[mou-rba] [mou-net] Wood Stork in Faribault County

Hey birders, I was having one of those surreal moments in birding Thursday night as Chris Thiem, Tom Dahlen, and I stood looking at a Wood Stork in a flooded windbreak that had been damaged by the powerful storms that pummeled southern Minnesota the last couple of days. The bird calmly moved

[mou-rba] Wood Stork in Faribault County

Hey birders, I was having one of those surreal moments in birding Thursday night as Chris Thiem, Tom Dahlen, and I stood looking at a Wood Stork in a flooded windbreak that had been damaged by the powerful storms that pummeled southern Minnesota the last couple of days. The bird calmly moved

[mou-rba] Wood Stork

Hey birders, I’m fielding a lot of inquiries (as you can imagine), but have no more information on the bird than what I have already shared. The bird is on private property and I’m not sure how much traffic the homeowner will want in his saturated farmyard and poking around in his damaged

[mou-rba] Wood Stork refound!

Hey birders, Wayne Feder just called me to tell me that the Wood Stork is still present in the same general area. The farmer had moved some equipment in to his farm to try and clear up some of the downed timber and the bird was not in the same location as earlier posted. The bird was west of

[mou-rba] Wood Stork--No visitors please!

Hey birders, I just got off the phone with Wayne Feder and he indicated that the homeowners that have hosted the Wood Stork the last couple of days have decided to withdraw their hospitality. They did not cite any bad behavior on birders’ parts, but the increased traffic has caused some

[mou-rba] [mou-net] Wood Stork--No Visitors Please

Hey birders, I just got off the phone with Wayne Feder and he indicated that the homeowners that have hosted the Wood Stork the last couple of days have decided to withdraw their hospitality. They did not cite any bad behavior on birders’ parts, but the increased traffic has caused some

[mou-rba] Bethany Hawkwatch-Mankato

Hey birders, We had our best day of hawkwatching of the fall yesterday with 9 species represented by 38 individuals. The cold front was also moving hundreds of thousands of dragonflies and hundreds of monarchs. The biggest highlight was our first fall record of Mississippi Kite which passed

[mou-rba] Bethany Hawkwatch-Mankato

Hey birders, We had our best day of hawkwatching of the fall yesterday with 9 species represented by 38 individuals. The cold front was also moving hundreds of thousands of dragonflies and hundreds of monarchs. The biggest highlight was our first fall record of Mississippi Kite which passed

[mou-rba] Ferruginous Hawk

Hey birders, I just wanted to drop a note an tell everyone that we had a juvenile Ferruginous Hawk pass over the Bethany Hawkwatch in Mankato yesterday a little before noon. Alas, I was teaching and missed the bird, but our main counter knew it wasn’t a Red-tail right away and his description

[mou-rba] Snowy Owl update for Dodge County

Hey birders, Roy Zehnder asked me to indicate that he relocated the westernmost Dodge County Snowy Owl in roughly the same location previously reported. That was on Saturday. Happy birding! Chad Heins Mankato

[mou-rba] Snowy Owl--Blue Earth County

Hey birders, Persistence is the key. On my fourth foray out into the county I finally found a live Snowy Owl. This young female was perched on a telephone pole along CR18 west of Mapleton, about 100 yards east of some livestock barns. Happy birding! Chad Heins Mankato

[mou-rba] Rare thrushes in Blue Earth County

Hey birders, A male Varied Thrush has come to my attention in Blue Earth County. The bird is being seen at a feeding station at 152 Sunset Village north of Good Thunder. Visitors are welcome. The feeding station is visible from the road, but you could probably talk to the homeowners and get a

[mou-rba] Varied Thrush in Blue Earth County

Hey birders, I just wanted everyone to know that the male Varied Thrush continues at the Binstock residence between Mankato and Good Thunder. I saw the bird this afternoon around 2:00pm. Happy birding! Chad Heins Mankato

