With the very cold February this year, I was not sure what to expect this spring. Luckily things began thawing out normally in mid-March here in Carver County. A lot of waterfowl habitat became available in traditional and non-tradition flooded farm fields. Unfortunately, waterfowl was not in a hurry to move north this year, and most of those flooded fields sat empty until they dried later in the spring. Once again with the Minnesota River flooded all spring, Rapids Lake was very poor for waterfowl. Ducks generally avoid that lake once the water levels are high, and the river is flowing through it. Migrating goose numbers weren't particularly great this spring, but Tundra Swan numbers were pretty good. Another mid-April snowstorm did bring a brief pause to migration, but this year most species arrived normally in March and April. The weather in May led to about the best possible conditions for migrant warbler in Carver County. Cool and dreary weather may not be the most comfortable weather to be out in, but it is great for keeping migrants moving slowly and from bypassing the area like they do with warmth and consistent southerly winds. I probably spent the most time birding in the rain this May compared to any previous year. Including all warbler species my total this spring is up 7.5% compared to last year. Excluding counts of the common Yellow, Redstart, and Yellowthroat, the total is down 8.2% compared to last year primarily due to fewer Palm and Yellow-rumped Warbler this spring. I did not see any birds that I consider unusual this spring. The cool weather in May did mean that I saw a lot of species in late May and early June that normally have moved north of the area by that time. It also meant that the higher surges of some of the species that arrive in May arrived slightly later than normal. Blue-winged Warbler and Prothonotary Warbler were quite late returning to their territories this year. Red-eyed Vireo and Eastern Wood-Pewee were somewhat late as well, particularly normal numbers of the species. It was another great season for Winter Wren, and Kinglet numbers of both species were outstanding. Thrush numbers were very good as well, with some unusually high numbers later than normal in the season. Lincoln's Sparrow numbers were mediocre, and numbers of White-crowned and Harris's Sparrow were very poor once again(no surprise). I spent more time at Carver Park Reserve this spring than usual and less time at Rapids Lake MVNWR with the flooding there. The high number of migrants present in the area late in the season led me to spend more time out than usual. Normally in late May and early June I take a bit of a break from birding. This year, although the walking was wearing on me, I kept going out. Between May 1 and June 2, I walked about 163.5 miles(not including a short amount of doubling back many outings) and spent about 135 hours in the field. The warbler per mile walked is actually lower this year than last year despite the higher cumulative warbler total this year. All in all, it was another wonderful spring for birds here in Carver County.
Warbler species seen each day followed by cumulative migrant warbler counts with the 2008-2018 average spring count in parenthesis(excluding Yellow, Yellowthroat, and Redstart) and a comparison to spring 2018 totals following that Before April 20- 1 April 20, 21, 23- 2 April 24- 5 April 27- 3 April 28- 2 April 30- 4 May 1- 3 May 2- 4 May 4- 9 May 5- 11 May 6- 9 May 7- 12 May 8, 9- 9 May 11- 14 May 12- 19 May 13- 11 May 14- 21 May 15- 22 May 16- 8 May 17- 23 May 18- 20 May 19- 23 May 21- 22 May 22- 23 May 24- 24 May 25- 20 May 26- 19 May 28- 16 May 29- 18 May 31- 9 June 1- 10 June 2- 7 Ovenbird 64 (34) (8.6% decrease from spring 2018) Northern Waterthrush 59(35) (28% decrease from spring 2018) Golden-winged Warbler 41 (13) (64% increase from spring 2018) Blue-winged Warbler 83 (54) (6.7% decrease from spring 2018) Black-and-white Warbler 72 (44) (22% decrease from spring 2018) Prothonotary Warbler 5 (9) (61% decrease from spring 2018) Tennessee Warbler 298 (203) (10% increase from spring 2018) Orange-crowned Warbler 42 (16) (7.7% increase from spring 2018) Nashville Warbler 146 (76) (5.2% decrease from spring 2018) Connecticut Warbler 14 (2) (367% increase from spring 2018) Mourning Warbler 45 (8) (350% increase from spring 2018) Common Yellowthroat 332 (52% increase from spring 2018) American Redstart 556 (112% increase from spring 2018) Cape May Warbler 8 (5) (700% increase from spring 2018) Cerulean Warbler 1 (1) (67% decrease from spring 2018) Northern Parula 20 (11) (23% decrease from spring 2018) Magnolia Warbler 140 (36) (180% increase from spring 2018) Bay-breasted Warbler 17 (5) (183% increase from spring 2018) Blackburnian Warbler 76 (19) (192% increase from spring 2018) Yellow Warbler 538 (22% increase from spring 2018) Chestnut-sided Warbler 124 (27) (148% increase from spring 2018) Blackpoll Warbler 80 (50) (4.8% decrease from spring 2018) Palm Warbler 243 (100) (27% decrease from spring 2018) Pine Warbler 8 (2) (100% increase from spring 2018) Yellow-rumped Warbler 804 (592) (37% decrease from spring 2018) Black-throated Green Warbler 32 (12) (167% increase from spring 2018) Canada Warbler 49 (11) (390% increase from spring 2018) Wilson's Warbler 75 (32) (63% increase from spring 2018) Warbler totals by location Rapids Lake MVNWR(most time spent west of Rapids Lake) 985 of 28 species Carver Park Reserve(west of cty. rd. 11 only) 2884 of 26 species Minnesota Landscape Arboretum(little time here) 103 of 17 species Other species cumulative counts Olive-sided Flycatcher 14 Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 