Back in January, I began putting together my Carver County summary for 2020 but put it on the back burner. I never got back to it, so this year I am making a point of getting my 2021 summary put together early and actually finishing it.
2021 began with me taking a break from birding. I spent no time out in January and only went out once in late February with the earliest signs of spring. My goal this year, like last year, was to spend less time birding than the previous 10 years or so. During the spring and some of the summer, I did spend less time out than what had become normal. I spent a bit more time out in the fall than I was intending, though. Still, it was less time than many recent falls. The spring began as I had hoped with an early thaw. Most snow had melted by March 9. Without river flooding, Rapids Lake does thaw slower than it would with the flooding, but by March 22, Rapids Lake was completely clear of ice. Enough open water was available at the Rapids Lake area to host higher numbers of waterfowl beginning around March 9. While I did see some Tundra Swan, this is the first spring of the last 10 or so that I missed their larger movement over/through the area. It was also another spring that I saw only larger numbers of Canada Geese and not many of the other goose species. Without the flooding, Rapids Lake attracted better numbers of ducks than the last couple of years when the river was flowing through the lake. I went into the year with no intention of spending time in rural areas of western Carver County. Following a winter that was not conducive to flooded farm fields in the spring to attract waterfowl, I was not tempted to check those areas. I spent all my time this spring at either Rapids Lake MVNWR or Carver Park Reserve with more time spent at Rapids Lake. Winter finch numbers were great during the fall of 2020, and there were a few more around in March than some past years. Otherwise, migration progressed normally throughout most of the spring. Neither April nor May were particularly noteworthy for birds this year. After the down spring of 2020, this year saw even fewer warbler. I counted 1650 identified warbler this spring, an 8.89% decrease from spring 2020. The amount of time that I spent in the field during April and May 2021 was very similar to those months in 2020. The weather pattern in May was similar to 2020. Once again, the weather cooperated and ushered in a surge of migrants in late April and early May. Then the weather was not conducive for great migration until mid-May. At that point the weather became too favorable for migration, and I believe a lot of migrants overflew Carver County. As for other species besides warbler, it was another spring with poor to mediocre numbers of migrant flycatcher, thrush, and sparrow. I can not speak too much on summer birds, as I was not out a whole lot. My three trips to Rapids Lake yielded relatively typical numbers of expected birds. There were very good numbers of Prothonotary Warbler present. While present, both Yellow-billed Cuckoo and Dickcissel were not as numerous as some prior years. Unusual was an Acadian Flycatcher on two of three of my trips to Rapids Lake. The dry weather this year changed my plans slightly this summer. While the drought was likely not great for shorebird habitat in some of the usual spots in western areas of Carver County, it led to ideal for habitat at Chaska Lake. I had not visited Chaska Lake in a couple years, so I made a few trips there in late July and then several more in August. For the amount of shorebird habitat available at Chaska Lake, there was not an exceptional number of shorebirds present. Each day I visited, though, there were some. During the primary 2021 fall months(Aug.-Oct.) I spent 163 hours in the field. This was about 7% more time spent in the field than those same months in fall 2020. During those 163 hours I walked about 176.25 miles not including any small amount of doubling back each day. Most of my time out was during August and September. I did not spend a lot of time out in October and spent even less in November. I spent almost all my time at Carver Park Reserve this fall going to Chaska Lake MVNWR a few times early in the season and Rapids Lake for one short visit. Carver Park takes a bit less effort for me to be thorough compared to Rapids Lake, and it is slightly more convenient. But, for my interests, Carver Park is becoming a bit too crowded for ideal birding even in the areas southwest of the highway. The main reason I