Yesterday afternoon from ~4:45 - 6:15 I visited Grey Cloud Dunes, in hopes of seeing the Say's Phoebe that has been reported there the last couple days.
I parked at the South Parking area. I did not see the Phoebe in the places I walked (west from South parking lot, down the hill down to the river and back, stopping frequently), but did see a LeConte's Sparrow as I was almost back to the car. This was maybe 25-50 yards west of the parking area, foraging on the ground. There were Field Sparrows in this area as well. I created an ebird checklist late last night, and some of my entries show on the Grey Cloud hotspot listing, but not the LeConte's (yet), this is maybe because a confirmation needs to occur. I attached photos to the checklist I created, which is here: https://ebird.org/checklist/S133778443 I ran my photos past two much more experienced birders last night to verify LeConte's as opposed to Nelson's and they both wrote back ID'ing this bird as LeConte's, due to purply streaks on nape as opposed to more solid gray, and whiter central crown stripe as opposed to darker gray. I posted a pic of the LeConte's to my Flickr as well, here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/fisherkingbat/52819029131/in/dateposted-public/ I saw Swamp Sparrows down around the small pond area just to the north of the trail that leads to the river. I wanted to send this out in case anyone is going to Grey Cloud, they may want to keep their eyes peeled for a LeConte's. It may be the rains now will ground or pause further migration for many birds? Brian ---- 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.
