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NORMAN and POLK CO'S MBW SUMMARY
April 25 - 26 - 27, 2008
Too cold and windy on Friday in Norman Co. ...icy and snow-packed roads farther south the same day preventing two cars from getting to Crookston at all and putting another in the ditch for a couple hours that night....Saturday's blizzard conditions with high winds and blowing snow preventing any birding until late afternoon....a few roads still drifted shut on Sunday....
No, this wasn't January, but late April, and the less said about the weather this "spring" the better. But despite the conditions and our inability to get out to bird as much as planned, we eventually did surprisingly well. The best find, of course, was Alyssa's Cinnamon Teal at the Crookston sewage ponds, and it showed no evidence of hybridization as is sometimes the case. In all, these ponds had 24 species of waterfowl, including a fly-by Gr White-fronted Goose, several Greater Scaup (also at Ada's sewage ponds on Friday), and a Lark Sparrow just outside the entrance gate.
That large gravel pit pond on Sunday also produced a nice selection of waterbirds and was well worth the hike: more white-fronteds and some Cackling Geese, lots of vocal swans, a pair of Western Grebes, a fly-by Great Egret, a couple of early Dunlin, plus a pair of Gray Partridge and an unidentified shrike (Northern probably more likely).
Of course, our sunny and relatively windless Sunday morning birding along Polk Co Rd 45 was especially pleasant after Saturday's weather, as we found a couple of unpredictable Sharp-tailed Grouse up a tree, numerous Greater Prairie-Chickens (including some displaying in the road; also found in Norman Co), our only Rough-legged & an adult Peregrine, lots of vocal Sandhill Cranes, two Short-eared Owls apparently dueling over breeding territory, and handsome adult male Lapland Longspurs grounded along the roadsides.
Special thanks, of course, go to John Loegering for generously providing the key for access to the Crookston sewage ponds. Also worthy of recognition are the folks at the Norman (Bates) Motel (no one got stabbed in the shower!), the Golf Terrace Motel (for shoveling out the Yellow Car), and the AmericInn (for use of their lobby and breakfast room): all three motels were very accommodating to a desperate bunch of birders. The Twin Valley Heritage & Arts Center and the Crookston Chamber of Commerce worked overtime to reserve access for us to those prairie-chicken blinds (which we never got to use). And, as always, thanks again to all of you for your flexibility and patience in the face of all that meteorological nonsense!
BIRD LIST (MBW Total = 117 species)
N = April 25 in Norman Co. (91 species)
P = April 26-27 in Polk Co. (98 species)
Greater White-fronted Goose P
Snow Goose NP
Cackling Goose P
Canada Goose NP
Trumpeter Swan N (3 with Tundras for comparison in a flooded field)
Tundra Swan NP
Wood Duck NP
Gadwall NP
American Wigeon P
Mallard NP
Blue-winged Teal NP
CINNAMON TEAL P
Northern Shoveler NP
Northern Pintail NP
Green-winged Teal NP
Canvasback NP
Redhead NP
Ring-necked Duck NP
Greater Scaup NP
Lesser Scaup NP
Bufflehead NP
Common Goldeneye P
Hooded Merganser P
Red-breasted Merganser P
Ruddy Duck P
Gray Partridge P
Ring-necked Pheasant NP
Sharp-tailed Grouse P
Greater Prairie-Chicken NP
Wild (or Tame?) Turkey N
Common Loon NP
Pied-billed Grebe NP
Horned Grebe NP
Red-necked Grebe NP (at both sewage ponds)
Western Grebe P
American White Pelican P