8 Alder Flycatcher 42 Willow Flycatcher 29 Least Flycatcher 178 Blue-headed Vireo 35 Philadelphia Vireo 12 Winter Wren 31 Golden-crowned Kinglet 217 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 501 Veery 11 Gray-cheeked Thrush 10 Swainson's Thrush 108 Hermit Thrush 65 Wood Thrush 10 Fox Sparrow 264 White-throated Sparrow 721 White-crowned Sparrow 3 Harris's Sparrow 1 Lincoln's Sparrow 27 2019 spring arrival dates(exluding any lingering winter January/February birds) March 16- Red-winged Blackbird March 18- Hooded Merganser, Sandhill Crane, Common Grackle March 19- Wood Duck, Killdeer, Cooper's Hawk, Lapland Longspur March 20- Common Goldeneye, Common Merganser, Song Sparrow, Rusty Blackbird March 22- Northern Pintail, American Woodcock, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Belted Kingfisher March 23- Greater White-fronted Goose, Cackling Goose, Northern Shoveler, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Ring-billed Gull, Great Blue Heron, Northern Harrier, American Kestrel, Eastern Meadowlark March 24- Tundra Swan, American Wigeon, Redhead March 26- Canvasback, Turkey Vulture, Northern Shrike, Golden-crowned Kinglet March 27- Herring Gull, Double-crested Cormorant, Tree Swallow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Fox Sparrow March 29- Blue-winged Teal, Great Egret, Eastern Phoebe April 2- Red-breasted Merganser, Chipping Sparrow, Brown-headed Cowbird April 5- Gadwall, Pied-billed Grebe, Bonaparte's Gull, Common Loon, American White Pelican, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Winter Wren, Western Meadowlark April 6- Hermit Thrush, Yellow-rumped Warbler April 7- Ruddy Duck, American Coot, Field Sparrow April 8- Green-winged Teal, Osprey, Golden Eagle, Vesper Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow April 20- Broad-winged Hawk, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Thrasher, White-throated Sparrow, Pine Warbler April 21- Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Savannah Sparrow, Henslow's Sparrow, Palm Warbler April 23- Barn Swallow, Eastern Towhee, Orange-crowned Warbler April 24- Greater Yellowlegs, House Wren, Marsh Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Clay-colored Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow, Black-and-white Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Indigo Bunting April 27- Sora, Cliff Swallow April 28- Purple Martin, Lark Sparrow April 30- Grasshopper Sparrow, Tennessee Warbler May 1- Bank Swallow May 2- Virginia Rail May 4- Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary Sandpiper, Least Flycatcher, Blue-headed Vireo, White-crowned Sparrow, Baltimore Oriole, Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, Nashville Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Rose-breasted Grosbeak May 5- Spotted Sandpiper, Willet, Great Crested Flycatcher, Sedge Wren, Gray Catbird, Bobolink, Golden-winged Warbler May 6- Wilson's Warbler May 7- Chimney Swift, Red-headed Woodpecker, Yellow-throated Vireo, Warbling Vireo, Veery, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Swainson's Thrush, American Pipit, Brewer's Blackbird, American Redstart, Blackburnian Warbler May 8- Northern Parula Msy 11- Forster's Tern, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Wood Thrush, Orchard Oriole, Magnolia Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Common Yellowthroat May 12- Caspian Tern, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Blue-winged Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler May 14- Green Heron, Red-eyed Vireo, Prothonotary Warbler, Cape May Warbler, Cerulean Warbler, Scarlet Tanager May 15- Harris's Sparrow, Connecticut Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, Canada Warbler May 17- Eastern Wood-Pewee, Philadelphia Vireo, Mourning Warbler May 18- Alder Flycatcher May 19- Willow Flycatcher May 21- Common Nighthawk May 24- Black-billed Cuckoo May 25- Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Yellow-headed Blackbird June 1- Least Sandpiper 2019 last of spring dates(for those species that normally leave the area for the summer) March 26- Greater White-fronted Goose March 27- Cackling Goose April 5- Tundra Swan April 7- Common Goldeneye April 15- Canvasback, Red-breasted Merganser April 16- Lapland Longspur, American Tree Sparrow April 21- Rusty Blackbird April 23- Northern Shoveler, Bonaparte's Gull April 24= Redhead, Lesser Scaup April 28- Ring-necked Duck, Merlin April 30- Fox Sparrow, Purple Finch May 2- Gadwall May 4- Golden-crowned Kinglet May 7- Greater Yellowlegs May 9- Bufflehead May 11- Common Merganser, Sharp-shinned Hawk May 12- Dark-eyed Junco May 14- Lesser Yellowlegs May 15- Solitary Sandpiper, White-crowned Sparrow May 19- Palm Warbler May 21- Forster's Tern, Winter Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet May 22- Gray-cheeked Thrush, Orange-crowned Warbler May 24- Lincoln's Sparrow, Cape May Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler May 25- Blue-headed Vireo, Northern Waterthrush May 26- Swainson's Thrush, Northern Parula May 28- Philadelphia Vireo, Veery, Bay-breasted Warbler May 29- Golden-winged Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Pine Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Canada Warbler May 31- Caspian Tern, Connecticut Warbler, Mourning Warbler, Wilson's Warbler June 1- Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Tennessee Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler June 2- Olive-sided Flycatcher, Alder Flycatcher, White-throated Sparrow, Magnolia Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler John Cyrus ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
