Black-throated Blue Warbler Connecticut Warbler Cerulean Warbler Philadelphia Vireo Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
On a beautiful sunny Sunday MRVAC sponsored a field trip to Miesville Ravine Park in south east Dakota County. This Dakota County park actually spills across the road into Goodhue county. While the conditions were delightful for a walk in the woods, the wind made birding difficult. I don't think I have ever been on a field trip where so many birds were missed by the bulk of the people. We ended finding 58 species including 14 species of warblers. While several uncommon birds were found, some common birds were not found and some were found in surprisingly low numbers. The fourteen species of Warblers included a Black-throated Blue Warbler seen on the road probably picking grit, a Cerulean Warbler up near the meadow close to where we had found a couple of them in June, and a killer Blackburnian male in full sunrise splender in the top of a tree. A few of us had the best look at a Connecticut Warbler that I have ever found, when it came out to check us out at about 15 feet close to the raging Canon River. The most common warbler was the Black and White. Whenever we found warblers we found one or two of them. Next most common were probably Redstarts and then Canada Warblers. We found only one Nashville Warbler and no Tennesees. We had all of the likely Vireos including a Philadelphia that was seen by all. Red-eyes were one of the most common birds of the day and most got great looks at Yellowthroated. We also found most of the flycatchers including a Yellow-bellied. A couple of Trails flycatchers were silent and not divisible into specie. We had a Red-breasted Nuthatch not in its preferred habitat of conifers, but in the deciduous woods. Lastly we had flushed a Ruffed Grouse. What didn't we find? We found almost no sparrows, only a single pair of Song Sparrows. I expected them to be all over the place. Hummingbirds were found all through the park with no concentration in the Jewelweeds at the meadow. The flowers were plentiful, but the hummers were sparce. Most trips I find cuckoos here, but not on this trip. Non-birds: Painted Lady, Monarch, and some blue butterflies. There weren't many butterflies. There were many interesting insects including a walking stick and a shield bug feeding on a cut worm. We had several people interested in plants and found fruiting Jack-in-the-Pulpit and Trillium, as well as Fancy Orchis orchids. Mushrooms were plentiful and included a couple of large Puffballs smashed on the trail, an incrdible coral mushroom, and a blue-staining bollette. The bollette had bright yellow flesh that turned within seconds to bright blue when exposed to air. Neat! Steve Weston on Quiggley Lake in Eagan, MN sweston2 at comcast.net