stopped birding around the nature center, northeast of the highway, was because of the increasing number of people in that area of the park years ago. While the area southwest of the highway is large enough that it isn't a big problem, the increasing numbers of people and dogs have scared birds from areas I have been covering in many instances. I had run into that same problem at the arboretum in recent years, so I stopped going there nearly as much and didn't visit at all this year. My 2021 fall identified warbler total was 1987, a 10.3% increase from fall 2020. My fall 2020 warbler total was my lowest total since 2013. Totals of other migrant species were relatively normal for the season. While weather often seems to determine the abundance of migrants in May or lack thereof in Carver County, it does not do the same in the fall except in the case of thunderstorms causing localized fallouts. With almost no interesting weather this fall to cause significant fallouts, I relied on the usual movements of migrants before and after cold frontal passages. The first strong cold front passage in mid-August led to the first surge of migrants to the area. By mid-September, predictably, many of the neotropical migrants were gone from the area. While the typical October migrants continued to move through, there did not appear to be many unusually late stragglers in the area. Based on what I saw in November, it didn't appear that much was lingering in the area into the winter either, so it is doubtful that I will be out much until the spring. While there were some winter finch around this fall, they were not nearly as numerous as last fall. Below are some specifics that I kept track of for the year. Carver County spring 2021 warbler species seen each day followed by cumulative migrant warbler counts with the 2008-2020 average spring count in parenthesis(excluding Yellow, Yellowthroat, and Redstart) and a comparison to spring 2020 totals following that. Before April 28- 1 April 28- 7 (of 66 species at Rapids Lake) May 1- 8 (of 77 species at Rapids Lake) May 2- 14 (of 85 species at Carver Park Reserve) May 8- 12 (of 83 species at Rapids Lake) May 9- 17 (of 86 species at Carver Park Reserve) May 12- 15 (of 79 species at Carver Park Reserve) May 14- 18 (of 79 species at Carver Park Reserve) May 15- 22 (of 98 species at Rapids Lake) May 16- 19 (of 96 species at Rapids Lake) May 17- 13 (of 81 species at Carver Park Reserve) May 18- 9 (of 75 species at Rapids Lake) May 22- 12 (of 81 species at Rapids Lake) May 23- 10 (of 75 species at Carver Park Reserve) Ovenbird 24 (37) (29.4% decrease from spring 2020) Northern Waterthrush 26 (38) (50% decrease from spring 2020) Golden-winged Warbler 9 (16) (57.1% decrease from spring 2020) Blue-winged Warbler 85 (55) (84.8% increase from spring 2020) Black-and-white Warbler 30 (47) (48.3% decrease from spring 2020) Prothonotary Warbler 30 (9) (275% increase from spring 2020) Tennessee Warbler 110 (202) (23.6% increase from spring 2020) Orange-crowned Warbler 30 (19) (7.1% increase from spring 2020) Nashville Warbler 68 (85) (41.4% decrease from spring 2020) Connecticut Warbler 0 (3) (No change from spring 2020) Mourning Warbler 6 (11) (No change from spring 2020) Common Yellowthroat 160 (12.7% increase from spring 2020) American Redstart 222 (51% increase from spring 2020) Cape May Warbler 1 (5) (Compares to 4 seen spring 2020) Cerulean Warbler 0 (1) (Compares to 1 seen spring 2020) Northern Parula 4 (12) (69.2% decrease from spring 2020) Magnolia Warbler 33 (43) (57.1% increase from spring 2020) Bay-breasted Warbler 6 (6) (50% increase from spring 2020) Blackburnian Warbler 10 (23) (47.4% decrease from spring 2020) Yellow Warbler 346 (57.3% increase from spring 2020) Chestnut-sided Warbler 25 (34) (8.7% increase from spring 2020) Blackpoll Warbler 8 (50) (42.9% decrease from spring 2020) Palm Warbler 64 (113) (48.8% decrease from spring 2020) Pine Warbler 1 (2) (Compares to 2 seen spring 2020) Yellow-rumped Warbler 332 (607) (42.3% decrease from spring 2020) Black-throated Green Warbler 9 (13) (No change from spring 2020) Canada Warbler 2 (14) (80% decrease from spring 2020) Wilson's Warbler 9 (35) (57.1% decrease from spring 2020) Other species spring 2021 cumulative counts Olive-sided Flycatcher 1 Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 3 Alder Flycatcher 8 Willow Flycatcher 9 Least Flycatcher 57 Blue-headed Vireo 16 Philadelphia Vireo 2 Winter Wren 8 Golden-crowned Kinglet 51 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 