[mou] Three=toed, Black-backed, etc

[Dennis/Barbara Martin]

Just got back from several days of birding in northwestern and north central
Minnesota.  Some specific species of interest follow along with some related
comments.

First, it is very wet up there.  A lot of forest roads in Koochiching, Lake
of the Woods, and Beltrami Counties are nearly underwater and you have to be
very careful where you go. The Rainy River is over its banks and flowing
very hard and fast.  With the drainage ditches full of water in the forest I
wouldn't expect the Rainy to go down anytime soon.  This leads to Lake of
the Woods being as high as we have ever seen it (although we are sure that
locals have seen it higher.)  At Morris Point there was no beach as the
water was right up to the rock rip-rap.  Pointing a scope to where we know
the Piping Plover islands are showed no island that we could see.  Possible
they were obscured by the waves be we simply could not see any islands.
Presumably that means nesting on these islands will not happen this year.

Snowy Egret-two birds, 6/5, Grant County, Bah WMA, 3/10ths of a mile east of
Douglas County Road 19 on Grant County Road 54,  Cattle Egrets were also
seen in the adjacent normal pasture

Three-toed Woodpecker-paired up male and female, 6/7, Koochiching County,
6/10ths mile north of County Rd 77 on County Road 13 (we think this is the
same place as others found them last year

Boreal Chickadee- 6/7, Koochiching County, 5.9 miles north of Hwy 71 on
County Road 13

Spruce Grouse-Scenic State Park, Itasca County, 6/8, on lower part of trail
to fire tower

Black-backed Woodpecker-Scenic State Park, 6/8, on cross country ski trail
that goes due north from fire tower trail, couple of trees being worked over
pretty well

Trumpeter Swan-6/7, Koochiching County, pair on Bartlett Lake by Northhome
may be a first county record

Overall birding was great and the mosquitoes were huge and extremely
abundant.

Dennis and Barbara Martin
dbmartin@skypoint.com