Minnesota River Valley MBWeekend
September 20 - 21 - 22, 2019
(Summary by Craig Mandel – plus minor edits by KRE)
Overall, the weather was very good with storms mostly at night that brought in lots of migrants. The first two days did have high temperatures reaching the mid-80s – but at least the leader enjoyed those two warm days! The birding highlight had to be the Common Gallinule at the Nicollet Conservation Club, but the 16 warbler species and all 5 species of vireos also made for some key moments as we encountered nice waves of these and other songbirds on all three days. In all, we were able to find a total of 112 species during this MBW.
In Le Sueur County on Friday’s pre-MBW, we observed most of our shorebirds, with both Black-bellied and American Golden-Plovers at the Cleveland sewage ponds, and the distant Red-necked Phalaropes observed on Lake Henry were new for a number of the participants. Other highlights from this county were the Merlin and Eastern Towhee at the Kasota Prairie. On Saturday, we started the day with a great wave of warblers at Seven Mile Creek County Park along with a Wood Thrush, and some also heard a Black-billed Cuckoo there. On Sunday (after finally finding a birding location that was open!), we added to our weekend list with a late Veery and a Pine Siskin, along with lots of warblers at the Minneopa Cemetery. We ended the MBW near Good Thunder with stops at their sewage ponds and a couple of parks. Again, these parks had some nice waves of warblers and vireos which we watched until the mid-afternoon rain finally sent us back to Mankato.
Bird List
• LeS = seen Sept 20 in Le Sueur County
• Nic = seen Sept 21 in Nicollet County
• BlueE = seen Sept 22 in Blue Earth County
Canada Goose LeS-Nic-BlueE
Trumpeter Swan Nic-BlueE
Wood Duck LeS-Nic-BlueE
Blue-winged Teal Nic-BlueE
Northern Shoveler LeS-Nic
Mallard LeS-Nic-BlueE
Hooded Merganser LeS
Ruddy Duck LeS-BlueE
Ring-necked Pheasant Nic-BlueE
Wild Turkey LeS-BlueE
Pied-billed Grebe LeS-Nic-BlueE
Red-necked Grebe BlueE
Rock Pigeon LeS-Nic-BlueE
Eurasian Collared-Dove Nic-BlueE
Mourning Dove LeS-Nic-BlueE
Black-billed Cuckoo Nic
Common Nighthawk LeS-Nic-BlueE
Ruby-throated Hummingbird LeS-Nic
Virginia Rail Nic
Sora Nic
Common Gallinule Nic
American Coot Nic
Sandhill Crane LeS
Black-bellied Plover LeS
American Golden Plover LeS
Killdeer LeS-Nic-BlueE
Spotted Sandpiper BlueE
Lesser Yellowlegs LeS
Red-necked Phalarope LeS
Franklin's Gull LeS-BlueE
Ring-billed Gull LeS-Nic-BlueE
Double-crested Cormorant LeS-BlueE
American White Pelican LeS-Nic-BlueE
Great Blue Heron LeS-Nic-BlueE
Great Egret LeS-Nic
Turkey Vulture LeS-Nic-BlueE
Osprey LeS-BlueE
Northern Harrier LeS-BlueE
Sharp-shinned Hawk LeS-Nic-BlueE
Cooper’s Hawk BlueE
Bald Eagle LeS-BlueE
Broad-winged Hawk LeS-Nic-BlueE
Red-tailed Hawk LeS-BlueE
Barred Owl BlueE
Belted Kingfisher LeS-Nic-BlueE
Red-bellied Woodpecker LeS-Nic-BlueE
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker LeS-BlueE
Downy Woodpecker LeS-Nic-BlueE
Hairy Woodpecker LeS-Nic-BlueE
Northern Flicker LeS-Nic-BlueE
Pileated Woodpecker Nic-BlueE
American Kestrel Nic-BlueE
Merlin LeS
Great-crested Flycatcher LeS
Eastern Wood-Pewee LeS-Nic
Eastern Phoebe LeS-Nic-BlueE
Yellow-throated Vireo LeS-Nic-BlueE
Blue-headed Vireo LeS-Nic-BlueE
Philadelphia Vireo Nic-BlueE
Warbling Vireo LeS-Nic-BlueE
Red-eyed Vireo LeS-Nic-BlueE
Blue Jay LeS-Nic-BlueE
American Crow LeS-Nic-BlueE
Horned Lark LeS
Tree Swallow LeS
Barn Swallow LeS-Nic-BlueE
Black-capped Chickadee LeS-Nic-BlueE
White-breasted Nuthatch LeS-Nic-BlueE
House Wren LeS-Nic-BlueE
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher LeS
Ruby-crowned Kinglet LeS-Nic-BlueE
Eastern Bluebird LeS-Nic-BlueE
Veery BlueE
Wood Thrush Nic
American Robin LeS-Nic-BlueE
Gray Catbird LeS-Nic-BlueE
Brown Thrasher BlueE
European Starling LeS-Nic-BlueE
Cedar Waxwing LeS-Nic-BlueE
House Sparrow Nic
House Finch LeS-Nic-BlueE
Pine Siskin BlueE
American Goldfinch LeS-Nic-BlueE
Lark Sparrow Nic
Chipping Sparrow LeS-Nic-BlueE
Field Sparrow LeS
Savannah Sparrow Nic
Song Sparrow LeS-Nic
Swamp Sparrow Nic
Eastern Towhee LeS-BlueE
Yellow-headed Blackbird Nic
Western Meadowlark LeS
Red-winged Blackbird LeS-Nic-BlueE
Common Grackle LeS-Nic-BlueE
Golden-winged Warbler Nic
Black-and-white Warbler Nic-BlueE
Tennessee Warbler Nic-BlueE
Orange-crowned Warbler LeS-BlueE
Nashville Warbler LeS-Nic-BlueE
Common Yellowthroat LeS-Nic-BlueE
American Redstart Nic
Cape May Warbler BlueE
Northern Parula Nic-BlueE
Magnolia Warbler Nic-BlueE
Bay-breasted Warbler LeS-Nic-BlueE
Blackburnian Warbler Nic-BlueE
Chestnut-sided Warbler BlueE
Yellow-rumped Warbler LeS-BlueE
Black-throated Green Warbler BlueE
Wilson's Warbler Nic
Scarlet Tanager LeS-Nic
Northern Cardinal LeS-Nic-BlueE
Rose-breasted Grosbeak LeS-Nic-BlueE