264 Veery 1 Gray-cheeked Thrush 6 Swainson's Thrush 39 Hermit Thrush 7 Wood Thrush 4 Fox Sparrow 81 White-throated Sparrow 166 White-crowned Sparrow 2 Lincoln's Sparrow 8 2021 spring arrival dates February 27- Canada Goose, Common Goldeneye, Common Merganser, Snow Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird March 6- Northern Pintail, Lesser Scaup, Hooded Merganser, Northern Shrike March 7- Canvasback, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Killdeer, Lapland Longspur, Rusty Blackbird March 8- Wood Duck, Green-winged Teal, Brown-headed Cowbird, Common Grackle March 9- Greater White-fronted Goose, Cackling Goose, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Sandhill Crane, Ring-billed Gull, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Eastern Bluebird March 10- Belted Kingfisher, Fox Sparrow March 13- Tundra Swan, American Woodcock, Song Sparrow(non-overwintering birds) March 14- Herring Gull March 20- Greater Scaup, Bufflehead, Red-breasted Merganser, March 21- Red-shouldered Hawk, Swamp Sparrow, Eastern Meadowlark March 27- American Coot, Common Loon, Golden-crowned Kinglet March 28- Blue-winged Teal, Great Blue Heron March 29- Turkey Vulture April 3- American White Pelican, Northern Harrier, Tree Swallow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, Yellow-rumped Warbler April 4- Cooper's Hawk, Purple Martin, Field Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow April 5- Eastern Phoebe April 10- Pied-billed Grebe, Horned Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Northern Goshawk, Rough-legged Hawk, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker April 17- Bonaparte's Gull, Winter Wren, Chipping Sparrow, Yellow-headed Blackbird April 24- Osprey, Red-headed Woodpecker, April 28- Lesser Yellowlegs, Broad-winged Hawk, Barn Swallow, House Wren, Savannah Sparrow, Eastern Towhee, Northern Waterthrush, Black-and-white Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Palm Warbler, Pine Warbler May 1- Eastern Whip-poor-will, Baird's Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper, Solitary Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs, Forster's Tern, Least Flycatcher, Gray Catbird, Brown Thrasher, Lincoln's Sparrow, Baltimore Oriole, Prothonotary Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler May 2- Chimney Swift, Virginia Rail, Sora, Great Egret, Green Heron, Eastern Kingbird, Yellow-throated Vireo, Blue-headed Vireo, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Marsh Wren, Swainson's Thrush, Clay-colored Sparrow, Bobolink, Ovenbird, Golden-winged Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, American Redstart, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Indigo Bunting May 8- Great Crested Flycatcher, Warbling Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Bank Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Blue-winged Warbler, Rose-breasted Grosbeak May 9- Caspian Tern, Wood Thrush, Cape May Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Wilson's Warbler May 12- Veery, White-crowned Sparrow, Bay-breasted Warbler, Scarlet Tanager May 14- Sedge Wren, Gray-cheeked Thrush May 15- Eastern Wood-Pewee, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Grasshopper Sparrow, Orchard Oriole, Northern Parula, Blackpoll Warbler May 16- Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Philadelphia Vireo, Mourning Warbler May 17- Black-billed Cuckoo, Common Nighthawk, Willow Flycatcher May 18- Yellow-billed Cuckoo May 22- Alder Flycatcher, Canada Warbler May 23- Olive-sided Flycatcher June 5- American Bittern, Acadian Flycatcher, Lark Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, Dickcissel Summer species counts at Rapids Lake MVNWR June 5- 70 species June 14- 68 species July 10- 73 species Fall 2021 warbler species seen each day followed by cumulative migrant warbler counts with the 2008-2020 average fall count in parenthesis(excluding Yellow, Yellowthroat, and Redstart) and a comparison to fall 2020 totals following that. August 1- 5 (of 64 species at Carver Park Reserve) August 6- 3 (of 62 species at Chaska Lake MVNWR) August 8- 3 (of 57 species at Chaska Lake MVNWR) August 13- 9 (of 67 species at Carver Park Reserve) August 14- 9 (of 64 species at Chaska Lake MVNWR) August 15- 12 (of 69 species at Chaska Lake MVNWR) August 21- 10 (of 54 species at Carver Park Reserve) August 22- 13 (of 63 species at Chaska Lake MVNWR) August 27- 15 (of 54 species at Carver Park Reserve) August 28- 15 (of 63 species at Carver Park