The weather over the weekend was near perfect and we had 129 species tallie= d on Saturday night. Total of at least 148 species Friday through Sunday.
On Friday morning I found a White-faced Ibis 3 miles south of Bellingham on= Hwy 75. The ibis was present here early Saturday morning, but moved 1 mi= le to the northwest later in the day were most of the participants got to= see it. I could not find the ibis on Sunday. A Scissor-tailed Flycatcher was found by a group heading back to the cities= on Sunday around noon. It was found along Hwy 212, about 4 =C2=BD miles = west of Hwy 75. I checked the area about an hour after the sighting and c= ould not relocate the bird during the afternoon. I returned in the evenin= g and again could not find the bird in this area. With pure luck I refoun= d the bird exactly two miles straight north of the original location at 7= pm. The bird was utterly magnificent as it sat on the wires and fly-catch= ed in the full evening sunlight. It dipped low over the road within ten f= eet of me several times and gave plenty opportunity for photographing it. Northern Mockingbirds were seen just east of Marietta on Saturday and anoth= er near the Goodman farm on Friday. Another was at a cemetery on Sunday e= vening about a mile northeast of the flycatcher location above. If all th= e mockingbirds are separate individuals, it brings the spring total so fa= r to five in Lac Qui Parle. A Cattle Egret was a few miles southwest of Bellingham Wednesday through Fr= iday and a 2 more were near the Goodman farm on Friday and Saturday. A lone Ross=E2=80=99s Goose was the only light goose seen and was present 3= miles south then three miles west of Madison on both Saturday and Sunday= (mile and half east of the flycatcher location). Over the weekend 15 shorebirds species were found. There is plenty of habit= at but most just have a few yellowlegs or Pectoral Sandpipers. The best s= horebird spot found was a wet field just east of the Dawson sewage lagoon= s that contained 7 Hudsonian Godwits, Dunlin, Baird=E2=80=99s and Semipal= mated Sandpiper, and Golden Plover. On Saturday a large group of Smith=E2=80=99s Longspurs was seen and heard 3= miles south and 1 =C2=BD miles west of Bellingham. Birding around Plover Prairie and the surrounding area was very productive = early Saturday morning. Henslow=E2=80=99s Sparrows have returned to Plove= r Prairie with at least 5 singing. 15 Prairie-chickens were very active o= n the lek. A few LeConte=E2=80=99s Sparrows were along the fence lines in= the area. A Nelson=E2=80=99s Sharp-tailed Sparrow was singing in a small= patch of wet grass next to a cattail marsh along the CR 59 road 1 mile e= ast of Plover Prairie that heads north through the marshes and dead ends = at the river. Also in these marshes were American Bittern, BC Night Heron= , Marsh Wren, and a Sandhill Crane was in the grassland to the east. An Eastern Screech-Owl was at a woodlot 2 =C2=BD miles north of Nassau. 2 E= urasian Collared Doves were in Marietta. Unusually early were Dickcissel = on Saturday and another one back on Thursday. Also a early Bobolink on Su= nday at Salt Lake. Other birds seen on Friday include a Ferruginous Hawk along Hwy 212 about 2= -3 miles east of Dawson, Sharp-tailed Grouse along CR 66 in Hantho Townsh= ip, American Avocet and Peregrine Falcon at Salt Lake, and Loggerhead Shr= ike in LQP State Park. Notable misses include Horned Grebe, Partridge, and Short-eared Owl. Bill J. Unzen Bellingham, MN
