Not having to do an intensive season of May-July bird fieldwork for the first time in years is allowing me to finally check off some unique MN breeding season experiences. Last night, on the way back from a weekend in the northern part of the state, my wife Sara and I made the pilgrimage to the McGregor Marsh to find sedge marsh species.
A visit between 2-3 AM yielded all the expected birds of the marsh. We were satisfied to stay dry and just listen, and we heard one Yellow Rail clicking away along state Hwy 65 (on the west side about 0.2 mile south of the junction with 210). Also in this spot, we heard at least 2 Nelson's Sparrows. We stopped in many spots in the marsh, but this was the only spot where we heard these two species. LeConte's Sparrows were heard at almost every stop. Other species heard included snipe, Amerian Bittern, and far too many Sedge Wrens (they drowned the quieter species out!). On a side note, Sunday night seems to be an ideal time to stop and listen for birds along Hwy 65, since the traffic was extremely light (only 3 cars in one hour). Scott Loss St. Paul ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
