2011 & 2010 Morris MBWeekends

Note: There have been several other late summer MBWs based in Morris; for additional information about these, contact eckertkr@gmail.com.

Traverse - Stevens - Big Stone MBW Summary

August 5 - 6 - 7, 2011

Considering that only a few migrant passerines had arrived this early in the month, and that unusually high water levels limited the number of mudflats available for migrant shorebirds, I'd say we did quite well with our grand total of 120 species. On Friday's Traverse Co option (which included N Stevens Co), there were 92 species; 11 of these were not on the main Stevens & Big Stone Co's MBW (which added Lac Qui Parle Co on Sunday), for a total then of 109. (So, was our three-day total compiled by a dozen or so observers reasonable and respectable, considering that just one birder in only one day reported almost 30 birds more in this area a few days before?)

The weather each day may have been on the warm side with highs in the mid 80s, but the humidity was negligible, there was essentially no rain (contrary to the forecasts), and we never had one of those typical windy western Minnesota days to deal with. Accordingly, conditions were favorable as we found a good array of highlights: e.g., both Red-necked (with young) and Western grebes, high numbers of Great Egrets, a noisy Cooper's Hawk family, the quite unexpected group of Sandhill Cranes, our higher-than-expected total of 16 shorebirds (especially the bathing Buff-breasted!), Eurasian Collared-Doves in two towns, migrant Olive-sided Flycatchers, a Loggerhead Shrike and especially the singing Henslow's Sparrow by Plover Prairie. Perhaps my favorite highlight of all was that nice selection of birds on Saturday along the entrance road of the U of M - Morris: an Orchard Oriole followed by a singing out-of-range Eastern Meadowlark, a sizable flock of Bobolinks, and one of our two Dickcissels.

As always, thanks for coming!  -Kim

      

BIRD LIST

S = Stevens Co (Aug 5 or 6)

T = Traverse Co (Aug 5)

B = Big Stone Co (Aug 6)

L = Lac Qui Parle Co (Aug 7) 

Canada Goose          STBL

Wood Duck          STBL

Gadwall          S

Mallard          STBL

Blue-winged Teal          STBL

Northern Shoveler          SL

Green-winged Teal          S

Canvasback          S

Redhead          SL

Ring-necked Duck          S

Lesser Scaup          S (Friday only)

Hooded Merganser          S

Ruddy Duck          SBL

Ring-necked Pheasant          ST

Wild Turkey          B (w/young)

Common Loon          Grant Co only (Friday only)

Pied-billed Grebe          SBL

Red-necked Grebe          S (Friday only; also in Grant Co w/young)

Western Grebe          S (Cottonwood & Clear Lakes)

Double-crested Cormorant          STBL

American White Pelican          STBL

Great Blue Heron          STBL

Great Egret          SBL (lots of them)

Green Heron          ST

Turkey Vulture          B

Bald Eagle          B

Northern Harrier          STB

Cooper's Hawk          S (family group in Morris)

Red-tailed Hawk          STBL

American Kestrel          TL

Virginia Rail          SBL 

Sora          S

American Coot          TL

Sandhill Crane          Swift Co only (4 just E of Appleton)

Semipalmated Plover          SB

Killdeer          STBL

Spotted Sandpiper          STB

Solitary Sandpiper          SB

Greater Yellowlegs          STBL

Lesser Yellowlegs          SBL

Upland Sandpiper          BL

Semipalmated Sandpiper          SBL

Least Sandpiper          SBL

Baird's Sandpiper          SBL

Pectoral Sandpiper          STBL

Stilt Sandpiper          SBL

Buff-breasted Sandpiper          B (bathing along Hwy 7)

Short-billed Dowitcher          S (Friday only)

Wilson's Snipe          STL

Wilson's Phalarope          SB (= 16 species)

Franklin's Gull          STB

Ring-billed Gull          STBL

Black Tern          STBL

Forster's Tern          ST

Rock Pigeon          STBL

Eurasian Collared-Dove          S (Morris; also in Appleton, Swift Co)

Mourning Dove          STBL

Great Horned Owl          L

Common Nighthawk          S (also in Swift Co)

Chimney Swift          SB

Belted Kingfisher          STL

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker          S (drumming heard in Morris cemetery)

Downy Woodpecker          SBL

Hairy Woodpecker          S

Northern Flicker          SL

Olive-sided Flycatcher          SB (2 early migrants)

Eastern Wood-Pewee          TB

Alder Flycatcher          S (Friday only; early migrant heard by Jeff)

Willow Flycatcher          T(Friday only)

Least Flycatcher          T (Friday only)

Eastern Phoebe          STB

Western Kingbird          T (Friday only)

