The Whimbrel which has been present at the Park Point Recreation Area since at least late June was seen again today, July 15. It was in long, unmown grass in the NW part of the recreation area, on the N side of the road, on the SW edge of the boat ramp parking area. But to clarify earlier reports, I’m told it spends much of the time near the far W end of the main recreation area parking lot, where it forages in the mown areas near the planted crabapple trees. This is just across the road from where we saw it today, and that’s where I’d suggest you start looking. As others have noted, it appears healthy, seems to fly normally, and it calls loudly in flight, but it can be difficult to find since most of the park is not being mown this year, and long "taller-than-a-Whimbrel" grass covers much of the park.
During the brief look I had today, it appears to be of the expected hudsonicus subspecies with relatively uniform brownish plumage. Whimbrels breed in the tundra of Alaska and northern Canada, and late-lingering spring migrants are sometimes seen here in early June. There have also been a few late July sightings over the years of presumed post-breeding visitants, and even fewer one-day sightings of strays between mid-June and mid-July. But this continuing individual seems to represent the first record of a Whimbrel summering in Minnesota. Kim Eckert, Duluth ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
