5/21 (Wednesday) Maple Grove (85th & Revere Lane) checked out the grasslands adjacent to the sand pit: Bank Swallows & Brewers Blackbirds
5/24 (Friday) Goodhue County: Ran down with Kevin Smith to the Frontenac area for my frog & toad survey. Under brillant skies the rapidly falling temperatues probably quieted the frogs somewhat. Toads were singing everywhere. We had five species of frogs and toads. Most notable were that the Gray Treefrogs were singing and Copes Gray Treefrogs in the same area were silent. Back at Quiggley Lake in Eagan the next night, the Copes and Toads were deafing under a warmer sky. In the marshes near Frontenac we had Marsh Wrens and Virginia Rails calling. I could not call out a Whip-poor-will in the valley where I usually find them. I will try again next month. We stopped at Miesville Ravine on the way home and were able to call out a Whip-poor-will. 5/25 (Saturday) with Jim Ryan birded Scott Co., Nicollet County (Seven Mile Creek) and LeSuer County. Almost no migrating warblers were seen. I did find a skulking Mourning Warbler in the pines at the Wilkie Unit in Shakopee. Seven Mile Creek was wonderful especially for the thrushes. The seven species included singing Veeries and Wood Thrushes, plus (silent) Grey-cheeked and Swainsons. Besides our close encounter with a Veery, we had a Scarlet Tanager land about ten feet from us. Stopped at a couple of sites in LeSuer County. We had an incredible look at a Sedge Wren and had both Eastern and Western Meadowlarks singing. During a dispute between Eastern Kingbirds, one flashed his red crown. We also found two small flights of migrating Nighthawks, one of which treated us to a boom. The small numbers of Nighthawks, I hope were off-peak migration, and not the last view of a crashing population. Steve Weston on Quiggley Lake in Eagan, MN sweston2 at comcast.net
