I returned late on Thursday from eight days in western and northern Minnesota working on the Breeding Bird Atlas. Best birds: Ibis - just east of Norwood/Young America on Hwy 5 on the drive out. It flew across the road and I was unable to relocate it when I turned around. Bullock's Oriole - in Lac qui Parle Co just north of Yellow Medicine County on Hwy 75. While driving at about 60mph, I almost hit an oriole. I got a good look at its orange color and the black pattern in its tail and little else. It had the tail of a Bullock's Oriole. It took me a few miles for it to register and I was unable to locate the bird or even the spot where I saw the bird. This will not be written up for MOURC or entered into the BBA data, unless I get a better look at the bird. Eastern Meadowlark - in Lyon County along the eastern county line. There were both Eastern and Western Meadowlarks singing in the field. I would hear one and then hear the other and decide that I was mistaken on my ID. This was before I realized that I had both singing. Purple Martin, western subspecies - This was a surprise. The male was sitting on the top of the house and the female was looking out the hole. I figured she was a young bird, surprisingly early, but looked it up in the field guide and discovered it was a female. I had never heard of the western subspecies and have no idea if it is seen regularly in Minnesota. There was only the one pair in the house. Upland Sandpiper pair in Big Stone Co, SE of Johnson by the radio tower along the county line. C. Loon pair in Big Stone Co. in Akron Twshp. The are two additional loons in Lac qui Parle Co. near Prairie Marsh Farm south of Marietta. Best animals were the jack rabbits in Lyons County. There is nothing more surprising than looking into a barren field and have a pair of jack rabbits materialize out of thin air in the middle of the field. And, a big mother skunk carrying one of its pups across a field in Big Stone County.
Most surprising miss - Dickcissels. I have yet to find a Dickcissel this year, after last year's explosion of this bird. 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
