Also see the 2007 and 2008 MBW summaries following the summary
of the 2014 MBWeekend; note that these summaries include
some birds not seen in Martin or Jackson counties,
and that the 2008 MBW was in late March.
__________
SOUTHWESTERN MINN MBW SUMMARY ~ APRIL 5 - 6, 2014
Great-tailed Grackle, Worthington, Nobles County (Jena Highkin photo)
Well, our first MBW of the 2014-15 season finally managed to take place, although there were times I had my doubts if it ever would! The prolonged winter first prompted a one-week delay, a snowstorm then nearly canceled the later weekend, and there were associated adjustments in the participants list, the car-pooling arrangements, and when we would be able to finally meet in Worthington on Saturday. But I think those of us who were eventually able to attend this past weekend saw more than enough to make all that tinkering with the logistics worth the trouble.
I agree that Saturday was colder and windier than we would have preferred, but on Sunday it warmed up some and the winds moderated. In all, we came up with a respectable total of 80 species: 75 in Nobles Co (73 of these on Saturday) and 64 in Jackson Co Sunday morning. Of course, that first-county-record grackle was probably our most significant find, as the singing male at L Okabena on Saturday morning was relocated and briefly joined by a female a few blocks away that afternoon. And, in a different way, it was equally exciting to witness that nice movement of eagles and other raptors passing over Heron Lake late Sunday morning – this actually provided a visible sensation that spring migration was finally underway.
Despite the lousy March weather, the goose migration had already passed through SW Minnesota for the most part, although we still managed to observe all 5 species in low numbers. But at least one Ross's Goose did fly over the Perkins parking lot as we assembled on Sunday morning, and a bit later we drove by a few hundred Greater White-fronteds along I-90 en route to Lakefield. Despite the relative lack of geese, there was also a good variety of ducks (18 species in all) found at several wetlands where the ice was on its way out. In addition, we came up with some relatively early migrants: a heard-only Greater Yellowlegs, a group of Baird's Sandpipers, a couple of fly-by Franklin's Gulls, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Tree Swallow, American Pipit, and a few Yellow-headed Blackbirds.
Bird List
• N = found in Nobles Co (all but 2 species on April 5)
• J = found in Jackson Co (all on April 6)
Greater White-fronted Goose NJ (largest flock along I-90 en route to Lakefield)
Snow Goose N (only modest numbers)
Ross's Goose N (one overhead at Perkins with Snow Geese Sunday morning)
Cackling Goose NJ (just a few)
Canada Goose NJ
Trumpeter Swan N (pond just S of Worthington)
Wood Duck NJ
Gadwall NJ
American Wigeon NJ
Mallard NJ
Blue-winged Teal NJ
Northern Shoveler NJ
Northern Pintail NJ
Green-winged Teal NJ
Canvasback N
Redhead N
Ring-necked Duck NJ
Lesser Scaup NJ
Bufflehead NJ
Common Goldeneye NJ
Hooded Merganser NJ
Common Merganser NJ
Red-breasted Merganser N (uncommon in SW Minn)
Ruddy Duck N
Ring-necked Pheasant NJ
Pied-billed Grebe N
Double-crested Cormorant NJ
American White Pelican NJ
Great Blue Heron NJ
Turkey Vulture NJ
Bald Eagle NJ (nice migration over Heron Lake on Sunday)
Northern Harrier NJ
Sharp-shinned Hawk NJ
Cooper's Hawk NJ
Red-tailed Hawk NJ (incl dark-morphs, and a "Harlan's" along the Rough-legged
road)
Rough-legged Hawk N (lone dark-morph bird)
American Coot NJ
Killdeer NJ
Greater Yellowlegs N (heard-only at Indian L)
Baird's Sandpiper J (small flock at the S end of South Heron L)
Franklin's Gull N (fly-over at Perkins Sunday morning), J (distant fly-by seen by
Herb at North Heron L)
Ring-billed Gull NJ
Herring Gull NJ (uncommon in SW Minn)
Rock Pigeon NJ
Eurasian Collared-Dove NJ (several sites)
Mourning Dove NJ
Great Horned Owl N (heard-only at L Bella), J (Sparks Park)
Belted Kingfisher J
Red-bellied Woodpecker J (heard-only)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker N (Indian L)
