Explore Minnesota Birding Update, May 5, 2014
Many consider May the busiest and most colorful month for birders due to the influx of northbound birds. Watch for warblers in full breeding plumage, and keep an eye out for stunning indigo buntings, scarlet tanagers and rose-breasted grosbeaks. Towards the end of the month, take time to visit prairies where upland sandpipers, marbled godwits, boblinks and dickcissels can be viewed. Some key birding grounds include Felton Prairie in Clay County, Rothsay Wildlife Management Area in Wilkin County, and Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge in Big Stone and Lac Qui Parle counties. And birders of all levels of experience will enjoy the Festival of Birds in Detroit Lakes, May 15-18, with a wide array of field trips, seminars, and gatherings offered.
Information in this report has been provided courtesy of the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union and their affiliates. This report is brought to you by ExploreMinnesota.com.
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The following is a list of recent, significant sightings:
There was a report of a possible White Ibis in Roseau County on May 1. It was in the southwest corner of the Norland Impoundment. To view this bird, begin at the intersection of State Highways 310 and 11 in Roseau, and travel east on Highway 11 for five miles to 440th Avenue North. Turn north and travel four miles, then turn east and go another mile to the dead end.
Also on the 1st, Peder Svingen reported 2,588 Horned Grebes and 3,955 Red-Necked Grebes in flocks of various sizes on Lake Superior near Lakewood Road in east Duluth.
On April 30th, Roger Schroeder reported a first Murray County record Glaucous Gull at the northern end of Lake Sarah. The location was the junction of 221st Street and Murray County Road 30.
There have also been reports of Broad-Winged Hawk, Black Tern, Least Flycatcher, Canada Warbler, Palm Warbler, Rose-Breasted Grosbeak, Orchard Oriole, and Baltimore Oriole.
Birding events and weekend outings just around the corner include:
Northwestern Minnesota, May 24-26, Hallock
Birding Bonanza Weekend, June 6-8, Sandstone/Audubon Center of the north Woods
Information in this statewide birding report is provided by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU), Minnesota's oldest and largest bird club. View photographs of recent sightings at the MOU website. To submit a bird sighting, email the MOU birding report compiler at rba@moumn.org.
