Linda Whyte, Jed (forgot last name), Tom (expert birder from Mankato, forgot last name), and I found two male Kentucky Warblers at Williams Nature Center just south of Mankato. The first male silently came towards us, crossed the trail at about 1:30pm, and sang hesitantly. He disappeared into the undergrowth. A minute later, on the other side of the trail, another male started singing. We checked again about 45 minutes later, and we were only able to find the second male. Both the birds gave us excellent views. My theory is that the other "newbie" male moved onwards to another territory within the state park, in order to not encroach on this 8-year-old guy's territory. Can't blame him.
We tried for the Blue Grosbeak in Nicollet County. We DID see a distant bird that could have been him, but he flew off and we were unable to locate him. Lark Sparrows were abundant here (~6.) Other highlights included 2 pairs of Black-billed Cuckoo (Williams), Wood Thrush (Williams), and an amazingly bold American Bittern (near Swan Lake). Tom found an Upland Sandpiper in the parking lot at the Kasota Prairie yesterday (Le Seur County, I believe.) He also said he's found American Golden and Black-bellied Plovers recently at Swan Lake. We didn't have time to check either today. We also met up with a family who found an abandoned Eastern Screech owlet just south of Mankato. A Raptor Center lady brought it back to the rehibilitation center in St. Paul. So there's some confirmed nesting... Good birding! Alyssa DeRubeis Golden Valley, Hennepin Co. ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
