Up North – Part 2: Oberg Mountain and the Black-throated Blue Warbler

Posted on July 10, 2013 by Josh

Click this link to read Up North – Part One: Temperance River State Park.

From being plugged into MOU-net and reading A Birder’s Guide to Minnesota by the renowned birder Kim Eckert, I had learned that Oberg Mountain was the place to go if you wanted to find a Black-throated Blue Warbler in Minnesota. They are scarce in our state and only inhabit the forests near the North Shore. This was the bird the brought us to the North Shore. It is one of those birds we just had to see. It is stunning to say the least. Our other targets, the Black-throated Green Warbler and the Blue-headed Vireo, could have been found all throughout northeastern Minnesota.

Not knowing what hiking up Oberg Mountain would entail, we decided not to explore it our first morning. It could wait until we got settled, and it would be the main event for the next day. We did camping things that first day and explored the shore with the kids where throwing rocks is the most exciting sport ever. The whole time, though, that mountain was beckoning. But, it had to wait. We instead decided to try one of Eckert’s suggestions and drive a Forest Service road right near Temperance River State Park to listen and look for the Black-throated Blue Warbler. Its sound is very similar to the Black -throated Green – it is a slower, buzzy “zoo-zoo-ZEE!” So, we listened as we drove down this dusty road that cut through the canopy. No “zoo-zoo-ZEE!” could be heard, but we did hear a Northern Parula and tried to locate it visually. This is another gorgeous, blue bird. We only saw a Northern Parula once for just a moment during migration. I really wanted to get a photo of one, but this bird wasn’t showing itself today either.

We got back to camp, and Melissa decided to go on a run while the kids and I poked around the campsite. The idea hit me that maybe we should take a drive just to see where the mountain was and how much hiking was involved. As soon as Melissa got back from her run, we were in the car headed to Oberg Mountain. It turns out it was only about seven miles from our campground. As we climbed in elevation going up the Forest Service road from Hwy. 61 to the trailhead, a Common Raven flew down the road in front of the car just twenty feet in front of us only a couple feet off the ground. It did this for over a mile! It never tried to take refuge in the trees to the side but instead acted as mystical guide, taking us to this magical mountain where cool birds lived.

The bird eventually did take cover in the trees, and we still found our way to the trail’s parking lot. The Oberg Mountain trail is a spur of the much longer, more well-known Superior Hiking Trail. Other birders had indicated that Black-throated Blues were seen right near the start of the Oberg loop, a circle-trail at the top of Oberg Mountain that takes hikers around the perimeter of the mountain. I thought it couldn’t be very far to hike up to the start of the loop, so we decided to check it out as long as we were there.

As we hiked along, the whole family was analyzing every bird sound for the lazy “zoo-zoo-ZEE!” Melissa stopped once thinking she heard it. It turns out she heard the Black-throated Green Warbler doing his similar “zoo-zee-zoo-zoo-ZEE!” song. Once we got to the top of the mountain where the loop started, we veered to the right. Almost immediately we heard the bird! But we couldn’t locate it in the dense foliage. Since we hadn’t planned to search for this target on this outing, we decided to head back. However, when we got back to the spot where the loop started, Melissa said as long as we were here we should take the left fork of the loop trail and actually complete the loop. I concurred. Little did we know what we were in for or how long we were in for it!

It wasn’t long after this ill-informed decision that we started to hear more Black-throated Blue Warblers! At one point I saw some birds flying in the direction of the song, but I was staring into the sun and couldn’t find them again. Did we just see our lifer?

During our hike, Marin did very little walking. She spent a lot of time in my arms, on my shoulders, or on Melissa’s back. We expected this and were managing even as we were now committed to hiking this loop of unknown length. But then, the big kid grew weary. Now Melissa and I were each carrying a kid as we hiked up and down the hills on top of this mountain on a goat path of a trail. Birding was no longer the objective. Survival was. I felt like I was back in Cadet Basic Training at West Point on a road march through the Catskills with a heavy ruck-sack on my back. What were we thinking? This was supposed to be an exploratory trip, not a full-fledged Oberg Mountain experience.

