I spent about 5 hours birding the Minnesota River valley this morning with good
warbler variety and numbers. Despite the numbers of birds I counted, there
are still stretches of trail without any activity and many warbler can be
easily missed as they silently(or very quietly) feed. Warbling and
Yellow-throated Vireo, as is typical this time of year, were singing away..
The morning began with the sound of warbler flight calls at Chaska Lake(around
4 birds that I never saw...probably Tennessee or Nashville Warbler). Soon
after I came upon the largest wave of the day, of which I identified 5 of
around 15 mainly warbler...not the greatest start but I prefer to have birds
around and not identify them than to not find anything.. After that I found
mainly small pockets(2-5 birds) of migrants, and with much patience I was able
to identify most of them. The first half of the morning was spent at the
Chaska Lake unit while the second half was at the Rapids Lake.unit.
Chaska Lake MVNWR
Greater Yellowlegs 2
Lesser Yellowlegs 4
Pectoral Sandpiper 1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Olive-sided Flycatcher 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee 4
Least Flycatcher 1
Yellow-throated Vireo 4
Blue-headed Vireo 1
Warbling Vireo 6
Philadelphia Vireo 1
Red-eyed Vireo 4
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
Ovenbird 2
Northern Waterthrush 2
Golden-winged Warbler 1 male
Black-and-white Warbler 3
Tennessee Warbler 6 (2 of these were male in various stages of molt)
Nashville Warbler 7
Mourning Warbler 1 male
Common Yellowthroat 3
American Redstart 6
Cape May Warbler 1
Magnolia Warbler 4
Bay-breasted Warbler 2 (female and immature)
Blackburnian Warbler 1 adult
Chestnut-sided Warbler 3
Wilson's Warbler 1 male
Rapids Lake MVNWR
Eastern Wood-Pewee 4
Yellow-throated Vireo 5
Warbling Vireo 4
Red-eyed Vireo 3
Swainson's Thrush 1
Ovenbird 2
Northern Waterthrush 3
Black-and-white Warbler 2
Tennessee Warbler 5 (4 of these were male in various stages of molt)
Nashville Warbler 7
Common Yellowthroat 2
American Redstart 12
Magnolia Warbler 3
Bay-breasted Warbler 1
Blackburnian Warbler 2 (adult and immature)
Yellow Warbler 1 female
Chestnut-sided Warbler 3
Black-throated Green Warbler 1
Canada Warbler 2 (female and immature)
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