On May 12, I happened across a rather rare (for Minnesota) bird hanging out at Powderhorn park. This first-spring Summer Tanager was hanging out with a male Scarlet Tanager near the park building:
I went back the next morning and found him in a tree by the basketball court. I'm quite sure he has moved on by now, but it was a nice surprise to stumble upon a bird whose normal range doesn't extend much north of Missouri.
The last couple of days have been pretty spectacular for new migrant arrivals. The treetops are often filled with warblers these days, so look up! In the last two days alone, the following birds have arrived at Powderhorn Park for the first time this year:
* birds I've not previously seen at Powderhorn
In addition, Swainson's Thrushes are still around, and I even saw a pair of Downy Woodpeckers mating this morning.
In addition to the previously-mentioned Sandpipers, notable birds that showed up at Powderhorn Park this week include quite a few warblers: Northern Parula, Black-and-white Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Yellow Warbler, and Black-throated Green Warbler (a new park bird for me). New non-warblers include Blue-headed Vireo, Least Flycatcher, Chimney Swift, Clay-colored Sparrow, Field Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow, Brown Thrasher (another new park bird), Gray Catbird, Winter Wren, several Swainson's Thrushes, and the first Black-crowned Night-Heron of the year. An Ovenbird also wandered through my back yard on Tuesday morning.
Yellow-rumped Warblers were still plentiful this week as well.
I caught a glimpse of a bat out of the corner of my eye the other day, but it disappeared as it flew past a tree. So I went to investigate...
The sandpipers returned after May Day. Today there were 3 Solitary Sandpipers and a single Spotted Sandpiper. The Solitaries were considerably more obliging with the photo opportunities.
For the second year in a row, I found a small flock of sandpipers along the shores of Powderhorn lake on the day before May Day. Last year it was a pair of Solitary Sandpipers; this year a small flock of 5 Spotted Sandpipers. I'm not entirely sure what the significance of this is, but it seems a good omen in any case.
The rainstorm overnight and this morning must have brought a lot of new migrants into the area, because the park was hopping with activity this afternoon when I walked around. Yellow-rumped Warblers have been around for a few weeks already, but this morning brought a few others to join their ranks. Palm and Pine warblers have made an appearance, and White-throated Sparrows showed up in force today, with at least 20 hopping around up near the tennis courts and singing their ode to Canada.
The pair of bluebirds has returned to their territory on the upper part of the park along 14th Ave. I'm keeping my eyes open for signs of nest-building, but haven't spotted anything yet. Last year they fledged 3 young, so I wouldn't be surprised if they nested in the park again this year. Speaking of nests, the Cooper's hawks appear to be incubating eggs in a nest in one of the large Cottonwood trees along the lakeshore.
My most unexpected sighting of the day came when I accidentally flushed a Sora (a small bird in the Rail family) from some tall vegatation on the hill along the north side of the lake. Admittedly, this picture is pretty awful, but come on, it's a Rail. They don't just let anyone take their picture.
