Hi All, I spent just over an hour at South Heron Lake in Jackson Co. this evening, welcoming in the sunset and was curious to see what it may bring in of note. I was not disappointed! The best birds were 7 WHITE-FACED IBIS that flew in and 2 vocal MARBLED GODWITS (both species looking for places to land) and 2 separate flyover flocks of SMITH'S LONGSPURS, totaling 11 individuals. 19 species of waterfowl were present (and grossly underestimated in the waning light), along with Common Loon, Horned Grebe, 4 Sandhill Cranes, an American Woodcock, a Barred Owl hooting to the southeast, a couple of Yellow-headed Blackbirds and a vocal Great-tailed Grackle somewhere on the west side of the lake.
The first flock of 7 Smith's Longspurs were along 850th St. west of the gate with 415th Ave. and there is soybean stubble to the south. I later had another small group of 4 birds flyover while I was scoping the lake. If you're looking for this species, I can't recommend enough to familiarize yourself with the call, as that is almost always how I first recognize and/or locate them. Xeno canto is your best bet by far. Here is a link to my eBird checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S35889687 Danny Akers Spirit Lake, IA ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
