[mou] Warblers, odd Myiarchus, and shorebirds today, Dakota Co.

[James Mattsson]

In the past I've had good luck with fall warblers on the heels of a low pressure system with a south wind. Today was one of those days. I birded the archery range at Spring Lake Park Reserve near Hastings late morning from 10-12 noon.  Winds were 25 mph and gusting, so I sought out the most protected areas. I can't remember the last time I had so many warblers around me in one spot.  I had 14 species and they were all forest species (ie. no yellowthroats, etc.). I'm sure I had my personal lifetime high numbers of Magnolias (75+), Nashvilles (100+), and Canadas (10).  I also had at least 4 Golden-wings. The birds were almost always below about 10 ft., many on the ground and several came within a couple of feet. Really great viewing conditions.

During all this a very pale Myiarchus  flycatcher flew up from the understory and landed only 20 ft away at eye level. Even before I raised my binoculars I was surprised to see no visible yellow on the lower breast and belly, just an almost uniform pale gray.  I got my binocs on the bird for perhaps 2 seconds before it flew. The two wing bars were noticeably buffy, and the throat appeared very pale. Unfortunately I could not see the tail. I saw only a hint of yellow on the lower belly. But alas, the look was frustratingly too short to make a positive ID and the bird did not vocalize. I had seen Great Crested Flycatchers earlier and the yellow on their bellies was very rich and obvious. This bird was just up the hill from where the lake trail ends at the bench. 

I checked out the Jirik and Braun sod farms east of Farmington and found a total of 12 shorebird species. At Jirik, only the unvegetated muddy field to the south held birds including Stilt (4), Baird's (6), Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers, plus a juvenile Wilson's Phalarope and the same Black-bellied Plover that's been there for about a week. Braun held 2 American Golden-plovers plus both yellowlegs and 4 species of peeps. 


James Mattsson
mattjim at earthlink.net
EarthLink Revolves Around You.
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