[mou-rba] Blue Earth County Varied Thrush + waterfowl

Hey birders, I received a note on Friday from the Binstocks that their Varied Thrush continues to visit, though more sporadically at this point. Also, I was out briefly on Sunday and saw the following: Greater White-fronted Goose, Cackling Goose, Redhead, Canvasback, Green-winged Teal,

[mou-rba] Shorebirds in Nicollet County

Hey birders, Shorebirds are particularly difficult to get this spring in Nicollet County. The best site I’ve found so far is the same location where the White-faced Ibis was found earlier this spring. This “cattle pond” is located on CR111 south of CR5 north of Nicollet, MN. Yesterday I also

[mou-rba] Nicollet Big Day

Hey birders, I’ve recovered enough to send this out. Yesterday, Andrew Krenz, Trent Robbins, and I attempted to break the Big Day record for Nicollet County but only succeeded in tying it. Summary: 12 waterfowl, 3 grebes, 6 herons, 7 hawks, 12 shorebirds, 4 larids, 4 owls, 6 woodpeckers, 8

[mou-rba] Blue Earth County Varied Thrush

Hey birders, I just received word from the Binstocks that the Varied Thrush that was visiting their feeding station north of Good Thunder this winter was last seen on Saturday the 11th. Hopefully you weren’t still procrastinating. J Happy birding! Chad Heins Mankato *Chad Heins*

[mou-rba] Loggerhead Shrikes still present

Hey birders, The pair of Loggerhead Shrikes at the previously mentioned location were both active this evening, probably indicating their eggs have hatched. First time I have seen the pair together since early May. I did not have time to determine the precise location of the nest yet. Happy

[mou-rba] Updates: White-eyed Vireo and Loggerhead Shrike

Hey birders, Tom Dahlen and I refound the White-eyed Vireo at Flandrau State Park this morning in the same general area it has been reported from. We also swung by the previously reported location for Loggerhead Shrikes in northern Blue Earth County and found one of the birds (perhaps the

[mou-rba] Loggerhead Shrikes in Blue Earth County

Hey birders, A visit to friends up near Kasota Prairie took me past a pair of Loggerhead Shrikes harassing a Red-tailed Hawk on a powerline. These birds are being seen in extreme northern Blue Earth County along 570th Avenue. Take CR5 north from Mankato (3rd Avenue) and turn west on 238th

[mou-rba] shorebird locations in Nicollet County

Hey birders, I led a local shorebird fieldtrip this morning. We ended up with 60 species total for the trip highlighted by the following shorebirds: Killdeer Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Solitary Sandpiper Spotted Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Semipalmated

[mou-rba] Buff-breasted Sandpipers

Hey birders, The Hockema Brothers wandered west and graciously included me in their pursuit of Buff-breasted Sandpipers in the Minnesota River Valley. While striking out in Blue Earth County at the sod farm on the corner of CR21 and CR14 east of Mapleton (a regular observation site in fall),

[mou-rba] White-winged Crossbill

Hey birders, While manning the hawkwatch at Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato yesterday morning I had a single female White-winged Crossbill fly in and perch cooperatively on a nearby spruce. With Pine Siskin and Purple Finch also for the day, it makes me wonder what kind of winter we’re

[mou-rba] Raptor movement in Mankato

Hey birders, The last two days we’ve had south winds and beautiful weather for November. In spite of that (and opposite our expectations), the Bethany Hawkwatch has counted quite a few raptors moving south through the Minnesota River Valley the last two days. Two-day totals appear below and

[mou-rba] Bethany Hawkwatch totals

Hey birders, We had our 2nd best day ever at the Bethany Hawkwatch in Mankato. Totals appear below: Turkey Vulture—30 Osprey—1 Bald Eagle—13 Sharp-shinned Hawk—114 Cooper’s Hawk—4 Broad-winged Hawk—1,070 Swainson’s Hawk—1 Red-tailed Hawk—28 American Kestrel—3 Merlin—1 Peregrine

