[mou] Minnesota River Valley Birding trip Report - April 28 - 30, 2006

[CRAIG MANDEL]

April 28 - 30, 2006

Led a group, birdwatching along the Minnesota river over the weekend.  The 
highlight for the weekend was the Western Tanager, first observed by Ron 
Erpelding at the Williams Nature Center.  Not to be out done, Brooke Harlow 
managed to first, find a Northern Waterthrush for our group on Saturday. 
Then on Sunday she was the first to spot a singing Louisiana Waterthrush, 
from across a ravine from the North overlook at Williams Nature Center. 
While the rain was pretty much continuous for the whole weekend.  The 
numbers of birds, kept us all busy and excited with large flocks of Sparrows 
in many locations.  Here were some of the highlights for the group:


April 28, Friday
@ Nashville Warbler - Seven Mile Creek County Park - near last parking lot.

April 29, Saturday
@ 14 - species of Waterfowl
@ Red-necked Grebe & Eared Grebe - Round Lake, Renville County
@ American Woodcock - 8:20pm - Heard from the parking area for Swan Lake WMA 
(North Star Supplement) - Nicollet County,
                               This unit is located along 506th Street, 
about 1 mile North West of the town of Judson.
@ Bonaparte's Gull - Brown County, the bird was in what appeared to be a 
large restored wetland along CR 6, just East
                     of the town of Godahl.
@ Hermit Thrush - A single Hermit Thrush was observed over the entire 
weekend at Lake Hanska County Park in Brown
                  County.
@ American Pipit - Cottonwood County, Comfrey, observed in an area that had 
been used for grain storage over the
                   winter, one block South of the Convenience store on CR 
17, in the town of Comfrey.  This area also
                   had a mix of Sparrows and shorebirds in the field to the 
East of the storage area.  We missed on
                   the previously reported Eurasian Collared Dove's.
@ 4 species of Warblers - A few Palm, Orange-crowned and a single Northern 
Waterthrush, mixed in with flocks of
                           Yellow-rumped Warblers.
@ 11 species of Sparrows - including lots of White-throated, Harris's in 3 
or 4 locations and a few White-crowned
                           Sparrow.
@ Purple Finch - Female observed at the feeder at Fort Ridgely State Park, 
Nicollet County.

April 30, Sunday
@ 5 species of Warblers, including the Louisiana Waterthrush and a 
Black-and-white Warbler at Williams Nature Center, which is located on the 
North side of Hwy. 68, approx. 1/2 mile West of Hwy. 169.
@ Western Tanager - This bird was observed by our group along the trail, 
just west of the parking area and park shelter.

Craig Mandel, Minnetonka, MN
EgretCMan@msn.co