When I arrived at the Dakota County shorebird spot (320th east of Holyoke in extreme SW Dakota) yesterday, May 15, several observers were fairly certain they had seen the bird earlier. All the birds were in the back and staying near or in the grass. While I was there we were able to relocate a good candidate, but the distance and light conditions did not enable a positive ID. I tried to go back later but was caught by a 'warbler wave' near Cannon River Park. It was just sunset when I arrived back at the shorebird spot. The birds were much closer, but the light was poor. The bird I wanted a better look at flushed and flew even closer to my location, but my view was blocked by a ridge of tall grass.
In Rice County I missed the birders who reported yesterday. My only addition is White-crowned Sparrows way into the Cannon River wilderness area from the east entrance. I also heard and saw the Acadian Flycatcher and the Cerulean Warblers (no Hooded). My moment of the day (of many wonderful moments watching birds setting up territories, etc.) was having a Barred Owl swoop to near my position and engage me in a stare down. It looked like the owl was missing one eye. I also heard clacking from nearby, so I'm assuming a nest. The owl scolded me one so I took the hint. Linda Sparling ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