Downy Woodpecker NJ
Hairy Woodpecker NJ
Northern Flicker NJ
American Kestrel NJ
Blue Jay NJ
American Crow NJ
Horned Lark NJ
Tree Swallow J (spotted by Herb at South Heron L)
Black-capped Chickadee NJ
White-breasted Nuthatch NJ
Golden-crowned Kinglet N (heard-only in Worthington by Linda)
American Robin NJ
European Starling NJ
American Pipit N (cowering out of the wind at L Bella)
Cedar Waxwing NJ
Lapland Longspur NJ (fly-overs briefly seen/heard by some)
American Tree Sparrow NJ
Fox Sparrow N (heard-only by a few in Worthington)
Song Sparrow NJ
Dark-eyed Junco NJ
Northern Cardinal J
Red-winged Blackbird NJ
Western Meadowlark NJ
Yellow-headed Blackbird N (along the Rough-legged road)
Rusty Blackbird NJ
Common Grackle NJ
Great-tailed Grackle N (incl a female briefly seen with the male)
Brown-headed Cowbird NJ
House Finch NJ
House Sparrow NJ
* * *
Watonwan Co pre-MBW ~ April 20, 2007
Martin & Faribault Co's MBW ~ April 21-22, 2007
[Here's Craig's slightly edited summary of the recent MBW you were on. Looks like the birding was pretty interesting despite the unfavorable weather. But at least it didn't snow like it did in Colorado, which is where I was last week helping lead a VENT tour. (Hard to believe there's a place with worse April weather than Duluth!) But during the tour I saw ABA lifer #700 on April 14: the Gunnison Sage-Grouse. I'm a slow learner, I guess – it only took me 45 years of birding to get there.]
I would like to thank you all for joining me on this Minnesota Birding Weekend. We got to see some wonderful country and bird in some areas that are not birded that often. Despite lots of wind, reported at 33 mph with gusts to 45 mph on Saturday, we still managed to see a fair number of birds. Thanks especially to Judy and Wayne – it was fun to get to do some birding at Judy's house along South Silver Lake, and Wayne helped pick out some great spots to bird in Faribault County. It was interesting to find a new nesting location (Rosendale WMA in Watonwan Co) for the Great-tailed Grackle, which seems to be continuing its range expansion farther into Minnesota. The other highlight for me was the pair of Long-tailed Ducks at Pilot Grove Lake in Faribault Co, a species most often observed along the North Shore of Lake Superior, not in a small lake in southern Minnesota. The flock of Snow Geese was also a great treat, and, while they could have been closer, I think most people were able to observe the field marks on a few Ross's Geese that were mixed in with the flock. It was also fun to get to see some shorebirds, as this is one of my favorite families to study.
- Craig Mandel
Bird List (total species = 102)
• Wat = Watonwan County, April 20 (69 species)
• Mar = Martin County, April 21 (79 species)
• Far = Faribault County, April 22 (79 species)
Snow Goose - Mar (CR 118, 1.5 miles west of CR 27; was fun to watch the flock as it fed in
the field)
Ross's Goose - Mar (same location as the Snow Geese; would have helped if the birds
would have sat still and if we did not have to contend with 30-mph winds)
Canada Goose - Wat, Mar, Far
Trumpeter Swan - Far (five observed on Pilot Grove Lake)
Wood Duck - Wat, Mar, Far
Gadwall - Wat, Mar, Far
American Wigeon - Far
Mallard - Wat, Mar, Far
Blue-winged Teal - Wat, Mar, Far
Northern Shoveler - Wat, Mar, Far
Green-winged Teal - Wat, Mar, Far
Canvasback - Wat, Mar, Far
Redhead - Mar, Far
Ring-necked Duck - Wat, Mar, Far
Greater Scaup - Far (a single male in a large flock of Lesser Scaup at Pilot Grove L, but it
was only observed by a small portion of the group, as the Long-tailed Ducks got everyone
else's attention)
Lesser Scaup - Wat, Mar, Far
Long-tailed Duck - Far (some of the group even got to see them perform some head snaps
and other breeding behavior)
Bufflehead - Wat, Mar, Far
Red-breasted Merganser - Mar (we owe this sighting and many others to Linda's diligent
efforts with her spotting scope)
Ruddy Duck - Wat, Mar, Far
Ring-necked Pheasant - Wat, Mar, Far
Gray Partridge - Far (observed by Wayne on Saturday night near his house north of Blue
Earth)
Pied-billed Grebe - Wat, Mar, Far
