Although passerine migration did pick up last Saturday (in WC Minn) to push it from dismal to poor, shorebird migration hit with a big bang on Friday and has not let up yet. Since Friday I have not had time to do much traveling, even around the county, but have still seen 18 species of shorebird, excluding snipe and woodcock. Highlights include: Hudsonian godwit, A. golden plover, many wilson's and a few red necked phalaropes, LOTS of peeps and dunlin, stilt sandpiper, SB dowitcher, and both my personal favorites- black bellied plover and ruddy turnstone.
The black bellied plovers have followed their usual m.o. They are on the ground for maybe a few hours max. and then back in the air heading northward. I have seen them 5 times (diff birds) in the past several days, twice being on the ground for only about 30 minutes. The person I was with for a while yesterday said, "It doesn't get much better than this." Most of the birds listed above were all being seen at the same time on the same small wetland, which is nothing special. Ironically, he had asked me when we arrived about ruddy turnstones. I replied that I have not seen any yet this year but expect them any time. About 10 minutes later a flock of 14 landed in our laps. I had meant "any time" to mean in the next couple of days, but what the heck...the next few minutes works just fine by me. Enjoy what the winds bring your way. Randy Frederickson Willmar Kandiyohi co.
