The Quest for the Minnesota Regular Species Continues.....

An idiom is a phrase with a meaning that cannot be deciphered by the individual words. 

Like the phrase "I took a stab at it."

I took a 2nd stab at the Long-billed Dowitcher on Thursday, May 4th.

It was again spotted (on Ebird) at the 140th Street Marsh down in Rosemount so I was itching to go again.

Melinda agreed to ride along and she was actually the one who first spotted it.

First just the one and then two; a brief appearance moving in and out of some sedge; and then they disappeared.

I got a quick photo but it wasn't very good. Then three appeared at the far shore of the marsh.

That was the spot for some far away, but adequate photos to document my find.

Mind you, photo documentation is not always possible but these days I am making my best effort to do this.

Big thanks to Melinda!

And now only 13 Regular Minnesota Species left. Here is the list of what I need to see:

1.  American Three-toed Woodpecker
2.  Boreal Owl
3.  Cinnamon Teal
4.  Great-tailed Grackle
5.  Little Blue Heron
6.  Little Gull
7.  Pacific Loon
8.  Parasitic Jaeger
9.  Piping Plover
10.  Prairie Falcon
11.  Say's Phoebe
12.  Smith's Longspur
13.  Yellow Rail

6 of these birds would also be Life Birds; they are: American Three-toed Woodpecker, Boreal Owl, Little Gull, Prairie Falcon, Smith's Longspur, and Yellow Rail. The other 7 birds I have seen in other states. 

The Yellow Rail is now the only Common-Regular bird, all the others are considered Rare-Regular which only means they are not present all the time. But the Yellow Rail will be a tough one because my goal is to SEE the birds, not just hear them. I have seen many posts by birders who have heard the Yellow Rail but none that I know of have actually seen it. This could be a major challenge ahead of me. 

Only God willing!