My wife Jane and I had a great time visiting North Dakota & Minnesota. The weather wasn't our best friend, but fortunately we avoided trouble with the terrible tornadoes on June 16th. We spent 3 nights in Jamestown, ND and 3 nights in McGregor, MN. A few photos can be found at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/stevemirick/MNNDVacationJune2010# and a more detailed trip report at: http://home.comcast.net/~smirick//Minnesota-North%20Dakota%20Report.htm Thanks again to those that helped out in our query for the Baird's Sparrow and thanks for the posts and updates on the e-mail lists! Steve & Jane Mirick Bradford, MA The species total (with our highlights) as follows: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE ND Only - Single bird flew over with Canada Geese in Jamestown, ND Snow Goose - ND Only - Flock of 18 (6 blue morph) in Jamestown, ND Canada Goose - Both MN & ND TRUMPETER SWAN - MN Only - Pair with 5 young at Rice Lake NWR in MN Wood Duck - Both MN & ND Gadwall - ND Only American Wigeon - Both MN & ND Mallard - Both MN & ND Blue-winged Teal - Both MN & ND Northern Shoveler - ND Only Northern Pintail - ND Only Green-winged Teal - ND Only Canvasback - ND Only Redhead - ND Only Ring-necked Duck - MN Only Lesser Scaup - ND Only Bufflehead - ND Only Hooded Merganser - ND Only Ruddy Duck - ND Only Ring-necked Pheasant - Both MN & ND Ruffed Grouse - MN Only SHARP-TAILED GROUSE - ND Only - Not great looks, but several in ND including group of 13. Wild Turkey - ND Only Common Loon - MN Only Pied-billed Grebe - Both MN & ND Red-necked Grebe - ND Only Eared Grebe - ND Only Western Grebe - ND Only American White Pelican - Both MN & ND Double-crested Cormorant - Both MN & ND American Bittern - Both MN & ND Great Blue Heron - Both MN & ND Great Egret - Both MN & ND LITTLE BLUE HERON - ND Only - Bird staked out south of Dawson ND at DeWald Slough. Rare for state. Cattle Egret - ND Only Green Heron - MN Only Black-crowned Night-Heron - ND Only White-faced Ibis - ND Only GLOSSY IBIS - ND Only - At least one "good" adult Glossy. A 2nd sub-adult bird also possible, but hybrid possible. Seen in Dawson, ND at DeWald Slough. Rare for state. Photographs. Turkey Vulture - MN Only Osprey - MN Only Bald Eagle - MN Only Northern Harrier - Both MN & ND Sharp-shinned Hawk - ND Only Cooper's Hawk - MN Only Broad-winged Hawk - MN Only Swainson's Hawk - ND Only Red-tailed Hawk - Both MN & ND Krider's Red-tailed Hawk - ND Only - Believed to see at least two or three while driving west near Jamestown. Not well studied. FERRUGINOUS HAWK - ND Only American Kestrel - Both MN & ND Merlin - MN Only YELLOW RAIL - ND Only - Two birds staked out near Tuttle, ND. Vociferously calling in mid-morning for 1/2 hour! No attempt made to hear birds at night in McGregor. Virginia Rail - Both MN & ND Sora - ND Only American Coot - ND Only Sandhill Crane - MN Only - A small number near McGregor, MN only. Killdeer - Both MN & ND American Avocet - ND Only Willet - ND Only Spotted Sandpiper - ND Only Upland Sandpiper - ND Only Marbled Godwit - ND Only Wilson's Snipe - Both MN & ND American Woodcock - MN Only Wilson's Phalarope - ND Only Franklin's Gull - ND Only Ring-billed Gull - Both MN & ND Common Tern - ND Only Forster's Tern - ND Only Black Tern - Both MN & ND Rock Pigeon - Both MN & ND Mourning Dove - Both MN & ND EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE - ND Only - Rare? Bird found in neighborhood in Steele, ND. (Kidder County) (Photographed) GREAT GRAY OWL - MN Only - Bird found along snowmobile trail about 1 mile south of Pietz's Road and CR18. SHORT-EARED OWL - Both MN & ND - Great show of Short-eared Owls with 5 in North Dakota and 2 different birds in MN near CR18 (Aitken County) Chimney Swift - Both MN & ND Ruby-throated Hummingbird - MN Only Belted Kingfisher - MN Only Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - MN Only