Spring Might Finally Be Here

    The stars aligned today with sunny skies, warm temperatures and no demands on my time for a big chunk of the day. So what do I do? Go see who has arrived back in the midwest recently.

   I spent the afternoon hitting all the usual spots and had a pretty good day. One stop was at a spot that had traditionally been really good. It is a small marsh along 140th street in Rosemount, MN. A few years ago the public works department did some work there and what was a once thriving wetland all but disappeared. Since then it has not been a regular stop. Heard from another birder though that the marsh held more water this year because of the rains this spring. Even though much of the state is pretty dry, the marsh looks better. Not what it used to be but good enough to host at least 3 male Yellow-headed Blackbirds. I have never seen them there before!

Went on to other good locations and ended up with a pretty good day list. Here are the highlights:

I had 2 Lark Sparrows along the road east of the 140th St. marsh. Good look while they perched on a fence.

1 Loggerhead Shrike in the traditional location along Emery St. Most likely nesting again this year.

The mudflats at Lake Byllesby are extensive and there were 9 species of shorebirds right along the shoreline. These included - Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper and Wilson's Phalarope. Not big numbers but nice variety.

Final stop at Ritter Farm Park in Lakeville had FOY Olive-sided Flycatchers, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and Swainson's Thrush.

Had it not been so windy I would have probably seen even more species but for a sunny Sunday afternoon this was pretty nice.