[mou] Rothsay, Felton Prairie, Tamarac NWR, Hamden Slough NWR

[swanbird at att.net]

Hi all!  My husband, Joel and I took the week off and have been birding a great deal.  Yesterday morning we drove from the Twin Cities to Northwestern MN.  Although yesterday was cold & windy we managed to see quite a few birds.  Hightlights included:

ROTHSAY:  Wilson's Phalarope, Marbled Godwit, Common Snipe & a pair of Northern Pintails.  (All these birds were seen along 300th Avenue between 200th St. & 190th St.)  The male phalarope was especially vivid in his breeding plummage.

FELTON PRAIRIE:  A flock of 30+ male Bobolinks  (Along Clay County 108)  The Boblinks were the most prevelant bird we saw here.

HAMDEN SLOUGH NWR:  Canvasback, Redheads, Ring-necked Ducks, Red-necked Grebes, Black Terns, Vesper Sparrow, and a Great Horned Owl that came flying in at dusk.  (All seen at the southern end of the refuge.)

We spent the night in Detroit Lakes and birded Tamarac NWR & Felton Prairie today.  The weather was much nicer (over all).  Hightlights were:

TAMARAC NWR:  Started out on a high note when we stopped to see a Broad-winged Hawk in a tree.  Joel recognized the call of the Black-billed Cuckcoo and we persisted until we saw it.  It was in a tree very close to us and sat long enough to get it in the scope!  A lifer for us.  Also saw Golden-winged Warblers (and heard them everywhere), Chestnut-sided Warblers, a single Magnolia Warbler, Osprey, 5 Trumpter Swans, numerous White Pelicans, Common Loons a single female Hooded Merganser and an Osprey.  (We saw most of these birds on the south end of the refuge.)

FELTON PRAIRIE:  Drove back to try for the Chestnut-sided Longspur to no avail.  However we did see Savannah Sparrows, Grasshopper Sparrows, a pair of Greater Prairie Chickens, Bobolinks, Horned Larks and numerous Marbled Godwits.  

It was a great two days of birding despite yesterday's cool temperatures.

Good birding!

Lisa Swanstrom
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