Eastern Kingbird          STBL

Loggerhead Shrike          L (near Plover Prairie)

Warbling Vireo          S (Friday only)

Red-eyed Vireo          SB

Blue Jay          SBL

American Crow          SBL

Horned Lark          STBL

Purple Martin          SB

Tree Swallow          STBL

Bank Swallow          STBL

Cliff Swallow          STBL

Barn Swallow          STBL

Black-capped Chickadee          STB

White-breasted Nuthatch          SB

House Wren          STB

Sedge Wren          STBL

Marsh Wren          STBL

Eastern Bluebird          BL

American Robin          STBL

Gray Catbird          STB

European Starling          STBL

Cedar Waxwing          STB

Tennessee Warbler          L (early migrant)

Yellow Warbler          STBL

Common Yellowthroat          STBL

Chipping Sparrow          STB

Clay-colored Sparrow          TBL

Field Sparrow          B

Vesper Sparrow          S

Savannah Sparrow          STL

Henslow's Sparrow          L (singing male near Plover Prairie)

Le Conte's Sparrow          T (Friday only; heard by a few at Miller Prairie West)

Song Sparrow          STBL

Swamp Sparrow          STBL

Rose-breasted Grosbeak          T (Friday only)

Indigo Bunting          B

Dickcissel          SL (seen/heard twice)

Bobolink          STBL (incl a flock of 40+ in Morris)

Red-winged Blackbird          STBL

Eastern Meadowlark          S (unexpected singing male in Morris)

Western Meadowlark          STL

Yellow-headed Blackbird          STBL

(Brewer's Blackbird / B; possibly seen by Linda)

Common Grackle          STBL

Brown-headed Cowbird          L

Orchard Oriole          SBL 

House Finch          SB

American Goldfinch          STBL

House Sparrow          STBL

*          *          *

MORRIS & DOUGLAS CO MBW SUMMARY / August 20-21-22, 2010

In case you were wondering, here's Robin's brief account (slightly edited) of the afternoon extension to drawn-down Cory Lake Sunday afternoon:   

"Thought I would let you know what we saw at Cory Lake (Robin, Dodie, and Roy). The water level was very low; Roy said lower than previously. Still quite a number of birds there, maybe 250-300 birds? The only new birds for the weekend were 4 American Golden-Plovers and 1 Black-bellied Plover (close together for comparison)....It was baking hot down there, though; only stayed for about 45 minutes."

So, despite the heat and my bum ankle, I now wish I had joined them, since it sounds like there was plenty to see. Their two plovers were new for our list, bringing our shorebird total up to a respectable 17 species, for an overall composite species count of 136 for the three days. (Friday's mostly-Douglas Co total was 109, 22 of these which were not found during the main Morris MBW; Saturday-Sunday's total was 114, with 27 of these not seen on Friday.)

The heat and humidity certainly slowed us down at times, with the high on Sunday in Ortonville listed as a record-high 91. (By the way, the all-time high temperature during any MBW was 96.) Migrant passerines were noticeably few and far between (a 3-day total of 11 warblers), and until late Sunday morning (along Lac Qui Parle Co Rd 7) shorebirds were mostly hard to come by.

Still, there were several nice highlights. Especially memorable were: a mostly-Clark's Grebe at Thielke Lake (white flanks and orange-yellow bill favorable; dusky gray around the eyes suggesting a hybrid); two nice fly-by views of a Least Bittern, also at Thielke; that immature Little Blue Heron flying by the Morris sewage ponds (a near-Casual species! – good spotting, Ray); and the close studies we had of Le Conte's Sparrows (including a seldom-seen juvenile!). I was also quite impressed by the habitat at the North Ottawa impoundment in Grant Co, a place with lots of potential I plan to visit again.

As always, thanks to all for coming, and enjoy this week's cooler weather!  Kim

Bird List   

(D = seen/heard Aug 20: mostly in Douglas Co, incl 5 species only in Grant Co that day)

(M = seen/heard Aug 21-22 on the Morris-based MBW: incl Stevens-Grant-Traverse-Big Stone-Lac Qui Parle Co's)

   

Canada Goose     D,M

Wood Duck     D,M

Gadwall     D,M

Mallard     D,M

Blue-winged Teal     D,M

Northern Shoveler     D,M

Green-winged Teal     D,M

Canvasback     D

Redhead     D,M

Hooded Merganser     D,M

Ruddy Duck     M

Ring-necked Pheasant     D,M

Wild Turkey     D

Common Loon     D

Pied-billed Grebe     D,M

Red-necked Grebe     D (L Osakis)

