2008 Polk County MBWeekend

NORMAN and POLK CO'S MBW SUMMARY

April 25-26-27, 2008

Too cold and windy on Friday in Norman Co....icy and snow-packed roads farther south the same day preventing two cars from getting to Crookston at all and putting another in the ditch for a couple hours that night....Saturday's blizzard conditions with high winds and blowing snow preventing any birding until late afternoon....a few roads still drifted shut on Sunday....

No, this wasn't January, but late April, and the less said about the weather this "spring" the better. But despite the conditions and our inability to get out to bird as much as planned, we eventually did surprisingly well. The best find, of course, was Alyssa's Cinnamon Teal at the Crookston sewage ponds, and it showed no evidence of hybridization as is sometimes the case. In all, these ponds had 24 species of waterfowl, including a fly-by Gr White-fronted Goose, several Greater Scaup (also at Ada's sewage ponds on Friday), and a Lark Sparrow just outside the entrance gate.

That large gravel pit pond on Sunday also produced a nice selection of waterbirds and was well worth the hike: more white-fronteds and some Cackling Geese, lots of vocal swans, a pair of Western Grebes, a fly-by Great Egret, a couple of early Dunlin, plus a pair of Gray Partridge and an unidentified shrike (Northern probably more likely).

Of course, our sunny and relatively windless Sunday morning birding along Polk Co Rd 45 was especially pleasant after Saturday's weather, as we found a couple of unpredictable Sharp-tailed Grouse up a tree, numerous Greater Prairie-Chickens (including some displaying in the road; also found in Norman Co), our only Rough-legged & an adult Peregrine, lots of vocal Sandhill Cranes, two Short-eared Owls apparently dueling over breeding territory, and handsome adult male Lapland Longspurs grounded along the roadsides.

Special thanks, of course, go to John Loegering for generously providing the key for access to the Crookston sewage ponds. Also worthy of recognition are the folks at the Norman (Bates) Motel (no one got stabbed in the shower!), the Golf Terrace Motel (for shoveling out the Yellow Car), and the AmericInn (for use of their lobby and breakfast room): all three motels were very accommodating to a desperate bunch of birders. The Twin Valley Heritage & Arts Center and the Crookston Chamber of Commerce worked overtime to reserve access for us to those prairie-chicken blinds (which we never got to use). And, as always, thanks again to all of you for your flexibility and patience in the face of all that meteorological nonsense!  Kim

N = April 25 in Norman Co (91 species)

P = April 26-27 in Polk Co (98 species)

MBW Total = 117 species

Greater White-fronted Goose   P

Snow Goose   NP

Cackling Goose   P

Canada Goose   NP

Trumpeter Swan   N (3 with Tundras for comparison in a flooded field)

Tundra Swan   NP

Wood Duck   NP

Gadwall   NP

American Wigeon   P

Mallard   NP

Blue-winged Teal   NP

CINNAMON TEAL   P

Northern Shoveler   NP

Northern Pintail   NP

Green-winged Teal   NP

Canvasback   NP

Redhead   NP

Ring-necked Duck   NP

Greater Scaup   NP

Lesser Scaup   NP

Bufflehead   NP

Common Goldeneye   P

Hooded Merganser   P

Red-breasted Merganser   P

Ruddy Duck   P

Gray Partridge   P

Ring-necked Pheasant   NP

Sharp-tailed Grouse  P

Greater Prairie-Chicken   NP

Wild (or Tame?) Turkey   N

Common Loon   NP

Pied-billed Grebe   NP

Horned Grebe   NP

Red-necked Grebe   NP (at both sewage ponds)

Western Grebe   P

American White Pelican   P

Double-crested Cormorant   NP

Great Blue Heron   NP

Great Egret   P

Turkey Vulture   NP

Osprey   NP

Bald Eagle   NP (including a Norman Co nest)

Northern Harrier   NP

Sharp-shinned Hawk   N

Cooper’s Hawk   NP

Red-tailed Hawk   NP

Rough-legged Hawk   P

American Kestrel   NP

Merlin   P

Peregrine Falcon   P

American Coot   NP

Sandhill Crane   NP (just one in Norman Co)

Killdeer   NP

Greater Yellowlegs   P

Lesser Yellowlegs   NP

Spotted Sandpiper   P

Marbled Godwit   P

Dunlin   P

Wilson's Snipe   NP

Franklin’s Gull   P (some with pink breasts)

Bonaparte’s Gull   NP

Ring-billed Gull   NP

Herring Gull   P

Rock Pigeon   NP

Mourning Dove   NP

Short-eared Owl   P

Belted Kingfisher   N

Red-bellied Woodpecker   N (heard-only by Barb & Susan)

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker   N

Downy Woodpecker   NP

Hairy Woodpecker   N

Northern Flicker   NP

Eastern Phoebe   NP

shrike, sp.   P

Blue Jay   N

Black-billed Magpie   N (only one)

American Crow   NP

Common Raven   NP

Horned Lark   NP

Tree Swallow   NP

Bank Swallow   N

Barn Swallow   N

Black-capped Chickadee   NP

Red-breasted Nuthatch   N (two locations)

White-breasted Nuthatch   NP

Brown Creeper   N

Golden-crowned Kinglet   N

Ruby-crowned Kinglet   NP

Eastern Bluebird   NP

Hermit Thrush   NP

American Robin   NP

European Starling   NP

Orange-crowned Warbler   N (several seen)

Yellow-rumped Warbler   NP

American Tree Sparrow   NP

Chipping Sparrow   N

Vesper Sparrow   NP

Lark Sparrow   P

Savannah Sparrow   NP

Fox Sparrow   NP

Song Sparrow   NP

Swamp Sparrow   NP

White-throated Sparrow   NP

Dark-eyed Junco   NP

Lapland Longspur   NP (breeding-plumaged males in both counties)

Red-winged Blackbird   NP

Western Meadowlark   NP

Yellow-headed Blackbird   NP

Rusty Blackbird   NP

Brewer’s Blackbird   P

Common Grackle   NP

Brown-headed Cowbird   NP

Purple Finch   N

House Finch   NP

Pine Siskin   N (heard-only)

American Goldfinch   N (heard-only)

House Sparrow   NP