Believe I'm observing a late, and somewhat sparse, migration here in central
Minnesota.
Despite the fact that I walk & bird 5-6 days per week in 11 different
locations here in Sherburne/Mille Lacs Counties, numbers are substantially
lower than normal for the end of April. Selected observations (working
progressively through the MOU checklist):
* Single Green Heron, only 5-6 Great Blues
* No Ospreys
* Single Broad-winged Hawk (interestingly, appeared to be the dark phase)
* No Merlins
* Single Sora, no Virginias
* Only six shorebirds to date, no numbers to speak of
* Only two species of swallows
* Only two species of warblers (million Yellow-rumped, single Pine; would
often have Black& White, N. Waterthrush and a couple of others by now)
* No Lark Sparrows yet; surprisingly, only low numbers of White-throated
* Bizarrely, only single Rusty & Brewer's Blackbirds during their normal
migration window.
Such observations may mean nothing. They may mean progressive
blind/deafness at my advanced age of 50. Huge numbers may still be backed
up & coming through (like the late warbler movement last year that resulted
in 23 species on the MOU Sherburne trip). Just wanted to share my
observations from this region.
Your observations welcome!
Al Schirmacher
Princeton, MN
Mille Lacs & Sherburne Counties
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