[mou-rba] Bethany Hawkwatch today in Mankato

Hey birders, Raptor migration has been bottled up with the south winds we’ve been having. Today the dam burst and we had our best day ever at the Bethany Hawkwatch. Our Land of Memories City Park site had 237 raptors which is a good day in the Minnesota River Valley, but counters at Bethany

[mou-rba] Bethany Hawkwatch Fall 2015 totals

Hey birders, No rare birds to report, but I wanted to share our season totals with you. Our counters just turned in their data sheet from the day, thus completing our fall count (Aug 15-Dec 15). Raptor migration in the Minnesota River Valley at Mankato was pretty phenomenal this year. The

[mou-rba] Mankato CBC results

Hey birders, The Mankato Christmas Bird Count was held on 19 December 2015. There was just enough freezing temperatures leading up to the date that resulted in most of the ponds and lakes being iced over. A total of 46 species were seen, highlighted by the 100th species seen in the history of

[mou-rba] Henslow's in Blue Earth County

Hey birders, Last night I found at least two Henslow’s Sparrows at Lincoln WPA in Blue Earth County. They were found on both sides of 169th Street east of CR32. Both were singing relatively close to the road. This species has been becoming pretty regular at this WPA in recent years. Happy

[mou-rba] Yellow-breasted Chat in Le Sueur County

Hey birders, While looking for Loggerhead Shrikes in the Kasota Prairie area in southwestern Le Sueur County this morning I found a calling/displaying Yellow-breasted Chat. This was at about 6:15am. The bird was on Township Road 140/367th Avenue south of the Kasota Prairie SNA and about 0.5

[mou-rba] Waterfowl--Blue Earth and Watonwan Counties

Hey birders, There was some spectacular goose migration this morning in Blue Earth and Watonwan Counties, as witnessed by John Hockema and myself. The Maple River WMA had hundreds of Canadas and Greater White-fronted Geese with some Snow Geese mixed in. Lily Lake near Lake Crystal had

[mou-rba] Alert--Black Vulture

Hey birders, A Black Vulture just passed over the Bethany campus heading north! Chad Heins Mankato, MN *Chad Heins* Assistant Professor of Biology Bethany Lutheran College 700 Luther Drive Mankato, MN 56001 Office: 507.344.7327 | Toll Free: 800.944.3066 chad.he...@blc.edu|

[mou-rba] Smith's Longspurs

Hey birders, I heard from Jim and Ruth Amundson that there was a mixed flock of longspurs including Smith’s at the Lincoln WPA in Blue Earth County today. Happy birding! Chad Heins Mankato

[mou-rba] Bethany Hawkwatch

Hey birders, We’ve had two spectacular days at the Bethany Hawkwatch in Mankato with over 800 birds of 12 different species in the last two days. While we did not have a Swainson’s today, we had one each of the previous days. The best kettle today was 100 Broad-wings with a Turkey Vulture and

[mou-rba] Gaylord Sabine's

Hey birders, Tom Dahlen and I just got back from seeing the Sabine’s Gull in Gaylord. As soon as we got there (a little before 7:00pm), the bird got up in the air, did several turns and disappeared to the north. One other note…Over 1,200 raptors at the Bethany Hawkwatch in Mankato the last

[mou-rba] Bethany Hawkwatch yesterday

Hey birders, The Bethany Hawkwatch has been up and running intermittently since the 15th of August, but yesterday was probably the most productive day of the fall at the Bethany site. Of special note was our first Swainson’s Hawk of the fall. This species is typically a late September or

[mou-rba] ALERT: Plegadis ibis in Blue Earth County

Hey birders, Ruth Amundson found a *Plegadis* ibis along 171st Street west of CR20. The bird was still present at 1:00pm today. This is the same location where the Black-necked Stilt was seen about a month ago. Speaking of stilts, it appears that the bird on CR13 has moved on…though there

