Hey birders,
I had a chance to get out this Saturday for the Minnesota River Birding Day and
stumbled on some fairly nice shorebird habitat in Nicollet County.
1) Take Hwy 14 west from Courtland, MN to CR12. Turn north on CR12 and go
about a mile or so before the road bisects a sizable wetland. There are some
mudflats visible from the road, but apparently there are more to the west if
you walk back through the WMA toward the dead trees. Andrew Krenz and I
watched a Peregrine Falcon fish about 100 peeps out of there on Saturday
(sometimes there a blessing). We also had Greater Yellowlegs and Killdeer at
this site.
2) Continue on CR12 north to CR21 and go east. The road will bend to the
south. Take the first right onto 531st Ave. This road jogs west and then
abruptly turns south at another WMA. The wetland is dried up on the west side
of the road, but behind the shrub line on the east side is a wetland just about
to reach its prime. There were several dabblers and a couple of Pied-billed
Grebes here but also mudflats with both yellowlegs, Semipalmated and Least
Sandpipers, and a single Baird's Sandpiper. We watched about 30-40 mixed peeps
take off out of here. If we continue to have dry conditions, that should be
all mudflats in another week.
3) Take CR111 north from the town of Nicollet. Turn east on CR5. Just past
the junction with 451st Street you will see a wetland on the south side of the
road. This pond had several shorebirds with yellowlegs and peeps and a single
American Golden-Plover. There were also numerous Great Egrets and dabblers
here. Dry conditions will improve this for shorebirds as well. This location
does require a scope and parts are still a bit too distant for species
identification.
On another note, Andrew and I recorded 100 species for the Minnesota River
Birding Day between Le Sueur, Nicollet, and Blue Earth Counties. We started
around 5am and finished around 5:30pm and missed a pheasant (that should let
you gauge how the day went).
Happy birding!
Chad Heins
Mankato, MN
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