I tried out Theodore Wirth Park yesterday afternoon with the help of many who responded to my request. The habitat is still good in the area and the rain last night probably made it even better. It is an area under construction not on Wirth Lake itself but behind the volleyball courts on 3200 Glenwood Avenue. I don't have a scope but this is one of the few times that even the smallest of shorebirds were easy to see with just binoculars so it is a great opportunity for anyone who typically gets frustrated trying to see the subtle differences. I found good numbers of Least, Semipalmated, Pectoral and Spotted Sandpipers along with several Semipalmated Plovers and Killdeer. What I really went to the location for was the White-rumped Sandpipers of which I found two. They can be distinguished from the other sandpipers by their slightly down curved bill with a colored base on the lower mandible, a gradual sloping forehead, a noticeable pale supercilium, wings that extend well past the tail feathers and obviously the white rump if they fly. This was one of the last of a few regular Minnesota birds that I had never seen before and therefore it was an exciting find. Thank you to all who assisted. Jason Caddy [email protected] Minneapolis ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
