[mou] [mnbird] Salt Lake Festival

[Jim Ryan]

Nice report, Steve.

One additional bird of note seen and not mentioned was *American Bittern*.
It was a lifer for me!

Jim Ryan

On Tue, Apr 29, 2008 at 1:44 AM, Steve Weston <sweston2 at comcast.net> wrote:

>  We drove out on Friday night to Goody Larson's Prairie Marsh Farm near
> Marietta, MN, 5 miles from the South Dakota border in Lac Qui Parle
> County.  We left the cities at 5pm in a light drizzle.  By the time we
> reached Olivia, it was snowing.  By the time we reached Granite Falls, it
> was starting to accumulate on the road.  From Montevideo the last 30 miles
> was through a blowing snow with the road crusty with ice and small drifts
> blowing across the road.  Still, the car was handling well.  Turning off the
> highway, we held our breath for the last mile and a half to the farm.
> Shortly after we arrived the snow was measured by Ken Larson at eight to ten
> inches.
>
> The next morning the roads were dicy and the wind was hard and cold out of
> the north.  By afternoon travelled roads were almost dry and the infrequent
> roads were passable and the weather was beautiful.  Still on Sunday we did
> encounter one drift that turned us back.
>
> The over twenty participants found at least 131 bird species compared to
> 132 last year.  The most interesting birds included a *
> Great-tailed Grackle* that Bill Unzen had steaked out for about a week and
> a *Little Gull* that was found by Bob Williams.  The Grackle was not
> relocated Sunday afternoon.  The Little Gull was seen Sunday morning, but
> not Sunday afternoon.  Twenty-two species of waterfowl were found including
> *Cackling Geese*, and all the Grebes, except Clarks.   Thirteen species of
> raptors were observed, including a *Merlin* (unusual out there), probably
> in excess of a hundred *Harriers, Red-shouldered Hawks, Rough-legged*, and
> several *Swainsons Hawks*, including a kettle of four.
>
> Fifteen species of shorebirds were found including *Semi-palmated Plover,
> *both *Yellowlegs, Solitary Sandpiper, Marbled Godwit, Sanderling,
> Semipalmated Sandpiper, Bairds Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Pectoral
> Sandpiper, LB Dowitcher, Snipe, Woodcock, *and *Wilson's Phalarope*.
> Snipe were quite numerous.  One concentration of 25 were found.  They were
> calling in many locations.  We found the first of three *Marbled Godwit*in the Plover Prairie standing on one leg on a rock about fourty feet from
> the road with his head tucked in.  After we watched him for a while, he
> pulled his head out, looked us over, greeted us in his dialect, and
> stretched his wings.  He then tucked his head in and we drove off.
>
> Also in Plover Prairie we found a *Sharp-tailed Grouse* in a tree and a
> few saw a couple of *Prairie Chickens.   *We probably saw over a thousand
> *Ring-neck Phaesants* during the day.  We found fourteen species of
> sparrow, including Lark, Fox, and Lincoln.   Other birds of note included
> *Black-crowned Night-Heron, Franklin Gulls* with pink blush breasts, a *
> Shrike,* four species of Swallows*, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers,
> Orange-crowned Warbler,  Palm Warbler, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Hermit Thrush,
> and Brown Thrasher.*
>
> On Friday, a Pine Siskin was seen.  On Sunday, additional finds included *Peregrine
> Falcon, American Avocet *(both at Salt Lake)*, Willet, *and* Marsh Wren*.
>
> Mammals seen included Richardson's Ground Squirrel, and a River Otter.
>
> Steve Weston on Quiggley Lake in Eagan, MN
> sweston2 at comcast.net
>
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>
>


-- 
Sincerely,

Jim Ryan on St. Paul's Westside
651-308-0234 business cell

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand
ready to do violence on their behalf." - George Orwell

"One of the greatest delusions in the world is the hope that the evils in
this world are to be cured by legislation." - Thomas Reed
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