Horned Grebe - Wat (a single bird at Case Lake was very difficult to observe)
Red-necked Grebe - Wat, Mar (this was another species observed on Case Lake, but was a
little easier for the group to see)
American White Pelican - Mar (I thought we would see a lot more of them)
Double-crested Cormorant - Mar, Far
Great Blue Heron - Wat, Mar, Far
Great Egret - Mar
Turkey Vulture - Wat, Mar, Far
Osprey - Mar (unexpected species sitting in a tree in a farm lot)
Bald Eagle - Wat (was nice to see a pair on the at a nest; looked like they may have had
some young birds in the nest already)
Northern Harrier - Far
Sharp-shinned Hawk - Mar, Far
Broad-winged Hawk - Far
Red-tailed Hawk - Wat, Mar, Far (I was surprised at how few of these were observed)
American Kestrel - Wat, Mar, Far
Virginia Rail - Wat, Far (had some great looks at Bergdahl Lake in Watonwan Co and Pilot
Grove Lake in Faribault Co)
Sora - Far (heard-only at Pilot Grove Lake)
American Coot - Wat, Mar, Far
Semipalmated Plover - Mar (nice looks at a small flock east of Ceylon)
Killdeer - Wat, Mar, Far
Greater Yellowlegs - Wat, Mar, Far
Lesser Yellowlegs - Wat, Mar, Far
Solitary Sandpiper - Far (great spotting by Janice)
Spotted Sandpiper - Mar, Far
Baird's Sandpiper - Far (very nice looks at a bird in breeding plumage)
Pectoral Sandpiper - Wat, Mar, Far (was interesting to observe how much this species can
vary in size)
Long-billed Dowitcher - Far
Wilson's Snipe - Wat, Mar, Far
Franklin's Gull - Mar, Far (was great to get a side-by-side comparison with Bonaparte's Gulls
at the flooded field south of Ceylon; it was also nice to see how pink some of the birds in
breeding plumage can get)
Bonaparte's Gull - Mar
Ring-billed Gull - Wat, Mar, Far
Forster's Tern - Far (three birds in flight over Rice Lake)
Rock Pigeon - Wat, Mar, Far
Mourning Dove - Wat, Mar, Far
Common Nighthawk - Mar (heard-only by Rick on Friday night at the Super 8 in Fairmont)
Chimney Swift - Mar (single bird at Pierce Lake and several more at Timberlane County
Park)
Belted Kingfisher - Far (seen by a few along the Blue Earth River)
Red-bellied Woodpecker - Wat, Mar, Far
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - Wat, Mar, Far
Downy Woodpecker - Wat, Mar, Far
Hairy Woodpecker - Mar, Far
Northern Flicker - Wat, Mar, Far
Eastern Phoebe - Wat, Far
Blue Jay - Wat, Mar, Far
American Crow - Wat, Mar, Far
Horned Lark - Wat, Mar, Far
Purple Martin - Wat, Mar
Tree Swallow - Wat, Mar, Far
Barn Swallow - Wat, Mar, Far
Black-capped Chickadee - Wat, Mar, Far
White-breasted Nuthatch - Wat, Mar, Far
Brown Creeper - Wat, Mar
March Wren - Wat (heard-only at Bergdahl Lake)
Golden-crowned Kinglet - Wat (several observed at the cemetery in St James)
Rudy-crowned Kinglet - Wat, Mar, Far
Eastern Bluebird - Mar
Hermit Thrush - Wat, Mar, Far
American Robin - Wat, Mar, Far
Brown Thrasher - Mar (single bird observed at Cedar Park)
European Starling - Wat, Mar, Far
American Pipit - Wat, Far (OK looks at a few at Madelia and better looks at a couple in a
flooded field NE of Blue Earth)
Orange-crowned Warbler - Mar (nice bright bird observed by a number of people at Judy's
house)
Yellow-rumped Warbler - Wat, Mar, Far
American Tree Sparrow - Wat (a single bird at Bergdahl Lake)
Chipping Sparrow - Wat, Mar, Far
Vesper Sparrow - Wat, Mar, Far
Savannah Sparrow - Wat, Mar, Far
Song Sparrow - Wat, Mar, Far
White-throated Sparrow - Wat, Mar
Dark-eyed Junco - Wat, Mar, Far
Northern Cardinal - Wat, Mar, Far
Red-winged Blackbird - Wat, Mar, Far
Western Meadowlark - Far
Yellow-headed Blackbird - Wat, Mar, Far
Common Grackle - Wat, Mar, Far
Great-tailed Grackle - Wat (was exciting to find the two pair of Great-tailed Grackles in a new
location)
Brown-headed Cowbird - Wat, Mar, Far
House Finch - Wat, Mar, Far
American Goldfinch - Wat, Mar, Far
House Sparrow - Wat, Mar, Far
* * *
NOBLES-JACKSON CO'S MBW SUMMARY / MARCH 29-30, 2008
Some of you may have seen Craig Mandel's posting about his MRVAC trip to Lac Qui Parle Co, in which he so blatantly tried to show us up with his waterfowl numbers. (Grounds for immediate dismissal, of course!)