Western Grebe     D,M (with young at Osakis & Thielke)

Clark's Grebe     M (well, sort of: probably a hybrid)

American White Pelican     D,M

Double-crested Cormorant     D,M

Least Bittern     M (Thielke L)

Great Blue Heron     D,M

Great Egret     D,M

Little Blue Heron     M (imm at Morris sewage ponds)

Green Heron     D,M

Black-crowned Night-Heron     M (White Rock WMA)

Turkey Vulture     D,M

Osprey     D

Bald Eagle     D,M

Northern Harrier     D,M

Sharp-shinned Hawk     M

Cooper's Hawk     D,M

Red-tailed Hawk     D,M

American Kestrel     D,M

Virginia Rail     D (heard-only)

American Coot     D,M

Sandhill Crane     D (a bit unexpected)

Black-bellied Plover     M (Cory Lake)

American Golden-Plover     M (Cory Lake)

Semipalmated Plover     M

Killdeer     D,M

Spotted Sandpiper     D,M

Solitary Sandpiper     D,M

Greater Yellowlegs     M

Lesser Yellowlegs     D,M

Sanderling     M (foggy fly-bys at Herman sewage ponds)

Semipalmated Sandpiper     D,M

Least Sandpiper     D,M

Baird's Sandpiper     D,M

Pectoral Sandpiper     M (this and the next 4 species on Lac Qui Parle Co Rd 7)

Stilt Sandpiper     M

Buff-breasted Sandpiper     M (3 very uncooperative fly-away birds spotted by Jeff) 

Short-billed Dowitcher     M

Wilson's Snipe     M

Bonaparte's Gull     D (Osakis sewage ponds)

Franklin's Gull     D,M

Ring-billed Gull     D,M

Black Tern     D,M

Forster's Tern     D

Rock Pigeon     D,M

Eurasian Collared-Dove     M (2 in Herman, incl a probable turtle-dove intergrade)

Mourning Dove     D,M

Common Nighthawk     D,M

Chimney Swift     D,M

Ruby-throated Hummingbird     D,M

Belted Kingfisher     D,M

Red-bellied Woodpecker     D,M

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker     D,M

Downy Woodpecker     D,M

Hairy Woodpecker     D,M

Northern Flicker     D,M

Olive-sided Flycatcher     D (only briefly at Pat's parents' place)

Eastern Wood-Pewee     D,M

Least Flycatcher     D,M

Eastern Phoebe     D (Grant Co only)

Great Crested Flycatcher     D

Western Kingbird     M (mostly Traverse Co migrants)

Eastern Kingbird     D,M

Yellow-throated Vireo     D,M

Warbling Vireo     D (Grant Co only), M

Red-eyed Vireo     D,M

Blue Jay     D,M

American Crow     D,M

Horned Lark     M

Purple Martin     D,M

Tree Swallow     D,M

Northern Rough-winged Swallow     D,M

Bank Swallow     D,M

Cliff Swallow     D,M

Barn Swallow     D,M

Black-capped Chickadee     D,M

White-breasted Nuthatch     D,M

House Wren     D,M

Sedge Wren     D,M

Marsh Wren     D,M

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher     D (near the edge of its range)

Eastern Bluebird     D

Veery     D

American Robin     D,M

Gray Catbird     D,M

European Starling     D,M

Cedar Waxwing     D,M

Tennessee Warbler     M

Nashville Warbler     D (Grant Co only), M

Yellow Warbler     D,M

Blackburnian Warbler     M (the highlight at Pine Ridge Co Park)

Blackpoll Warbler     M (seen by a few at Pine Ridge)

Black-and-white Warbler     D,M

American Redstart     D,M

Northern Waterthrush     D

Common Yellowthroat     D,M

Wilson's Warbler     D,M

Canada Warbler     D (incl one setting an altitude record in Osakis)

Chipping Sparrow     D,M

Clay-colored Sparrow     D,M

Field Sparrow     M (singing in Odessa)

Vesper Sparrow     D,M

Savannah Sparrow     D,M

Le Conte's Sparrow     D (1 adult + 1 seldom-seen juvenile)

Song Sparrow     D,M

Swamp Sparrow     D

Northern Cardinal     D

Rose-breasted Grosbeak     D

Indigo Bunting     M

Bobolink     D,M

Red-winged Blackbird     D,M

Western Meadowlark     M

Yellow-headed Blackbird     D,M

Brewer's Blackbird     M

Common Grackle     M

Brown-headed Cowbird     D,M

Orchard Oriole     D (Grant Co only)

Baltimore Oriole     D (Grant Co only), M

House Finch     D,M

American Goldfinch     D,M

House Sparrow     D,M