Yesterday I drove on Hwy 28 between Sauk Center and Morris. On the UMMorris campus I saw yellow-rumped warblers and chipping sparrows. I also 2 birds with head markings like chippings but backs were very light brown, close to gold. A breeding variant of chippings? I headed back east about 6:30 pm. In the first pond on the north side of the road, at the west end across from Lake Minnesaska were a bunch of shore birds - I think they were Lesser Yellowlegs. Also there were ducks there, also on a pond near Westport, with white patches that in the book look like Blue-winged Teals, the sun was too low to get a good look at much more than the white patches on head and wings. Please confirm my IDs if you can. There were also a number of Franklin Gulls in the second pond from the west around 2 pm, and they were flying away on the return trip around 7. We saw several pheasants in fields, and one grouse in a field near Starbuck, didn't stop to check it out, any idea what kind it probably was? We saw Coots on several different lakes. There were Red-winged Blackbirds everywhere, and Mourning Doves, and little brown birds flying north that I assume were sparrows but couldn't get a good look. We also saw 2 beautiful Great Egrets near Lake Minnesaska, and another flying above the ditchline near Westport. Anne Bier Virginia (MN, not VA)
