Gary Swanson and I found the 11 Ibis yesterday morning on the east side of 75.
Sent from my iPhone > On Apr 25, 2018, at 9:22 PM, Jason Frank <jmfran...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Setting out early this morning, the major lakes and sloughs are still > mostly covered in ice. Edges tend to be open, but due to the recent > snows, there are no mudflats for shorebirds. As was anticipated, the > best sites will be flooded fields. And there are plenty. > > Snow is pretty much gone. Montevideo was expected to flood, but as of > this afternoon, it has not, and the water is receding. > > Many low-lying township (dirt) roads in the territory are closed and > flooded, particularly those north of 212 along tributaries of the LqP > River. This includes Lac qui Parle County Park, and the Lower > Campground of Lac qui Parle State Park. Salt Lake itself is still > about 80% ice-covered, with few birds there this afternoon. We can't > access it from the north. > > I would expect the ice to start breaking apart on Saturday. > > There was a lot less snow in the northern territory, so roads aren't > so bad any more. 4 wheel drive should not be needed for the most part. > > In the southern part of our range, Sioux Nation WMA is still iced, and > the roads leading to it from the north are flooded over. > > I met Ron Erpeldging at Plover Prairie this morning to search for > Sharp-Tailed Grouse, but we found none. There were plenty of Snipe, > Yellow-Rumped Warblers, Ruby-Crowned Kinglets, Song Sparrows, and... > best of all... several pairs of MARBLED GODWITS flying and calling > between Plover Prairie extending eastward in the wet, short pastures > towards Louisburg. We noted a conspicuous lack of Green-Winged Teals, > though otherwise, the Usual Duckspects are here in abundance. It will > be a crap-shoot to guess which flooded fields they'll be frequenting > by Saturday. > > Haydenville WMA was full of waterfowl this morning, but the mud > islands are gone. It will be best viewed in the evening, as viewing it > in the morning means looking straight into a low-angled sun. > > Tree Swallows and Yellow Headed Blackbirds are back. Chorus and > Leopard Frogs are calling. There was 1 Rough-Legged Hawk soaring over > Plover Prairie, one of two I saw today. Cooper's and Sharp-Shinned > Hawks are here. I spotted 5 Merlins in central Lac qui Parle County. > Great Egrets, American Bitterns, Bonaparte's Gulls, and Trumpeter > Swans are also in the area. Lots of Flickers. Bald Eagles are on nests > around the territory. > > I did not relocate the White Faced Ibises previously reported by > Daniel Orr and Ken Larson, at 470th south of Hwy 7, at the edge of Lac > qui Parle WMA west of Correll. > > I spoke to Garrett Wee this afternoon, and he said that Miedd Lake and > Cottonwood Lake have high water with no shoreline; there are no > shorebirds of note in the southern part of our range, but he did find > a Long-Eared Owl at Miedd Lake earlier this week. > > The dam at the south end of Lac qui Parle Refuge/State Park was > conspicuously devoid of waterfowl at Noon today, though there were > quite a few Pelicans. > > Christine Kleven at the Lac qui Parle SP Visitor Center told me this > afternoon that a female EVENING GROSBEAK is still showing up > sporadically at the feeders there; she has a habit of appearing around > 9:30 AM and again around 11:30 AM. I was pleasantly surprised to learn > this, and glad I stopped in! This is one wayward Grosbeak! Christine > has a picture of it, from this week. > > Common Redpolls and Juncos are still around in western Yellow Medicine > County, near the Gary SD border. The latest I've ever seen! > > Eastern Bluebirds are here. Woodcocks are PEENTING tonight in western > Yellow Medicine County. > > -- > Jason M. Frank > Founder and Vice President, > Luddite Ornithologists League (LOL) > > jmfran...@gmail.com > From the Lovely Land of Lac qui Parle > https://turnstonecreations.smugmug.com/ > > Sent from my invisible blue Homing Pigeon > > ---- > Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net > Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
