We just finished the three day shorebird workshop that Bob Janssen and I conduct the first weekend each August.
We saw 17 species of shorebird over the three days: Everyone got very good long looks at all species including the 7 Buff-breasted Sandpipers. The only exception was the Willet which was only seen by a few folks. a.. Golden Plover b.. Semipalmated Plover c.. Killdeer d.. Greater Yellowlegs e.. Lesser Yellowlegs f.. Solitary Sandpiper g.. Willet (only in SD - not MN) h.. Spotted Sandpiper i.. Pectoral Sandpiper j.. Baird's Sandpiper k.. Semipalmated Sandpiper l.. Stilt Sandpiper m.. Short-billed Dowitcher n.. Buff-breasted Sandpiper (only in SD - not MN) o.. Wilson's Snipe p.. Wilson's Phalarope q.. Red-necked Phalarope (only in SD - not MN) Actually the best bird wasn't even a shorebird. We saw Say's Phoebe at the Big Stone City sewage lagoons located about three miles west of the MN / SD border - in SD. Salt Lake; south of Marietta MN is quite good for shorebirds right now and should continue for sometime. There is a location one mile east of the junction of Hwy 75 and Co. Road 64 in Big Stone Co. that may remain a few days but is shrinking very fast. Shorebird habitat is very scarce and situation will probably remain that way or get worse in the future. This is largely due to installation of drain tiles which has been taking place for many years in MN but is now becoming very common even here in SD. The growth of cattail is also taking over many potholes that were once prime shorebird habitat. Doug Buri Milbank, SD www.dougburi.com/shorebird www.dougburi.com/sparrow ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
