[mou-net] Complete Handbook of the Birds of the World (Lynx) For Sale
I have a mint condition, complete set of the HBW that I am looking to sell at a reasonable discount. Please email me if you are interested. Thanks, -Michael 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] Connecticut warbler at Richardson Nature Center (Bloomington) today
I was surprised and pleased this morning around 7AM to find a singing male Connecticut just east of the nature center building. The bird was on either side, and occasionally on, the trail that runs N-S between the building and the pond. Happily the bird stayed in the area long enough for me to get my wife over at 7:30 and still see it, and even cooperated for several other birders who came by later, including Scott Meyer. The last we saw or heard the bird was probably around 11AM, I am guessing. Despite occasional joggers on the trail through the AM, he continued to be in the area, and sang frequently. We plan to return this evening, as this spot was on fire for warblers all AM. The small hill just to the south with all of the oaks was particularly productive, with many chestnut-sideds, blackburnians, black-throated greens, bay-breasted, canadas, and much more. I've never seen this locale so chock full of warblers in the many years I've been birding here. Three empid species were also singing in this spot (Least, Yellow-bellied, and Alder), and further south in the grassy open areas north of Hyland Lake I found a singing Willow. C'mon Acadian!! Good birding, -Michael 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] Eastern Phoebes impacted by snowy April in central MN?
I'm seeing very few phoebes lately. During this past (three-day for me) weekend when I was out birding almost every daylight hour, in prime areas where they are usually ubiquitous, I saw and heard a grand total of one. May be just a statistical oddity that few happen to be in W. Bloomington right now... or are others noticing this as well? I recall seeing and hearing them as I do yearly, even in our yard, in late March and early April this year, during one of the few nice days. As we were then blasted by wave after wave of April snows, I began worrying that this was going to be a very tough stretch for them (and the bluebirds, which also seem less numerous around here). -Michael Hurben Hennepin Co. 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] May 10-12 W. Bloomington: 75 species without getting in the car!
I was without a vehicle (and without my trusted birding partner / wife) this weekend so I only birded areas I could reach easily on foot from my house near Bush Lake. Today I hit Bush Lake, Hyland Lake, Richardson Nature Center, and points in-between, and rang up 71 species (It should have been more! Lots of "normal" birds (like Great Egrets) have been oddly AWOL.). Including a few other species I got on Friday and Saturday in the same locales, as well as nearby Anderson Lake, I got 75. FOYs for me in this area: Bell's vireo House wren Sedge wren Eastern kingbird Ovenbird Chestnut-sided Wilson's N. Waterthrush Orange-crowned Tennessee Lincoln's sparrow Veery (seen and not heard! as opposed to the usual heard and not seen!) Grey-cheeked and Swainson's thrushes Baltimore oriole Spotted sandpiper I doubt that the Hyland area was any different from other sites in central Minnesota, in that this weekend has been certified Yellow-Rumped Madness. At Richardson nature center at a small pond, there were some downed trees over the water that hosted so many Butterbutts that it looked like a beehive with huge blue-gray and yellow bees! -Good birding, Michael Hurben Hennepin Co. 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] Carver County Yellow-throated Warbler
Big thanks to John Cyrus for the heads-up and help locating this bird. My wife and I arrived around 3pm to find a half-dozen others in the area, and the news that we missed the bird by 10 minutes. We waited him out and all of us in the group saw him briefly around 4:30. My wife and I stayed on, and in another 20 minutes he came a bit lower and gave us outstanding views. Truly gorgeous warbler. From: John Cyrus To: MOU-NET@LISTS.UMN.EDU Sent: Sunday, May 5, 2013 11:08 AM Subject: [mou-net] Carver County Yellow-throated Warbler A Yellow-throated Warbler was located along the Carver Creek Loop at Rapids Lake MVNWR near the northern boundary of the unit about 50 yards west of the walking bridge to the city of Carver. I first heard him sing one time and thought, nah couldn't be(recently got back from a trip to east Tennessee to get a head start on spring/southern birds). After a short time he came into view right along the trail in a younger tree(old Cottonwoods in the area), He hopped in and out of view for 10 minutes at one point coming within 20 feet. Other highlights from the morning are below. I birded areas south of Carver Rapids(south of lake), Carver Creek Loop, and some off trail. Common Loon 2 (did not check lake itself) Turkey Vulture 1 Broad-winged Hawk 1 Spotted Sandpiper 2 Common Tern 2 Eastern Phoebe 2 Great Crested Flycatcher 1 House Wren 1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 5 Swainson's Thrush 2 Hermit Thrush 1 Brown Thrasher 1 Ovenbird 1 Northern Waterthrush 4 Black-and-white Warbler 1 female Orange-crowned Warbler 2 Yellow Warbler 1 Palm Warbler 4 Yellow-rumped Warbler 40-45 Clay-colored Sparrow 2 migrants(not near territory) Field Sparrow 3 Savannah Sparrow 2 Lincoln's Sparrow 3 Swamp Sparrow 1 White-throated Sparrow ~25 Harris's Sparrow 1 Dark-eyed Junco 3 Rose-breasted Grosbeak 6 (4 male, 2 heard only) Baltimore Oriole 1 male 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
