In the morning off July 4 at Salt Lake in western Lac Qui Parle County I found an interesting assortment of shorebirds and others. Along the south shore as viewed from the observation platform I found 20 Lesser Yellowlegs 5 Greater Yellowlegs 4 Short-billed Dowitchers 7 Marbled Godwits At least 3 female, one male and one juvenile Wilson's Phalarope I did not find any sandpipers Also more than 60 Franklin's Gulls some 1st summer and some Adult 20 Black Terns At least 100 Ruddy Ducks, 10 Redheads, Mallards, Shoveler, Blue-winged and Ring-necked Ducks One male Green-winged Teal At least 20 Eared Grebes Although the water level was high Salt Lake has enough sand bars and the right mix of food to attract a large variety of birds. For the next 3 hours I drove around Big Stone and LQP counties and could find few other shorebirds. Water levels in most ponds and lakes were quite high leaving little shorebird habitat. I did find many Eastern Kingbirds, one Western Kingbird, 9 Bobolinks, 8 Great Egrets, 4 Red-tailed Hawks. Only one Kestrel was found while driving 100 miles. Ken Larson at Prairie Marsh Farm
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