Double-crested Cormorant NP
Great Blue Heron NP
Great Egret P
Turkey Vulture NP
Osprey NP
Bald Eagle NP (including a Norman Co nest)
Northern Harrier NP
Sharp-shinned Hawk N
Cooper’s Hawk NP
Red-tailed Hawk NP
Rough-legged Hawk P
American Kestrel NP
Merlin P
Peregrine Falcon P
American Coot NP
Sandhill Crane NP (just one in Norman Co)
Killdeer NP
Greater Yellowlegs P
Lesser Yellowlegs NP
Spotted Sandpiper P
Marbled Godwit P
Dunlin P
Wilson's Snipe NP
Franklin’s Gull P (some with pink breasts)
Bonaparte’s Gull NP
Ring-billed Gull NP
Herring Gull P
Rock Pigeon NP
Mourning Dove NP
Short-eared Owl P
Belted Kingfisher N
Red-bellied Woodpecker N (heard-only by Barb & Susan)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker N
Downy Woodpecker NP
Hairy Woodpecker N
Northern Flicker NP
Eastern Phoebe NP
shrike, sp. P
Blue Jay N
Black-billed Magpie N (only one)
American Crow NP
Common Raven NP
Horned Lark NP
Tree Swallow NP
Bank Swallow N
Barn Swallow N
Black-capped Chickadee NP
Red-breasted Nuthatch N (two locations)
White-breasted Nuthatch NP
Brown Creeper N
Golden-crowned Kinglet N
Ruby-crowned Kinglet NP
Eastern Bluebird NP
Hermit Thrush NP
American Robin NP
European Starling NP
Orange-crowned Warbler N (several seen)
Yellow-rumped Warbler NP
American Tree Sparrow NP
Chipping Sparrow N
Vesper Sparrow NP
Lark Sparrow P
Savannah Sparrow NP
Fox Sparrow NP
Song Sparrow NP
Swamp Sparrow NP
White-throated Sparrow NP
Dark-eyed Junco NP
Lapland Longspur NP (breeding-plumaged males in both counties)
Red-winged Blackbird NP
Western Meadowlark NP
Yellow-headed Blackbird NP
Rusty Blackbird NP
Brewer’s Blackbird P
Common Grackle NP
Brown-headed Cowbird NP
Purple Finch N
House Finch NP
Pine Siskin N (heard-only)
American Goldfinch N (heard-only)
House Sparrow NP
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NORMAN-MAHNOMEN-POLK MBW SUMMARY
April 28 - 29 - 30 - May 1, 2022
White-faced Ibises ~ Roy Zimmerman photo
Bird List
• N = Norman County, April 28 (98 species)
• M = Mahnomen County, April 29 (89 species + 1 in Becker)
• P = Polk County, April 30-May 1 (108 species)
Canada Goose NMP
Trumpeter Swan NMP
Tundra Swan N
Wood Duck NMP
Blue-winged Teal NMP
Northern Shoveler NMP
Gadwall NP
American Wigeon N
Mallard NMP
Northern Pintail NMP
Green-winged Teal NMP
Canvasback NMP
Redhead NMP
Ring-necked Duck NMP
Greater Scaup NMP
Lesser Scaup NMP
Bufflehead NMP
Common Goldeneye NMP
Hooded Merganser NM
Common Merganser MP
Red-breasted Merganser MP
Ruddy Duck N
Wild Turkey NMP
Ruffed Grouse NP
Sharp-tailed Grouse P
Greater Prairie-Chicken NMP
Gray Partridge P
Ring-necked Pheasant NMP
Pied-billed Grebe NMP
Horned Grebe NMP
Red-necked Grebe NMP
Eared Grebe P
Rock Pigeon NMP
Eurasian Collared-Dove MP
Mourning Dove NMP
American Coot NM
Sandhill Crane NMP
Killdeer NMP
Wilson’s Snipe NMP
Spotted Sandpiper N
Lesser Yellowlegs NMP
Greater Yellowlegs NMP
Wilson’s Phalarope N
Bonaparte’s Gull NMP
Franklin’s Gull NP
Ring-billed Gull NMP
Herring Gull MP
Forster’s Tern M
Common Loon MP
Double-crested Cormorant MP
American White Pelican NMP
Great Blue Heron NMP
Great Egret M
Glossy Ibis N
White-faced Ibis P
Turkey Vulture NP
Osprey N
Northern Harrier NMP
Sharp-shinned Hawk NP
Cooper’s Hawk NP
Bald Eagle NMP
Broad-winged Hawk NMP
Red-tailed Hawk NMP
Rough-legged Hawk NMP
Great Horned Owl NM
Barred Owl P
Belted Kingfisher NMP
Red-bellied Woodpecker NMP
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker NMP
Downy Woodpecker NMP
Hairy Woodpecker NMP
Northern Flicker NMP
Pileated Woodpecker NP
