During this past Labor Day weekend, the Minn Birding Weekends (MBW) group found a total of 25 species of shorebirds in Lake of the Woods, Roseau, and Marshall Co's in northwestern Minn.
Of these, all but 3 of the species were at Agassiz NWR, with the Tamarac Pool on Aug 31 being the most productive site in the refuge. The highlights here included Black-bellied Plover, Willet, both Hudsonian and Marbled godwits, White-rumped Sandpiper, Dunlin, Long- billed Dowitcher, and both Wilson's and Red-necked Phalaropes. The only 3 shorebirds not seen at Agassiz were Am Golden-Plover, Buff- breasted Sandpiper, and Wilson's Snipe. There was a total of 37 Buff- breasteds in agricultural fields in Lake of the Woods Co on Aug 30: 28 of these were in the field along Co Rd 2, 1.5 mi S of Co Rd 8, with about a dozen golden-plovers in this same field. Other MBW highlights included: Short-eared Owls (3 at dusk along 440th Ave, 2 mi N of Hwy 11 in Roseau Co), Horned Grebes (Thief River Falls sewage ponds), Olive-sided Flycatcher, Western Kingbird, Philadelphia Vireos, 19 warbler species (but no significant waves found anywhere), Le Conte's Sparrow (an injured juvenile in Warroad), and White-winged Crossbills (Beltrami Island State Forest: N of Norris Camp and Faunce). Kim Eckert
