[mou] Northwest Minnesota Birding Report- Thursday, August 9, 2007

[Jeanie Joppru]

-RBA
*Minnesota
*Detroit Lakes
*August 9, 2007
*MNDL0708.09

-Birds mentioned
Great Blue Heron
American Kestrel
Sandhill Crane
Black-bellied Plover
Willet
Buff-breasted Sandpiper
Red-necked Phalarope
Great Horned Owl
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Bobolink
-Transcript

Hotline: Minnesota, Detroit Lakes
Date: August 9, 2007
Sponsor: Lakes Area Birding Club, Detroit Lakes Regional Chamber of Commerce
Reports: 1-800-542-3992 (weekdays during business hours)
Compiler: Jeanie Joppru (ajjoppru at wiktel.com)

This is the Northwest Minnesota Birding Report for Thursday, August 9,
2007 sponsored by the Detroit Lakes Regional Chamber of Commerce. You
may also hear this report by calling (218)847-5743 or 1-800-433-1888.

With the hot dry weather lately the northwest is looking more and more
like fall. The wheat is ripening, sunflowers are golden yellow, and the
native bluestem is turning a lovely dark red color. Many prairie species
are in full bloom now and prairies are quite beautiful. Signs of fall
are the many flocks of swallows, and other species with their young,
gathering to learn the ways of their kind.

A shorebird survey at Agassiz NWR on August 3 tallied 2650 individuals
of 18 species including a BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, 3 BUFF-BREASTED
SANDPIPERS and 5 RED-NECKED PHALAROPES at Tamarac Pool. In the dry
weather, habitat is shrinking, but there was still enough to entice
hundreds of birds to stop there. On August 9, a little rain recently
received has improved the conditions somewhat and many shorebirds are
feeding there still including at least one WILLET. Also in Marshall
County on August 9 were about 200 SANDHILL CRANES in a field along the
west side of the refuge. Numbers of GREAT BLUE HERONS have arrived also,
and food is plentiful as evidenced by the hundreds of little frogs seen
along the refuge roads. Several family groups of AMERICAN KESTRELS were
along the roads on the west side of the refuge, and a GREAT HORNED OWL
was seen.

In Polk County, Danielle Olson included a RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH in her
report from Rydell NWR this week. On August 5, a trip to Glacial Ridge
NWR revealed that bird song has all but disappeared for the season, but
the plink of BOBOLINKS could still be heard in the grasses.

Pat Beauzay found four BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPERS at Hamden Slough NWR
along CR 104 a mile NW of the headquarters on August 3.

In Hubbard County , at Park Rapids, Pat reported a RUBY-THROATED
HUMMINGBIRD ON August 3.

Thanks to Danielle Olson and Pat Beauzay for their reports.

Please report bird sightings to Jeanie Joppru by email, no later than
Thursday each week, at ajjoppru at wiktel.com OR call the Detroit Lakes
Chamber's toll free number: 1-800-542-3992. Detroit Lakes area birders
please call 847-9202. Please include the county where the sighting took
place. The next scheduled update of this report is Thursday, August 16,
2007.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://moumn.org/pipermail/mou-net_moumn.org/attachments/20070809/231f6541/attachment.html