October 6th, 2018: A lovely walk around Nerstrand Big Woods
I ventured out to Nerstrand Big Woods SP today. Nerstrand is a great woodland birding spot, not far from Faribault and Northfield, MN. It’s also pretty close to the Cannon River Wilderness Area (closed for now after tornadoes took down a lot of its trees). It was a quick trip for a nice walk and, since I could only go in the afternoon, it was rather quiet for birding.
As such, there’s not a lot to report. But I saw more Yellow-rumped Warblers (at least 38 individuals) than any thing else. Other highlights were Tennessee, Orange-crowned, and Nashville Warblers, Swainson’s Thrush, and a Blue-headed Vireo.
Blue-headed Vireos are always around, but never seem to be in big numbers. This makes them particularly nice birds to see up close. And who doesn’t love those tentative, yet strident halting vireo songs. The single bird I saw today was definitely the highlight as fall encroaches on MN.
