Where to go depends on what you are looking to see. There are some very nice parks in the Minneapolis area that will have resident breeders, but nothing terribly exciting.
It may depend a lot on what sorts of things you're really interested in seeing - field birds, vs forest birds vs water birds vs birds of prey. You'd be gravitating towards different habitats, and would have to choose in such a limited time frame.
For checking out what people are currently seeing there are general resources like eBird www.ebird.org and the archives of the MNBIRD mailing list on the internet. The Minnesota Ornithological Union has a web site with seasonal distribution maps - www.moumn.org. Look at the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge web site - there are several units along the Minnesota River. MVNWR has a visitor center near the airport where you can get information. There is the Great River Birding Trail web site - www.greatriverbirding.org
There are some big Minnesota guidebooks that are probably way too big for what you need, like the Eckert book. The MVNWR visitor center might have some interesting books, or one of the Wild Birds Unlimited stores.
I usually go in late November, so normally my preferences are geared towards what's around at that time of year, and for places with conifers where the boreal birds might appear. My main daily stop, straight off the airplane and every morning after visiting the coffee shop in all seasons, has always been little Crosby Farm Regional Park - some people go to nearby Fort Snelling State Park instead, but I like Crosby and it's kind of home base for me. I liked Crow-Hassan Park Reserve (far northern suburbs) a lot in early June - it has a lot of edge habitats. Various units of Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge are scattered along the Minnesota River - none are huge favorites for me, but they're easy to get to and they have scheduled tours that you can find out about on the web site or at the visitor center. Murphy-Hanrehan traditionally gets a lot of press, but I've never been a big fan of it - you might want to ask someone who knows more about where things live there before deciding to try it. There are a lot of places to try, and at least you won't have to tangle with deer and hunting season like I do in November. (a gun on every shoulder, a deer on every bumper, and everything covered in blaze orange and camo...)
By late June the mosquitoes and ticks will be out in force, and even biting flies in some areas. You will want to dress for them, which may be difficult in the heat and humidity of late June afternoons. Depends on the weather. You do not want ticks all over you - long pants!
I am very grateful for all of your thoughts and have been monitoring the MN mail list - thanks to all the members of that.
Having done a fair bit of US warblers in the past, I think I might do something different and try sparrows/longspurs/prairie-chickens and prairie. Am I right that Felton in Clay County would be the best prairie birding anywhere near Minneapolis or is there somewhere nearer I should be thinking of - I only have 2 days ?
Will it be too late at end of June for prairie-chicken leks ?
I have the Eckert book and am working through it but any help gratefully received.
Many thanks again and regards - Mark
FYI, the prothonotary warblers are again back at their usual secluded area of Crosby Farm Regional Park, according to the MNBIRD mailing list. I tried to see these one year, and I may even have succeeded but it was too dark to ID or photo the mystery bird...wish I had my digital recorder back then!
Now now, migrants aren't the only terribly exciting birds. I would be terribly excited to see a marsh full of red-winged blackbirds - they were a fixture of my youth, and I haven't seen them in years. Or some rails - I've never seen a rail before. Owls are always exciting, IMO. I'm always up for sparrows. Wrens, thrushes, etc, etc, etc :t:
I am thinking up to Aitkin/Rice [Or Sax-Zim ??] (full day) via Sherburne (couple of hours) and then back to Minneapolis for flight home. Is that mad ?
I may have a couple of hours to get to Crosby and would love to see the Prothonotary warblers. Are you able to give some directions to where I might look in CFRP ? Thank you.
Mark
I may have a couple of hours to get to Crosby and would love to see the Prothonotary warblers. Are you able to give some directions to where I might look in CFRP ? Thank you.
IIRC, the mnbird archive mentioned snags off the various organic trails near the southwestern edge of the park, near where the bridge goes over the river. The snags I remember are in some muddy flood channels near the river. (there is a dead-end road on the west end of the park some locals use to access that side - not sure if it's signed since I always start from the east end) They are yearly breeding residents, so an archive of mnbird and maybe mou-net postings would have numerous mentions over the years. I never saw any for sure, myself.
It's a mostly dead tree
So how did it go?