Never mind: it was still the greatest waterfowl show I can ever remember seeing in Minnesota. Especially memorable was standing along Hwy 86 just south of I-90 on Sunday morning and watching flock after flock of geese steadily flying north under a blue sky. Even the wind was comfortably light to moderate at the time, unlike the strong, cold winds of the day before. Obviously, the conditions were favorable for so many birds to be concentrated: hardly any open water on the lakes, both where we were and farther north, left all those geese with no where else to go. My only regret was being unable to count them all; I'm sure the number of Greater White-fronted Geese especially would have set some sort of Minnesota record.
My thanks to all of you for being part of one of the best MBWs ever; and that's saying a lot, considering there have been no fewer than 268 of them as we start our 23rd season.
Bird List (total 82 species)
• N = seen in Nobles Co (76 species; mostly on March 29)
• J = seen in Jackson Co (58 species; all on March 30)
Greater White-fronted Goose NJ (tens of thousands?!)
Snow Goose NJ (tens of thousands?!)
Ross’s Goose NJ (dozens, mostly in flight)
Cackling Goose NJ (tens of thousands?!)
Canada Goose NJ (a.k.a. Honkers)
Trumpeter Swan N (pair from Iowa in that White Starling's yard; thanks for the tip,
Brian)
Wood Duck NJ
Gadwall NJ
American Wigeon N
Mallard NJ
Blue-winged Teal N (just a few early arrivals)
Northern Shoveler NJ
Northern Pintail NJ
Green-winged Teal NJ
Canvasback NJ
Redhead NJ
Ring-necked Duck NJ
Greater Scaup N (at least one female at L Okabena!)
Lesser Scaup NJ
Bufflehead NJ
Common Goldeneye NJ
Hooded Merganser NJ
Common Merganser NJ
Red-breasted Merganser NJ (uncommon migrant in SW Minn)
Ruddy Duck NJ
Gray Partridge N (pair seen twice by part of the group near Round Lake)
Ring-necked Pheasant NJ
Pied-billed Grebe NJ
Great Blue Heron J (spotted by Diane at a distant rookery)
Turkey Vulture NJ (a few early arrivals)
Bald Eagle N (only one fly-by at L Okabena)
Northern Harrier NJ
Sharp-shinned Hawk J
Cooper’s Hawk N (in courtship flight at L Okabena!)
Red-tailed Hawk NJ
American Kestrel NJ
American Coot NJ
Killdeer NJ
Greater Yellowlegs N (foolish early migrant at L Okabena)
Franklin’s Gull N (a few early migrants at L Okabena)
Ring-billed Gull NJ
Herring Gull N (a few adults at L Okabena)
Rock Pigeon NJ
Mourning Dove NJ
Great Horned Owl NJ
Red-bellied Woodpecker NJ (Hawkeye Co Park: another tip from Brian; also in
Jackson)
Downy Woodpecker NJ
Hairy Woodpecker N
Northern Flicker J (only one)
Eastern Phoebe N (another foolish migrant at L Okabena)
Northern Shrike N (near L Ocheda; also an unidentified fly-by shrike at Hawkeye Co
Park)
Blue Jay N
American Crow NJ
Horned Lark NJ
Black-capped Chickadee NJ
Red-breasted Nuthatch N (unexpected at a Worthington feeder and in Lake Bella Co Park)
White-breasted Nuthatch NJ
Brown Creeper NJ
Golden-crowned Kinglet N (Hawkeye Co Park)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet NJ
Eastern Bluebird N
American Robin NJ
European Starling NJ
Cedar Waxwing N (Hawkeye Co Park fly-bys)
American Tree Sparrow NJ
Fox Sparrow NJ (lots of these)
Song Sparrow NJ (just a few early migrants)
Lincoln’s Sparrow N (early at Lake Bella Co Park)
Swamp Sparrow N (ditto)
Dark-eyed Junco NJ
Lapland Longspur N (fly-by flock near Round Lake)
Northern Cardinal J
Red-winged Blackbird NJ
Western Meadowlark N (just a few early migrants)
Rusty Blackbird NJ (several seen and heard at many locations!)
Common Grackle NJ
Great-tailed Grackle J (two uncooperative birds along Hwy 86)
Brown-headed Cowbird J
Purple Finch N (Lake Bella Co Park)
House Finch NJ
American Goldfinch N
House Sparrow NJ