Hey birders! Ben Inniger and I went out to Big Stone County in search of the Neotropic Cormorant and anything else we could find.
Our first stop was at the auto tour loop at Big Stone NWR where there was a nice selection of shorebirds, but not great numbers. The neatest thing seen along the route was both Sora and Virginia Rail on mudflats with shorebirds (near to the cattails of course) Our second stop was along Hwy 75 on the eastern side of the refuge. After checking out several cormorants, we found a large aggregation sitting in the northernmost pool. Tucked in with the crowd was one cormorant singificantly smaller than the rest! This Neotropic Cormorant was more than cooperative as it preened, flew a short distance, fed, and fanned its wings while in the presence of another Double-crested Cormorant. Great bird! Last year I attempted to find the Neotropics in 98-degree heat; this was a nice change. We also checked out some of the potholes to the north of the refuge with great looks at good numbers of shorebirds. Species include: Least, Semipalmated, Pectoral, Baird's, Stilt, Solitary, both yellowlegs, Killdeer, Wilson's Phalarope, and Wilson's Snipe. There were also good numbers of Franklin's Gulls at several of the larger potholes (some potholes had over 500 shorebirds!!!) We also had a Greater Prairie-Chicken on the road in eastern Big Stone County. Happy birding! Chad Heins Mankato, MN __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
