[mou] IMBD BIG Day Nicollet/Le Sueur/Blue Earth Counties

[Chad Heins]

Hey birders!

Ben Inniger, Sam Faugstad, and I attempted a BIG Day in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur Counties.  The Minnesota River is certainly a great place to be birding in the spring!

We found a total of 152 species for the day, starting at 1am and giving up on a staked out Whip-poor-will at 9:45pm.  Shorebird habitat in this area is largely dependent on flooded fields or mudflats at lake edges.  Neither were present this year and it shows in the list.  Special thanks to members of the Mankato Bird Club and Bob Dunlap who shared recent sighting and helped us locate some hard-to-find species.

Here's the summary.  I'd be happy to share the complete list with anyone interested.

12 Ducks
3 Grebes
5 Herons
7 Hawks
9 Shorebirds (15 birds total if we exclude the Killdeer)
3 Doves (Eurasian Collared-Dove still near the co-op on CR 7 in Mapleton, MN)
2 Owls
7 Woodpeckers
5 Flycatchers
4 Vireos
6 Swallows
6 Thrushes
20 Warblers
12 Sparrows
10 Blackbirds

Happy birding!

Chad Heins
Mankato, MN


       
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