We had a great time out here for the 45th Salt Lake Birding Weekend, with
around 85 participants logging a total of 139 species on Friday, Saturday,
and Sunday.
Slightly more than half of our birders were either attending the count or
exploring the Lac qui Parle area for the first time, with many gaining
multiple life-birds during the course of the count.
Conditions were pleasant for the first half of Saturday, but even as the
wind picked up and blew relentlessly into Sunday, I still received some
nice reports from attendees birding on their way home, and was able to add
a few more species to the list.
Highlights included a reliable flock of White-faced Ibis numbering 60+
birds feeding and roosting at 151st St and County Hwy 40, three miles east
of Marietta; a Northern Goshawk dive-bombing a smaller group of Ibis at
Salt Lake; a Short-eared owl at Salt Lake; an American Pipit across the
road from the Prairie Marsh Farm driveway; a Black-crowned Night Heron
along LQP CR 12 between Sweetwater and Florida Creek; great concentrations
of migrant sparrows; 5 Grebe species on one slough (Sweetwater/Farrell)
along LQP CR 12; an easily viewable pair of Western Grebes along the Big
Stone NWR Auto Tour (they nested there with 3 chicks last year), and a
Black-necked Stilt found and photographed Sunday at the Lac qui Parle Dam
(see list below).
I’d like to thank the MOU and everyone who attended for spreading the word
and raising awareness about this little corner of the state. Shorebird
migration has just begun to pick up steam, so I’d expect the area to remain
productive in the days to come.
-Jason Frank,
Ortonville MN
*SALT LAKE BIRDING WEEKEND, APRIL 28-30, 2023, Total 139*
Snow Goose
Ross’s Goose
Greater White-fronted Goose
Canada Goose
Trumpeter Swan
Wood Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Ring-necked Pheasant
Sharp-tailed Grouse
Wild Turkey
Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
Eared Grebe
Western Grebe
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared Dove
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift
Sora
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
American Avocet
American Golden Plover
Killdeer
Upland Sandpiper (reported by Brandon Semel, on LQP CR 51, just north of
Marsh Lake)
Hudsonian Godwit (Marsh Lake)
Marbled Godwit (Marsh Lake)
Dunlin
Baird’s Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Long-Billed Dowitcher
Wilson’s Snipe
Solitary Sandpiper
Lesser Yellowlegs
Willet
Greater Yellowlegs
Wilson’s Phalarope
Bonaparte’s Gull
Franklin’s Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Forster’s Tern
Double-Crested Cormorant
American White Pelican
American Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Cattle Egret
Black-crowned Night Heron
White-faced Ibis
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Northern Goshawk
Bald Eagle
Red-shouldered Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Swainson’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Great Horned Owl
Short-eared Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
American Kestrel
Eastern Phoebe
Loggerhead Shrike
Blue Jay
American Crow
Horned Lark
Bank Swallow
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Barn Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
House Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
House Sparrow
American Pipit
House Finch
Purple Finch
American Goldfinch
Lark Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Clay-colored Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
American Tree Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln’s Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Yellow-Headed Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Western Meadowlark
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Brewer’s Blackbird
Common Grackle
Black-and-white Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Black-necked Stilt (reported and photographed by Shelley Bowman feeding in
the floodwaters near the ROAD CLOSED sign at the south end of the Lac qui
Parle dam, CR 33 just past the turn to 48)
General information and guidelines for posting:
https://moumn.org/listservice.html
Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
During the pandemic, the MOU encourages you to stay safe, practice social
distancing, and continue to bird responsibly.
