[mou] New banding photos

[R.D. Everhart]

Check out the new banding photos from this weekend at

http://minnesotabirdnerd.blogspot.com


Roger Everhart
Appley Valley, MN
www.ncbo.org

[mou] Migratory Stragglers

[R.D. Everhart]

Hey everyone-
   Sorry for this late report but the last few days have been very
busy birdwise.
On Friday 5/30, I had my class out doing a "mini-big day" for the
last day of class and while I was at the Black Dog Fen area (just
east of Cliff Road and 35W) looking for Bell's Vireo (which I missed)
I saw a very late Harris' Sparrow in the hedgerow just behind the
playground. Talk about surprised! I also had a Black & White Warbler
at the Minnesota River Valley NWR headquarters on the trail that goes
down the hill to the left of the center. It was in the same area as a
beautiful Scarlet Tanager.

   On Saturday Mark Newstrom and I were banding at Ritter Farm Park
in Lakeville when we netted a Northern Waterthrush and a male
Mourning Warbler. We wouldn't have expected either of those. We also
found a Black-billed Cuckoo in the old orchard area where one was
located last summer. In spite of the fact that most of the migrants
have moved on, it might pay to take one more look in your favorite
spot for the odd straggler or two.

Roger Everhart
Apple Valley, MN
http://minnesotabirdnerd.blogspot.com

[mou] Red Knots

[Alan and Karen Orr]

Three breeding plumage Red Knots were present at Park Point at 3:45 
p.m.  on the bay side near the airport. Lifers for both of us Iowans. 
Thanks to all who previously posted there observations.

Alan and Karen 

[mou] Bobolinks and more at Castle Danger settling ponds

[jtanama...@comcast.net]

Saturday afternoon my husband Steve and I spotted a pair of Bobolinks while 
visiting the Castle Danger sewage ponds in Lake County. There were also a good 
variety of other birds, too many to list. Notable were 20 or so Eastern 
Kingbirds, one American Pipit (late for this?), one Wilson's Phalarope, 3 Least 
Sandpipers, and one Spotted Sandpiper as well as a nice mix of warblers and a 
few flycatchers.

The main attraction for the birds was a new hatch of mayflies. We spoke with a 
man who worked there who told us Peregrines also hunt those ponds. Although the 
ponds themselves are off limits, he said there is no problem with viewing them 
from the fenceline. On the way out, we spotted a crow sitting on a nest on the 
cell phone tower that shares the dumpsite.

To get to the ponds, turn inland from Highway 61onto Lake County 106 (the 
Rustic Inn corner.) Proceed about 6/10 miles until you get to Bunker Hill Road. 
Make a right and drive straight back as far as you can until you see a pair of 
closed gates with a "No Trespassing, Stabilization Ponds" sign. 

Jeanne Tanamachi
Lauderdale MN

[mou] BGBY MN Spring data request

[Richard Wood]

Hi all,

I biked and birded along the Hastings Trail System, starting at my home and 
following the trail along the river and back, with stops at Lake Isabel, Bull 
Frog Pond, and C.P. Adams Park, and then home.

The highlight has to be without question the singing CERULEAN WARBLER that I 
heard at C.P. Adams Park.  At first, I thought it was just a Black-throated 
Blue, but upon consulting a SECOND field guide at home (Sibley, I use Kaufmann 
in the field) , and then relistening to ALL the warblers in iTunes, I realized 
it wasn't a Black-throated Blue, but a Cerulean instead.  The habitat there is 
perfect; it's along the river, and it's somewhat high up.  He was in the tall 
trees at the very top near the building that is across 291 from the Mn. 
Veterans Home, and on the same side of the street as the park.  I was standing 
in the tall grass looking up at the trees, which are on an embankment (there 
are stairs that go down to the river to the right of where I was; I parked my 
bike in the blocked off driveway of the building I was near) .  I even went 
back to look for him after I decided it WAS a Cerulean, but all I heard was his 
song.   He wouldn't let me see him,
 which is a "trait" of a Cerulean.

With that find, two of my nemesis birds have been eliminated in less than a 
week: Prothonotary and, now, Cerulean.  Yippee!

I only wished I could have seen this bird as I know there are going to be 
"doubters" out there.

Perhaps this is to make up for the Cerulean nesting survey I missed out on in 
Maryland last year?