[mou-rba] Bethany Hawkwatch

Hey birders, We had a couple of highlights at the Bethany Hawkwatch today that are worth mentioning. First, we had awesome looks at an adult Golden Eagle passing over the Bethany campus in Mankato. This is the earliest we have ever recorded this species in the fall by nearly a month. Jim

[mou-rba] Minneopa State Park--Henslow's Sparrw & Northern Mockingbird

Hey birders, I found a Henslow’s Sparrow on territory and readily heard from your car within the bison pen at Minneopa State Park. The bird seemed to prefer a mullein stalk on the south side of the road about 85 yards west of where the west-bound road comes out of an oak grove. An even

[mou-rba] Snowy Egrets--Blue Earth County

Hey birders, Tim Pulis sent me a picture of 3 Snowy Egrets he and John Frentz found at the CR14 conservation easement just north of the town of Minnesota Lake this afternoon. This area also had Sandhill Crane and lots of Franklin’s Gulls and has been pretty good for shorebirds this spring.

[mou-rba] Cattle Egret, Plegadis ibis & Inca Dove in Nicollet County

Hey birders, Sorry for the late post. Our Big Day yesterday wiped me out. The Cattle Egret continues at the small cattle yard on CR13 south of CR5. He was looking very lonely in the rain without his cows on Saturday. A *Plegadis* ibis was seen briefly at the Nicollet Conservation Club

[mou-rba] Cattle Egret & Marbled Godwit--Nicollet County

Hey birders, This morning I found a Cattle Egret in with some Holstein cows along CR13 south of CR5 (right at the bend). I also found a Marbled Godwit along CR12 south of CR5 and north of the Courtland WMA. Other shorebirds at this site: Least Sandpiper, Ruddy Turnstone, Wilson’s Phalarope,

[mou-rba] Mankato CBC highlights

Hey birders, I just wanted to offer highlights from the Mankato CBC. The biggest highlight was a Snowy Owl! The bird was located west of CR21 on CR101 in the Kasota Prairie area around 3pm. Also in that area: Snow Bunting, Lapland Longspur, several Rough-legged Hawks, Northern Shrike, and a

[mou-rba] Short-eared Owl--Blue Earth County

Hey birders, During a fruitless Snowy Owl survey of the eastern half of Blue Earth County, I found a Short-eared Owl hunting at the Mapleton Sewage Ponds. I was viewing from 586th Avenue on the east side. Happy birding! *Chad Heins* Associate Professor of Biology Bethany Lutheran

[mou-rba] Wabasso shorebirds

Hey birders, On our way back from a bioblitz in western Yellow Medicine County, Tom Dahlen and I stumbled into an awesome area with flooded fields about 1 mile west of Wabasso on Hwy 68. There’s a single flooded field on the north side of Hwy 68 that had a few shorebirds, but heading south

[mou-rba] Carolina Wrens in Blue Earth County

Hey birders, The Carolina Wren reported earlier at Rasmussen Woods Park in Mankato is in fact a pair of Carolina Wrens acting very chummy. They were seen together this afternoon by myself and several others. Take the trail westward past the Elk’s Nature Center, through a small meadow, through

[mou-rba] Golden Eagle

Hey birders, I just wanted to report our first Golden Eagle of the fall from the Bethany Hawkwatch in Mankato (juvenile). It was a proper bird to celebrate passing the 4,000 bird mark for the fall season. We also had lots of Purple Finches in the morning and our first Dark-eyed Junco.

