Birded at the Sleepy Eye sewage ponds from 3:00 - 4:45 pm with Cody Fox of New Ulm. While the warbler migration has been poor at best around here, the shorebird migration has been very good. There were a few highlights that I thought worth mentioning. A Plegadis Ibis passed over the easternmost sewage pond flying north. I'd guess that it was less than a hundred yards from us. The long, decurved bill was evident as was its long legs. It flew over the large marsh which borders the sewage ponds on the north. It slowly circled over the marsh and then landed in the marsh. When it banked I could see the irridescent chestnut/green colors on it. We tried to relocate it but weren't able to.
The shorebird migration has been excellent at the sewage ponds over the past week. Today we found a total of 23 Hudsonian Godwits in less than two hours. This is the largest number of Hudsonian Godwits that I've ever seen in one day. There were two flocks, one of 16 which we only saw in flight (they slowly circled above us showing their striking underwing pattern as well as the prominent tail with the central tail extentions) and the other flock numbered 7. The flock of 7 landed and gave us very good looks. There were also 3 Willets at the ponds. They weren't skittish and allowed us to approach very closely. Also seen were 5 Ruddy Turnstones and at least 6 Sanderlings. At one point a Peregrine Falcon made a pass over the ponds and scattered the birds. Also seen were Yellowlegs, Dowitchers, Phalaropes and other peeps. All in all a fun couple of hours of birding! Brian Smith Sleepy Eye ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
