Hi, While Blue Grosbeak reports outside of the extreme southwest corner of the state have become more common over the past decade, I was still very surprised when the first bird I saw while scanning a mown hay field in far northern Cottonwood County late this afternoon was a brilliant adult male Blue Grosbeak - which was soon joined by a female. This field was on the north side of 210th street, on the west side of county 5, just a bit south of the Redwood county line. Other than the grosbeaks, only Killdeer and starlings were present. A half hour earlier, I enjoyed seeing a family of Gray Partridge on the edge of the road just south of the Jeffers sewage ponds (male, female, and at least 6 thumb-sized chicks). In Jackson County, the Black-necked Stilts were still present at the Christiania WPA, and a Henslow's Sparrow was singing from a mullein on the south side of 36. The Upland Sandpipers and Buff-breasted Sandpipers previously reported by Bob and Ron were still in the mown fields north of county 14 west of 400th. On the way home, there were 2 Upland Sandpipers with many Killdeer in a freshly-cut field at the intersection of Sibley county highways 4 and 1 (southwest of Winthrop). Doug Kieser Hennepin County ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html