Occasionally we’d make Evan walk for a stretch, and we’d rest briefly at several of the scenic overlooks along the trail. The views of the Sawtooth Mountains and Luke Superior were incredible.

But darkness was closing in, and we didn’t know how much longer we had to walk. So we pushed on…and on. As we started to close the loop, we heard the Black-throated Blue Warbler again! This time it was close. Everybody was looking for it, especially because I promised ice cream if we found it. Eventually Melissa and Marin gave up the search and decided to head back down the mountain. Evan and I wanted to try to see this bird. Well, I did anyway. Evan, on the other hand, was stuck with me as I was his ride out of this place. Finally I heard the bird singing from the dead tree in the photo above, but I couldn’t see it! It was so aggravating. Then, I did see it, but only as it dropped out of the tree and flew away. It was a lifer, but a let-down. I like to get a good look and have solid visual confirmation. Evan, on the other hand, is a ticker. A brief glimpse is good enough for him to tick it off his list and move on. In fact, I’m not even sure he saw the bird depart its perch like I did, but he wanted to claim it anyway.

It was time to go. I was determined to come back in the morning to try again. It was much nicer going downhill as we left, even more so now that Evan was not spending as much time riding on my shoulders. Though we were tired and sore, we at least took a break to enjoy this unique tree.

By the time we were all reunited and back in the car, it was 8:30. We had never even eaten supper. Melissa and I looked at each other and knew that we needed to do something drastic. So we headed up the shore to Grand Marais to get some Sven and Ole’s pizza. We hadn’t even planned on stopping at this favorite restaurant on this trip, but tonight it was the perfect plan. We got there just before they closed for a late supper or midnight snack. Sven and Ole’s pizza is amazing. It is even more amazing at 9:00 when you are starved and tired.

Once back at camp late that night, we all went to bed and slept in. Except me. I was up at 5 AM, excited. I went back to the mountain solo to try to get my good look at this bird. I expected to hear all kinds of Black-throated Blues. After all, morning is the peak time for birding. There was nothing from my target bird. Nothing. We heard several the night before. What was going on? I birded anyway and was pleased to get a photo of the Nashville Warbler.

I went back to the location I had “seen” the Black-throated Blue the night before to try one more time to see it for real. Eventually I heard it in the trees of the forest beneath me as I stood at one of the scenic overlooks. I decided to use a recording to play its song. It was a long-shot, but I thought it would bring it in closer. I didn’t expect anything. This was proven by my holstered camera on my hip with the lens cap on and the power off. Because then it happened. I heard a flutter of wings as a bird landed within 10 feet of me on a young aspen tree just a few feet above the ground. I almost lost my breath. Plain as day was the male Black-throated Blue Warbler! It was, by far, the prettiest bird I have seen so far. While its name does a good job of describing this bird, it fails to mention how those dark colors contrast with a brilliant white belly. While perched I got to see him sing his raspy and slow “zoo-zoo-ZEE!” I kept my eye on him, afraid to lose sight of him, as I fumbled with the zipper of my camera case and pathetically tried to free the camera. I was too late. The bird disappeared on me. I tried the recording one more time. This time I was ready when he came back. I only got a couple photos, but only one turned out.

This was a major life bird, and it was the second nailed target of the trip. I came off my mountain high that morning to find three sleeping campers. I enjoyed my time on top of Oberg Mountain, so I went back again the next morning. This time I wanted to photograph a Mourning Warbler I had seen the previous morning. Though I saw it again, I could not get it to sit still long enough for a picture. Another highlight bird that I saw but was not able to capture was the Canada Warbler. I was able to get a shot between the leaves of a Chestnut-sided Warbler.

At least the scenery doesn’t move and was just as impressive as the birds.

