I went down to Le Sueur County last night (5/15) out of curiousity because I
don't seem to hear many reports from this county and wanted to see what was
migrating through. Most of my birding was in the vacinity to the near east and
south of the city of Le Sueur. I was only out for a little over 2 hours before
sunset and saw 52 species. I was surprised to only find 2 species of warbler
and no vireos considering these species had been active in other areas I have
birded lately. The highlight was the sparrows. I had 8 species including:
White-crowned Sparrow- 3 nice adults
Vesper Sparrow- singing like crazy at a couple of locations
Clay-colored Sparrow
Field Sparrow- many
Lark Sparrows- many seen at C.R. 26 east of Le Sueur, C.R. 115 to the south and
C.R. 36 (4 total locations and approx. 20 total birds)
I have now birded for 5 years in Minnesota and have been keeping county lists
for the last 3 and am surprised that I have seen the Lark Sparrow now in the
following counties:
Sherburne
Goodhue
Wabasha
Blue Earth
Nicollet
Cottonwood
Le Sueur
I also thought I just saw one or more in Dakota County this last Saturday but
could not relocate the bird that had flown in a farm field. If anyone has a tip
for this species in Dakota county I would appreciate it.
When you look on the range maps in the Sibley, Kaufman and the large National
Geographic guide, it does not show Lark Sparrows in Minnesota except for the
far S.E. of the state. I know that bird ranges are complex but this seems to be
a consistant ommision of a bird that is readily found in the state.
By contrast I have only seen a Red-headed Woodpecker in Aitkin County while in
the Kaufman Guide it actually shows them as "common" throughout the southern
half of the state. I know they exist there but I can hardly imagine anyone
calling Red-headed Woodpeckers common in Minnesota but maybe they used to be.
Kaufman also shows Barn Owls in the far southern portion of the state.
Other birds seen yesterday were massive flocks at dusk of Cliff and Bank
Swallows along with 3 other species of swallow. Also a Common Nighthawk,
Gray-cheeked Thrush, Spotted Sandpiper, and Horned Lark.
Good Birding,
Jason Caddy
Minneapolis
j.ca...@hotmail.com
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