[mou] [mnbird] Spring L. Park (Dakota Co.) prothonotary warbler; now possible GWWA?

[RICHARD JILL WOOD]

Hi all,Jill and I, along with Luckworth (our daughter Jackie's dog) went out for a walk at Spring lake Park to try and locate Linda's Prothonotary Warbler last night.  We arrived at the archery unit and proceeded down the trail to the river, and when we arrived at the bench area, there was a small bird that flushed and then disappeared into the trees to our left as we faced the river.  I suspect that it might have been a  Waterthrush, but who knows.We stayed a few minutes, and nothing.  We did see a fishing Belted Kingfisher, as well as a wading Great Egret on the river, but not much else.  Finally, we decided to leave.  My wife and  Luckworth went off up the path, where they saw an American Redstart and Great Crested Flycatchers.I was diverted by movement in the low bushes to my left (on the right as you face the river), about 10 yards or so from the bench.  I stood there for about 5 minutes and pished a few times.  The bird moved about in the middle of a bush that was about 3 to 4 feet high or so, and at one point was on the ground .  I managed to see flashes of black, white and yellow.  I figured it had to be a warbler, so I looked at my field guide and saw the possibilities: Yellow-rumped (no), Magnolia (?), Golden-winged (?), Chestnut-sided (?), Yellow-throated (no), and Common Yellowthroat (?).The nos are out of range guys, while the ?'s remain possibilities, though I am ruling out Common Yellowthroat, because I saw too much white and Chestnut-sided, because I didn't see any chestnut siding.  That leaves Magnolia and Golden-winged.  I'm leaning toward Golden-winged because his face pattern matches what I saw, and I believe it was his face that I saw (Golden-wings also nest on the ground).  He was also not far from the river and in the area the Prothonotary was seen (the NGS field guide puts the GWWA and PROW on the same page, indicating similar behavior and or habitat preference).I am fairly sure my guy was a Golden-winged, though I am hesitant to say so with 100% certainty, because he is a lifer for me (my wife got one a long time ago, while I was at work at Cornell and she was out birding, in Hawthorn Orchard in Ithaca, NY).  According to my Kaufman guide, he would be in range, but not be very common.I'd be interested to hear what you all have to say about this sighting.     Good birding,RichardHastings, MN> Date: Wed, 27 Jun 2007 18:13:35 -0500> From: linda at moosewoods.us> To: mnbird at lists.mnbird.net; mou-net at moumn.org> Subject: [mnbird] Spring L. Park (Dakota Co.) prothonotary warbler> > prothonotary warbler at the archery unit of Spring Lake (Dakota Co.) > Park --in a tree at the end of the hiking trail down to the peninsula on > the river> >  From Hwy 52, turn onto Co. 55 toward Hastings. Take Fahey Ave., heading > east; this crosses Pine Bend Trail and leads directly into the parking > lot for the archery unit. Go all the way to the end of the parking lot; > across from the kiosk and on the right side of the lot, is a gate onto > the main hiking trail. Follow this double-track road all the way down to > the river. The bird perched in a tree to the right of the bench, before > heading across the water to an island.> > Also present, among others, on the archery trails: immature Cooper's > hawk; great looks, even at its pale eyes, as it waited out the scolds > from a warbling vireo.> > > Linda Whyte> _______________________________________________> mnbird mailing list> mnbird at lists.mnbird.net> http://lists.mnbird.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mnbird
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