Up North – Part 1: Temperance River State Park

Posted on July 8, 2013 by Josh

This was a rare summer because June had nearly expired before we made the trek up north to visit family. With a prolonged school year, Bible school, and swimming lessons, a trip to God’s country was tough to pull off until just recently. Besides family and amazing scenery, northern Minnesota is also attractive to us because it is full of incredible birds in the summertime. Many birds that people only see during migration are summer residents in the north woods. There were a couple migrants that we missed out on this spring that we were hoping to get while in the northland – the Blue-headed Vireo and the Black-throated Green Warbler. Ever since Evan and I took a birding walk at Bear Head Lake State Park last year, the Black-throated Green Warbler has been one that we have wanted to find. Its cool appearance and elusiveness made it all the more attractive. Any bird that requires four words for its name is a good bird.

While our two target birds could probably be found in our parents’ back yards, there was another target bird that popped up on our radar early this summer along the North Shore of Lake Superior. We learned that the beautiful Black-throated Blue Warbler can be found consistently at Oberg Mountain near Tofte. My wife and I have always loved going to the North Shore, so we decided to start our Up North trip by camping at Temperance River State Park which is just a few miles away from Oberg Mountain.

I was excited to be back birding in the woods, hunting for warblers. That’s how this hobby began for me a little over a year ago. When we pulled into Temperance River State Park and got out of the car to register at the office, the woods were alive with all kinds of terrific bird songs that we don’t hear at our home. After all, 16 species of warblers nest here, whereas we have just a couple species back home. While I was anxious to start checking out everything with feathers, we had camp to set up. I did manage to get out a little before dark to preview what might be in store for us the next day. Right away I came across an American Redstart singing away. This was a a treat to see one sitting still. During migration we saw lots, but they were constantly moving.

Then in the distance I heard the Black-throated Green Warbler sing just one time! I knew the song well because we’d been studying it. Birding by ear is about the only way to find a specific bird this time of year. Its song is a buzzy “zoo-zee-zoo-zoo-ZEE!” It was here! Now we just had to wait until morning to look for it.

I was up the next morning before everyone else, so I walked around the campground just to see if I could find this warbler. Within a minute of starting my walk, I heard “zoo-zee-zoo-zoo-ZEE!” This persistent singer made him easy to track down. It was right behind the park office. After a year of waiting, I finally laid eyes on this great-looking bird.

Because this bird was singing on territory I knew it would be easy to bring Evan back later to find it. So after letting him sleep in, I brought him out to see this life bird and get some more photos.

Our trip had barely started and one of the three major targets was done! It turns out that this bird was easier to get than I thought. There were several different ones throughout the campground. In fact, we had one at each of the two campsites we occupied in addition to the one at the park office. Its song was so common and so frequent that even Marin could be heard saying, “Zoo-zee-zoo-zoo-Zee!” One time I asked her if she knew what bird made that sound. She said she didn’t know, so I told her. I asked her if she could then repeat it right away. She responded with, “A Black-throated…ummm….aa…bird!” Close enough, Marin.

The birding was great at Temperance River State Park. We picked up another life bird, the Veery, a couple campsites away from us. On one outing out of the park we got our Merlin lifer. We also saw four species of woodpeckers and had Ruby-crowned Kinglets buzz through our campsite. And we were constantly serenaded by the beautiful “Oh-sweet-kimberly-kimberly-kimberly” song of the White-throated Sparrow – a song that always transports us back home. While many Minnesotans may not know that song or the bird that sings it, everybody in the state can appreciate this next bird and hear its voice.

Our Up North trip was off to a great start. We enjoyed the temps (high of 61° and low of 38°!) as we could hang out in jeans and sweatshirts, and the sights of this state park were simply incredible. If you are driving up Hwy. 61, you need to pull over at the wayside parking lot and take a short hike to check out the Temperance River gorge. The power of this river and the rugged geological features are awesome.And then there’s Lake Superior…

Blue Mounds State Park – The Search for a Blue Grosbeak, Last Day

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Josh

Read Day 2 of Blue Mounds State Park – The Search for a Blue Grosbeak by clicking this link.

Read Day 1 of Blue Mounds State Park – The Search for a Blue Grosbeak by clicking this link.

