WATONWAN - COTTONWOOD - MURRAY MBWs SUMMARY

May 1 - 2 - 3, 2009 (MBW 1)

May 9 - 10, 2009 (MBW 2)

Yeah, yeah, I know, you don't have to remind me that I said the later MBW would be better. And, no, on MBW #2 we were unable to match the likes of both a Say's Phoebe and Western Tanager. Even the weather was worse a week later, especially on Sunday morning, when it never rose out of the 40s, and there was a decided wind-chill factor besides. (Actually, it was windy on both MBWs, although that's to be expected out on the prairie; but, remarkably, there was no rain as we birded on either weekend.)

In some ways, however, it really was better the second time around. Not only was the species total higher, but it only took us two days to get that many – it took MBW #1 three days to come up with 10 fewer species. Both MBWs did well on shorebirds (16 and 17 species respectively), but MBW #2 did better on balance with its Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, White-rumped Sandpiper, and Red-necked Phalaropes. Our warbler list then was predictably higher, given the later date, but I was surprised that no fewer than 15 species turned up for us. In addition, though perhaps not as sexy as that phoebe and tanager, there were a Peregrine Falcon, unexpected Common Terns, and a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher to boast about.

Both MBWs recorded that strangely late assortment of geese at the Butterfield sewage ponds: though the Cacklings were absent on MBW #2, the Snow and Ross's geese numbers then actually went up. Both MBWs listed Windom's Eurasian Collared-Doves (though heard-only on #2), and there were Eastern Meadowlarks unexpectedly singing on both.

Bird Lists

1 = seen/heard on MBW 1, May 1-2-3; 134 species (incl 22 species not seen on 2nd MBW)

2 = seen/heard on MBW 2, May 9-10; 144 species (incl 32 species not seen on 1st MBW)

W = seen in Watonwan Co (May 1 option on 1st MBW / partial list at Butterfield sewage

ponds on 2nd MBW)

C = seen in Cottonwood Co

M = seen in Murray Co

Greater White-fronted Goose 1-WC (4 birds) / 2-W (only 3)

Snow Goose 1-WC (<50 birds) / 2-W (~130 total)

Ross's Goose 1-W (2 birds) / 2-W (8 present)

Cackling Goose 1-W (2 individuals)

Canada Goose 1-WCM / 2-CM

Trumpeter Swan 1-C / 2-C

Wood Duck 1-WCM / 2-C

Gadwall 1-WCM / 2-C

American Wigeon 1-CM

Mallard 1-WCM / 2-CM

Blue-winged Teal 1-WCM / 2-CM

Northern Shoveler 1-WCM / 2-CM

Green-winged Teal 1-WCM / 2-C

Canvasback 1-WC / 2-C

Redhead 1-WCM / 2-C

Ring-necked Duck 1-WCM / 2-C

Lesser Scaup 1-WCM / 2-CM

Bufflehead 1-WM

Hooded Merganser 1-M / 2-CM

Red-breasted Merganser 1-M (Lake Wilson)

Ruddy Duck 1-WCM / 2-M

Gray Partridge 1-W (pair at Eagle Nest Co Park)

Ring-necked Pheasant 1-WCM / 2-CM

Wild Turkey 1-C / 2-C

Common Loon 1-M (Lake Wilson) / 2-M (ditto)

Pied-billed Grebe 1-WCM / 2-CM

Red-necked Grebe 1-WC / 2-C

Eared Grebe 1-M (Lake Wilson)

Western Grebe 1-C

American White Pelican 1-WCM / 2-CM

Double-crested Cormorant 1-WCM / 2-CM

American Bittern 2-C (see nicely at Bat Lake)

Great Blue Heron 1-WC / 2-CM

Great Egret 1-CM / 2-CM

Green Heron 1-C / 2-C

Black-crowned Night-Heron 1-M / 2-C

Turkey Vulture 1-WCM / 2-M

Osprey 1-C

Bald Eagle 1-WC / 2-C

Northern Harrier 1-WCM / 2-CM

Sharp-shinned Hawk 1-WC

Cooper's Hawk 1-WM / 2-M

Broad-winged Hawk 1-WCM

Swainson's Hawk 2-CM (west of Chandler & over Red Rock Falls Co Park)

Red-tailed Hawk 1-WCM / 2-CM

American Kestrel 1-WCM / 2-C

Merlin 2-C (chasing swallows at Wolf Lake WPA)

