[mou] Wilkin And Clay County birding

[Alt, Mark]

A trip west to attempt to film the spectacular breeding flights of =
Harriers (their Latin name is circus!) and the wing-clapping flight of =
Short-eared Owls gave me neither, but my day was filled with great =
birds! When I am trying to get birds at dawn, I rely on GPS coordinates. =
Today I reconnoitered myself to a spot SW of Lake Orwell in Ottertail =
County hoping for Short-eareds and ended up in a cornfield. I was =
serenaded by thousand of Horned Larks and Western Meadowlarks, the =
Lark's bells chiming and tinkling to announce the day. Very surreal, but =
instead of recording that on audio, I left for other terrain as soon as =
it got light enough for me to see where I was exactly(foggy). I headed =
for Wilkin County and Rothsay WMA, where I saw 14 Northern Harriers, but =
no courtship displays. I twice saw groups of female harriers flying in =
loose formation, like Harris Hawks, but no interaction between sexes was =
seen. 12 Greater Prairie Chickens were seen and were still booming, but =
rather haphazardly. 2 Swainson's Hawks were seen, LeConte's and Savannah =
Sparrows were all over, but mutually exclusive. The fields with cows had =
Grasshopper Sparrows, the drier upland tracts had Savannahs perched up =
everywhere; the canary yellow accents on their head never looked so =
bright! The LeConte's and Grasshoppers were not to be seen or =
Photographed, only heard today. A single Vesper Sparrow was seen well =
and videographed. I got to watch Marbled Godwits several times as they =
foraged, their coral and black bills probing hummocks of Bluestem as =
they wended their way about the grassy terrain. I got to watch winnowing =
snipe for over an hour. The trick is to look where the bird will be, not =
where the sound is, like seeing jets that you hear first. They fly high =
enough (200-250 ft) that the bird is well in front of the sound, and it =
is just a speck, you will need binos to see it well. The bird has a =
strange rowing wing motion in its flight pattern , you can see how this =
pattern would direct air flow against the outspread tail feathers. The =
wingbeat does not seem to vary to make the winnowing sound, but rather =
the tail feathers suddenly spread wide, the snipe goes in to a bit of a =
power dive, not steep, but it really accelerates. I think it is the =
airspeed that makes the tone of the winnow go up as it progresses. The =
Snipe then inclines its flight angle, close its tail feathers, the =
winnowing noise abates, and when the bird regains its height, it repeats =
the process. It may be the most energy using courtship display I have =
witnessed. The bird flies in big loops, but the winnowing is done in a =
relative straight line flight. The bird seems to rotate slightly as it =
winnows and stoops, perhaps this adds to the winnowing and tonal change. =
I estimate the bird travels 100 yards in the 6 seconds or so of the =
winnowing call, so they are probably close to 35 mph in airspeed. Great =
birds, they sure sound like Boreal Owls in pith and cadence. Their =
tonality has a reedy texture to it that is lacking in the Boreal's =
whistle-like call. Lots of birds and they have only just begun to come =
north! Good Birding!
=20
Mark Alt
Brooklyn Center, MN