I will look back fondly at birding during 2013 in Carver County. Most memorable will likely be the outstanding warbler year, both spring and fall. The biggest surprise of 2013 was that for the second year in a row shorebird habitat for the fall was nearly ideal, beginning with flooded farm fields in July transitioning to dryer conditions in August. Shorebird conditions in 2012 were better though, particularly during spring. Unlike 2012, waterfowl was not particularly memorable in 2013. The long lingering winter during spring 2013 likely removed any chance of the high numbers of goose species(other than Canada) in Carver County compared to spring 2012. That lingering winter likely led to the great passerine numbers in May, as the warm spring 2012 was downright mediocre when it came to warbler(only saw 3 Chestnut-sided Warbler that spring). Photo opportunity of the year was a tie between a protesting Northern Waterthrush and an extremely curious Veery. No recordings were used for the photos, and no recordings are used during my birding.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27446731@N02/9577643598/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/27446731@N02/8731751341/ Fall shorebird totals including numbers from Carver and far eastern Sibley County (2012 fall totals, 6 additional shorebird species seen in fall 2012 that were not seen in 2013) Least Sandpiper 975 (2438) Lesser Yellowlegs 597 (863) Pectoral Sandpiper 550 (1256) Greater Yellowlegs 129 (82) Semipalmated Sandpiper 113 (87) Solitary Sandpiper 91 (202) Stilt Sandpiper 47 (40) Baird's Sandpiper 33 (48) Short-billed Dowitcher 28 (232) Spotted Sandpiper 27 (25) Willet 5 (3) Wilson's Phalarope 4 (28) Sanderling 1 (2) Buff-breasted Sandpiper 1 (0) Long-billed Dowitcher 1 (4) Red-necked Phalarope 1 (0) Other notable birds from only Carver County Olive-sided Flycatcher new high total fall count of 10, new late spring date on May 24, new late fall date on September 19 Eastern Wood-Pewee new late fall date on October 1 Yellow-bellied Flycatcher new late spring date on May 26, new late fall date on September 19 Alder Flycatcher new high total spring count of 103(exceptionally high compared to past springs), new late spring date on June 6 Blue-headed Vireo new high total spring count of 29, new high total fall count of 40, new late spring date on June 2 Philadelphia Vireo new high total spring count of 16, new high total fall count of 21, new late spring date on June 1 Golden-crowned Kinglet new high total spring count of 123 Ruby-crowned Kinglet new high total fall count of 271, new late fall date on November 2 Veery new high total spring count of 18 Gray-cheeked Thrush new high total spring count of 13 Hermit Thrush new high total spring count of 59, new late spring date on May 15 Warbler total counts (spring // fall) Blue-winged Warbler 62(new high spring total) // 6, new late fall date on September 12 Golden-winged Warbler 18(new high spring total) // 9(new high fall total), new late spring date on June 2, new late fall date on September 15 Brewster's Warbler 1 // 0 Tennesee Warbler 351(new high spring total) // 99 Orange-crowned Warbler 34(new high spring total) // 129(new high fall total), new late spring date on May 23 Nashville Warbler 88 // 193(new high fall total), new late spring date on May 23 Northern Parula 12(new high spring total) // 6, new late spring date on May 28 Yellow Warbler 408 // 86(fall total much higher than is typical likely due to a late start to nesting) Chestnut-sided Warbler 61(new high spring total) // 65, new late spring date on May 30 Magnolia Warbler 47 // 39, new late spring date on May 28 Cape May Warbler 5 // 3(new high fall total) Black-throated Green Warbler 18(new high spring total) // 9, new late spring date on May 26 Yellow-rumped Warbler 820(new high spring total) // 389, new late spring date on May 25 Blackburnian Warbler 54(new high spring total) // 14, new late spring date on June 6 Pine Warbler 2 // 2 Palm Warbler 160(new high spring total) // 23 Bay-breasted Warbler 16(new high spring total) // 7, new late spring date on May 27 Blackpoll Warbler 139(new high spring total) // 3, new late spring date on May 28 Cerulean Warbler 4(new high spring total) // 0 Black-and-White Warbler 78(new high spring total) // 58, new late spring date on May 29 American Redstart 254 // 266 Prothonotary Warbler 3 // 10(new high fall total) Ovenbird 53(new high spring total) // 23 Northern Waterthrush 40(new high spring total) // 61(new high fall total), new late spring date on June 1 Connecticut Warbler 4(new high spring total) // 3(new high fall total), new late spring date on May 26 Mourning Warbler 13(new high spring total) // 20(new high fall total), new late spring date on May 28, new late fall date on October 4 Common Yellowthroat 81 // 198, new late fall date on October 17 Wilson's Warbler 78(new high spring total) // 28, new late spring date on June 2 Canada Warbler 42(new high spring total) // 36, new late spring date on June 1, new late fall date on September 21 Hooded Warbler 1 // 0 Yellow-throated Warbler 1 // 0 Eastern Towhee new high total fall count of 6, new late fall date on October 31 Chipping Sparrow new late fall date on October 27 Field Sparrow new late fall date on October 18 Fox Sparrow new late spring date on May 10 Lincoln's Sparrow new high total spring count of 61 White-throated Sparrow new high total spring count of 385, new high total fall count of 730, new late spring date on May 28 Harris's Sparrow new high total spring count of 15, new late spring date on May 19 White-crowned Sparrow new high total spring count of 32 ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