Reserve) August 29- 17 (of 71 species at Carver Park Reserve) September 3- 16 (of 59 species at Carver Park Reserve) September 4- 17 (of 68 species at Carver Park Reserve) September 5- 18 (of 77 species at Carver Park Reserve) September 10- 5 (of 40 species at Carver Park Reserve) September 11- 11 (of 60 species at Carver Park Reserve) September 12- 14 (of 74 species at Carver Park Reserve) September 14- 9 (of 45 species at Carver Park Reserve) September 17- 12 (of 58 species at Carver Park Reserve) September 18- 10 (of 65 species at Carver Park Reserve) September 20- 11 (of 59 species at Carver Park Reserve) September 21- 10 (of 59 species at Carver Park Reserve) September 22- 11 (of 73 species at Carver Park Reserve) September 23- 13 (of 60 species at Carver Park Reserve) September 25- 5 (of 37 species at Rapids Lake MVNWR) September 26- 5 (of 40 species at Carver Park Reserve) September 27- 9 (of 66 species at Carver Park Reserve) September 28- 7 (of 62 species at Carver Park Reserve) September 29- 8 (of 63 species at Carver Park Reserve) October 2- 5 (of 58 species at Carver Park Reserve) October 3- 6 (of 54 species at Carver Park Reserve) October 9- 4 (of 62 species at Carver Park Reserve) October 16- 2 (of 52 species at Carver Park Reserve) October 23- 3 (of 56 species at Carver Park Reserve) October 30- 1 (of 49 species at Carver Park Reserve) Ovenbird 29 (34) (38.3% decrease from fall 2020) Northern Waterthrush 19 (34) (11.8% increase from fall 2020) Golden-winged Warbler 31 (19) (93.8% increase from fall 2020) Blue-winged Warbler 12 (14) (45.5% decrease from fall 2020) Black-and-white Warbler 78 (63) (8.3% increase from fall 2020) Tennessee Warbler 94 (148) (34.7% decrease from fall 2020) Orange-crowned Warbler 121 (88) (5.47% decrease from fall 2020) Nashville Warbler 306 (178) (20% increase from fall 2020) Mourning Warbler 7 (10) (22.2% decrease from fall 2020) Common Yellowthroat 257 (28% increase from spring 2020) American Redstart 154 (9.9% decrease from fall 2020) Cape May Warbler 2 (1) (Compares to 1 seen fall 2020) Northern Parula 13 (5) (160% increase from fall 2020) Magnolia Warbler 26 (42) (35% decrease from fall 2020) Bay-breasted Warbler 14 (12) (75% increase from fall 2020) Blackburnian Warbler 28 (22) (7.7% increase from fall 2020) Yellow Warbler 33 (5.7% decrease from fall 2020) Chestnut-sided Warbler 58 (79) 7.9% decrease from fall 2020) Blackpoll Warbler 4 (5) (33.3% decrease from fall 2020) Black-throated Blue Warbler 2 (fall average is less than 1)(Compares to 2 seen fall 2020) Palm Warbler 51 (24) (292.3% increase from fall 2020) Pine Warbler 6 (2) (50% increase from fall 2020) Yellow-rumped Warbler 589 (416) (31.32% increase from fall 2020) Black-throated Green Warbler 15 (9) (21% decrease from fall 2020) Canada Warbler 20 (29) (9.1% decrease from fall 2020) Wilson's Warbler 20 (34) (16.7% decrease from fall 2020) Other species fall 2021 cumulative counts Semipalmated Plover 3 Stilt Sandpiper 1 Baird's Sandpiper 5 Least Sandpiper 151 Pectoral Sandpiper 91 Semipalmated Sandpiper 14 Short-billed Dowitcher 3 Wilson's Snipe 1 Spotted Sandpiper 11 Solitary Sandpiper 8 Greater Yellowlegs 14 Lesser Yellowlegs 124 Olive-sided Flycatcher 4 (compares to 2 in fall 2020) Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 1 (compares to 3 in fall 2020) Alder Flycatcher 2 (compares to 14 in fall 2020) Least Flycatcher 49 (compares to 59 in fall 2020) Blue-headed Vireo 40 (compares to 33 in fall 2020) Philadelphia Vireo 10 (compares to 11 in fall 2020) Red-breasted Nuthatch 29 (compares to 27 in fall 2020) Winter Wren 14 (compares to 16 in fall 2020) Golden-crowned Kinglet 92 (compares to 107 in fall 2020) Ruby-crowned Kinglet 273 (compares to 267 in fall 2020) Veery 4 (compares to 7 in fall 2020) Gray-cheeked Thrush 6 (compares to 4 in fall 2020) Swainson's Thrush 42 (compares to 32 in fall 2020) Hermit Thrush 13 (compares to 42 in fall 2020) Wood Thrush 4 Fox Sparrow 67 (compares to 104 in fall 2020) White-crowned Sparrow 15 (compares to 14 in fall 2020) Harris's Sparrow 8 (compares to 5 in fall 2020) White-throated Sparrow 681 (compares to 695 in fall 2020) LeConte's Sparrow 1 Nelson's Sparrow 1 Lincoln's Sparrow 59 (compares to 37 in fall 2020) 2021 Fall Arrival Dates July 22- Pectoral Sandpiper, Solitary Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs July 24- Least Sandpiper July 31- Stilt Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper August 1- Nashville Warbler August 6- Baird's Sandpiper, Franklin's Gull August 8- Semipalmated