I woke up early on our last day to a strange, unexpected sound – birds singing! There was no pitter-patter on the roof! I think the change in noise woke Melissa at the same time because she said, “You guys better get out there.” No kidding. We had to head home in the afternoon. This was our only chance. It was 6 AM, and I hustled out of bed to wake Evan. He’s a hard sleeper, but he also recognized this opportunity and readily woke up. We both quietly put our gear on, careful not to wake Marin. When just Evan and I go out we can do some serious birding. He’s remarkably hardy for a 6-year-old, willing to go on long walks or out into wet conditions.

As soon as we slipped out the door, we heard a life bird singing in the neighboring camp site. The sound was that of the Warbling Vireo. Joel, the birder who put us on to Cliff Swallows, told me the importance of knowing its song in order to find it as it hangs out in the leafy treetops and is hard to see. He said we should be able to find it in our own yard. So I studied the song, and that’s what we were hearing this morning. We looked for maybe a half a minute before giving up. After all, we were here for a very specific bird and couldn’t waste these precious rain-free minutes on something we could get at home.

We got in the car to make the two-mile drive back to the interpretive center to search for our target. Almost immediately, the rain started back up. Ugh. However, it was really light, and the birds were still singing everywhere. We didn’t hear much the day before. Apparently they’d had enough too and were going to resume their normal behaviors in spite of the rain. Good.

Evan and I poked around the interpretive center on the Bur Oak Trail for all of five minutes when he started complaining of hunger. Searching for this bird was full of starts and stops. Rather than going back to the camper and risking waking Marin, we made the short drive to Luverne to grab some McDonald’s. Twenty minutes later we were back in the same spot hunting for the bird. There was bird activity this morning – Northern Cardinal, Brown Thrasher, Western Meadowlarks, Tree Swallows, Mourning Doves – but no Blue Grosbeak.

We walked back to the car to give up. After all, it was raining. I had a tough time letting go, though. The top of the mound where the prairie meets the the oak woods was beckoning me. I’ve read that these grosbeaks like this type of edge. Evan was tired and wet, but he agreed to go up the grassy mound with me. Once on the prairie, we followed a trail that hugged that edge of the oak woods. There were several trail junctions that would take us either back out onto the prairie mound or back into the woods. I let Evan pick our path a couple different times. He chose one that wound through the oak/prairie edge and reconnected with the Bur Oak Trail in the woods.

As we walked we heard a very loud bird song from a nearby oak tree. Was it? I’ve mentioned before that my ability to remember anything involving sound is really bad, and we didn’t have the iPod along. I asked Evan if he thought it was the Blue Grosbeak. He told me he thought it was. We couldn’t find it though, and I was not sure that we were actually hearing our target bird. Finally Evan had enough and wanted to go back to the camper. We turned around to go back, but this mystery bird kept singing. It was close. I just couldn’t give up. Not now, not when we had a good lead. I told him I just wanted to walk the trail a little longer until we reached a certain rock outcropping a hundred feet away. Evan stayed put while I searched. Once at the rock, I could tell that the bird was somewhere in the large oak right by the path. But I couldn’t find the source of the sound.

Eventually I gave up and started to head back. But the bird kept singing. I decided to make one more concentrated look from a different vantage point. I would wait for each time the bird sang to try to hone in on its location. Then, somehow, I spotted the singing bird at the very top of this oak tree nestled among the large and plentiful leaves. Were we right about this being the Blue Grosbeak? It seemed odd that it would be so high; I’ve read they are mostly in shrubby vegetation close to the ground. I pulled up the binoculars. I could hardly believe it. I was looking at the very image that had been taunting us all weekend – a dark blue bird, rusty wing patch, and a chunky bill. The Blue Grosbeak! I pointed it out to Evan and then started snapping away with my camera. Not only did we find our bird, but at this particular moment there was no rain.

The thrill of victory was incredible. We got our target. What made it even better was that we got it through hard work and not just luck. Our studying and visiting led us to the right vicinity, and learning the bird’s song is what ultimately led us to success this morning. It was also a team effort. Evan’s confidence that we were hearing the Blue Grosbeak and my persistent searching helped us meet our goal. Wow.

This male was busy singing away as he’d been doing all throughout our search. He was 30-40 feet up and was not bothered by our presence, so I was able to get closer and change vantage points.