Peregrine Falcon 2-C (flushing shorebirds at Wolf Lake)

Virginia Rail 1-WC / 2-C

Sora 1-WCM / 2-C

American Coot 1-WCM / 2-CM

American Golden-Plover 1-M (fly-by flock at Chandler)

Semipalmated Plover 1-CM / 2-C

Killdeer 1-WCM / 2-CM

Spotted Sandpiper 1-WC / 2-CM

Solitary Sandpiper 1-CM / 2-CM

Greater Yellowlegs 1-M / 2-C

Willet 1-WCM (most seen at Slayton) / 2-CW (Wolf Lake & Butterfield)

Lesser Yellowlegs 1-WCM / 2-CM

Upland Sandpiper 1-C / 2-C

Ruddy Turnstone 2-M (Lake Wilson)

Sanderling 2-W (possibly a first county record?)

Semipalmated Sandpiper 1-WCM

Least Sandpiper 1-WC / 2-C

White-rumped Sandpiper 2-M (Lake Wilson sewage ponds)

Dunlin 1-WM / 2-CW

Short-billed Dowitcher 1-M / 2-C

Long-billed Dowitcher 1-WCM / 2-C (nice side-by-side dowitcher comparisons on both

MBWs)

Wilson's Snipe 1-W

Wilson's Phalarope 1-WCM / 2-CMW

Red-necked Phalarope 2-W (nice phalarope comparison at Butterfield)

Bonaparte's Gull 1-M

Franklin's Gull 1-CM (also May 1 in Brown Co) / 2-M

Ring-billed Gull 1-WCM / 2-CM

Black Tern 2-M

Common Tern 2-M (2 at Lake Wilson)

Forster's Tern 1-WCM / 2-CM

Rock Pigeon 1-WCM / 2-CM

Eurasian Collared-Dove 1-C (pair along 6th St in Windom) / 2-C (heard-only)

Mourning Dove 1-WCM / 2-CM

Great Horned Owl 1-W

Chimney Swift 1-C / 2-CM

Belted Kingfisher 1-WCM / 2-CM

Red-bellied Woodpecker 1-WC / 2-C

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1-WCM / 2-C

Downy Woodpecker 1-WCM / 2-CM

Hairy Woodpecker 1-WC

Northern Flicker 1-WCM / 2-CM

Least Flycatcher 1-WC / 2-CM

Eastern Phoebe 1-W / 2-C

Say's Phoebe 1-C (also seen in Jackson Co!)

Eastern Kingbird 2-C

Blue-headed Vireo 2-CM

Warbling Vireo 2-CM

Blue Jay 1-WCM / 2-C

American Crow 1-WCM / 2-CM

Horned Lark 1-WCM / 2-CM

Purple Martin 1-WM / 2-CM

Tree Swallow 1-WCM / 2-CM

Northern Rough-winged Swallow 1-WC / 2-CM

Bank Swallow 1-W / 2-CM

Cliff Swallow 1-WC / 2-CM

Barn Swallow 1-WCM / 2-CM

Black-capped Chickadee 1-WCM / 2-CM

White-breasted Nuthatch 1-WCM / 2-C

Brown Creeper 1-M

House Wren 1-C / 2-CM

Sedge Wren 1-C / 2-C

Marsh Wren 1-WCM / 2-C

Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1-WCM / 2-CM

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2-C (Red Rock Lakes Co Park)

Eastern Bluebird 1-WC / 2-C

Veery 2-C (heard-only)

Gray-cheeked Thrush 2-C

Swainson's Thrush 1-WC / 2-CM

American Robin 1-WCM / 2-CM

Gray Catbird 2-C

Brown Thrasher 1-WCM / 2-C

European Starling 1-WCM / 2-CM

American Pipit 1-C / 2-M

Cedar Waxwing 2-M

Golden-winged Warbler 2-C (mostly heard in Windom)

Tennessee Warbler 2-C

Orange-crowned Warbler 1-WC / 2-C

Nashville Warbler 2-C

Yellow Warbler 2-C

Yellow-rumped Warbler 1-WCM / 2-CM

Black-throated Green Warbler 2-C

Palm Warbler 1-C / 2-CM

Blackpoll Warbler 2-C

Black-and-white Warbler 1-WC / 2-CM

American Redstart 2-C

Ovenbird 2-C

Northern Waterthrush 2-C

Common Yellowthroat 2-C

Wilson's Warbler 2-CM

[Summer Tanager - Dee et al. took a time-out to Good Thunder on May 1]

Western Tanager 1-C (also seen in Brown Co!)