 
Here's the list of what I saw while self-propelling (in no particular order):

Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Bluebird
Northern Cardinal
Gray Catbird
Black-capped Chickadee
Brown-headed Cowbird
American Crow
Mourning Dove
Bald Eagle
Great Egret
House Finch
Great Crested Flycatcher
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
American Goldfinch
Canada Goose
Common Grackle
Great Blue Heron
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Blue Jay
Killdeer
Mallard
Common Nighthawk
White-breasted Nuthatch
Baltimore Oriole
Eastern Phoebe
Rock Pigeon
American Redstart
American Robin
Chipping Sparrow
House Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Barn Swallow
Tree Swallow
Brown Thrasher
Cerulean Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Cedar Waxwing
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Downy Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
House Wren
Common Yellowthroat

The Cedar Waxwings were seen off of my deck this morning, which was mainly what 
inspired me to get my Trek out for the first time this year and ride.  It's 
really hard to get on that bike the first time; it makes me wonder how I ever 
managed to ride 45 miles in three clock hours that one time

Good birding,
Richard

Richard L. Wood, Ph. D.
Hastings, MN
rwoodphd at yahoo.com



- Original Message 
From: Frank Berdan 
To: MOU-NET 
Sent: Sunday, June 1, 2008 8:02:53 AM
Subject: [mou] BGBY MN Spring data request

The official Big Green Big Year website <http://www.sparroworks.ca/bigby.html> 
claims that 25 Minnesotans are doing a BGBY this year.

If you have started your BGBY, please reply by Wednesday, June 4.  The data 
requested below were selected to eventually indicate efficiency and 
effectiveness of the BGBY process inMN.  If you have suggestions, please reply 
also.

Starting point (City, County)
Number of species observed, Walking
Number of species observed, Self-Propelled
Number of species observed, at starting-point Feeders if included in the above
Your name (or ?Anonymous? if so preferred in the summary)

 Optional data:
Names of most productive sites visited
Your range per outing in miles and/or longest trek of the season
Best birds observed
Any estimates of # outings, miles or hours spent
Any noteworthy story(ies)

Please include your data during 1/1/08 ? 5/31/08.  

Thank you,

Frank Berdan, self-appointed MN BGBY compiler & publicist  ;)



  


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[mou] Cass County Birds

[B W]

Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrows and Yellow Rails are present and vocal at the Boy
River marsh along county road 8.  Today at Pelican Island there were approx. 15
Ruddy Turnstones, 15 Sanderlings, 1 Black-bellied Plover, and 2 White-rumped 
Sandpipers. 

Ben Wieland


Ben Wieland
www.cassbirding.blogspot.com
Deep Portage Learning Center
2197 Nature Center Dr. NW
Hackensack, MN  56452
   
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[mou] Western Kingbirds, etc, Ramsey, Anoka County

[Erika Sitz]

Around noon today we saw four Western Kingbirds on the wires along Hwy-10 in
Ramsey.  The first pair were at the NW corner of the intersection of Hwy-10
and CR56/Ramsey Blvd.  They were flying back and forth from the wire to a
tree there - we suspect there will be a nest there again.  Also there on the
river side of CR56 was a Vesper Sparrow on the fence and a male Horned Lark
by the bank driveway, great close looks at both.  My husband thinks he could
see an Osprey on the nest by the river, but too far for me to second that
motion.

Two more Kingbirds on the wires by Diamonds Bar, west of there between
Ramsey and CR83/Armstrong, apparently not bothered by the full lot for the
flea market.  Also a soaring Bald Eagle just past Armstrong.

Checked out Jarvis/165th Ave, but only an Eastern Bluebird by the Cargill
Farm.  This used to be a reliable spot for Kingbirds, along the RR tracks at
both ends of that triangle, including a nesting with four or five juvs in
2005(?), along 165th right by an informal dirt bike track.  We've not found
them the past two summers though, since Elk River  coverted that track to a
manicured field of some sort.  They could be gone, or maybe have moved away
from the road down the tracks by the farm.

Thanks, Steve, for the time-to-check-out-Hwy-10 post.

Erika Sitz
Ramsey, north Anoka County
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[mou] Douglas County birds Friday

[jellisb...@aol.com]

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[mou] Kentucky Warbler, Louisville Swamp, MN Valley NWR, Sat. Afternoon

[Holly Peirson]

Sorry for late post: I re-found the Kentucky Warbler Saturday PM, on the
advice of Al, the original finder, and also some very helpful folks on the
trail. I hope Ben, the next person along, was able to see it, too!  It was
singing loudly and very often, 1:15-2:00 PM. As I came close to the place
where folks had said it would be, I wondered how I would know if I was
hearing it. 

