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Browsing Birding

Lifebirds #443-448 - Not Too Bad Salt Lake

Salt Lake Bird Count 2012 program

This was our first year attending this festival, a 37-year-old Minnesota tradition centered on La qui Parle County in western Minnesota and a brackish lake that straddles the Minnesota/South Dakota state line.

The brackish lake is named Salt Lake. It is not to be confused with Utah’s Great Salt Lake. In fact, in Minnesota-speak, it might well be called Not Too Bad Salt Lake. The birding wasn’t too bad, that’s for sure. Joann and I learned a lot about shorebirds[1], and our total species count of 72 made it our biggest “big day” ever. Despite the cold and drizzly weather, we had a fantastic time with an enthusiastic group of 80 birders who were happy to share their scopes and expertise (Joann and I have always had a lot of trouble identifying shorebirds).

Semipalmated Plover

The organizer of the festival, Ken Larson, has participated for each of its 37 years. His father started the event, and Ken and his wife Mary Lou Frank carry on the tradition with exceptional generosity. They opened their farm home to birders during the day, and its feeder birds and restrooms were quite popular (not necessarily in that order). Birders were even welcome to camp on their property, and several did. The only cost to the event was for the dinner served by the folks of Madison, Minnesota’s Sons of Norway Hall. For $10, it was quite a bargain—particularly on a per-calorie basis.

Semipalmated Sandpiper

I was unable to photograph any birds during the day. In what smells like desperation, I cribbed helpful identification tips to the Semipalmated Plover and the Semipalmated Sandpiper from the web. Click on the tantalizing thumbnails to up your shorebird game.

I added six lifers, but Joann only five. She saw every bird I did, and probably some I didn’t see, but she had seen the Marbled Godwit on an earlier occasion.[2]

Species Pectoral Sandpiper / Calidris melanotos
WhereUSA-MN-Lac qui Parle County
Species Semipalmated Plover / Charadrius semipalmatus
Species American Golden-Plover / Pluvialis dominica
Species Marbled Godwit / Limosa fedoa
WhereUSA-MN-Lac qui Parle County-Cory Lake
Species Semipalmated Sandpiper / Calidris pusilla
Species Wilson's Phalarope / Phalaropus tricolor
WhereUSA-SD-Grant-Salt Lake area
WhenApr 28 2012
WithJoann
Numbers443 - 448

See lifebird index.

Notes

  1. On the drive home, we forgot most of what we learned. [^]
  2. Joann saw her lifer Marbled Godwit on May 22, 2010 at Chippewa Prairie in Swift County, Minnesota. [^]