American Kestrel NMP
Merlin N
Peregrine Falcon M
Eastern Phoebe NMP
Loggerhead Shrike M (plus a shrike, sp. in N)
Blue Jay NMP
Black-billed Magpie NMP
American Crow NMP
Common Raven NMP
Black-capped Chickadee NMP
Horned Lark NMP
Tree Swallow NP
N. Rough-winged Swallow N
Barn Swallow P
Cliff Swallow P
Ruby-crowned Kinglet NMP
Golden-crowned Kinglet NP
Red-breasted Nuthatch P
White-breasted Nuthatch NMP
Brown Creeper NMP
Winter Wren MP
European Starling NMP
Eastern Bluebird P
Hermit Thrush NMP
American Robin NMP
House Sparrow NMP
American Pipit P (plus 1 in Becker)
House Finch NP
Purple Finch NP
Common Redpoll P
Pine Siskin P
American Goldfinch P
Lark Sparrow P
Chipping Sparrow NMP
Fox Sparrow NP
American Tree Sparrow NMP
Dark-eyed Junco NMP
White-throated Sparrow NMP
Vesper Sparrow NMP
Savannah Sparrow MP
Song Sparrow NMP
Swamp Sparrow MP
Yellow-headed Blackbird N
Western Meadowlark NMP
Red-winged Blackbird NMP
Brown-headed Cowbird NMP
Rusty Blackbird NMP
Brewer’s Blackbird NMP
Common Grackle NMP
Orange-crowned Warbler NMP
Palm Warbler MP
Yellow-rumped Warbler NMP
PHOTO GALLERY
Glossy Ibis ~ Roy Zimmerman photo
Despite some wind, you could say the weather was tolerable enough on Thursday, but after that we endured three consecutive days with a combination of rain, cold, and/or strong winds. The conditions were basically about as bad as during the Traverse MBW three weeks previous, and at this rate I suspect that mid-May’s Yellow Medicine MBW will feature a tornado, wildfires, and an earthquake.
So it was somewhat surprising that we managed to come up with no fewer than 125 species in all. Of course, that Glossy Ibis near Ada was the headline, since there had only been about 10 previous state records, and it represents species #367 on the all-time MN Birding Weekends composite list! Then, this was followed on Saturday with 2 White-faced Ibis standing along Hwy 32 as we headed to Fertile for an indoor lunch out of the rain.
Flooded fields were about everywhere we went in all 3 counties, as was expected, but quite unexpected was how few shorebirds were found. Aside from 4 locally nesting species, the only migrant shorebirds we saw were Greater and Lesser yellowlegs (with the Greaters curiously predominating). But at least we did well enough with other water birds – 22 species in all, including lots of Greater Scaup (why so many?) and 4 grebe species.
Noteworthy as well was finding 6 out of MN’s 7 Regular gallinaceous species (no Spruce Grouse here). The 2 Gray Partridge were only seen by a few, but Greater Prairie Chickens turned up in all 3 counties, especially in Polk where 11 were found in the Pankratz Prairies area (we would have seen more if the back roads hadn’t been so muddy). Two groups of Sharp-tailed Grouse were found in Polk, with the group of 11 flying over our car caravan at Tympanuchus WMA timed just perfectly.
There were 12 raptor/falcon species, a cooperative Loggerhead Shrike in Mahnomen County was a definite surprise (some think this species is now virtually extirpated as a breeding bird in MN), a late redpoll at a feeder in Erskine was unusually late (but not unexpected given that so many had been around in April), and there were several times when we had both Rusty and Brewer’s blackbirds together to compare their field marks.
Horned Grebe ~ Jeff Stephenson photo
Rough-legged Hawk ~ Roy Zimmerman photo
Loggerhead Shrike ~ Roy Zimmerman photo
The summaries of the 2022 and 2008 Polk MBWs follow
the summary of the 2025 Polk MBWeekend.
