Recap of Andy Nyhus and Is Wabasha County Big Day yesterday - 174 species! Sometimes Big Days are planned months ahead of time. Sometimes Big Days are kept on a tight schedule, allocating a certain amount of time per location and species. Sometimes they run midnite to midnite. Sometimes sane people call them off, when the forecast is for a ridiculous amount of rain. Sometimes. Ive always wanted to a Wabasha County Big Day, but in many years, there is little shorebird habitat, so I have warned folks that when there is a good shorebird year in Wabasha county, I will call an audible (it is not often that I am confused with Peyton Manning), and a Big Day will happen fast. While I love birding my home county (Winona), I have to admit Wabasha excites me, perhaps not unlike a mistress, what with her giant Lake Pepin, and quality prairie habitat at Weaver Dunes. Ive birded it a lot, and figured we could pretty much wing an itinerary. With the changeover of shorebirds at County Roads 24 and 30, we thought it would be a good idea to hit this area more than once. Andy Nyhus and I started at 5:30 AM, a very civil time in the Big Day scheme of things, and ended before 10PM on Monday May 12, 2014. We found no Casual or Accidental species, but were able to relocate many rare regular species that had been found on the 2 preceding days, and made a few serendipitous discoveries on Big Day itself. For a complete list of species seen, go to moumn.org, and query the sightings database for ANy (Andrew Nyhus). Summary by family: Ducks: 14 (lucky to have some late lingerers) Shorebirds: 19 (not including White-faced Ibis) Raptors: 8 Warblers: 23 Sparrows: 15 Swallows: All 6 Woodpeckers: All 7 The Day: CR 29 (US 61 to Winona County line): This road is the first good area when coming from Winona. We had Ruffed Grouse, Wild Turkey, a smattering of songbirds, and, an unplanned bonus was hearing Sora and Virginia Rail, as birds singing from the marshy sloughs of the Whitewater River below are audible. Common Nighthawk was also nice to pick up at this early hour. A local landowner came up to see what we were up to, and when Andy started explaining a Big Day, the landowner said, Yeah, Ive seen the movie; have a good day fellas. Im surprised (and somewhat grateful) how many non-birders watched the Big Year. MN 74 (US 61 to Winona County line): MN 74 runs along the north side of the Whitewater River and its fantastic marshes (the Dorer pools) and unlike CR 29, it runs quite close to the wetlands. Black Tern, Yellow-headed Blackbird, and Common Gallinule nest here most years (the wetter the better, generally), and these species were found in short order. A winnowing Wilsons Snipe and a singing Orchard Oriole were nice birds found en route. Total species so far: 77 (7AM) Flooded fields along CRs 24 and 30: We were a little dismayed to find out how much the nights rain had raised the water levels, and how many birds had left one field, but Most of these species were refound in nearby fields. 17 of our 19 species of shorebirds were found here, including Hudsonian Godwit, Willet, Black-bellied and American Golden Plovers. The White-faced Ibis found the day before was still there. Birds that dont probe the mud, like Bobolink and Savannah Sparrow, of course were in the area, too, adding to the days total. Peterson Lake: A large backwater of the Mississippi, this spot had some key species of lingering waterfowl, including Common Loon, Red-breasted Merganser, Canvasback, Common Goldeneye, Ruddy Duck and Lesser Scaup. Being a weekday, there was little boat traffic, which we believe contributed to our success. We drove around some pines in the area, and lucked into a Red-breasted Nuthatch. Krueger Recreation Area: An immense forest, we thought we would really clean up on woods birds here. As it turned out, Warblers came gradually throughout the whole day, and Krueger played a relatively small role. It was here we ran into Pat Pagel, who mentioned her regular Tufted Titmice at her feeders. We were unsure about soliciting tips during the Big Day, but as this was not a hot tip (Titmice are year-round residents in Wabasha County), we reluctantly accepted general directions to the general area where she lives, and later in the day were able to find a singing bird away from anyones feeders. Greenfield Cemetery: Just west of Kellogg along CR 18, Andy had discovered this spot yesterday, and had a singing Pine Warbler. It was still singing away in some pines just outside the eastern edge of the cemetery fence. There are huge White Pines here, and it is gated, set back from the road a bit. A gem. We also added Cedar Waxwing and Cape May and Palm Warblers for the day. Plainview, Carley State Park: Driving to and from these areas was an excuse to pick up more agricultural birds (Western Meadowlark, Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, Ring-necked Pheasant) and represents some of our only time very far away from Hwy 61. Plainview has been known as the spot for Eurasian Collared-Doves for years, but we failed to find any. We did pick up Ruby-throated Hummingbird at feeders here, and thankfully it reminded us about Carley State Park which we ended up birding a bit. A pair of Swainsons hawks were circling above the entrance, and we added our last low hanging fruit in the migrant warbler department - Black-throated Green and Blackburnian. Lake City: Peregrine Falcons and Purple Martins are 2 species that lured us to this northern edge of the County, with Peregrines nesting at the grain elevators and Martins along the lake. We spent some time at the point, and eventually found all 4 species of regular terns as well as Herring Gull. Weaver Dunes/Pritchard Lake: Andy had located a Red-shouldered Hawk nest on the road to the West Newton boat ramp. As expected the road was flooded out, and we had to throw on our knee boots to walk the road, but we found the nest. On our way back at a differrent boat ramp, we were able to find Prothonotary Warbler. At the dunes proper, Lark, Grasshopper and Henslows Sparrow, as well as Loggerhead Shrike were all easily findable, but the Bells Vireo was a no show. Conspicuously absent from our list was Belted Kingfisher (can be a pesky bird on Big Days) and Double-crested Cormorant. In an act of desparation, we headed to the boat ramp at Pritchard Lake (another marshy Mississippi River backwater) near Weaver Dunes. It ended up being one of the best decisions of the day. At first it seemed slow, but then we added 4 new species in short order. First, Andy finally got it through Dedricks thick skull that not all the oompah-loompah sounds out there were Northern Shoveler, but American Bittern! Then a Warbling Vireo (also conspicuously absent earlier in the day) popped up in a bush. And while scanning waterfowl, Dedrick caught sight of a large flock of black and white birds - 11 American Avocets settling down in the middle of the lake! Weve seen swimming avocets before, but it always floors us. While in awe of this, a Belted Kingfisher flew right by the boat ramp, cackling away. Andy and I were cackling away as well. Wrap-up: Well, it was almost Woodcock Oclock, and we still hadnt seen a Double-crested Cormorant all day, so we drove downriver to Minneiska, and on our way back towards Weaver Dunes, we found a flock of pelicans with some cormorants roosting on a snag. We made it back to Weaver Dunes area where we heard a Great Horned Owl and American Woodcock. A nighttime visit to the Dorer Pools proved worthwhile for Barred Owl (and lots of frogs!) but not for Least Bittern. We tried for Whip-Poor-Will at Krueger Recreation Area but hear none. And we were okay with that. We were tired and happy with the amazing day wed had. Dedrick Benz and Andy Nyhus Winona, MN
Posted on: Tue, 13 May 2014 18:59:56 +0000
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