I decided to bird the McGregor marsh very early this morning and bird Aitkin County for some time in the morning. I observed 100 species by 11 am. Here are a few highlights:
Nelson's Sparrow - 1 bird singing on the west side of Hwy 65, between .1 & .2 mile S of 210 around 4 am; it was far off the road and tough to hear and I found no other individuals between 210 and the Soo Line Yellow Rail - I heard several on the E side of the road in the same general stretch as the Nelson's Sparrow Upland Sandpiper - 1 individual foraging on the ground near the runway at the Aitkin airport, not very easy to spot at the time White-rumped and Semipalmated Sandpipers, Semipalmated Plover - pretty good numbers of White-rumpeds and a few of the others along CR 15 at the second flooded field you come to after leaving Aitkin; the first field had a few peeps that were out of range (for me, at least) Greater Yellowlegs - 1 late individual at the previously reported wet fields on CR 1...the only shorebird I found along CR 1 Barred Owl fledgling - on the main entrance road (literally sitting on the road) at Rice Lake NWR around 5:30 am Notably not found: LeConte's Sparrow was one of my targets for the morning, but I never heard or saw a single individual despite trying nearly every pasture and sedge meadow of significant size I encountered. I have no idea whether they are not present or whether they just were not singing, but I thought the species would be easier to find. I did not attempt to lure one in with a recording. -- Shawn Conrad www.itascacnfbirding.com ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html