I went to Sibley county yesterday to check for the Prothonotary Warbler south of Henderson and to explore the rest of the county. I was not disappointed in any respect. I first stopped at Ney Nature Center just to the east of Henderson on the Scott/Le Sueur County border where there were several Clay-colored Sparrows singing. I then went to the oxbow lake that is just south of town at 6:00am and immediately heard the Prothonotary singing loudly with its 6 consecutive "sweets". Actually seeing the bird was a whole other issue. I carefully scanned from a muddy bank for about 20 minutes while getting eaten alive by mosquitoes and gnats but I finally got a good view of this state first bird! The only other places I have seen them were in WI with a terrible view and a great view in a Costa Rica mangrove. On the way to Rush River State Wayside I found a nice Lark Sparrow from the dirt road. At the wayside I found singing Eastern Towhees and Field Sparrows. I then headed west on 19 and found Bobolinks in many locations. At the Winthrop sewer ponds were Brewer's Blackbird, Redheads, Wood Ducks and a Ruddy Duck. On both the east and west sides of Winthrop were Dickcissels. Further on 19 was a great pond that had a Red-necked Grebe, several Gadwall, and Marsh Wrens as well as many Yellow-headed Blackbirds on the north side of the road. The Gibbon sewage ponds had Northern Shoveler, Redhead and Vesper Sparrows. On C.R. 10 to the northeast of Gibbon was a flock of Semipalmated Plover, Semipalmated Sandpiper, and Bairds Sandpiper in a flooded field. I am unsure how rare the Baird's Sandpiper are this time of year but I had fantastic extended views and checked many guidebooks and am 90% sure of this ID. I later found more Redheads and Black Tern at a marsh area and a Purple Martin in New Auburn. Last Week I checked out Wadena, Cass and Hubbard counties but did not post because I don't think I saw anything too unusual but here is a list of a few birds I saw then: Northern Parula- Hubbard co. Blackpoll Warbler- Wadena co. Wilson's Warbler- Wadena co. Golden-winged Warbler- many locations Common Tern- Leach Lake American Woodcock- several displaying on CR 200 in Cass county at 3:45am Wilson's Snipe- Winnowing at many locations American Bittern- "pumping" in Cass co. Eastern Towhee- Wadena co. Brewer's Blackbird- Wadena co. Western Meadowlark- Wadena co. I did not here it call and am basing this off of the MOU occurrence likelihood (eastern vs. western) Two "southern" birds seen were two Red-bellied Woodpeckers Wadena co. and Wild Turkey in Wadena and Cass county's. I am unsure if these are unusual this far north. I was really hoping to see Prairie Chickens but searched several areas with no luck. Good Birding, Jason Caddy Minneapolis ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html