[mou] Winona, Wabasha counties

[Jeff Dankert]

I tallied 62 species and added a few additional spring migrants on
Saturday, March 22:

WINONA COUNTY:
*Red-shouldered hawk - 1 soaring, Middle Valley.
*Greater scaup - 1, Prairie Island Road in Winona. There may have been
more, but I only had enough patience to extract one obvious Greater from
the heaving masses of divers out there.
*Ruddy duck - 1 on Lake Winona.
*Turkey vulture - 1 Badger State bird soaring bluffs on other side of
the Mississippi River in Buffalo Co., Wis.
*N. Harrier - 2 in Mt. Vernon Township.
*Wilson's snipe - 2 flushed from muddy marsh edge off of Prairie Island
in Winona.
*E. Phoebe - 1 actively fly-catching along narrow, snaggy roadside
segment of Speltz Creek, Mt. Vernon Township.
*Tree swallow - 3 flying high overhead, calling and feeding, Prairie
Island, Winona.
*Eastern meadowlark - 8 birds, seen and heard singing, one gave zzrrt
call.
*Western meadowlark - 2 birds, seen and heard singing (didn't hear any
chuk, or pluk, calls).
*Rusty blackbird - 6 in large blackbird flock.

WABASHA COUNTY:
*Tundra swan - 1, Weaver Bottoms. I tried really hard to enlarge the
bill, make the eye disappear and elicit a loud trumpeting. I couldn't
see a yellow spot on this bird, but its bill and eye was tundra-sized.
*Sandhill crane - 5, maybe more, heard only, Weaver Bottoms and Dunes.
*N. shrike - 1 perched in treetop, Weaver Dunes, then displaced by crow
at perch.

NOTES: All meadowlarks and the two harriers were found in thick,
expansive CRP-grass cover in Mt. Vernon Township. I can conservatively
estimate that thousands of raptors moved north through the Mississippi
River valley on Saturday, mostly bald eagles and red-tailed hawks. Every
ridge-top bino scan during a car stop produced dozens of these two
species. Kestrels were abundant on perches. Sparrows were weak: Only one
tree sparrow, and a few juncos and song sparrows. River is prime now for
waterfowl numbers and diversity. Gulls just starting to build.

Peace,
Jeff Dankert
908 Parks Ave Apt 158
Winona MN 55987-5330
(507) 454-0033
renohawk@hbci.com