[mou-rba] 2nd hand rarities in Blue Earth County

Hey birders, A couple of reliable birders in the area indicated they found the following in Blue Earth County today: 1) A *Black-throated Gray Warbler *at Williams Nature Park on Hwy 68 west of the building. Seen by two observers, one of which had seen one in AZ earlier this year. 2)

[mou-rba] Plegadis ibises

Hey birders, John Nelson alerted me to 6 Plegadis ibises seen today (Tuesday) at Minnesota Lake and visible from the city park. That would be Faribault County. Happy birding! *Chad Heins* Associate Professor of Biology Bethany Lutheran College 700 Luther Drive Mankato, MN 56001

[mou-rba] Mankato CBC results

Hey birders, A total of 27 observers counted 43 species on this year’s Mankato Christmas Bird Count (22 December 2018). Some of the winter favorites were absent, but at least one of the Carolina Wrens continues at Rasmussen Woods in Mankato and was found on the day of the count. Other

[mou-rba] Eagle movement

Hey birders, The Bethany Hawkwatch has seen significant eagle movement in the last 3 days in Mankato. We’ve had nearly 750 Bald Eagles and a single juvenile Golden Eagle. The days with south winds (Sun/Tue) were when the bulk moved through (358/293). On such days, the best location to

[mou-rba] Mankato raptor movement 20 Sep 2019

Hey birders, The Bethany Hawkwatch in Mankato has been slowed considerably by the persistent southerly winds and high humidity. Yesterday the birds finally broke through in spite of the weather. Between our two sites we counted 3,729 raptors of 9 species between 9:00am and 3:30pm with 2,803

[mou-rba] Golden Eagles

Hey birders, Hawk Ridge is always going to have lots of Golden Eagles, but there seems to be quite a few passing through Mankato this fall for some reason. Today we had our 14th of the season at the Bethany Hawkwatch (2x our highest season count in 16 years of counting) . Interestingly, all

[mou-rba] Common Redpolls in Blue Earth County

Hey birders, I was caught off guard yesterday while at Minneopa State Park campground when I heard Common Redpolls singing in the trees over my head. It turned out to be two birds. They had come in to investigate a group of jays that were mobbing a *subarcticus* Great Horned Owl. Winter

[mou-rba] Great-tailed Grackle in Watwonwan County

Hey birders, I have a second-hand report with pictures of a male Great-tailed Grackle at the Madelia walk-in-access. The bird was there this afternoon at some point but flew away from the wetland to the west. Keep an eye out if you are in the area. Happy birding! Chad Heins Mankato

[mou-rba] Summer Tanager in Mankato

Hey birders, A first-year male Summer Tanager was frequenting the wooded ravine behind my house today in Mankato. I use that term very loosely since the bird was seen at 9:30, 12:30, and 2:30 but could not be located by a number of birders in between those hours. I will report again if that

[mou-rba] Bethany Hawkwatch

Hey birders, We believe that the last juvenile MIKI departed on Tuesday morning. We had a couple of days with only one bird being seen and have not seen one since. It was great to see all of you at the largest MOU in-person gathering for the year so far! J I was also asked by some of the

[mou-rba] Mississippi Kite in Blue Earth County

Hey birders, Jim Amundson and Marty Rost had their 3rd Mississippi Kite of the fall today at Land of Memories Park in Mankato. This time it was a juvenile. A picture is posted to County Listers Facebook and I’ll get the documentation entered sometime today. Chad Heins Mankato, MN

[mou-rba] Blue Grosbeak--Blue Earth County

Hey birders, This evening my son, Isaiah, and I had two Blue Grosbeaks calling in the traditional location in Blue Earth County. They are singing in a gravel quarry on the south side of Hwy 68 west of Minneopa State Park. Happy birding! Chad Heins Mankato *Chad Heins* Associate

[mou-rba] Gulls in Lake Crystal

Hey birders, There is a first cycle Glaucous Gull, an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull and an adult Thayer’s Iceland Gull on Lily Lake this morning in Lake Crystal, MN—Blue Earth County. The birds were easily visible from County Road 20 west of Hwy 60 and seem to like to be near the ice forming

[mou-rba] Mankato CBC Preliminary findings

Hey birders, Here are the highlights from the Mankato CBC that took place today: Carolina Wren—The two birds that have been near the trestle at Rasmussen Woods in Mankato were both found today. Another individual that has been seen in town south of the Bethany Lutheran College campus could