[mou-net] Conflicting field marks on Shrike, and birds at Hyland Lake (Henn. Co)
This AM I birded the Hyland Lake area between the north shore of the lake up to the Osprey tower. I observed a Shrike that I'm calling a Loggerhead on eBird, but it is still bugging me a little. I wanted to call this a Northern at one point. I observed the bird in good light at a distance of about 50 meters through the scope. It was facing me the entire time (about 1 minute). Very fine barring on the breast was clearly evident, such that at lower magnification, the breast appeared gray and contrasted with the much whiter throat. A white line above the black mask was easily seen over the eyes and it extended in front and over the top of the bill, forming something like 'spectacles'. The lower mandible, however, was all dark. Overall head shape and 'demeanor' of the bird more suggestive of a Loggerhead, being rounded and more 'gentle looking' but I don't like using this as field mark. Adding to the confusion, I've read that the lower mandible on the Northern is not pale at the base during breeding season, and given the way in which other 'winter birds' are staying on a bit longer here in the Cities with the odd weather, maybe it isn't too farfetched that a Northern is still here... I'd seen them all winter at the same location. After I got home I thumbed through all my guides and was interested to see that on page 484 of the Stokes Guide, it shows a Loggerhead with white that clearly connects over the bill. I'd thought this was a definitive mark on a Northern but apparently not. Also perused the following page: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/loggerhd.htm which has some nice photos of specimens showing the within-species variability. The breast and throat of the juvenile Loggerhead shown there looks exactly like what I saw today. So I'm thinking perhaps this is a one-year old bird that has not yet lost the barring on the breast? Anyone see this on Loggerheads in the spring? Hyland Lake continues to hold a lot of birds, though the mix seems to have changed a bit. I did not see any Readheads or Ruddys today, but there are now many patches of open water on the far side which I did not exhaustively scan. In addition to the typical duck mix, there were about a dozen Common Loons (calling), five Red-necked Grebes, and a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers. Good birding, -Michael 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] Duluth Area Owls
Great to hear, Matt! We were also able to get the two lifers that we specifically targeted for this trip: Boreal Owl (Sat, North Shore) and Hoary Redpoll (Sun, Sax-Zim). The Boreal did not come easily at all. We left the Cities at 4AM and went directly to Stoney Point, where we found a Great Gray (first of three) but no other owls. We would periodically vary our strategy: scan trees slowly in promising areas, then drive around looking for congregated birders. I swapped my cell # with anyone willing to do so. Around 10:30 we decided to try going up northeast of Two Harbors, and had gone 20 miles or so when I got a call from a gentleman saying he had a Boreal near the Duluth pumping station. (Argghh!) We high-tailed it down there just to arrive minutes after it left. We then went back to the Stoney Point area until around 2:30, with no luck, but fortunately finally got a second-hand tip about a location in Two Harbors, and so we got our bird at about 2:45 PM. From: Matt Paulson To: MOU-NET@LISTS.UMN.EDU Sent: Saturday, February 16, 2013 12:27 AM Subject: [mou-net] Duluth Area Owls Spent the afternoon searching for the owls around Duluth, starting with the Boreal Owl. At about 1:30 we found a line of cars near the intersection of Scenic 61 and Old North Shore Drive, and sure enough they were looking at a Boreal Owl. We then fruitlessly searched for Great Grays on some of the nearby county roads working our way toward the Hawk Owl location on Martin Road. We did spot the Hawk Owl at about 3:30 behind the dirt factory. Our scope quickly attracted the attention of other birders who then tipped us off on a recently seen Great Gray. We then traveled to Alseth Rd between its intersections with Scenic 61 and Stoney Point Rd, and sure enough there was a Great Gray perched near a white boat where it was said to be! Our final destination was Canal Park for the Snowy Owl, which arrived to the flagpole at exactly 6:10. All four northern owls in one day! The only other birds of interest were several Northern Shrikes seen throughout the afternoon. Matt Paulson La Crosse, 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 Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
