkey
Common Loon
Pied-billed Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
American White Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Green Heron
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Cooper's Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk (heard-only?)
Broad-winged Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Sora
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Lesser Yellowlegs
Dunlin
Least Sandpiper
White-rumped Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Phalarope
Caspian Tern
Black Tern
Forster's Tern
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
Barred Owl
Common Nighthawk
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
American Kestrel
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Yellow-throated Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Horned Lark
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Bank Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
House Wren
Sedge Wren
Marsh Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Eastern Bluebird
Veery
Swainson's Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Ovenbird
Golden-winged Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler (heard-only?)
Black-and-white Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
American Redstart
Cape May Warbler (leader-only)
Magnolia Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Canada Warbler
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Bobolink
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Baltimore Oriole
House Finch
Pine Siskin (Sherburne County-only)
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
* * *
SHERBURNE - STEARNS - LAKE OSAKIS MBW SUMMARY
May 2 - 3 - 4, 2008
Once again, lousy weather made the highlights reel on this MBW, with cold and windy rains on Friday in Sherburne Co, and strong, cold winds on Saturday in Stearns Co. But at least it never snowed on us, the winds finally subsided, and it actually seemed like spring by Saturday evening and Sunday. The weather in Sherburne Co was especially miserable, as evidenced by those swallows clinging to life on those snags at the NWR, but there were some good finds there, especially the out-of-range Common Raven and Eared Grebe.
In Stearns Co, the best birds were certainly that swan and the turkeys (well, they were best for me, anyway!), and, gee, isn't it a shame that the towhee didn't hang around for my two listing rivals to see? Also, that collared-dove in Sauk Centre was unexpected, only the second one I'd ever seen in the county. More interesting, though, were the flocks of Yellow-rumped Warblers on Saturday foraging in dirt fields like longspurs, looking for perhaps the only insects which were around on that cold day.
During the time we had Sunday morning in and around Lake Osakis, we turned up a Clark's Grebe among all the Westerns and Red-neckeds (for a total of 6 grebe species for the weekend), and 13 out-of-place Willets conveniently appeared on both sides of the Douglas-Todd Co line (for an apparent first county record in Todd).
Thanks as always for coming, and don't forget the 50-cent surcharge you owe for each of the bonus counties we so thoroughly covered: Mille Lacs, Benton, and Kandiyohi!
Bird List
Sh = Sherburne Co (May 2; 94 species)
St = Stearns Co (May 3; 111 species)
D = Douglas Co (May 4)
T = Todd Co (May 4)
Total (May 2-3-4) = 133 species
Canada Goose ShStTD
Trumpeter Swan ShSt (a.k.a. White Starling, perhaps, but new for my Stearns Co list)
Wood Duck ShStTD
Gadwall ShTD
American Wigeon ShD
Mallard ShStTD
Blue-winged Teal ShStTD
Northern Shoveler ShStTD
Northern Pintail D
Green-winged Teal StD
Canvasback StTD
Redhead ShStTD
Ring-necked Duck ShStTD
Greater Scaup ShStD (more than usually seen in central Minn)
Lesser Scaup ShStD
Bufflehead ShStTD
Common Goldeneye T
Hooded Merganser ShStT
Common Merganser ShStTD
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck StTD
Ring-necked Pheasant ShStTD
Ruffed Grouse St
Wild Turkey ShSt (and no question about its wildness; also new for my Stearns Co list)
Common Loon ShStTD
Pied-billed Grebe ShStTD
Horned Grebe ShStTD
Red-necked Grebe StTD
Eared Grebe Sh (a bit out-of-range at the Princeton sewage ponds)
Western Grebe TD
Clark's Grebe T (well, it was 90% Clark's, so close enough)
American White Pelican StTD
Double-crested Cormorant ShStTD
Great Blue Heron ShStTD
Great Egret St
Green Heron ShStT
