[mou] Nobles Big Day; Jackson Co.GTGR

[Brian Smith]

Hi,

Dave Bartkey, Jerry Bonkoski and I did a Nobles County Big Day on Thursday.  We had a total of 109 species for the day, seven shy of the record.  The weather was good most of the morning starting with calm winds but then the winds really picked up in the afternoon and migration came to a screeching halt.  We had 101 species by noon but were only able to add 8 more the rest of the day.  We only had 9 species of warbler and 9 species of shorebirds for the day.  Some highlights were:
Snow Goose - small flock of blue and white morph on Lake Ocheda, near intersection of 280th and Quine Ave.;
Common Loon - juvenile on Lake Okabena, Worthington;
American Avocet - one bird at the Worthington Wastewater Treatment ponds;
Cape May Warbler - found in a conifer at Chautauqua Park in Worthington;
Red-breasted Nuthatch - found at both Lake Bella Co. Park and in Worthington;
Yellow-throated Vireo - found along Lake Okabena, Worthington;
Veery & Orchard Oriole - Lake Bella County Park 

On the ride home today Dave and I found three Great-tailed Grackles in a large marsh on the west side of Hwy. 60, about a mile SW of Heron Lake near mile marker 27.  We saw two males and one female.  One male was heard making it's various clucks and whistles and we also saw it briefly chasing the female.  

Brian Smith
Sleepy Eye
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