Hi all,
I spent a couple hours this morning at the Minnesota Valley NWR
visitor's center area (off State Hwy 5 near the MSP airport). It was
hopping with birds, and I found a really nice diversity of migrants,
especially sparrows and warblers. This was all in the area around the
parking lot and on the trails that go down the hill from the visitor's
center. Highlights:
- 15 species of warblers, including Blackburnian, Parula,
Black-throated Green, Blackpoll, Chestnut-sided, Redstart, Tennessee,
Ovenbird, Orange-crowned, Nashville (many), Black-and-white, Yellow, and
Palm (many).
- Swainson's and Gray-cheeked Thrush
- tons of sparrows feeding in recently-burned areas near the parking
lot, with a couple Lincoln's, a couple Clay-colored, and a large flock
of Zonotrichias that included about 5 White-crowned and 1 Harris's
Sparrow. There was some hefty restoration work going on when I left, so
there might now be a lot less cover at the edges of this habitat than
there was this morning.
Very few vireos so far this year. I've seen one Blue-headed, and that's
it. Migration seems to be coming very late, but it is really picking up.
Good birding,
Matt Dufort
Minneapolis
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