August 10 - 13, 2011 Minnesota River Valley Audubon Chapter Kandiyohi County Field Trip Report
While leading a trip to Kandiyohi county our group observed 100 species of birds. We observed some migrants, including large numbers or Swallows and Shorebirds in three locations. Here are some of the locations we birded at on the trip and a few of the birds we observed in Kandiyohi county. Shorebird locations: 1. 95 St NW, about 1.3 miles South of CR 40. This area is had lots of Killdeer, Least and Pectoral Sandpipers and a single Wilson's Snipe. 2. 120 St NW, about . 3 miles North of Highway 12. This area had Lesser Yellowlegs, Spotted, Solitary, Least and Pectoral Sandpipers, Short-billed Dowitcher, which were observed and heard calling. 3. The city of Atwater, Sewage ponds. Located a 1/2 mile South of Highway 12, along Kandi-Meeker Rd NE, which is 1 mile East of CR 2. To access the ponds you turn West into the road for the Atwater Karting Speedway. This road does have a large gate which can be closed at times. But it is only a 1/4 mile walk to the ponds, if it is closed. The ponds themselves are easily viewed from there South side. The pond on the East is drawn down and had all of the shorebirds and a large number of Franklin's Gulls. The shorebirds observed there included, Killdeer, Spotted, Solitary, Semipalmated, Least, Pectoral and Stilt Sandpipers, Lesser Yellowlegs and two Dowitcher's. Diamond Lake - A single Western Grebe and 3 Red-necked Grebes were observed from the park on the West side of the lake. Bald Eagles and an Osprey were also observed at the lake. Sibley State Park and the Prairie Woods Environmental Learning Center, were some of the better locations for us for woodland birds. Here are a few more of the species of birds our group observed: Virginia Rail Sora Sandhill Crane - A pair with two young birds were observed. Black Tern Forster's Tern Eurasian Collared-Dove - This species was observed in Swift county in the town of Kerkhoven and Kandiyohi county in the town of Atwater. Purple Martin - Many migrants were observed. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Scarlet Tanager Yellow-headed Blackbird Orchard Oriole Craig Mandel Minnetonka, Hennepin County egretc...@msn.com<mailto:egretc...@msn.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
