May Is Spring Birding Month


May is the month many birders look forward to. After the long winter it finally
gets warm, it rains less, it dries out, and the vast array of colorful
neotropical migrants, and the multi-colored boreal "wood warblers" are migrating
through our state. Many of them are on their way to the Canadian provinces. But,
along the way, they often stop near lakes, rivers, creeks and marshes, where
insects can be found, which many of these birds feed on.

Some of the more colorful birds include the red and black colored scarlet
tanager, the electric blue indigo bunting, and the party-colored black, white
and rose colored rose-breasted grosbeak. In the southern areas of the state
these birds may arrive as early as the first week of May. In the far northeast
corner of the state they are generally most prevalent during the last few days
of May. To view pictures, and hear the calls, of the wide variety of warblers
seen in Minnesota, Google "Trinity Mountain Outdoors Minnesota Bird Checklist".
You can also check out the Pines to Prairie Birding Trail website to listen to
the calls of several of these birds.

In the ponds around Inver Hills College in Inver Grove Heights last week, we saw
great Egrets, Lesser Scaup, Wood Ducks and Hooded Mergansers, all in breeding
plumage. We still have a group of about 15 Dark-eyed Juncos at our feeder; and
in the last week we've seen or heard Eastern Bluebird, Brown Thrasher, American
Goldfinch, Eastern Phoebee, Brown-headed Cowbird, Mourning Dove, Northern
Cardinal, Blue Jay, White-breasted Nuthatch, Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers,
Chipping and Song Sparrows and Red-winged Blackbird. We still do not have
European (common) House Sparrows or House Finches here.

If you go looking for wood warblers, remember that they are insect eaters; look
for them near water, especially along lake, river and creek edges and lake
shores. I've seen them in past years at the Old Cedar Avenue Bridge, along Black
Dog Road west from Silver Bell Road, or west from I-35W. You may see the
Pergrines near the power plant, the Ospreys nesting on the tower in the lake
near the power plant, or Bald Eagles roosted or soaring above the lake, road and
river. While you are there you can check out the Fens Unit of the MV NWR on
Cliff Road, about a mile east of I-3W, just south of the Minnesota River.

Other places to look for warblers are along the creek on the southern boundary
of Murphy- Hanrehan Park and Ritter Farm Park (just west of I 35W), both in
Lakeville, Hyland Park in Bloomington, Lebanon Hills in Eagan, Dodge Nature
Center in South St, Paul, Snail Lake (just north of I- 494 near Shoreview), and
the any of the other parks in the Metro area. If you are interested, contact me
on where to see Dickcissel, Bobolnk, Upland Sandpiper, strutting Wild turkeys,
nesting Bald Eagle, dancing Prairie Chicken, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Sandhill
Crane, Whooping Crane and other birds by e-mailng me a TRMichels@yahoo.com.
The following information has been provided courtesy of the Minnesota
Ornithologists' Union. This report is brought to you by ExploreMinnesota.com.
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The following is a list of recent, significant sightings:

On April 28, a Laughing Gull was along Park Point in Duluth. It was most
recently seen on the sandbar on the harbor side of Hearding Island, at 19th
Street South. Two White-Faced Ibis were seen on April 28th, north of Clayton
Lake in Martin County, on the north side of 50th Street, one-tenth of a mile
east of 154th Avenue.

On April 25, 18 American Avocets were spotted in a flooded field flooded near
the Vermillion River, at the north end of Prairie Island in Winona County. This
is about one-quarter of a mile east of the bridge at Dakota County Road 68 on
Goodhue County Road 18. On the same day, 33 American Avocets were noted at the
Bass Ponds in Bloomington in Hennepin County near State Highway 77. Sixteen more
were seen in the shallows of the Mississippi River near Grey Cloud Island in
Washington County.

A Yellow Rail was seen on the 22nd at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in
Carver County. On the 24th early female Summer Tanager was spotted along the
northwest shore of Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis. On April 25th, four Willets were
seen at Lake Ida. northeast of Amboy in Blue Earth County. On the 22nd, an early
Whimbrel was seen in Duluth at the Park Point ball fields.

Other arrivals include Common Moorhen, Virginia Rail, Semipalmated Sandpiper,
Wilson's Phalarope, Forster's Tern, Caspian Tern, Cliff Swallow, House Wren,
Smith's Longspur, Spotted Towhee, Grasshopper Sparrow, Lark Sparrow, and Le
Conte's Sparrow.

In the ponds around Inver Hills College in Inver Grove Heights last week, we saw
great Egrets, Lesser Scaup, Wood Ducks and Hooded Mergansers, all in breeding
plumage. We stil hve a group of about 15 Dark-eyed Juncos at our feeder; and in
the last week we've seen or heard Eastern Bluebird, Brown Thrasher, American
Goldfinch, Eastern Phoebee, Brown-headed Cowbirds, Mourning Dove, Northern
Cardinal, Blue Jay, White-breasted Nuthatch, Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers,
Chipping and Song Sparrows and Red-winged Blackbirds.

If you go looking for wood warblers, remember that they are insect eaters, so
look for them near water, especially along lake, river, creek and lake shores.
I've seen them in past years at the Old Cedar Avenue Bridge, along Black Dog
Road west from Silver Bell Road and west from I-35W. You may see the Pergirnes
near the power plant, or Bald Eagles roosted or soaring above the lake, road and
river. While you are there you can check out the fens Unit of the MVNWR on Clif
Road, about a mile east of I35W, just south of the Minnesota River.

Other places to look for warblers are along the creek on the southern boundary
of Murphy- Hanrehan Park and Ritter Farm Park (just west of I 35W), both in
Lakeville, Hyland Park in Bloomington, Lebanon Hills in Eagan, Dodge Nature
Center in South St, Paul, Snail Lake (just north of I-494 near Shoreview), and
the any of the other parks in the Metro area. If you are interested, contact me
on where to see Dickcissel, Bobolnk, Upland Sandpiper, strutting Wild turkeys,
nesting Bald Eagle, dancing Prairie Chicken, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Sandhill
Crane, Whooping Crane and other birds by e-mailng me a TRMichels@yahoo.com.
Remember if you see something interesting, e-mail me about it at
TRMichels@yahoo.com.

Enjoy the great Outdoors, and take family members or friends along, and be sure
to take a spotting scope, binoculars and still or video camera.

God bless,

T.R.