Here you can see him doing what helped us find him.

I figured 20+ pictures was enough to get a decent image or two, so we decided to go back to the camper for real. As we walked out, Evan said, “Dad?”

“Yes, Evan.”

“I want to go buy that key chain now.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “You bet, Evan.” As I write this post while drinking my cup of coffee, I regret not getting myself that mug to remember this day. Next trip to Blue Mounds.

We were feeling good. We got back to the campsite and were greeted with pancakes and bacon! Nice! Not only were we flying high on our victory and good food, but the rain had quit! Everyone’s mood improved greatly. Melissa was able to get out for a run, and the kids and I went for a hike. We left the dirty dishes; we didn’t know when the rain would start up again.

We didn’t see much new on this hike. Well, Melissa did. She saw a lot of the park as she ran much further than she intended. Good scenery and not knowing the trails led her to a six-mile run/walk! I got a chance to photograph some of the park’s scenery, and Evan finally got a chance to ride his bike.

Once we all got back to the campsite, it was time to pack up. As the morning went along, the day turned out to be quite nice. We even saw the sun for awhile. One of our stops on the way out the park was the interpretive center. Melissa hadn’t seen it yet, and I needed to report our Blue Grosbeak sighting for other interested birders.

It was so nice to finally enjoy the sights of the park. Hopefully next time we can do more exploring by hiking.

After we left the park, we took a quick drive into Iowa for no other reason than to cross the border and give the kids a new state. Everybody was feeling good about how this trip ended after enduring nearly 36 hours of steady rain. Good bye, Blue Mounds. Thanks for the memories, both good and bad. We will definitely come back for more.

Blue Mounds State Park – The Search for a Blue Grosbeak, Day 2

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Josh

Read Day 1 of Blue Mounds State Park – The Search for a Blue Grosbeak by clicking this link.

Friday night I debated setting an alarm to make sure we got out early before the rain came. I don’t know if I was optimistic I’d wake up early on my own or if I was just lazy, but I didn’t set it. The next morning I woke up to a sickening sound – pitter patter pitter patter. I cursed myself for sleeping in and missing our window. It turns out I did wake up early after all; the rain decided to come ahead of schedule. Darn it. Now what?

Eventually we were all awake trying to make sense of the day ahead. Normal tasks, like going to the restroom or cooking food, were now very difficult since they required going out into the wetness and returning with water and debris. While Melissa and I tried to keep the camper somewhat clean and livable, the kids entertained themselves by wrestling each other on their bed. Time and cramped space got the best of us, though. It didn’t take long for the whining and fits to start. The kids even joined in. Finally I took the kids for a birding drive around the park which would end with a stop at the park’s interpretive center. My purposes were twofold: 1) The kids needed something to do. 2) The park ranger told us the previous evening that someone had found three pairs of Blue Grosbeaks last week right by the interpretive center at the start of the Bur Oak Trail. It was worth a shot.

It was a good soaking rain. There was no let-up at all. The bird activity was extremely minimal. We didn’t even come close to seeing the numbers or variety we saw on our quick outing the previous evening. I did manage to get a picture of a very wet, angry-looking Bobolink. I wouldn’t want to be a bird on this day either.

We eventually wound up at the interpretive center which is over two miles from the campground and park office. It is located at the southern edge of the park along a rocky bluff. This center is built right into the hillside and used to be someone’s house in the 1960s.

It was really cool inside. Most impressive was the rock cliff that made up the center’s back wall. It contained a fireplace with a roaring fire which felt so good on this day, and the bathrooms each had about a 15-foot rock cliff that made up one wall. Besides the architecture, there was a full-size mounted bison that the kids loved. Additionally there were animal pelts on display, including a huge bison hide. The bird taxidermy on display taunted us, especially since one was a life bird that was a secondary target for this trip – the Dickcissel, which is the small bird with the yellow chest and black bib on the left.

The kids looked through magnifying glasses at pinned butterflies, snake skins, and animal skulls while I chatted with the attendant about Blue Grosbeaks. She explained they were literally seen from the paved path you see in the picture of the interpretive center shown above. We saw no sign of them on our walk from the parking lot. Not a flutter, not a noise.

