I had a nice bike ride Sat. and Sun. into Richfield and Bloomington from Minneapolis, birding along the way. On Saturday I saw 41 species that included G.H. Owl at Roberts Bird Sanctuary and C. Loon and R.B. Merganser on Lake Calhoun along with a B.C. Night-Heron at Veterans Memorial Park in Richfield.
Sunday birding was even better along with the weather. I saw 71 Species. Here are a few of the highlights: Warblers: A. Redstart Orange-crowned Warbler Blackpoll Warbler C. Yellowthroat Yellow Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Ovenbird N. Waterthroat Nashville Warbler I think I also saw a Louisiana Waterthrush. It was tail-wagging was more deliberate and in a circular motion, not bobbing. It also had a longer and wider supercilium and had a very white face but I didn't have a good enough view to confirm the sighting. I also saw some great sparrows including Lincoln's, white-crowned, swamp, song, white-throated, chipping and the highlight of my day..... There was a Le Conte's Sparrow that was skulking near the trail just to the west of the parking lot in the cattails on the south side of the trail. The bird ended up popping up and giving me gangbuster views for at least 2 minutes! I was able to see the fine streaking that extended all the way through the flanks and into the undertail coverts. It turned its head multiple times giving me views of the white median crown stripe. The neck was a grayish purple with distinct streaking. What was really impressive was the beautiful orange coloration on the face and edges of the breast. Not only was this sparrow a lifer but it was the 400th bird on my North American life list. It took me almost 3 1/2 years to get to this plateau! Good birding- enjoy the migration! Jason Caddy Minneapolis j.ca...@hotmail.com _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail® goes with you. http://windowslive.com/Tutorial/Hotmail/Mobile?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_HM_Tutorial_Mobile1_052009 ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
