Saturday I led the MRVAC annual warbler field trip to Hok-si-la and Frontenac. This is at least the tenth year that I have led this trip, which has a history, I believe, of at least thirty years. The day was beautiful and the birding was enjoyable, although slow. By the end of the full day we had 84 species, including 16 warblers, on my list with stops at Hok-si-la, Sand Point, and a hike thourgh the fields below the park entrance at Frontenac. We encounted no unexpected gems, but had killer looks at several good birds. Baltimore Orioles were everywhere, vocal and active. We found several pairs of Scarlet Tanagers to the delight of all. We witnessed a vocal battle of dueling Barred Owls. The walk to Sand Point was accomplished with dry feet only because of the board walk across a broad expanse of standing water. The last walk out to the point was difficult as the beach was overwhelmed by the river and ultimately unrewarding as the point was also flooded and devoid of birds. Flying above the board walk were two pairs of Red-headed Woodpeckers in all their glory. One was seen visiting a hole. Another highlight of the Sand Point walk was some cooperative Northern Waterthrushes. There was also a report of Louisianna at this location, which we could not verify. We also had a female Orchard Oliole building a nest in the fields area. We were unsuccesful in attempts to find the Bell Vireos that used to nest in this area, although I believe they have not been reported recently.
At the Northern Waterthrush location just before the river on the Sand Point trail, we were able to view several turtles, inluding spiny softshells, common map turtle, and what I ID'd as a painted turtle, but later figured out was a red-eared turtle, which is not native to Minnesota. I expect there were also painted turtles. Butterflies seen included monarch, eastern tiger swallowtail, giant tiger swallowtail, clouded sulphur, lots of red admirals, mourning cloak, spring azure (?), european skipper (?), and common ringlet. Several others were not ID'd and not much attention was paid to butterflies. The normal mix of flowers seen on this fieldtrip were not present this year. We did find phlox, wild geranium, and the various fruit plants, bushes, and trees in bloom. Steve Weston on Quigley Lake in Eagan, MN [email protected] ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