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POLK COUNTY MBW SUMMARY
April 25 - 26 - 27, 2025
Sorry, but no tangent-filled and footnote-laden narrative to summarize this MBW. John Quinn, our unofficial JTL (Junior Tour Leader) and scribe, didn’t make it this time. While we were looking at magpies and their nests at Belgium WMA, he was in Europe on a family trip – which actually included the real Belgium! (Maybe he got lost trying to scout out Belgium WMA and other places in Polk County earlier in the week?)
So, you’re going to have to settle for this much shorter and more pedestrian summary. In all, we managed a composite total of 117 species, which included 113 in Polk Co. plus 4 others only seen on our detour into adjacent Marshall Co. This is about ten fewer species than we had in this area on two previous MBWs in late April-early May, which is not too surprising since the migrant woods birds hadn’t arrived for the most part (note we only had 3 warbler species).
But, with one exception, we did well on water birds as lots of ducks and other waterfowl of all the expected species were found. That exception was the lack of shorebirds, which also hadn’t made it this far north yet, as we only managed to find 8 species. This was especially disappointing, since we had permission to visit the normally excellent Crookston sewage ponds for the first time in about 4 years – courtesy of Chuck Getsman (and Edgar) of the city’s public works department.
There were several highlights on our list, of course, although they did not include the Little Gull that Mary and I saw at the McIntosh sewage ponds on Thursday and that Brad relocated a few hours later at Erskine’s ponds. But our MBW was able to find…higher-than-expected numbers of Sharp-tailed Grouse & Greater Prairie-Chickens and Sandhill Cranes at Glacial Ridge and elsewhere; nice looks at both Horned and Red-necked grebes (plus a brief look at an uncooperative Eared at Warren’s ponds); a lone American Avocet at Warren and a Black-bellied Plover at Crookston’s ponds; and a Great Horned Owl with 2 young at a nest near Fertile. –KRE
Iitinerary
Friday - Glacial Ridge NWR & vicinity, Crookston sewage ponds, and Fertile area
Saturday - Red River Natural History Area, NW Polk Co. flood control impoundments, Marshall Co. lunch @Island Park in Warren, Warren sewage ponds, Agassiz impoundment (in both counties), and alleged Agassiz Audubon “Center”
Sunday - Mixed habitats in central Polk Co.: Oak Lake, Erskine (incl. the sewage ponds), Rydell NWR, Maple Lake & other wetlands south of Mentor (“Without a good Mentor, Erskine get in a lot of trouble” – Don Kienholz)
Bird List
Snow Goose
Canada Goose
Trumpeter Swan
Tundra Swan
Wood Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Wild Turkey
Ruffed Grouse (heard-only)
Sharp-tailed Grouse
Greater Prairie-Chicken
Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
Eared Grebe (Marshall only)
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
American Avocet (Marshall only)
Black-bellied Plover
Killdeer
Marbled Godwit
American Woodcock (heard by a few who went out Sat. night)
Wilson’s Snipe
Lesser Yellowlegs
Greater Yellowlegs
Bonaparte’s Gull
Franklin’s Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Forster’s Tern
Common Loon
Double-crested Cormorant
American White Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Osprey (incl. pair at nest)
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk
Bald Eagle
Broad-winged Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Great Horned Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
American Kestrel
Merlin
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
Black-billed Magpie
American Crow
Common Raven
Black-capped Chickadee
Horned Lark
Bank Swallow
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Purple Martin
Barn Swallow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper (Marshall only)
Winter Wren (Marshall only)
European Starling
Eastern Bluebird
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
House Sparrow
American Pipit (seen by Brad at Agassiz impoundment)
House Finch
Purple Finch
American Goldfinch
Lapland Longspur (best views at Marshall side of Agassiz impoundment)
Chipping Sparrow
Fox Sparrow (heard-only)
American Tree Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Rusty Blackbird (also best at Agassiz impoundment)
Brewer’s Blackbird
Common Grackle
Orange-crowned Warbler
Palm Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
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