Miesville Ravine Dakota Co. Park Sunday 8/27. Good birds seen:
Yellow-breasted Chat - reported by Doug Mayo on the section of the park along CR-91 near one of the two bridges. This is not the section of the park by the parking lots. Connecticut Warbler - found by Bruce Baer in top of the trees near the limestone blocks on the way to the meadow from the north parking lot. Philadelphia Vireo - found along the Canon river Black-chinned Hummingbird (female) - in the meadow. Light crown and white forehead create the image of a masked hummer. Wings are long reaching almost to the end of the tail and saber-shaped. The bill is long and slight curved. I hesitated to mention this, especially when I was unable to take its picture. A Chestnut-sided Warbler (female) with large yellow wing patches. We ID'd it as a Golden-winged hybrid, but it is probably just atypically plumaged. The 17 participants on the MRVAC sponsored field trip were treated to perfect weather and some good birding, with a total of 55 species ID'd in the park. We had lots of vireos (primarily Red-eyed and Yellow-throated) and few warblers. At the end of the day, I counted 14 species of warblers, although most participants probably found no more than five or six warbler species. There were lots of hummers. I counted probably 25 or 30, but with their high activity level, the number could have been several times that. The jewelweed bloom attracting the hummers was the best I have seen in years. Steve Weston on Quiggley Lake in Eagan, MN [email protected]
