[mou] Good birds at Miesville Ravine Sunday

[Steve Weston]

Miesville Ravine Dakota Co. Park   Sunday 8/27.

Good birds seen:

Yellow-breasted Chat - reported by Doug Mayo on the section of the park 
along CR-91 near one of the two bridges.  This is not the section of the 
park by the parking lots.

Connecticut Warbler - found by Bruce Baer in top of the trees near the 
limestone blocks on the way to the meadow from the north parking lot.

Philadelphia Vireo - found along the Canon river

Black-chinned Hummingbird (female) - in the meadow.  Light crown and white 
forehead create the image of a masked hummer.  Wings are long reaching 
almost to the end of the tail and saber-shaped.  The bill is long and slight 
curved.  I hesitated to mention this, especially when I was unable to take 
its picture.

A Chestnut-sided Warbler (female) with large yellow wing patches.  We ID'd 
it as a Golden-winged hybrid, but it is probably just atypically plumaged.

The 17 participants on the MRVAC sponsored field trip were treated to 
perfect weather and some good birding, with a total of 55 species ID'd in 
the park.  We had lots of vireos (primarily Red-eyed and Yellow-throated) 
and few warblers.  At the end of the day, I counted 14 species of warblers, 
although most participants probably found no more than five or six warbler 
species.  There were lots of hummers.  I counted probably 25 or 30, but with 
their high activity level, the number could have been several times that. 
The jewelweed bloom attracting the hummers was the best I have seen in 
years.

Steve Weston on Quiggley Lake in Eagan, MN
sweston2@comcast.net