I really wasn’t planning on birding today or trying to push Evan’s life list total.  Honest. We’re only after a couple species of ducks now, so it isn’t worth driving to Willmar each day just to scan through the hundreds of birds for the one we want.  Steve and I are keeping watch for each other’s target birds, and since he checks the lake each day we are just waiting for the call on our species.

Steve is doing a Big Year competition with his brother, and one of his latest targets is the Lapland Longspur, a sparrow-size bird that is only around in the winter.  Today when I left work I decided on a whim to take a different, albeit indirect, route home on some gravel roads.  I saw plenty of birds but nothing terribly interesting until I made my final turn just a mile from my house.  A large flock of darker sparrow-sized birds flushed into the corn stubble.  They fit the profile of the Lapland Longspur.  I watched them in the field for a bit and then texted Steve that I think I found his bird.

After supper Steve called me and said he wanted to come out to take a look.  Ten minutes later, Evan and I hopped into Steve’s car to look for our target.  I just expected we’d race out to the spot to check, but Steve has a keen eye and stopped to check out some birds along the way.  It’s a good thing we did because we might have missed this bird for #96 – the Western Meadowlark.

A couple minutes later we were at our destination, and I spotted movement in the black field in front of us right away.  We glassed the field and found our target, #97, the Lapland Longspur!  There were about 50 of these guys busily moving in the plowed field.  It was tough to get a decent picture.  We got to watch them for about 5 minutes before something scared them off.

This was classic birding to get our target and add a couple birds to our life lists all while helping a fellow birder.  So, what will Evan’s 100th be?  I’ve got something up my sleeve to make #100 extra special.  I’m just worried that we’ll hit 100 before this plan takes shape!

This morning I discovered a great little duck patch in the pond by the Bill Taunton baseball stadium in Willmar.  Last night was so cold that all the field “lakes” froze forcing the waterfowl to crowd up any open water.  As soon as I picked Evan up from school, we checked out this new spot. It was a fun mix of ducks that could be seen very close.  And Evan picked up #94 – the Green-winged Teal!

The number of beautiful species on this little “puddle” was a lot of fun.  The new life bird is in the foreground.

We decided to check out Foot Lake before picking up Marin from daycare.  Lots of birds were out there today.  There was another birder with a spotting scope, so we asked him if there was anything good out there.  Nothing new for us, but he pointed out the American Wigeon which was a life bird over the weekend.

This birder, Ron, also said there was a lone drake Northern Pintail on Willmar Lake just ten  minutes prior.  We hustled up there but did not find it.  It’s one of our last “regular” ducks to add to our life lists.

It was time to get Marin.  We picked her up and as we backed down the driveway, we saw a hawk fly right through the neighbor’s yard.  It was #95 for Evan and a lifer for me – the Cooper’s Hawk!

All this birding took place in a matter of 45 minutes or so.  Before I picked up the kids,  I had spent my day driving down to Stewart, Minnesota and back to deliver my taxes to my Uncle Larry.  It was fun to visit with them and do a little birding on the road.  It was a raptor day: 16 American Kestrels, 4 Red-tailed Hawks, 3 Northern Harriers, 1 Bald Eagle, and 1 unidentified raptor.  I also saw my first Eastern Bluebird of the season.  Here are a couple pics I snapped along my drive.  They are, in order: American Kestrel, Red-tailed Hawk, and Northern Harrier.