 

I began to hear a very loud and 'perky,' a two-noted tuwee, tuwee, tuweee
song. At one point I may even have heard 2, so wonder if the female also
sings at times. The B. Oriole nearby would often sing in tandem. The
Kentucky's musical whistle seems very similar to the short burbling notes of
the oriole. After I found it, it sat quite still when not singing. I was
able to find it about 25 ft up on a horizontal branch. It threw its head
back and sang with all its might, so look for small movements in the brush
as it sings (frequently, probably average of 6x a minute.) I know of no
other bird that lives in SE Minn. that makes a loud, consistent song of this
nature.

 

Since I had talked to some folks who had just heard it, I waited for quite a
while since it seemed to be maybe less than 50 ft into the brush. I was
rewarded for the wait! I noticed a bird flying by at about waist level, then
it flew up and perched at about 10ft. I could not find it there, but then it
sang from what seemed higher. I was thinking about how many of the forest
floor skulkers seem to be "ventriloquists" (can shoot their voices out so
seem to be coming from higher), but was finally able to find it at about
20-25 ft. 

 

>From the parking lot for Louisville Swamp section of MN Valley NWR (good
location for bird of this name.), go out on path to Right. It's billed as a
horse path, looks like a jeep rd. Continue on this until you reach a split,
take the left path. About 150 ft further, the path begins a trend downhill
and becomes quite rocky, more like a path than a road. Continue for another
50-75 yards. There are no distinguishing trees or markings, but you will
soon begin to hear the bird singing if it's there. Postings have shown that
it sings most of the day, at least until it finds a mate and begins the
nesting cycle.

 

Thank you to all who have posted this bird. I hope this post helps someone
else see it. This was my first "lifer" in MN for some time. I wouldn't
normally have spent my ($3.92) gas money to go see it from where I live near
Forest Lake, but I had just been on an AM field trip to Murphy-Hanrehan with
Saint Paul Audubon Society.

 

Holly Peirson

Columbus, Anoka Co.

 

Wear bug juice if you want to wait for a while to try to see it, otherwise
unless you are immune, you'll want to be content with hearing it!

 

Other birds in the area:

Brown Thrasher, Orchard and Baltimore Oriole, Yellow Warbler, Am. Redstart,
Co. Yellowthroat, Blue-winged Warbler, H. Wren, Eastern Towhee, Field and
Song Sparrow, Red-eyed, Yellow-throated, and Blue-headed Vireo, Am.
Goldfinch, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Hairy, Downy, Red-bellied, and
Pileated Woodpecker, No. Flicker, Am. Robin, Ea. Bluebird, Pheasant, Ea.
Wood Pewee, Alder and Great-crested Flycatcher, Tree and Barn Swallows,
Black and Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Chickadee, Wh-breasted Nuthatch, Blue Jay,
Crow, Turkey Vulture.

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[mou] Lark Sparrow

[Diana Rankin]

We have a lark sparrow at our feeders this morning. Sibley describes 
it as rare in MN. Is that correct?

Diana Rankin
Pomroy Township, Kanabec County

[mou] Duluth yesterday

[Pastor Al Schirmacher]

Nathan & I birded Duluth (primarily Park Point), 61 (primarily Stoney Point) 
& Two Harbors yesterday:

Red Knot (not in breeding plumage, so different bird than the photos - near 
the point of the airport beach) - Northern Mockingbird (bushes near ball 
field) - numerous Sanderlings (75+) & Ruddy Turnstones (25+) - American 
Golden Plovers & and single Black-bellied - nice mix of warblers.

Nathan may have heard our other target bird - Whimbrel - at the wayside a 
couple miles north of Two Harbors - never could visually locate it, however.

Good birding to all!

Al Schirmacher
Princeton, MN
Mille Lacs & Sherburne Counties 

[mou] BGBY MN Spring data request

[Frank Berdan]

The official Big Green Big Year website  
claims that 25 Minnesotans are doing a BGBY this year.

If you have started your BGBY, please reply by Wednesday, June 4.  The data 
requested below were selected to eventually indicate efficiency and 
effectiveness of the BGBY process inMN.  If you have suggestions, please reply 
also.

Starting point (City, County)
Number of species observed, Walking
Number of species observed, Self-Propelled
Number of species observed, at starting-point Feeders if included in the above
Your name (or ?Anonymous? if so preferred in the summary)

 Optional data:
Names of most productive sites visited
Your range per outing in miles and/or longest trek of the season
Best birds observed
Any estimates of # outings, miles or hours spent
Any noteworthy story(ies)

Please include your data during 1/1/08 ? 5/31/08.  

Thank you,

Frank Berdan, self-appointed MN BGBY compiler & publicist  ;)