Eastern Towhee 1-W (Eagle Nest Co Park)

Chipping Sparrow 1-WCM / 2-CM

Clay-colored Sparrow 1-WCM / 2-CM

Field Sparrow 1-WCM / 2-CM

Vesper Sparrow 1-WCM / 2-CM

Savannah Sparrow 1-CM / 2-CM

Song Sparrow 1-WCM / 2-CM

Lincoln's Sparrow 1-WCM / 2-CM

Swamp Sparrow 1-WC / 2-C

White-throated Sparrow 1-WCM / 2-CM

Harris's Sparrow 1-WM / 2-CM

White-crowned Sparrow 1-WCM / 2-CM

Dark-eyed Junco 1-C / 2-C (unusually late)

Northern Cardinal 1-WC / 2-C

Rose-breasted Grosbeak 2-C

Bobolink 2-CM

Red-winged Blackbird 1-WCM / 2-CM

Eastern Meadowlark 1-WC (unexpected near LaSalle & at Wolf Lake);

2-C (3 singing at Wolf Lake)

Western Meadowlark 1-WCM / 2-CM

Yellow-headed Blackbird 1-WCM / 2-CM

Brewer's Blackbird 1-C

Common Grackle 1-WCM / 2-CM

Brown-headed Cowbird 1-WCM / 2-CM

Baltimore Oriole 2-CM

Purple Finch 1-W

House Finch 1-WCM / 2-CM

Pine Siskin 1-WC / 2-CM

American Goldfinch 1-WCM / 2-CM

House Sparrow 1-WCM / 2-CM

Note that these two MBW summaries

include species seen outside of Murray Co.

__________

Watowan - Cottonwood - Murray Counties MBW Summary

May 12-13-14, 2017

“Digibin” image of the immature male Summer Tanager at Long Lake Park

Well, I think they were Red-breasteds…maybe!

(Slayton sewage ponds / Roy Zimmerman photo)

There may have been too much dust on the gravel roads all three days, too much wind on Saturday, and then there was Sunday’s amazing but disconcerting birding report from those mudflats where we were on Saturday (see below). But we certainly came up with a very nice assortment of birds as evidenced by our composite total of 145 species, with 121 of these on Friday’s pre-MBW (all but 3 of them in Watonwan Co), and 128 on the main Cottonwood-Murray MBW.

Our effort in Watonwan County was especially satisfying, since this under-birded county is generally considered as less interesting than the other two we visited. Besides the Summer Tanager, our other highlights that day included an unusually cooperative and visible Least Bittern, a pair of Red-necked Grebes at their Case Lake nest, two Orchard Orioles, and 17 warbler species – including a close Cape May and multiple Golden-wingeds.

On Saturday we were only able to add two more warblers to bring our final list to 19 species, but we certainly did much better on shorebirds. While we could only manage to find seven shorebird species in Watonwan (we only ran across one flooded field), there were 12 species in Murray just at that nice flooded area on the Lyon County line. A Hudsonian Godwit was the best bird, but there were also American Golden-Plovers, several White-rumped Sandpipers, Short-billed Dowitchers, and Dunlins. (Unfortunately, though, we would have done much better there on Sunday after a whole lot more migrants had arrived: a total of no fewer than 21 shorebird species (!), including a photographed Western Sandpiper, an avocet, a count of 17 Hudsonians (not just one), and around 1,000 peeps.)

Also of interest on this windy Saturday was a lone Lark Sparrow in Cottonwood and two apparent and out-of-season Red-breasted Mergansers in Murray, on Sunday there was a boldly visible Virginia Rail just east of Windom, and most of us on the way home had time to coax a reluctant Henslow’s Sparrow out of a Brown County grassland that Brian had found the day before. (A few in the group also stopped at the Sleepy Eye sewage ponds later and “unofficially" found Willet, Ruddy Turnstone, Stilt Sandpiper, and Sanderling.)