Turkey Vulture ShT
Osprey ShSt
Bald Eagle ShSt
Northern Harrier ShStTD
Sharp-shinned Hawk T
Cooper's Hawk StT
Broad-winged Hawk St
Red-tailed Hawk ShStD
American Kestrel ShSt
Merlin ShD
Virginia Rail ShSt
Sora ShStTD
American Coot ShStTD
Sandhill Crane ShSt
Killdeer ShStT
Greater Yellowlegs ShSt
Lesser Yellowlegs ShStTD
Solitary Sandpiper ShSt
Willet TD (quite unexpected flock of 13, on both sides of the county line)
Spotted Sandpiper StD
Marbled Godwit St (Paynesville sewage ponds)
Wilson's Snipe ShStT
American Woodcock St (in attack mode on Sat evening)
Wilson's Phalarope D (Lake Osakis sewage ponds)
Bonaparte's Gull ShStTD
Ring-billed Gull ShStTD
Herring Gull D
Caspian Tern ShSt
Forster's Tern StTD
Black Tern St
Rock Pigeon ShStTD
Eurasian Collared-Dove St (unexpected in Sauk Centre)
Mourning Dove ShStTD
Great Horned Owl Sh (pair at Sherburne NWR)
Belted Kingfisher ShStTD
Red-bellied Woodpecker ShStTD
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker ShStT
Downy Woodpecker ShStTD
Hairy Woodpecker ShStT
Northern Flicker ShStT
Pileated Woodpecker T
Least Flycatcher St
Eastern Phoebe ShSt
Blue-headed Vireo St
Blue Jay ShStTD
American Crow ShStTD
Common Raven Sh (at the NWR headquarters; a bit farther south than normal)
Horned Lark StTD
Purple Martin StT
Tree Swallow ShStTD
Cliff Swallow ShT
Barn Swallow ShStTD
Black-capped Chickadee ShStTD
Red-breasted Nuthatch ShSt
White-breasted Nuthatch ShStTD
Brown Creeper St (heard-only)
Marsh Wren Sh (heard-only)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet ShStTD
Eastern Bluebird ShStT
Swainson's Thrush St
American Robin ShStTD
Brown Thrasher ShStTD
European Starling ShStTD
Orange-crowned Warbler ShStTD (several good looks)
Yellow-rumped Warbler ShStTD (or were they Yellow-rumped Longspurs?)
Pine Warbler Sh (singing males)
Palm Warbler ShStD
Black-and-white Warbler StT
Ovenbird ShSt
Northern Waterthrush St
Eastern Towhee ShSt (alas: NOT new for my Stearns Co list)
Chipping Sparrow ShStTD
Clay-colored Sparrow StTD
Field Sparrow ShSt
Vesper Sparrow ShSt
Lark Sparrow Sh (Sand Dunes State Forest)
Savannah Sparrow ShStTD
Fox Sparrow St (answered the waterthrush recording; a bit on the late side)
Song Sparrow ShStTD
Swamp Sparrow ShStTD
White-throated Sparrow ShStTD
White-crowned Sparrow Sh (also flew into Benton Co)
Dark-eyed Junco ShSt
Northern Cardinal ShStD
Rose-breasted Grosbeak ShSt
Red-winged Blackbird ShStTD
Eastern Meadowlark Sh
Western Meadowlark St
Yellow-headed Blackbird ShStTD
Rusty Blackbird St
Brewer's Blackbird St
Common Grackle ShStTD
Brown-headed Cowbird ShStTD
Purple Finch St
House Finch ShStTD
American Goldfinch ShStTD
House Sparrow ShStTD
Also see the 2015 and 2008 MBW summaries
following the summary & photo gallery of the 2023 MBWeekend
__________
Sherburne - Benton - Stearns Counties MBW Summary
May 11 - 12 - 13 - 14, 2023
After so many MBWeekends characterized by unfavorable weather in recent years, it was refreshing to have one with conditions that were mostly on the tolerable/pleasant side. The temperatures and winds were generally moderate, and Saturday morning’s rain in Stearns was the only thing that got in the way and altered our planned itinerary – but probably for the better. And the itinerary went smoothly as we were based all four nights and mornings in St. Cloud. (This city is unique in MN – see p. 334 in the Damn Book.) From our meeting place each day in the extreme northwest corner of Sherburne County, it took only a minute or two to reach Benton or Stearns.
Counties in this central part of the state tend to attract fewer species of note, since they are simultaneously too far east to attract much from the prairie, too far south to host most boreal specialties, and generally too far northwest to have as much potential for those southeastern species that reach those counties below the Twin Cities along the Mississippi. However, though there have been so few MBWs here in the past for comparison, I’d say we did quite well with a composite total of 148 species during our 3 1/2 days. As expected, our longest list was in Stearns and the lowest in Benton (see p. 331), but all three counties did their part, especially when it came to providing warblers for our nice list of 22 species (including multiple Cape Mays, and a Blue-winged at St. John’s). Stearns had the most warblers with 19 species, but “lowly” Benton with 18 was only one below that.
