[mou] IMBD BIG Day--Mankato area

[Chad Heins]

Hey birders!

I'm finally recovered from a whirlwind of birding
yesterday (Saturday).  I was a bit worried that we
would have a record low number of species since I have
only seen a handful of warblers, but that was
certainly not the case.

Here's the breakdown: 4 grebes, 4 herons, 11 ducks, 4
hawks, 11 shorebirds, 3 terns, 2 owls, 7 woodpeckers,
5 flycatchers, 6 swallows, 5 thrushes, 4 vireos, 20
warblers, 13 sparrows, and 9 blackbirds.

Seven-mile Creek County Park in Nicollet County off of
Hwy 169 was responsible for most of the species.  That
spot alone has 73 species with great looks at many
warblers including Cape May, Cerulean, Wilson's, and
Northern Waterthrush (19 species total).  Most were
seen in the parking lot.  The other nice thing about
the park was 7 woodpeckers species; 6 species nest
there and a Red-headed Woodpecker was lolligagging
near the entrance.  Very cool!

The south side of Madison Lake in Blue Earth County is
nice for shorebirds, gulls, and terns.  I had some
great looks at White-rumped, Least, Semipalmated, and
yellowlegs in addition to Caspian Terns in that
location.

The neatest find was a mother American Woodcock with
two fluffy young sitting along a road on someone's
lawn near Kasota Prairie.  We watched her bob
nervously as her youngsters stared at our van. 

My wife thought the neatest thing was the Great Horned
Owl that flew along in front of our van in out
headlights.  

Oh yes, the 20th species of warbler was a Prothonotary
singing at Kasota Prairie along the Minnesota River
backwaters (nest here).

Happy birding!

Chad Heins
Mankato, MN


	
		
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