Re: [mou-net] possible Laughing Gull, Houston County LONG
Thanks to Peder for getting the earlier message out. Hopefully the advance notice of our message tonight will allow some of you the opportunity to try and look for this bird. The best time is not until midday as you will be looking generally east and the sun will be a problem early in the day. You will need a scope. We are well aware how hard it is to differentiate subadult Franklin's and Laughing gulls. In fact it may not be possible without a better (and closer look) than we had today. Nevertheless, we believe that this is probably a Laughing Gull because of several factors. All these points refer to a standing and preening gull. We were never able to see it in flight. The dark gray back clearly points to one of these two species. Black-headed Gull, while having a darker head, is eliminated because of its' lighter back color. Some of the coverts and tertials appeard to have substantial remnants of juvenile or first winter plumage. This generally brown plumage is present in this area in a first winter Franklin's Gull or a first summer Laughing Gull according to Olson and Larsson (Gulls of North America, Europe, and Asia.) This is August so a first winter plumage would have to be really severely retarded by nearly six months or so and we don't believe that this is realistic. We should add that when we first saw this bird we suspected Laughing Gull because we have never seen a Franklin's that looked like this anywhere near this time of year. It just didn't look right for a Franklin's at all. The tips of the tertials appeared to display no white edging. Franklin's Gulls tend to show some very minimal white as early as first winter and in first summer they show extensive white edging to the tertials. Laughing Gulls tend to not show white edging to the tertials until the second winter phase. In first summer and first winter white edging is very minimal. Even accounting for the distance that we were viewing this bird, we believe that we would have been able to see white edging if it was more than very minimal. By the way we were viewing this bird with the bright sun behind us (occasionally behind light clouds) and with enough of a breeze that we experienced no heat waves through our 50 power scopes. The folded wing tips did not show any white spotting. Franklin's Gulls shows white spotting (from the wing tips) as early as first summer while Laughing Gull does not show much white spotting till the adult plumage. One of us got a good long look at the top of a raised wing (while the bird was preening) and no white was evident between the black tips and the dark gray top area of the wing. David Sibley in his guide (the only one we had with us at the time) shows some white in this raised wing area as early as first summer for Franklin's and basically never in Laughing Gull. From looking at the Sibley Guide today, and Olson and Larsson tonight, it appears that the bottom of the wing is somewhat diagnostic in differentiating these two species. As I said we were unable to see this bird in flight. One of us got a short look at the bottom of one wing while it was preeening and felt that the wing showed a lot of darkness as compared to what you would see in a Franklin's Gull. Franklin's tend to be very white in the underwing area except for the black tip while Laughing tends to show more extensive dark areas. Clearly we probably did not get a good enough look at this underwing area. Laughing Gull has a longer bill than a Franklin's Gull. We were not able to tell anything with the distant study we had of this bird. With no comparison the length seemed to be of no help to us in figuring this out. The bird did not have the typical dark head of these species in adult plumage but it did show extensive shading of black throughout the head. Generally summer subadult Franklin's have their black primarily on the back half of the head. Laughing tends to have black in more extensive areas of the head although not the deep black of adults. We definitely felt this favored Laughing Gull. Similar to this is the fact that Franklin's Gull from first winter on shows a very clean white neck, chest, and side of chest while Laughing Gull shows some smudging in these areas. Depending on which book you look at you get a different idea of how much smudging is on the Laughing Gull but both books show this very clearly until they reach adult plumage. The bird today had smudging on the neck and the sides of the chest. It didn't appear to have much in the center of the chest but it was very clearly on the sides and neck. We should add that we looked at this bird for well over and hour and a half, during which time the bird did little except walk around along the edge of one of the islands that the gulls were on. When we looked away for a short time one of the numerous eagles or the locally persistent Peregrine Falcon flew low over the
[mou-net] Alder Flylcatcher -MVNWR
AT 8:30 this morning two calling Alder Flycatchers were on the boardwalk out to the observation deck at the Old Cedar Avenue Bridge. Occasionally you can hear their “PIP” call note. Also in the area are two Cooper’s Hawk that must be just out of the nest flying around and calling to the adults. Barred Owl and Great Horned Owl have been calling since February. Bruce Baer Bloomington, MN Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
