[mou] Metro shorebird habitat

[Diana Doyle]

Adding to Alyssa's metro shorebird habitat post (below), Here's what  
I've found re: mudflats near my area in the past week or so.

At best I can only come up with a couple of small spots of mud or  
sand flats:

- L. Hiawatha has a small sand flat (if no rain in previous 24  
hours), but so far only spotted sandpipers.
- Minnehaha Creek lagoon (just upstream from Minnehaha Falls at  
Minnehaha Parkway and 39th Ave S.) has a mudflat near the new canoe  
launch (again if no rain 24 hours previous), that has had solitary  
sandpipers on some mornings.
- Bass Ponds/Long Meadow Lake has three mudflats forming (just east  
of the hwy 77 bridge), where I saw semipalmated sandpipers, spotted  
sandpiper, and killdeer.
- The small lake in the Lilly parcel of Dodge Nature Center has a  
long muddy shore, but so far only lots of killdeer.
- A tiny drainage pond at Dodd & Hwy 110 in Mendota has adult and at  
least one fledgling spotted sandpiper.
- An overflow pond at Hwy 13 & Pilot Knob (SE corner) has a bit of  
edge mud, recently with 5 spotted sandpipers.
- In addition to the least sandpipers Alyssa mentioned at Purgatory  
Creek, I saw a Wilson's phalarope there last weekend, feeding just  
next to the gravel dike path.

Diana Doyle
S. Minneapolis

-----------------------------
From: "alyssa"
Date: July 19, 2008 1:08:33  CDT

Shorebird habitat in the metro appears to be poor. 140th St. marsh is  
now basically a wet field, and 180th is too full with water. As  
learned earlier this week, Lake Byllesby does not draw down in the  
fall. Purgatory Creek is actually somewhat decent, with today's  
species including Least Sandpipers and Lesser Yellowlegs. Hopefully,  
as it progresses into August, it will become drier and attract more  
shorebirds.



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