Note that this 2017 MBW included Lincoln and Lyon counties

which are not scheduled to be on the 2024 MBWeekend.

__________

On the "pre-pre-MBW": Yellow Medicine County, 12 October 2017

(Denny Martin photo)

Redwood - Lyon - Lincoln MBW Summary

October 13 - 14 - 15, 2017

Yes, I suppose it would be just too much of a stretch to declare the Thursday I spent in Yellow Medicine County as a pre-pre-MBW (we've never really had one of those) so we could include that Vermilion Flycatcher on this trip list. The bird was certainly nice while it lasted (which was all of about five minutes), but it was never seen again later that afternoon or the next day. If it had, perhaps then we could have tried for it on Saturday by making a slight detour north of Lincoln County – though possibly rained out in the process, of course!

This bird would have certainly been a nice addition to this MBW's tradition of rarities. Note that the past three Marshall-based MBWs in fall have recorded the likes of Surf Scoter, Western Sandpiper, Sabine's and Lesser Black-backed gulls, Cattle Egret, Plegadis ibis, "Harlan's" Red-tailed Hawk, Smith's Longspur, Spotted Towhee, and Nelson's Sparrow. Accordingly, my expectations were pretty high for this group to find something really unusual again this year.

"Dave's Slough" did provide a nice assortment of shorebirds for us on Friday morning: including the Baird's Sandpiper and Greater Yellowlegs I found there early Friday evening and the Long-billed Dowitcher Brian saw Saturday morning, there was a total of 9 shorebird species. But that was about it for shorebirds since we essentially saw none anywhere else in three days. And that nice (but wet) group of Red Crossbills unexpectedly appeared at Hole in the Mountain just after lunch on Saturday and posed for photos (see below). But steady rains also came in about the same time and mostly ended any hopes for finding much the rest of that afternoon.

At least the weather the rest of the time was decent, and we even managed to come up with a composite list of 92 species – or make it 97 if you include those 3 extra shorebirds at Dave's Slough plus the Herring Gull and unidentified swallow (probably a Bank) that the Edwardsons and I saw in Cottonwood on the way home on Sunday.

As always, I thank you all for coming – with special thanks to Brian for his Redwood County expertise, to Dave for sharing HIs Slough with us (and earning a Junior Tour Leader Merit Badge in the process), and to Janet and her Moscow Mule for providing Saturday evening's entertainment!

Bird List

R = Redwood County pre-MBW, October 13 (74 species)

Ly = Lyon County, October 14-15 (63 species)

Li = Lincoln County, October 14 (61 species)

Canada Goose        R, Ly, Li

Trumpeter Swan        Ly

Wood Duck        Ly, Li

Blue-winged Teal        R

Northern Shoveler        R, Li

Gadwall        R, Li

American Wigeon        Li

Mallard        R, Ly, Li

Northern Pintail        R, Li

Green-winged Teal        R, Li

Redhead        Ly, Li

Ring-necked Duck        R

Bufflehead        R, Ly

Hooded Merganser        Ly

Ruddy Duck        R, Ly, Li

Ring-necked Pheasant        Ly, Li

Wild Turkey        Ly

Pied-billed Grebe        R, Ly, Li

Rock Pigeon        R, Ly, Li

Eurasian Collared-Dove        R, Ly, Li

Mourning Dove        R, Li

American Coot        R, Ly, Li

American Golden-Plover        R

Killdeer        R, Ly

(Baird’s Sandpiper        R)

Least Sandpiper        R

Pectoral Sandpiper        R

Semipalmated Sandpiper        R

(Long-billed Dowitcher        R)

Wilson’s Snipe        R

(Greater Yellowlegs        R)

Franklin’s Gull        R, Ly, Li

Ring-billed Gull        Ly, Li

(Herring Gull        Ly)

Double-crested Cormorant        R, Ly, Li

American White Pelican        Ly

American Bittern        R

Great Blue Heron        Ly, Li

Turkey Vulture        R, Ly

Bald Eagle        R, Li

Northern Harrier        R, Ly, Li

Sharp-shinned Hawk        R, Ly, Li

Cooper’s Hawk        Li

Red-tailed Hawk        R, Ly, Li

Eastern Screech-Owl        R

Belted Kingfisher        Ly, Li

Red-bellied Woodpecker        R, Ly, Li

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker        R

Downy Woodpecker        R, Ly, Li

Hairy Woodpecker        R, Ly

Northern Flicker        R, Ly, Li

Pileated Woodpecker        R, Ly

American Kestrel        R, Ly, Li

Merlin        R

Peregrine Falcon        Li

Eastern Phoebe        R

Blue Jay        R, Ly, Li

American Crow        R, Ly, Li

Horned Lark        R

(swallow, sp.        Ly)

Black-capped Chickadee        R, Ly, Li

Red-breasted Nuthatch        Ly

White-breasted Nuthatch        R, Ly, Li

Brown Creeper        Li

Golden-crowned Kinglet        R, Ly, Li

Ruby-crowned Kinglet        R, Ly, Li

Eastern Bluebird        R, Ly, Li

Hermit Thrush        R, Ly, Li

American Robin        R, Ly, Li

Gray Catbird        Ly, Li

European Starling        R, Ly, Li

Cedar Waxwing        R, Li

House Sparrow        R, Ly, Li

American Pipit        R, Ly, Li

House Finch        R, Ly

Purple Finch        Ly

Red Crossbill        Li

Pine Siskin        R

American Goldfinch        R, Ly, Li

Lapland Longspur        R

Chipping Sparrow        R, Ly, Li

Field Sparrow        Ly

Vesper Sparrow        R, Li

Savannah Sparrow        R, Ly, Li

Fox Sparrow        R, Ly, Li

Song Sparrow        R, Ly, Li

Lincoln’s Sparrow        R, Ly

Swamp Sparrow        R, Li

White-throated Sparrow        R, Ly, Li

Harris’s Sparrow        R, Ly, Li

Dark-eyed Junco        R, Ly, Li

Western Meadowlark        Ly, Li

Red-winged Blackbird        R, Ly, Li

Common Grackle        R, Ly, Li

Orange-crowned Warbler        R, Ly

Yellow-rumped Warbler        R, Ly, Li

Northern Cardinal        R, Ly