Western Sandpiper on Sunday – but, alas, not Saturday (Garrett Wee photo)

Bird List

W = Watonwan Co May 12

C = Cottonwood Co May 13-14

M = Murray Co May 13

Canada Goose WCM

Trumpeter Swan WCM

Wood Duck WCM

Gadwall WCM

American Wigeon M

Mallard WCM

Blue-winged Teal WCM

Northern Shoveler WM

Northern Pintail M

Green-winged Teal M

Redhead WC

Ring-necked Duck (Blue Earth Co only)

Lesser Scaup WM

Hooded Merganser W

Red-breasted Merganser M

Ruddy Duck WCM

Ring-necked Pheasant WCM

Wild Turkey WC

Pied-billed Grebe WC

Red-necked Grebe W

Rock Pigeon WCM

Eurasian Collared-Dove WCM

Mourning Dove WCM

Common Nighthawk C

Chimney Swift CM

Ruby-throated Hummingbird WC

Virginia Rail WCM

Sora WCM

American Coot WCM

American Golden-Plover M

Semipalmated Plover M

Killdeer WCM

Hudsonian Godwit M

Dunlin WM

Least Sandpiper WCM

White-rumped Sandpiper CM

Pectoral Sandpiper WM

Semipalmated Sandpiper CM

Short-billed Dowitcher M

Spotted Sandpiper WCM

Greater Yellowlegs W

Lesser Yellowlegs WM

Ring-billed Gull W

Black Tern WCM

Forster's Tern WCM

Double-crested Cormorant WC

American White Pelican WCM

American Bittern WC

Least Bittern W

Great Blue Heron WC

Green Heron W

Turkey Vulture WCM

Bald Eagle WC

Northern Harrier WCM

Sharp-shinned Hawk C

Broad-winged Hawk WC

Red-tailed Hawk WCM

Belted Kingfisher WCM

Red-headed Woodpecker WC

Red-bellied Woodpecker WC

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker WC

Downy Woodpecker WC

Hairy Woodpecker WC

Northern Flicker WCM

Pileated Woodpecker W

Least Flycatcher WCM

Eastern Phoebe WC

Great Crested Flycatcher WC

Eastern Kingbird WCM

Yellow-throated Vireo WC

Blue-headed Vireo WC

Warbling Vireo WCM

Blue Jay WC

American Crow WCM

Horned Lark CM

Purple Martin M

Tree Swallow WCM

Northern Rough-winged Swallow WCM

Bank Swallow WM

Cliff Swallow WCM

Barn Swallow WCM

Black-capped Chickadee WC

White-breasted Nuthatch WCM

House Wren WCM

Sedge Wren WCM

Marsh Wren WCM

Ruby-crowned Kinglet WC

Veery W

Gray-cheeked Thrush WCM

Swainson's Thrush WCM

American Robin WCM

Gray Catbird WC

Brown Thrasher WCM

European Starling WCM

Cedar Waxwing C

House Sparrow WCM

American Pipit CM

House Finch WCM

American Goldfinch WCM

Ovenbird WC

Northern Waterthrush WC

Golden-winged Warbler W

Black-and-white Warbler WC

Tennessee Warbler WC

Orange-crowned Warbler W

Nashville Warbler WC

Common Yellowthroat WC

American Redstart WC

Cape May Warbler W

Magnolia Warbler WCM

Blackburnian Warbler C

Yellow Warbler WCM

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Blackpoll Warbler WC

Palm Warbler WCM

Yellow-rumped Warbler WCM

Black-throated Green Warbler W

Wilson's Warbler C

Chipping Sparrow WCM

Clay-colored Sparrow WCM

Field Sparrow WC

Vesper Sparrow WCM

Lark Sparrow C

Savannah Sparrow WCM

Grasshopper Sparrow C

Henslow's Sparrow (Brown Co only)

Song Sparrow WCM

Lincoln's Sparrow WC

Swamp Sparrow WCM

White-throated Sparrow WCM

Harris's Sparrow WCM

White-crowned Sparrow M

Summer Tanager W

Scarlet Tanager W

Northern Cardinal WC

Rose-breasted Grosbeak WCM

Indigo Bunting C

Bobolink CM

Red-winged Blackbird WCM

Western Meadowlark C

Yellow-headed Blackbird WCM

Common Grackle WCM

Brown-headed Cowbird WCM

Orchard Oriole W

Baltimore Oriole WCM

* * *