Plover August 13- Alder Flycatcher, Northern Waterthrush, Black-and-white Warbler, Mourning Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Pine Warbler August 14- Short-billed Dowitcher, Golden-winged Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Canada Warbler August 15- Wilson's Snipe, Swanson's Thrush, Ovenbird, Wilson's Warbler August 22- Eastern Whip-poor-will, Tennessee Warbler, Magnolia Warbler August 27- Olive-sided Flycatcher, Northern Parula, Black-throated Green Warbler August 28- Caspian Tern August 29- Bay-breasted Warbler September 3- Blue-headed Vireo September 4- Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Philadelphia Vireo, Gray-cheeked Thrush September 5- Cape May Warbler, Palm Warbler September 10- Ruby-crowned Kinglet September 11- Sharp-shinned Hawk, White-throated Sparrow, Yellow-rumped Warbler September 12- Merlin, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Lincoln's Sparrow, Orange-crowned Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler September 17- American Wigeon, Winter Wren, Dark-eyed Junco September 21- Black-throated Blue Warbler September 22- Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Harris's Sparrow, Brewer's Blackbird September 23- American Pipit, Lapland Longspur, Fox Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow September 26- Northern Shoveler September 27- Hermit Thrush, Rusty Blackbird September 29- Nelson's Sparrow October 2- American Coot October 3- LeConte's Sparrow October 16- Bufflehead, Eared Grebe October 23- Pine Siskin, American Tree Sparrow October 30- Northern Pintail, Ring-necked Duck, Northern Shrike, Common Redpoll November 7- White-winged Crossbill, Snow Bunting November 17- Tundra Swan November 20- Common Goldeneye, Common Merganser 2021 Last of Fall Dates July 10- Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Acadian Flycatcher, Prothonotary Warbler (Making only 1 short visit to Rapids Lake after July significantly decreased my chances of seeing Yellow-billed Cuckoo or Prothonotary Warbler in the fall) July 24- Black-billed Cuckoo July 31- Orchard Oriole August 1- Grasshopper Sparrow, Dickcissel August 14- Virginia Rail August 29- Veery September 4- Common Nighthawk, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher September 5- Blue-winged Warbler, Mourning Warbler September 10- Golden-winged Warbler September 11- Purple Martin September 12- Solitary Sandpiper, Great Crested Flycatcher, Yellow-throated Vireo September 17- Gray-cheeked Thrush, Chestnut-sided Warbler September 18- American Redstart September 20- Northern Waterthrush, Yellow Warbler September 21- Blackpoll Warbler, Wilson's Warbler September 22- Philadelphia Vireo, Warbling Vireo, Wood Thrush, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Scarlet Tanager September 23- Sora, Least Flycatcher, Red-eyed Vireo, Ovenbird, Cape May Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler September 27- Caspian Tern, Black-and-white Warbler, Rose-breasted Grosbeak September 28- Eastern Wood-Pewee, Bobolink, Magnolia Warbler, Pine Warbler, Indigo Bunting September 29- Northern Parula, Blackburnian Warbler October 2- Marsh Wren, Clay-colored Sparrow October 3- Swainson's Thrush, Chipping Sparrow, Harris's Sparrow, Tennessee Warbler, Palm Warbler October 9- Greater Yellowlegs, Osprey, Blue-headed Vireo, House Wren, Sedge Wren, Gray Catbird, Field Sparrow, Nashville Warbler October 16- Blue-winged Teal, Eared Grebe, Great Egret, Turkey Vulture, Savannah Sparrow October 23- Wood Duck, American Woodcock, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Winter Wren, White-crowned Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow, Eastern Towhee, Orange-crowned Warbler, Common Yellowthroat October 30- Bufflehead, Golden-crowned Kinglet November 7- Northern Shoveler, American Wigeon, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Sandhill Crane, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, American Pipit, Lapland Longspur, Red-winged Blackbird November 20- Tundra Swan, Gadwall, Lesser Scaup, Snow Bunting, Yellow-rumped Warbler November 25- Canada Goose, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser, Eastern Bluebird, Fox Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow John Cyrus ---- General information and guidelines for posting: https://moumn.org/listservice.html Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html During the pandemic, the MOU encourages you to stay safe, practice social distancing, and continue to bird responsibly.
