2010 Lake of the Woods Co MBWeekend

BELTRAMI  and LAKE OF THE WOODS CO’s MBWs / June 18-19-20, 2010

Summaries by Craig Mandel

Beltrami Co. / June 18

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. I would especially like to thank the drivers and Denny for his help with his iPod. Let me know if you have any questions about the trip or the birds we observed, and I hope to see you on another MBW some time soon.

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

          *          *          *

Lake of the Woods Co. / June 19-20, 2010

And thanks as well for joining me on the Lake of the Woods County portion of this MBW. While the wind settled down a little on Saturday, we still had to deal with light rain showers off and on all day, and the insect activity picked up considerably from Friday. But we ended on Sunday with a very nice day.

 

There were many highlights on the trip, including the memorable Yellow Rail excursion, heard-only Black-billed Cuckoos (twice, or I guess only once for some of the group), and lots of flowers to look at when the birding slowed down.  

 

Cecil's Landing was another highlight, with some of the group helping me look for it on Saturday night. While we were unsuccessful in our search, we did hear a lot of Whip-poor-wills, Wilson's Snipe, and we got to see some American Woodcocks. Thanks to Susan for contacting some locals for directions: had we stuck with her directions, we would have made there on Saturday night. But we did add a lot of birds on the Norris Roosevelt Road and at Cecil's Landing on Sunday morning, including that heard-only Least Bittern and Black-billed Cuckoo south of Cecil's Landing.  

 

I did try for rails at Cecil's Landing on Sunday night, but I did not see or hear any Yellow Rails between 9:00 pm and 1:30 am. But did get to hear 3 American Bitterns, the Least Bittern was still calling, and there was a Moose, Beaver, and Black Bear there that night, too.

 

The Pitt Grade Road was good for warblers, with really close-up looks at that Connecticut Warbler. We also had some interesting birds along the Rapid River and Faunce roads. We ended the tour at Morris Point, with an unsuccessful search for the Piping Plovers, but we did add Western Kingbird and Common Tern there.

 

I again would like to thank the drivers and Denny for his help with his iPod.

Bird List: 112 species - 109 in Lake of the Woods, 16 in Roseau Co (incl 3 in Roseau only)

 

Canada Goose - L

Wood Duck - L

Mallard - L

Blue-winged Teal - L

Lesser Scaup - L

Common Goldeneye - L

Hooded Merganser - L

Common Merganser - L

Ruffed Grouse - L

Sharp-tailed Grouse - L / observed by those in one vehicle along CR 3

Common Loon - L

American White Pelican - L

Double-crested Cormorant - L

Least Bittern - L / heard-only, near Cecil's Landing. 

Green Heron - L

Bald Eagle - L

Broad-winged Hawk - L

Red-tailed Hawk - L

American Kestrel - L

Sandhill Crane - L

Killdeer - L

Spotted Sandpiper - L

Marbled Godwit - L

Wilson's Snipe - L, R

American Woodcock - L, R

Ring-billed Gull - L

Herring Gull - L

Common Tern - L

Rock Pigeon - L

Mourning Dove - L

Black-billed Cuckoo - L / heard-only

Whip-poor-will - L, R

Chimney Swift - L

Ruby-throated Hummingbird - L

Belted Kingfisher - L

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - L

Downy Woodpecker - L

Northern Flicker - L

Pileated Woodpecker - L

Eastern Wood-Pewee - L

Alder Flycatcher - L

Least Flycatcher - L

Eastern Phoebe - L

Great Crested Flycatcher - L

Western Kingbird - L

Eastern Kingbird - L

Yellow-throated Vireo - L

Blue-headed Vireo - L

Warbling Vireo - L

Red-eyed Vireo - L

Gray Jay - L

Blue Jay - L

Black-billed Magpie - L

American Crow - L

Common Raven - L

Purple Martin - L

Tree Swallow - L

Cliff Swallow - L

Barn Swallow - L

Black-capped Chickadee - L

Boreal Chickadee - L / 1 heard and seen along the Faunce Road

Red-breasted Nuthatch - L

House Wren - L 

Winter Wren - L / 2 were heard singing at the same location along the Faunce Road

Sedge Wren - L 

Ruby-crowned Kinglet - L

Eastern Bluebird - L

Veery - L

Hermit Thrush - L

American Robin - L

Gray Catbird - L

European Starling - L

Cedar Waxwing - L

Golden-winged Warbler - L

Nashville Warbler - L, R 

Northern Parula - L

Yellow Warbler - L

Chestnut-sided Warbler - L, R

Magnolia Warbler - R only

Yellow-rumped Warbler - L, R

Black-throated Green Warbler - L, R

Blackburnian Warbler - L

Pine Warbler - L

Palm Warbler - L / heard only

Black-and-white Warbler - L, R

American Redstart - L

Ovenbird - L, R

Connecticut Warbler - L / very nice looks along the Pitt Grade Road 

Mourning Warbler - L, R

Common Yellowthroat - L

Scarlet Tanager - L

Eastern Towhee - L / heard-only

Chipping Sparrow - L 

Clay-colored Sparrow - L, R

Savannah Sparrow - L

Le-Conte's Sparrow - L / heard-only, by some of the group

Song Sparrow - L

Lincoln's Sparrow - R only / heard-only

Swamp Sparrow - L, R 

White-throated Sparrow - L, R

Rose-breasted Grosbeak - L

Bobolink - L

Red-winged Blackbird - L

Brewer's Blackbird - L

Common Grackle - L

Brown-headed Cowbird - L

Baltimore Oriole - L

Purple Finch - R only

House Finch - L

Pine Siskin - L

American Goldfinch - L

House Sparrow - L