Downy Woodpecker - MN Only Hairy Woodpecker - Both MN & ND Northern [Yellow-shafted] Flicker - Both MN & ND Pileated Woodpecker - MN Only Olive-sided Flycatcher - MN Only Eastern Wood-Pewee - Both MN & ND Yellow-bellied Flycatcher - MN Only Alder Flycatcher - MN Only Willow Flycatcher - Both MN & ND Least Flycatcher - Both MN & ND Eastern Phoebe - Both MN & ND Great Crested Flycatcher - Both MN & ND Western Kingbird - ND Only Eastern Kingbird - Both MN & ND BELL'S VIREO - Both MN & ND - At least 3 seen at Black Dog Preserve near Minneapolis. Much more rare was bird we found near Ransom, ND (Ransom County). Yellow-throated Vireo - MN Only Blue-headed Vireo - MN Only Warbling Vireo - ND Only Red-eyed Vireo - Both MN & ND Blue Jay - MN Only Black-billed Magpie - MN Only - Several including pair traveling with two young. All near Sax-Zim bog in MN American Crow - Both MN & ND Common Raven - MN Only Horned Lark - ND Only Purple Martin - MN Only Tree Swallow - Both MN & ND Northern Rough-winged Swallow - ND Only Bank Swallow - ND Only Cliff Swallow - Both MN & ND Barn Swallow - Both MN & ND Black-capped Chickadee - Both MN & ND Red-breasted Nuthatch - MN Only White-breasted Nuthatch - MN Only House Wren - Both MN & ND Sedge Wren - Both MN & ND Marsh Wren - Both MN & ND Golden-crowned Kinglet - MN Only Ruby-crowned Kinglet - MN Only Eastern Bluebird - Both MN & ND Veery - MN Only Hermit Thrush - MN Only Wood Thrush - MN Only American Robin - Both MN & ND Gray Catbird - MN Only Brown Thrasher - Both MN & ND European Starling - Both MN & ND SPRAGUE'S PIPIT - ND Only - Only one seen and heard skylarking in Tuttle. Cedar Waxwing - Both MN & ND GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER - MN Only - Only two, and only one of these cooperative for brief look at Rice Lake NWR in MN. Nashville Warbler - MN Only Northern Parula - MN Only Yellow Warbler - Both MN & ND Chestnut-sided Warbler - MN Only Magnolia Warbler - MN Only Yellow-rumped [Myrtle] Warbler - MN Only Black-throated Green Warbler - MN Only Blackburnian Warbler - MN Only Palm Warbler - MN Only Black-and-white Warbler - MN Only American Redstart - Both MN & ND Ovenbird - MN Only Northern Waterthrush - MN Only CONNECTICUT WARBLER - MN Only - Two on snowmobile trail opposite CR 18 in Aitken County. Mourning Warbler - MN Only Common Yellowthroat - Both MN & ND Canada Warbler - MN Only Chipping Sparrow - Both MN & ND Clay-colored Sparrow - Both MN & ND Field Sparrow - MN Only Vesper Sparrow - ND Only Savannah Sparrow - Both MN & ND Grasshopper Sparrow - ND Only BAIRD'S SPARROW - ND Only - Only one seen. Thanks to tips from local birders. Great scope views of bird singing in Tuttle, ND. HENSLOW'S SPARROW - MN Only - Unfortunately rain and wind hampered experience, but birds heard and one seen in scope from Murphy-Hanrehan in MN. LECONTE'S SPARROW - MN Only - Not many, but fine looks of singing bird along CR18 in MN. Also pair seen copulating 3x (!!) near Sax-Zim bog. Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow - ND Only Song Sparrow - Both MN & ND Lincoln's Sparrow - MN Only Swamp Sparrow - Both MN & ND White-throated Sparrow - MN Only Dark-eyed Junco - MN Only CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPUR - ND Only - Some nice views of birds in Tuttle area and near Chase Lake in ND. Scarlet Tanager - Both MN & ND Rose-breasted Grosbeak - MN Only Indigo Bunting - MN Only Dickcissel - ND Only Bobolink - Both MN & ND Red-winged Blackbird - Both MN & ND Eastern Meadowlark - MN Only Western Meadowlark - ND Only Yellow-headed Blackbird - Both MN & ND Brewer's Blackbird - ND Only Common Grackle - Both MN & ND Brown-headed Cowbird - Both MN & ND Orchard Oriole - ND Only Baltimore Oriole - Both MN & ND Purple Finch - MN Only House Finch - Both MN & ND American Goldfinch - Both MN & ND House Sparrow - Both MN & ND ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