On our way out we again carefully looked around this path for our target bird. No luck. We headed back to the camper for more wrestling and restlessness. Once again the confines of the camper got to us. We were all going crazy and getting crabby with each other. It was time for another trip. This time Melissa came with us to see this amazing interpretive center for herself. As we pulled into the parking lot and looked at the 100 yard walk to the center, the rain intensified. Instead of ducking and running to the center, we kept driving and decided to take a quick trip into Luverne which was only a couple miles away to look for ponchos. We weren’t going to let some rain determine how this trip was going to go.

Although we found a Shopko in Luverne, they did not have adequate nor enough ponchos for our family. Shoot, Sioux Falls wasn’t more than a half hour away. It’s a big city, so there had to be Wal-Marts and Targets everywhere. Before we knew it, we were headed west. We’d be back to the park within an hour. Or so we thought. We didn’t recall how spread-out Sioux Falls was, nor did we know that a discount store would be so hard to find in this town. After much searching we finally found a Target. Unfortunately nearly all of South Dakota’s population lives in this town, and they were all out and about buying all the ponchos. We couldn’t find one. Our search eventually landed us at a Wal-Mart. Same story, except Marin got one. I should say Melissa bought one for Marin while I weathered a different storm in the car – Marin was throwing a mega fit as she refused to go to the bathroom.

After battling horrendous traffic, stores crawling with people, and Marin’s temper-tantrums, we finally found a Scheel’s. If these people didn’t have rain gear, no one did. And if they didn’t, we were so on edge that we might have mugged some SoDak for his poncho. Thankfully it didn’t come to that. Scheel’s had what we needed.

I couldn’t get out of Sioux Falls fast enough. South Dakota wasn’t supposed to be people crazy like this. Our trip wasn’t supposed to involve retail stores – at all. On top of it all, the hope of finding our Blue Grosbeak was dwindling faster than a campfire in this never-ending rain. Four hours after our decision to head to SD, we were back at the camper. Evan’s awareness of geography is growing, so at least he got a new state out of this snafu.

With new gear donned, the kids and I poked around the Interpretive Center one more time to find our bird. Despite the poncho, Marin quickly grew unhappy, so we headed back to the camper after just a couple minutes. The kids played, wrestled, and watched movies to entertain themselves. Every so often we’d go on a birding drive around the park. We were desperate. One of these drives was just Evan and me. He’d been asking to go to the park store for some time. At the store we picked up two small stuffed Bison and a Blue Mounds patch for Evan’s back-pack. The Blue Grosbeak keychains and mugs taunted us. While there, the ranger said the rain was supposed to subside by noon tomorrow. A glimmer of hope.

On this last drive of the day, I noticed something yellow in a bush through the fat drops of water on my driver-side window. It couldn’t be a bird as it was absolutely motionless. It must be part of the bush. I rolled down my window and pulled up the binoculars. I couldn’t believe it. I was not looking at a plant, but rather the bright yellow chest and black bib of the Dickcissel! This was an exciting life bird that made this ugly day a little brighter. I only got one bad photo of his bad side before this guy flew deep into the bush to try to keep dry. This bird was a secondary target for us at this park. We knew we could get the Dickcissel in our area, so it wasn’t as urgent. Nevertheless, it was fun to check this one off.

The relief in mood was only temporary. The forecast was for solid rain all night and all day tomorrow (the ranger was wrong about it ending at noon). It’s one thing to not find our target bird, but it’s entirely different to not even be able to adequately search for it. Besides that, this park was gorgeous, and everything in it was screaming to be explored and photographed if only the weather would cooperate.

As I laid in bed that night listening to the incessant pitter-patter, I tried to scheme up a way I could bring Melissa back home on Sunday so she could work on Monday while the kids and I returned for another night or two of camping and exploring. It was craziness, I know. But the sunny and beautiful forecast for every day in the coming week and those darn key chains were teasing me. It was the only hope I had as I drifted off to sleep even as the condensation from a buttoned-up camper now literally created rain inside and splattered my face.

