Explore Minnesota Birding Report Update August 16, 2013
Many shorebird species and some raptors have already begun their migration south. And, in just a couple of weeks, Minnesota's nesting species will begin to migrate as well. A special Labor Day weekend birding event will be held in the Thief River Falls vicinity, August 31 - September 2. Birders will visit many interesting and productive sites including Agassiz N.W.R., Thief Lake and Twin Lakes W.M.A.s, and the Agassiz Audubon Sanctuary. More than 150 species have typically been seen on previous trips. To learn about upcoming birding weekends, visit the Minnesota Birding Weekends website.
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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.
The following is a list of recent, significant sightings:
Garrett Wee reported a pair of California Gulls on August 9th at the Cottonwood sewage ponds in Lyon County. The ponds are just southeast of the junction of State Highway 23 and 390th Street.
On August 13th, Karl Bardon found a light-morph juvenile Parasitic Jaeger at the Superior Entry of Park Point in Duluth. This was one of five jaegers he found in Wisconsin waters, but the only one to venture into Minnesota.
Bill Marengo reported a pair of Carolina Wrens on the 4th along the Hiking Club Trail of Minneopa State Park in Blue Earth County. Just prior to the campground, take the trail west for about a five minute walk. Watch for several 5- to 6-foot tall sticks leaning against an oak tree on the north side of the trail which marks the spot where the wrens were found.
On the 15th, Josh Wallestad spotted a pair of Blue Grosbeaks on a power line along Cottonwood County Road 10, roughly 100 yards east of State Highway 23. Brian Smith discovered one in Brown County on the 8th at a gravel pit a few miles southeast of Sleepy Eye at 24214 -220th Street.
A Greater White-Fronted Goose was seen in Scott County by Gerald Hoekstra on the 15th along State Highway 19, roughly two miles west of New Prague. Other fall migrants reported include Semipalmated Plover, Dunlin, Red-Necked Phalarope, Caspian Tern, Olive-Sided Flycatcher, and Swainson's Thrush. And last, there was an interesting report from Rene Tressler of Blue-Winged Warblers feeding young at the Snake River Golf Course in Pine County on August 5th.
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.
