This early-April MBW in 2011 covered Lac Qui Parle
and other nearby counties, Traverse included.
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LAC QUI PARLE MBWeekend SUMMARY
April 8 - 9 - 10, 2011
Paul and I only wish that male Mountain Bluebird we found Sunday afternoon on the way home had been available to the whole MBW group to see, but at least Herb & Linda happened to still be in the vicinity and could share in the observation. So, we can't really add this to our official list (same goes for our Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Herb's early Forster's Tern, both seen in Morris after we adjourned), so we ended up with an even total of 100 species for the 3 days.
Among this MBW's highlights was the weather: overcast, wet at times, windy, and on the cold side for all 3 days. Remember, though, this is Minnesota in early April, so we can't whine too much. However, it was disconcerting on Sunday to be in wet and windy 40-degree weather while it reached the 70s in Minneapolis.
There were plenty of avian highlights as well, of course. A very early American Avocet was a surprise along Lac Qui Parle CR 7 on Saturday, as was that equally early Cattle Egret near Herman on Sunday. Other unexpected, earlier-than-normal finds included 2 American Bitterns in Swift Co, Friday's Swainson's Hawk in Yellow Medicine Co (plus another on Saturday in Lac Qui Parle Co), American Golden-Plovers in Lac Qui Parle Co, and Marbled Godwits in Big Stone Co.
We finally caught up to the tail-end of the goose and swan migration on Sunday in Traverse Co, which included a spectacular concentration of perhaps 5,000 Tundra Swans near Wheaton, with an estimated 3,400 of these in one flooded field. Of note as well were all those handsome, breeding-plumaged male Lapland Longspurs which posed nicely for us in Lac Qui Parle Co (even if no Smith's Longspur could be detected in the flock).
As always, thanks to all of you for coming along on this first MBW of our 26th season. It was especially nice to have Bill, Pete M, and Kurt along on their very first MBW, and, of course, we all appreciated Paul's patience (with me!) and co-leading skills (with Paul available to help out, Craig is definitely fired!).
BIRD LIST
- April 8 pre-MBW option mostly in Yellow Medicine (Y)
- April 9 in Swift (S), Big Stone (B), and Lac Qui Parle (L) = my group
- April 9 in Lac Qui Parle only (L) = Paul's group
- April 10 mostly in Grant (G) and Traverse (T) = both groups
Greater White-fronted Goose G,T
Snow Goose T
Ross's Goose T (total of 7 at 3 sites)
Cackling Goose G,T
Canada Goose
Tundra Swan G,T (~5,000 total near Wheaton!?)
Wood Duck
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail (why so few?)
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Greater Scaup S,B
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Gray Partridge T (2; Paul's group)
Ring-necked Pheasant
Wild Turkey Y only
Common Loon
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
American White Pelican
American Bittern S (2; my group)
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Cattle Egret G (spotted by Jeff near the Brant site)
Black-crowned Night-Heron G (3; Paul's group)
Turkey Vulture Y only
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Swainson's Hawk Y,L
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
American Coot
American Golden-Plover L (Paul's group)
Killdeer
American Avocet L (along CR 7)
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Marbled Godwit B,L (total of 4; my group)
Wilson's Snipe
American Woodcock L (Paul's group)
Bonaparte's Gull
Franklin's Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull B (probably on the SD side of Big Stone L)
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove Y (Hanley Falls, Canby, Burr), S (Appleton), G (Herman), and in Milan, Chippewa Co
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker only on April 8 flying over Montevideo, Chippewa Co
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
American Crow
Horned Lark
Tree Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper Y only
Winter Wren S,L (heard-only; my group)
Eastern Bluebird
Hermit Thrush Y only
American Robin
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Lapland Longspur best views in L
Snow Bunting L (Paul's group)
Yellow-rumped Warbler G (2; my group)
American Tree Sparrow why so few?
Vesper Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow L (Paul's group)
Fox Sparrow the most common sparrow in Y
Song Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco why so few?
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Rusty Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird S (female w/dark iris IDed by Jeff)
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
House Sparrow
Mountain Bluebird, Swift County, afternoon of April 10
(alas! – too late to include on this MBW's trip list)
KRE photo