Read Day 3, Last Day, of Blue Mounds State Park – The Search for a Blue Grosbeak by clicking this link.

Blue Mounds State Park – The Search for a Blue Grosbeak, Day 1

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Josh

After a long winter and a cold spring, we had been itching to get out camping. With a prolonged school year from snow days and with other planned family events, June was filling up fast. We decided we had to get out this past weekend or it would be July before we were pulling our pop-up down the road. Our first destination of the summer was Blue Mounds State Park located in the very southwestern county of Minnesota only about a fifteen minute drive from both South Dakota and Iowa. Blue Mounds is a very unique park. This huge mounded prairie whose elevation is much higher than the surrounding landscape is dotted with rocky outcroppings, prickly-pear cacti, and the resident bison herd. This large mound ends abruptly on one side with a narrow oak woods and a sheer rocky cliff. It is hard to believe that this is still Minnesota.

While we eager to enjoy the unique beauty of this place, we were headed there for a very specific reason: the Blue Grosbeak. This bird isn’t just another plain bird to add to the life list – with its deep blue plumage and rusty wing patch, it is a beautiful bird, a prize to be found. The Blue Grosbeak is mostly a southern bird, but it is a rare regular resident to Blue Mounds State Park. While the bird has shown up in other Minnesota counties, Blue Mounds is the most reliable place to find one. Minnesota birders know this and travel there for that one reason. This fact is an advertised highlight of the park. It is so much so that the park’s gift shop has key chains, magnets, and mugs adorned with the Blue Grosbeak’s image.

The forecast for Saturday and Sunday was bleak – a good chance of rain both days. But, there was always a chance that forecast would be wrong or that there would be a break in the rain to get out and do some birding. Friday was a beautiful sunny day, but we couldn’t hit the road until late in the afternoon because Melissa and Evan had their last day of school to finish. Besides that, my vehicle was getting detailed that day and wouldn’t be done until 4:00 – there was a lot of dirt and grime to clean up after a winter and spring of bombing down gravel roads searching for birds.

By 4:30 or so, we were finally on the road. I was anxious to get there before dark to get some birding in because I knew the next day or two could be bad.

While en route, Evan was busy checking out birds on the National Audubon Society bird app on his iPod. I had him play the Blue Grosbeak’s song about a dozen times so we’d be familiar with it. I’m learning that birding by ear is critical to finding target birds when all the trees are leafed out. This is tough for me as I’ve discovered I’m not an auditory learner. Evan is much better at it than me. A lot of the birds songs blur together for me, especially when Evan played the songs of several different species we needed. Hopefully, though, this repeat play of the Blue Grosbeak’s song would help it stick in our minds in case we heard it.

It was a fairly long trip to that corner of the state. We finally made it into the park by around 7:30. Then we had to get the camper popped up and set up camp. By the time that was done we only had about a half hour of daylight to find some birds. There would be no hiking tonight; we’d have to settle for driving the park’s only short road. It didn’t take long to realize that this park was a great destination for birds and birders. We had a beautiful male Orchard Oriole fly across the road and into the shrubs off to the side. Then I heard a familiar bird sound that belonged to a bird Evan needed for his life list – the buzz of the Common Nighthawk. They were everywhere.

We drove by one of the lakes on the park and found Cedar Waxwings, Eastern Kingbirds, Baltimore Orioles, and an unidentified Cuckoo. We need both the Black-billed Cuckoo and Yellow-billed Cuckoo for our life lists, but we weren’t able to determine which this one was.

We stopped by the swimming beach to throw rocks and look for birds. This has been a common pairing of activities this spring/summer. There was a small flock of fast moving birds skimming back-and-forth over the water’s surface. It was the Black Tern, a life bird for both of us. Excuse the photo – it was near dark, and these birds were cruising!

Two life birds for Evan was nothing to sneeze at, but neither was our primary target.
We were pinning our hopes on getting out early the next morning to hunt for the Blue Grosbeak since the rain wasn’t supposed to start until 9:00 or so. In the meantime, though, we enjoyed a nice campfire on a gorgeous night.