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
