I think there must have been a little influx of birds again overnight. At Sherburne HQ feeders this morning, there were 3 white-throated sparrows - my FOY (first of the year), a nice-sized flock of yellow-rumped warblers, up to six mourning doves and a small flock of 8-10 robins, along with regular feeder birds. A pair of purple finches made a brief appearance in the early afternoon. There have been 2 to 6 purple finches showing up sporadically over the last two weeks. On the way home this afternoon, driving along Sherburne CR 3, there were several large flocks of robins and red-winged blackbirds, as well as smaller flocks of flickers, juncos and bluebirds (11 bluebirds). The wetland at the junction of CRs 3 and 23 (this is only about 2 miles west of Santiago, and well worth a short diversion for those visiting Sherburne Refuge this time of year) provided my FOY northern pintails, as well as a lone tundra swan, and white-fronted geese (4). There was a nice mix of ducks including gadwall, wigeon, ring-necked, shoveler, mallard, wood duck and bufflehead. Shorebirds included killdeer, greater and (FOY) lesser yellowlegs, pectoral sandpiper (3), Wilson's snipe (7) and a single Baird's sandpiper. There certainly could be other shorebirds found here in the coming weeks! Betsy Beneke Sherburne, Benton & Stearns Counties - and farther east, if someone finds the brown pelican!!!
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