During a 3-day Minn Birding Weekend Aug 24-25-26, a decent variety of shorebirds was found in west-central Minn. In all, 17 species turned up at scattered locations (the water levels at many wetlands were low enough to expose mudflats around their shorelines), and the best areas we found (mostly by chance) were:
- Drawn-down Ash Lake in Grant Co (2 mi W and 1 mile N of Wendell): 14 species, including Am Golden-Plovers, Buff-breasted Sandpipers, Red-necked Phalaropes, and our only Wilson's Phalaropes. - The WPA along Big Stone CR 6, 7.3 mi E of Clinton: 12 species, including Red-necked Phalarope. - The Auto Tour loop at Big Stone NWR, Lac Qui Parle Co: 12 species, including Buff-breasted Sandpiper. Elsewhere, a few Am Golden-Plovers (but little else) were on the W side of the North Ottawa impoundment in W Grant Co, 2 mi N of Charlesville; only 1 Short-billed Dowitcher was found (Thielke L, Big Stone Co); and the Morris sewage ponds had a few Red-necked Phalaropes but little else. No avocets, willets, godwits, or other uncommon/rare species were seen, but probably other birders exploring these counties might turn up one of these or find some other productive mudflats that we missed. Other than the Little Blue Heron and Snowy Egrets reported on last Friday's posting, nothing especially noteworthy was found, although we did manage 135 species in all. But these included just a handful of migrant passerines (e.g., 11 warbler species) at a few scattered locations, mostly in SW Grant Co (Niemackl Co Park) and in NE Stevens Co (Scandia Lake Cemetery on CR 1 and nearby Scandia Woods Environmental Learning Lab). Kim R Eckert [email protected] http://www.mbwbirds.com ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
