Tim Viche and I birded St. Louis County from 4am to 1pm. We started out birding along Nichols Lake Rd and the Sax-Zim Bog area to Park Point and various birding location in Duluth.
Highlights: 20 Red-throated Loons between Lafayette Square to the dune bridge near the airport at Park Point. All on Lake Superior. 1 Whimbrel at Lafayette Square on the lake side at Park Pt. 5 Sharp-tailed Grouse SE of the intersection of the Stickney Rd and Arkola Rd ( traditional lek area ) 4 more Sharp-tailed Grouse on new lek along CR 29 on east side just north of the old lek area on CR 29. 1 Conn. Warbler along the Admiral Rd on east side 2.8 miles north of Cranberrry Ln in Sax-Zim Bog. 2 Western Meadowlarks along CR 201 north of Meadowlands near the intersection of the Dart Rd. * Good numbers of LeConte's Sparrows in Sax-Zim Bog. Misses and Migration: Did not hear one single Palm Warbler in Sax-Zim Bog! Heard very few Yellow-rumped Warblers and the overall feel of birds in the bog area was not very active. Heard only 2-3 Hermit Thrushes and only one Veery! I am hoping there are more migrants on the way as there were no Alder Flycatchers, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher singing in the bog. I only heard only one Junco in the bog as well. The temps were in the mid 40's and the winds were light from the SE during the dawn hours and the temps rose to the upper 50's when I left the bog and the winds were still light, so I do not think weather hampered migration this week as temps were sunny and warm all week. I really have to say this is one of the worst spring migrations I ever witnessed in NE Minnesota. I did observe one small wave of warblers in Southworth Marsh at Park Point. I saw 1 American Redstart, 2 Chestnut-sided Warblers, 1 Black-throated Green Warbler and 1 Northern Parula Warbler. This is the largest wave of warblers I witness all of May so far!! Like Al Schirmacher and probably like most birders in Minnesota I have yet to see a Magnolia Warbler this spring and also a Wilson Warbler. Tim and I ended up seeing 120 species during those hours and I am glad we did not beat ourselves up and continue birding after 1pm or else I would of been more frustrated then I feel now with the numbers I am witnessing this Spring migration. Mike Mike Hendrickson Duluth, Minnesota Website: http://webpages.charter.net/mmhendrickson/ Blog: http://colderbythelakebirding.blogspot.com/ ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
