[mou] Fairmont Area

[Brad Bolduan]

I was looking for something else when I found the start of an article I was
working on perhaps ten years ago - for reasons I no longer recall.  The
article was to highlight my favorite birding locations in the Fairmont Area.
The content is somewhat dated, but I thought that it may be worth posting
regardless.  This just a start of a project which will likely never be
finished, and it is a little unpolished;


Brad Bolduan
Windom
----------------------
Bird Finding in Fairmont Area

	The Fairmont area has a number of areas which can provide rewarding bird
observation.  Areas discussed reflect my personal biases with strong wetland
components in early spring and fall.  It is the wetlands which I find most
appealing in the Fairmont area; although some of the county parks have
decent wooded tracts, and some Wildlife Management Areas have grassland
areas.  I feel some regret when I add that many of my favorite areas are on
the Iowa side of the state line - and I am sure there are many more areas in
Iowa which I have not found or could not relocate.  Most areas covered are
within fifteen miles of Fairmont.
	CBC info
	Fairmont is in Martin County in southwestern Minnesota.   The city of
Farimont contains five lakes which are part of a chain streching from Iowa
to the town of Truman.  There are three additional chains of lakes in the
county.  These include:  the ‘east chain’ running from Iowa through the town
of East Chain and ending east of Fairmont;  several lakes in the
Ceylon/Wilbert area north to Pierce Lake west of Fairmont; lastly a chain of
lakes runs south from the Watonwan County line in the Truman area.  These
lakes nearly reach Fox Lake which contains a powerplant.
	Much of the appeal of Martin county is that the lakes are in chains.  An
observer can check a string of lakes while driving a relatively easy
north-south route.  The lakes also seem to serve as a corridor for migrating
birds.  Perhaps the most dramatic of these migrants is the Franklin’s Gull.
Yes, a gull.  Franklin’s Gull is a gull of the prairies which occurs in
great numbers over Fairmont during peak migration.  Franklin’s gulls can
pass over Fairmont almost continously for hours; I am sure that If counted
these flocks could easily yield a new high count for this species in
Minnesota.
	Running from north to south, the Fairmont lakes are George, Sisseton, Budd,
Hall, and Amber.  The lakes probably have little value to migrants other
than providing a source of open water.  George Lake contains a power plant
which only operated sporatically, still the lake often freezes later than
most others apparently because of currents flowing through the lake.  To the
south Sisston appears relatively sterile, Budd Lake is of note because it
can contain open water on its south end into December and the center of the
lake often remains open after the lake’s edges have frozen.  Hall lake is
perhaps the best of the lakes for late fall birding.  Often a line of open
water extends from Lair Road (?) to the middle of the lake.  This is most
obviously detected by a group of thousands of Canada Geese streching from a
point on the west shore of Hall Lake after the other lakes have frozen.
Amber Lake has the most natural appearance and is worth checking, but doesn’
t usually get the numbers of late fall ducks that can occur on George and
Hall.  The open water areas in George, Budd, Hall, and Amber are often worth
checking for lingering waterfowl during a window in November and early
December when they remain open and most other open water Areas have froze.
	Most of the areas in Fairmont which I visit provide views of the lakes, as
well as other potential attractions.  The best places to view George Lake
also happen to be some of the best places in Fairmont to look for irregular
winter species.  The crab apple trees near Lincoln Park (on the east shore
of George) can attract waxwings and lingering robins.  Lincoln Park and Lake
Side Cemetery (in the southwest corner of George Lake) have probably the
best conifer plantings in town for attracting irruptive winter visitors such
as Red-breasted Nuthatches, and Crossbills.  Don’t get your hopes too high
though, I have only found crossbills here once - during the 1997 Christmas
Bird Count.  Heritage Acres, Sisseton Park, and roads provide viewing to
Lake Sisseton as well as access to typical park associated habitats.  Budd
Lake can be viewed from the water plant on the east shore, and Gomsrud Park
on the south end.  Hall can also be viewed from Gomsrud, as well as several
bordering roads.  East of Gomsrud is a small cattail marsh which provides
some of the most diverse waterfowl in Fairmont during peak migration.  Amber
Lake can be viewed from Amber Lake Park off of Inter Laken Drive(?) and from
Cedar Park which borders the northwest shore of Amber Lake as well as the
Southwest shore of Hall.  Cedar Park provides the best wooded habitat within
Fairmont city limits.  The park consists of a wooded stream channel with
bordering uplands containing decidious and cedar dominated stands.  The park
also contains some grass/ shrub openings which provide enough habitat that
northern shrike occurs about one year in three.  For some reason, probably
feeders, the woods along the easternmost shore of Amber Lake in the park
seem to be particularily favored by Purple Finchs during the past few
winters.  The wooded areas within the park often contain Great Horned Owls
as well as typical edge species.  The stream is one of the few publicly
owned sections of stream in the immediate Fairmont area.  This makes it an
obvious place to look for lingering birds in late fall and early winter.