These Polk County MBWs do not include Mahnomen Co.,
but the species in these counties are similar.
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POLK COUNTY MBW SUMMARY – MAY 5 - 6, 2012
While many migrant passerines hadn't quite arrived this far north, as evidenced by only 5 warbler species and perhaps only 25-30 total individuals seen, we still had a decent enough mix of birds to come up with a surprising total of 129 species. One thing in our favor was the weather, as we had virtually no wind both days (hard to do out on the prairie), moderate temperatures mostly in the 60s, and none of the precipitation which was hitting many areas south of us.
One of our highlights involved all the shorebirds we found, with 15 species in all being as respectable number for early May. (Or make it 16 species if you include those curious prairie-chickens dancing on the mudflats along Hwy 2!) It would have been nice to turn up some golden-plovers, avocets, Hudsonian Godwits, or Red-necked Phalaropes somewhere, but a Willet is not something you find among most shorebird flocks, and we certainly found plenty of Lesser Yellowlegs, Marbled Godwits, and Wilson's Phalaropes. Curiously, though, the extensive mudflats at the Crookston sewage ponds were practically empty except for Lesser Yellowlegs, and it was equally odd to find the gates open so that I never had a chance to use my coveted gate key.
It was fortunate that so many of you had the time to bird around Fertile on Sunday, since we turned up lots of additions to our list there, including those pioneering collared-doves, that responsive Barred Owl, and a singing Lark Sparrow. Other weekend highlights included all the Tundra Swans and Franklin's Gulls congregating at that Hwy 2 wetland, a late Rough-legged Hawk, the Harris's Sparrow perched atop car #3, and eventually some nice scope views of a singing Le Conte's Sparrow. Even the avid county listers were successful (and I even managed 3 new Polk Co birds).
As always I thank you all for coming, especially Gary who was on his first MBW (and I'm sure he's already hard at work on his sewage ponds life list). I also thank Jason (sorry, I don't know his last name) who provided me with a timely tip on those productive wetlands off Hwy 2.
BIRD LIST (129 species, all in Polk County)
F = only seen/heard near Fertile on Sunday
Canadian Honker
White Starling (a.k.a. Trumpeter Swan; 2 pairs at Badger Lake)
Tundra Swan (great sights and sounds, especially along Hwy 2)
Wood Duck
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Greater Scaup (pair at Erskine sewage ponds)
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Ruffed Grouse (F; heard-only at 2 spots)
Sharp-tailed Grouse (only 1 fly-by)
Greater Prairie-Chicken (best display on the mudflats!)
Common Loon
Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Western Grebe (Burnham Creek WMA)
American White Pelican
American Bittern (seen twice)
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron (Crookston sewage ponds)
Turkey Vulture
Bald Eagle (incl 2 babies in a nest – aw!)
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk (F)
Cooper's Hawk (F)
Broad-winged Hawk (F)
Red-tailed Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk (a bit late; spotted by those in Roy's vehicle)
American Kestrel
Sora (heard-only)
American Coot
Sandhill Crane (several pairs and family groups)
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs (only 1?)
Willet (nice spotting, Pete)
Lesser Yellowlegs (too many?)
Upland Sandpiper
Marbled Godwit (lots, but no Hudsonians)
Least Sandpiper
White-rumped Sandpiper (well, I still say there were 2 there)
Pectoral Sandpiper
Dunlin
dowitcher, sp. (either species possible in early May)
Wilson's Snipe
Wilson's Phalarope (lots, but no Red-neckeds)
Bonaparte's Gull
Franklin's Gull (lots of them seen especially well at the Hwy 2 wetland)
Ring-billed Gull
Caspian Tern
Forster's Tern
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove (F)
Mourning Dove
Great Horned Owl (on a nest)
Barred Owl (F; seen nicely at midday)
Belted Kingfisher (F)
Red-bellied Woodpecker (uncommon/rare in NW Minn)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Phoebe
Eastern Kingbird (F)
Yellow-throated Vireo (F)
Blue-headed Vireo
Blue Jay
Black-billed Magpie
American Crow
Common Raven
Horned Lark
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow (F)
Bank Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
House Wren (F)
Sedge Wren
Marsh Wren (all 3 wrens heard-only)
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
American Pipit (good looks in the pasture along Hwy 32)
Cedar Waxwing
Northern Waterthrush (heard-only)
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Palm Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Chipping Sparrow
Clay-colored Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Lark Sparrow (F)
Savannah Sparrow
Grasshopper Sparrow
Le Conte's Sparrow (many heard and 1 seen well – nice spotting, Ann)
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Harris's Sparrow (now we know what car-top carriers are for!)
White-crowned Sparrow
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (F)
Bobolink
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Baltimore Oriole
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
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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!
BIRD LIST (MBW Total = 117 species)
N = April 25 in Norman Co. (91 species)
P = April 26-27 in Polk Co. (98 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
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