Andrew Krenz, Trent Robbins, and I attempted a Waseca Cou Hey birders, Andrew Krenz, Trent Robbins, and I attempted a Waseca County BIG Day yesterday. We had scheduled this BIG day over a month ago and decided to do it regardless of weather. We did not expect thunderstorms back then, but God was very good to us!
We saw or heard 148 species between 1:38am when we arrived in the county until 9:00pm when we officially quit. Here's the synopsis: 12 waterfowl, 2 grebes, 4 herons, 5 hawks, 14 shorebirds, 7 woodpeckers, 8 flycatchers, 5 vireos, 6 swallows, 5 thrushes, 24 warblers, 9 sparrows, 7 blackbirds. Misses: Ring-billed Gull, American Kestrel, Belted Kingfisher The most notable species was a male Prairie Warbler that sang and foraged over our heads at Courthouse County Park on CR75 southeast of Waseca. A Red-breasted Nuthatch joined that mixed-species flock at one point too. Most of our shorebirds came from two flooded fields on the east side of Lake Elysian along East Elysian Lake Road (appropriately). One pond held Hudsonian Godwit, Black-bellied Plover, and White-rumped Sandpiper amongst others (all lifers for Andrew and Trent). I won't bore you with a 20-hour story, but anyone can backchannel if you would like more details. Chad Heins Mankato, MN ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
