Lyon - Lincoln - Yellow Medicine MBW Summary

April 23 - 24 - 25, 2021

Jay Vancura photo



Our first MBW of the 36th season – and our first “regular” MBW since January 2020 (i.e., car-pooled with 15 participants and 1 leader). This was also the first time since February 2020 that I’ve stayed overnight anywhere other than home.


But it was reassuring how little had changed ... all but two of you MBW veterans from previous years ... unpleasant weather typical of so many MBWs (too windy, wet/snowy, and cold) ... a group dinner (at an Eye-Talian restaurant, of course) ... obsessive county listers ... my obsession with sewage ponds ... our familiar MBW idioms (e.g., flip-around) ... chronic radio/battery problems ... and it was refreshing to finally get back to the prairie where I’ve always felt most at home.


There were even lots of birds to look at, especially the nice variety of ducks, grebes, shorebirds, and other water birds. Most interesting of these were the flocks of Greater White-fronted Geese overhead on Sunday (wondering which way to fly to avoid the impending snow and wind), and the godwits and other shorebirds we studied at drawn-down Curtis Lake as the weather closed in. Somehow, two of the Hudsonians looked amazingly like dowitchers.


But the most interesting find of the MBW was a land bird, as that handsome and relatively rare dark-morph Broad-winged Hawk circled low overhead at Hole in the Mountain County Park. Intriguing as well were the 3 Merlins spotted on Friday afternoon in and near Coon Creek WMA. And certainly our Saturday morning stop at the good ol’ ADMSMSUELA was productive, with a pair of Red-breasted Nuthatches apparently nesting well south of their normal range, plus our only Cooper’s Hawk, Red-bellied and Downy woodpeckers, Eastern Phoebe, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Orange-crowned and Yellow-rumped warblers of the MBW.


As always, I thank you all for coming and getting MBWs back on track for another year after an incomplete 2020 season. Thanks especially to Steve and Janet who were on their very first MBW, and they just registered for the Deep Portage MBW on Memorial Day Weekend. I’ll see some of you there and/or in Ortonville in two weekends.  –Kim



Bird List (103 species)


- Ly = Lyon County (mostly Friday; SAT or SUN indicates only seen Saturday or Sunday)

- Li = Lincoln County (Saturday)

- YM = Yellow Medicine (Sunday)


Snow Goose          Li

Greater White-fronted Goose          Ly (SUN), Li, YM

Canada Goose          Ly, Li, YM

Trumpeter Swan          YM

Wood Duck          Ly, Li, YM

Blue-winged Teal          Ly, Li, YM

Northern Shoveler          Ly, Li, YM

Gadwall          Ly, Li, YM

American Wigeon          Ly, Li, YM

Mallard          Ly, Li, YM

Northern Pintail          Ly, YM

Green-winged Teal          Ly, Li, YM

Canvasback          Ly, Li, YM

Redhead          Ly, Li, YM

Ring-necked Duck          Ly, Li, YM

Lesser Scaup          Ly, Li, YM

Bufflehead          Ly, Li, YM

Hooded Merganser          Ly, Li, YM

Common Merganser          Ly, Li, YM

Red-breasted Merganser          Li, YM

Ruddy Duck          Ly, Li, YM

Ring-necked Pheasant          Ly, Li, YM

Pied-billed Grebe          Ly, Li, YM

Horned Grebe          Ly, Li, YM

Red-necked Grebe          Ly, Li

Eared Grebe          Li

Rock Pigeon          Ly, Li, YM

Eurasian Collared-Dove          Ly, Li

Mourning Dove          Ly, Li, YM

American Coot          Ly, Li, YM

American Golden-Plover          Ly, Li

Killdeer          Ly, Li, YM

Semipalmated Plover          YM

Hudsonian Godwit          YM

Marbled Godwit          YM

Dunlin          Ly, YM

Baird’s Sandpiper          Li, YM

Least Sandpiper          Ly (SUN), Li, YM

Pectoral Sandpiper          Ly, Li, YM

dowitcher, sp.          Ly

Wilson’s Snipe          Ly, YM

Lesser Yellowlegs          Ly, Li, YM

Greater Yellowlegs          Ly, Li

Bonaparte’s Gull          Ly, Li

Franklin’s Gull          Ly, Li

Ring-billed Gull          Ly, Li, YM

Herring Gull          Ly

Forster’s Tern          Ly

Common Loon          Ly, Li

Double-crested Cormorant          Ly, Li, YM

American White Pelican          Ly, Li, YM

Great Blue Heron          Ly, Li, YM

Great Egret          Ly (SAT), Li, YM

Turkey Vulture          Ly (SAT), Li

Northern Harrier          Ly, Li, YM

Sharp-shinned Hawk          Li

Cooper’s Hawk          Ly (SAT)

Bald Eagle          Ly, Li, YM

Broad-winged Hawk          Li

Red-tailed Hawk          Ly, Li, YM

Great Horned Owl          YM

Belted Kingfisher          Ly, Li, YM

Red-bellied Woodpecker          Ly (SAT)

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker          Li

Downy Woodpecker          Ly (SAT)

Northern Flicker          Ly, Li, YM

American Kestrel          Ly (SUN), Li, YM

Merlin          Ly

Eastern Phoebe          Ly (SAT)

Blue Jay          Ly, Li

American Crow          Ly, Li, YM

Horned Lark          Ly, Li, YM

Tree Swallow          Ly, Li, YM

Purple Martin          Li

Barn Swallow          Li, YM

Black-capped Chickadee          Ly (SAT), Li, YM

Red-breasted Nuthatch          Ly (SAT)

White-breasted Nuthatch          Ly (SAT,SUN), Li

Ruby-crowned Kinglet          Ly (SAT), Li

Hermit Thrush          Ly (SAT)

American Robin          Ly, Li, YM

European Starling          Ly, Li, YM

House Sparrow          Ly, Li, YM

American Pipit          Li

House Finch          Ly, Li, YM

Pine Siskin          Li

American Goldfinch          Li

Lapland Longspur          Li

Chipping Sparrow          Ly

Field Sparrow          Li

Dark-eyed Junco          Ly

White-throated Sparrow          Ly

Vesper Sparrow          Li

Song Sparrow          Ly, Li, YM

Yellow-headed Blackbird          Ly, Li, YM

Western Meadowlark          Ly, Li, YM

Red-winged Blackbird          Ly, Li, YM

Brown-headed Cowbird          Ly (SUN), Li, YM

Rusty Blackbird          Ly (SUN), YM

Common Grackle          Ly, Li, YM

Orange-crowned Warbler          Ly (SAT)

Yellow-rumped Warbler          Ly (SAT)

Northern Cardinal          Ly