[mou] Eurasian Collared Doves; YCNH

[Dave Bartkey]

Hi everyone,

  John Hockema, Jim Otto, and me birded around the metro today. While John
was heading towards Faribault from Rochester this morning to pick me up, he
spotted a couple of Eurasian Collared Doves in the very small town of
Bombay, which is the next town east of Kenyon on Hwy. 60. He also spotted
some American Pipits and Lapland Longspurs in the sod field off of Hwy. 60
where I had reported Buff-breasted Sandpipers and Golden Plovers back in
September. So after we stopped and I was able to pick up my Rice County
first pipits, we headed to Bombay where we found 5 Eurasian Collared Doves.
Just check the yard around the grain elevator. (That's pretty much the whole
town.) 

 

  Then we headed to Lake Hiawatha to meet Jim and try for the YCNH. We were
unsuccessful in the earlier part of the day, so we left and birded around
Hennepin County until late afternoon when we went back to Lake Hiawatha and
waited until dark when the herons left their roosts and headed out to the
lake to hunt. At 7:11 pm, we saw 6 BCNH fly out to the lake; two adults and
four juveniles. We were disappointed that none of them fit the bill for a
YCNH, and were walking back towards the cars when another single bird flew
overhead, the YCNH! What was great about it was that it turned around and
flew back down Minnehaha Creek, then turned around again and headed back out
towards the lake! We ended up with several decent looks. Although it was
getting pretty dark, we were able to see the legs trailing out behind the
bird quite far, unlike the BCNH. Pretty cool.

 

  Also while hanging around the Minnehaha Creek/ Lake Hiawatha area, we saw
a late Swainson's Thrush, some late Chimney Swifts, and a Red-breasted
Nuthatch. And at Old Cedar Ave. we had at least three Soras calling in
answer to Jim's clapping.

 

Good birding!

 

Dave Bartkey

Faribault, MN

screechowl at charter.net 

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