…not #2, but lifer #197 for Evan.  This evening I took the kids out to see if anything was happening on the Atwater sewage treatment ponds.  Believe it or not, but birds and birders flock to sewage ponds.  Right now fall shorebird migration is starting, and these are some of the best places to check for new migrants.

While we were there we saw dozens of Canada Geese and several Mallards.  It was fun to see Franklin’s Gulls – they are the ones with the black heads.  I had never seen such a gull or knew one existed until this past spring.  I think they’re pretty neat.

There were lots of immature gulls, but I found one nice mature one to photgraph.

Despite all the activity on the water, I wasn’t seeing anything new until I spotted a small bird moving quickly back and forth through the water.  It looked like a phalarope, but I wasn’t sure.  Shorebirds can look a lot different during fall migration than spring migration.  I took lots of photos to study later.

I thought I had the Wilson’s Phalarope, a bird that Evan needed but I did not.  However, after studying the field guide and my pictures when we got home, I knew I was dealing with either a Red-necked Phalarope or a Red Phalarope.  The latter would be very rare.  The former was more probable.  Either way, it was exciting to get a life bird for both Evan and me.  The following photo helped me conclude it was, in fact, the Red-necked Phalarope.

This wasn’t the only birding we did today. We started our day in search of the two cuckoo species that inhabit our area.  I invited my friend Jeff and his two kids along as his family has taken quite an interest in birding.  It was fun to show them birds that were common to us but new to them.  Jeff got quite a kick out of me calling in not one, but three Sedge Wrens. One wren was quite agitated at us.  We just saw this one for the first time ourselves yesterday.

We did not find our cuckoos, though we did hear one.  It was a fun time regardless as we watched Northern Cardinals, Eastern Kingbirds, Cedar Waxwings, Common Yellowthroats, American Kestrels, Purple Martins, American Goldfinches, Eastern Wood Pewees, Baltimore Orioles, and Black-capped Chickadees. It kind of amazed me how many birds have started to just blend into the background for Evan and me.  We get so focused on finding the new bird, that we often miss all the cool stuff that’s around us. It was a refreshing birding experience.  I had so much fun pointing out birds to Jeff and his kids and watching the birds myself that I didn’t really take many pictures.  It was just good to be out in nature with some good friends.

Spring migration has been long gone.  Summer specialties that put us on the road have dried up.  To make the final push for 200, we knew we’d have to grind it out, bird by bird.  That means one thing – going after LBBs (little brown birds) in our own part of the state that we still have never seen.  It was time to make something happen.  To get a good birding fix we had no choice but to go after our missing LBBs.  And that’s what the kids and I did today while their mother was on a shopping trip to the Cities.

We started by going to a Waterfowl Production Area to look for shorebirds.  We saw some, but nothing was close and we couldn’t make out positive IDs.  So we moved on to the location of an Upland Sandpiper, a bird Evan still needed.  We struck out there, too.  As we traveled down dusty roads, though, I drove slow with the windows open, listening for a new bird.  Things sure are quiet out there now as most birds are no longer singing as they are either taking care of young or beginning to head south already.  Then I heard a song that made me hit the brakes.  It sounded like a wren we still needed, either the Sedge Wren or Marsh Wren.  I played the Sedge Wren song on the iPod – it was a spot-on match for what we were hearing.

Now the trick was to see the bugger.  It was in a short grass meadow between two cattail marshes, exactly the type of habitat the field guide described.  Joel told me that in order to see one, I should walk in the direction of the sound.  He said a bird on territory will get agitated and present itself.  There was a problem, though.  I had two curious farmers watching my every move from down the road.  I wasn’t about to step onto private land. Finally I gave up, and we moved along.  It was frustrating to know a life bird was singing right next to us, but we couldn’t see it.

Since we were near the location where I discovered a Red-headed Woodpecker a couple weeks ago, I decided to swing by to see if we could see it again.  They are incredible birds. Instantly we saw it.  And then another. And another.  There was one, maybe two families of these woodpeckers.  This was great news! These birds are in decline, so it was thrilling to find multiple adults and juveniles with them.

The kids entertained themselves in the car by drawing and coloring.  Here is Evan’s rendition of the woodpecker that he drew while I took pictures.

After getting our fill of the Red-headed Woodpeckers (which is tough to do!), we went back to the Sedge Wren spot.  No farmers watching us this time.  I still didn’t want to trespass, though.  I decided to play the bird’s song on my phone.  Instantly the little brown bird we were after came buzzing up to the road to investigate.  Evan hopped out of the van to get a good look for himself.

Not to be outdone on his own turf, he started singing back to us.
Then he was like, “Wait a minute, something isn’t right.”Then he showed us the “moon.”Back into the short grass.  Can you find him?

As fun as it was to get this life bird, it was time to leave.  The kids were anxious for some promised ice cream in town.  After the ice cream and some errands, we were back at home.  I was sorting through my most recent pictures when I got an email from Randy. He wanted to take us out birding tonight!  You don’t say no when Randy offers.  We already had a good day getting a lifer.  Now we were about to go out with the local expert.  Even Evan knew this was a special outing, so he put on all his birding gear: hat, vest, binoculars, khaki pants, and hiking boots.  Randy asked us what our targets were.  One was the Marsh Wren.  So that’s what we went after first.  We also looked for shorebirds as fall migration has started already if you can believe that.

The Marsh Wren was not showing at any of the large cattail marshes we stopped by.  Randy had said it’s an easy bird to hear and see.  It was dead calm everywhere.  Not a one could be heard.  Nothing came to the playback of the song on my phone.  Bizarre.  Maybe it was too late in the season for them to care about another singing wren and defend their territory.  We maybe saw one flit here or there, but we made no positive ID.

Finally, though, Randy spotted one that wasn’t singing.  It was only chipping in the cattails.

You can see the resemblance to the Sedge Wren, except this bird was much darker.  I thought it was really neat how these birds are built to live in the cattails.  Check out the way it holds itself up.

A two-wren day! A two-lifer day!  Evan now sits at 196 species.  The noose is tightening on 200.  Will they all come in one day, or will it be a drawn-out battle to get them one at a time?