Re: [mou-net] Chimney Swift Sit - 2010
Chimney Swift Question I am going out tonight to do the chimney swift sit and the weather report looks daunting. Can we still collect data in heavy rain? Thanks, Amy On Jul 26 2010, Claudia Egelhoff wrote: Once again it is time for the Chimney Swift Sit here in Minnesota. The two designated counting periods are August 6-9 and August 27-30. Use the next two weeks to scout sites being used by roosting swifts and you will be ready to go the first weekend in August. The Chimney Swift Sit involves finding chimneys/smokestacks/towers being used by swifts and then counting/estimating the number that go in to roost any night/s during that time period. Sunset the first weekend is right at 8:30pm. Try to be at your site from about 8:20 pm until dark. This will maximize the opportunities to watch and count/estimate the number of swifts. Go to http://mn.audubon.org to download the participation form. You can report swifts seen one or more days during the two periods, August 6-9 and August 27-30. For questions, contact Ron Windingstad Audubon Minnesota 2357 Ventura Drive, Suite 106 St. Paul, MN 55125 Tel: 651-739-9332 ext 14 Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
[mou-net] Buff-breasted Sandpipers in Blue Earth County
Trent Robbins, Ari Selvey, and I found two Buff-breasted Hey birders, Trent Robbins, Ari Selvey, and I found two Buff-breasted Sandpipers at the sod farms east of Mapleton. Take CR21 east from Mapleton until its juncton with CR14. The birds were foraging on the north side of the road in the eastern third of the sod farm. Shorebird habitat is otherwise lacking in the area. Perch WPA is full of water and cattails. Happy birding! Chad Heins Mankato, MN Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
[mou-net] Carver Park - Lowry Nature Center
We visited Lowry Nature Center this afternoon. Although it was really hot, we did see a few birds. Many regular species including many American Redstarts, a male and female Rose-Breasted Grosbeak, a few Yellow Warblers, and an Indigo Bunting. The highlights included a Golden-Winged Warbler and a Vireo. I failed to get a picture, but we felt confident that it looked like a Philadelphia Vireo. It came in really close and it had no indication of having a red eye when we initially thought it was a Red-Eyed Vireo. I have two questions related to the vireo. What are the chances of a Philadelphia Vireo being back so early, and can a Red-Eyed Vireo have no red eye? Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
[mou-net] Houston County: Laugher no, shorebirds yes
I checked the Highway 26 overlook at roughly 3 PM and roughly 7PM today (Sunday), but was unable to relocate the possible Laughing Gull. There were still many Ring-billed Gulls in the area, but the largest flocks seemed to be on more distant islands, and it was hard to make anything out. I think some other birders tried for the bird and failed as well. On a more positive note, I found 5 species of shorebirds at some sod farms just north of Hokah: Least Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Lesser Yellowlegs Solitary Sandpiper Killdeer The sod farm can be reached by turning east off MN 16 on a gravel road opposite Lorenz Road. This is between Houston CR 7 and Houston CR 21. Dedrick Benz Winona, MN Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
[mou-net] BWCAW birding - Boreal Chickadee, Bonaparte's Gulls, Baird's Sandpiper
Hey all- Anya Illes and I went into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness at Entry Point 84, the Snake River, for a four-night stay, one night on the Isabella River and 3 nights on Gull Lake, in Cook Co. A few brief highlights - on the Isabella River we found a number of interesting marshland birds not normally seen in the lake country areas. A pair a presumably-breeding harriers, a bittern, swamp sparrows, a flock of red-winged blackbirds and a single Canada Goose feeding on wild rice were nice birds at the first campsite. The Snake River itself had a boggy area with Yellow-bellied Flycatcher and Gray Jays. On the portage from Bald Eagle Lake toward Gull lake we found two Boreal Chickadees at the east end, which was a highlight for me. Despite a number of trips into the BWCA, I hadn't birded much bogland there, so this was a nice find. The birds were in a boggy area on the stream between the two lakes. On Bald Eagle Lake and again on Gull Lake we saw single Bonaparte's Gulls, also a nice treat in the BWCA. To my surprise we also picked up a few migrating shorebirds. A few Least Sandpipers were heard on Gull Lake, and while passing a little too close to shore for comfort on our way out of Bald Eagle Lake back down the Isabella River, I saw two Baird's Sandpipers at close range on the rocky shore. A few Spotties rounded out the list. Warbler-wise it was, as expected, very slow. Nashville Warblers and Yellow-rumps were still feeding babies. On one nice morning we heard a Northern Waterthrush singing, and a single Northern Parula. There were yellowthroats in the marshes at the Isabella River. So look to points south for your warblers! Jesse Ellis -- Jesse Ellis Madison, Dane Co, WI Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
