[mou] Good birds at Miesville Ravine Sunday
Steve Weston
sweston2@comcast.net
Tue, 29 Aug 2006 00:49:40 -0500
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