On the other hand, shorebirds were hard to come by – as they so often are anywhere in Minnesota. The Albany sewage ponds (now 68 years old – the oldest ones in MN) was about the only place we had any to speak of, since our modest shorebird total of 12 would have merely been 6 without Albany. Of course, these were highlighted by the Ruff which was still there for those who abandoned Benton a bit early on Friday and ran over to see it; unfortunately, it didn’t wait around long enough for the Saturday-Sunday group. Nor was it a new addition on our all-time MBWeekend list of 371 species (but we had already added 3 to that list earlier this year, so it seems greedy to expect another so soon).
Other highlights included Barred Owls on our Cerulean-less hike at St. John’s (one of which emerged unexpectedly from a roost/nest cavity right next to the trail), a pair of Peregrines that suddenly interrupted our checklist session at the St. Cloud meeting place to noisily harass some unknown adversary, an unexpectedly early Olive-sided Flycatcher repeatedly hunting bugs from the same wire in Stearns, a vocal Common Raven overhead along boggy 160th St. in Benton, and local Lark Sparrows at a few more sites than expected in Sherburne and Benton.
Bird List
• Sh = Sherburne County (107 species, mostly May 11)
• Be = Benton County (100 species, mostly May 12)
• St = Stearns County (128 species, mostly May 13-14)
• species not annotated = seen in all 3 counties
Canada Goose
Trumpeter Swan Sh, St
Wood Duck Sh, St
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Gadwall Be, St
Mallard
Green-winged Teal Sh, St
Redhead Be, St
Ring-necked Duck Sh, St
Lesser Scaup St
Hooded Merganser Sh
Ruddy Duck St
Wild Turkey
Ruffed Grouse Sh, Be
Ring-necked Pheasant
Pied-billed Grebe Sh, St
Red-necked Grebe Sh, St
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird Be
Sora St
American Coot Sh, St
Sandhill Crane
Killdeer
Ruff St
Dunlin St
Least Sandpiper Sh, St
Pectoral Sandpiper Be, St
Semipalmated Sandpiper St
Short-billed Dowitcher St
Wilson’s Snipe St
Spotted Sandpiper
Lesser Yellowlegs St
Greater Yellowlegs St
Wilson’s Phalarope St
Bonaparte’s Gull Be
Ring-billed Gull St
Black Tern Sh, St
Common Loon Be, St
Double-crested Cormorant
American White Pelican St
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret Sh
Green Heron Sh, St
Turkey Vulture
Osprey Sh, St
Northern Harrier Sh
Cooper’s Hawk Be
Bald Eagle
Broad-winged Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Barred Owl St
Belted Kingfisher
Red-headed Woodpecker Sh, St
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Sh, St
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker Sh, St
American Kestrel St
Peregrine Falcon Sh, St
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Olive-sided Flycatcher St
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Yellow-throated Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo Be, St
Philadelphia Vireo Be
Warbling Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Common Raven Be
Black-capped Chickadee
Horned Lark Be, St
Bank Swallow
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Purple Martin Be, St
Barn Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Red-breasted Nuthatch Be, St
White-breasted Nuthatch
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Sh, Be
House Wren
Sedge Wren
Marsh Wren Sh, St
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
Eastern Bluebird
Veery Be, St
Swainson’s Thrush
Wood Thrush St
American Robin
House Sparrow
House Finch
American Goldfinch
Grasshopper Sparrow Sh
Lark Sparrow Sh, Be
Chipping Sparrow
Clay-colored Sparrow
Field Sparrow Sh, Be
White-throated Sparrow Be
Vesper Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow Sh, St
Song Sparrow
Lincoln’s Sparrow Sh
Swamp Sparrow Sh, St
Eastern Towhee Sh, Be
Yellow-headed Blackbird Sh, St
Bobolink St
Eastern Meadowlark Sh, St
Baltimore Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Brewer’s Blackbird Be
Common Grackle
Ovenbird Be, St
Northern Waterthrush Be
Golden-winged Warbler Sh, St
Blue-winged Warbler St
Black-and-white Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
American Redstart
Cape May Warbler Sh, Be
Northern Parula Be, St
Magnolia Warbler Be, St
Blackburnian Warbler Sh, St
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler Sh, St
Blackpoll Warbler Sh, Be
Palm Warbler
Pine Warbler Be, St
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Wilson’s Warbler Be, St
Scarlet Tanager Sh, St
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
PHOTO GALLERY
Roy Zimmerman
Joel Claus
Roy
Zimmerman
Roy Zimmerman
Joel Claus
Joel Claus
Roy Zimmerman
Joel Claus
Roy Zimmerman