Raising Birding to a Whole New Level in Custer County, Colorado

Posted on July 27, 2014 by Josh

After racking up 11 lifers from a mere two hours of dedicated birding and even less time from happenstance birding along the highways and biways, this trip had already been phenomenal. Now if the opposite were true, one could use the oft-quoted phrase, “There’s nowhere to go but up.” But this is Colorado, after all, so that phrase is still applicable whether you’re on a mountain-top high of birding or just on an actual mountain-top. And we proved it so in Custer County where my Aunt Carol and Uncle Jon live, our final Colorado destination.

As I had done previously, I did a fair amount of eBird scouting for this new terrain we were about to traverse. In particular I wanted one bird more than any other – the Western Tanager. A bright yellow and black bird with a red face is something I just had to see for myself. Some life birds are more than just checks on a list; their mind-blowing beauty haunts you until you’ve finally put them to rest. Though I tried, I could not spot this conifer forest dweller in the Blackhills of South Dakota. My next attempt would have to be in the mountains of south-central Colorado.

It turns out that one eBird report by Rich Miller of two Western Tanagers was conveniently located along the Greenwood Road which paralled our highway as we made our way through the Wet Mountains along the Hardscrabble Pass. I nearly missed this unassuming road but saw it at the last minute and did what any birder would do – swerve hard and jolt the non-birding occupants. As we puttered along this road, I really didn’t expect to see the tanager. It was just a chance I was taking. I knew that I’d probably have to search for it properly once we got settled at my aunt and uncle’s place. But then it magically happened – almost too perfect. A flash of brilliant yellow and black cut across the road interrupting – or rather accentuating – our sky blue and forest green vista. Unbelievable! The car was immediately rendered immobile and the hunt was on. I hopped out and watched and watched where it landed but did not see it. Evan was still in the car at this point waiting for me to do the heavy-lifting of finding the bird. He wanted to see it bad too, but he apparently needed a sure thing in order to take his attention off his iPad. As luck would have it, though, the bird flew back to the other side of the road! I motioned for Evan to come out. Now I had to do two things at once – point out the bird and try to get a photo. I was not very successful at either.

Western Tanager

How does a bird hide in a dead tree? Moreover, how did I not see a yellow, red, and black bird leave a dead tree with a blue sky background? Evan claimed he could still see it up there and I believed him. But five minutes later after I couldn’t find it and he still claimed he was looking at it in the exact same spot, I had to break the news to him that he was not looking at the bird or even a bird at all. Then the tears set in – not necessarily because he didn’t see it, but because Dad had seen it and he didn’t. That’s a stinging feeling that every birder has felt at some point. The “You should have been here 5-minutes ago” or “You just missed it” phenomenon. We’ve all been there. Evan is at least honest enough to cry about it like the rest of us want to but can’t.

But we were moving on and moving upward and Evan calmed down. On this same road I saw an interesting bird checking out a hole in a dead tree. I had seen reports of Lewis’s Woodpeckers here, but I was really hoping it wasn’t a Lewis’s Woodpecker. Getting one that easy would have been frustrating since I woke up at 2 AM to make a 14-hour round-trip to the Canadian border to see one last November. Looking through the binoculars, I saw that it wasn’t! Even better was that it was a Western Bluebird lifer. Unfortunately Evan didn’t get a look and I couldn’t get a photo before it was gone. This one didn’t seem to bother him. Funny. Perhaps I’d been hyping that Western Tanager a little too much.

We eventually did make it to that lovely mountain home where the accomodations, the company, and the birding would all prove to be excellent. Oh, and the constant view of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains across the Wet Mountain Valley wasn’t bad either.

Jon The yard-birding was fantastic here. I smiled as I heard and saw more Spotted Towhees than I could count, many of them cheerfully hopping just a few feet from me. Broad-tailed Hummingbirds were heard more often than seen as their metallic buzzing would alert you to their presence.

I was excited to get up early that next morning and poke around to see what I could find. Excited isn’t really the right word. I was like a 5-year-old on Christmas Eve. Morning finally came after a short, fitful sleep. The sounds were everywhere and new! I heard a grosbeak-like song and found its source at the top of a Ponderosa Pine, another Black-headed Grosbeak. The Spotted Towhees were sounding off everywhere. I tracked down one of the metallic buzzers to get this photo of the Broad-tailed Hummer who sat still long enough for me to get a couple shots.

Broad-tailed Hummingbird

Among the many Broad-taileds doing aerial acrobatics, there was an orange-looking dude that was getting chased by the others. Hello! It was a Rufous Hummingbird! I got a quick look at one in Arizona last March, but this fella obliged me by letting snag a couple of up-close photos of him. I won’t even complain that the sun didn’t shine on his glorious red-throat. To see what that looks like, check out the header image at Butler’s Birds.

Rufous Hummingbird

Rufous Hummingbird Its throat is really not black. To show you what I mean, here is another shot of that same Broad-tailed pictured above. It looks black here, but you can see above how red it really is when the sun hits it.

But in this land of flashy birds, there is also a dark side that tempers the excitement. I’m, of course, referring to those drab, confusing, hard-to-ID flycatchers. Based on vocalization and ruling out empids, I’m pretty sure I’ve got a Western Wood Pewee here. I hope any western readers will correct me if I’m wrong; I’m not proud.

Western Wood Pewee

Western Wood Pewee I did get an empid that I felt was a pretty solid ID with that yellow tinge and tear-drop eye-ring. This one is a Cordilleran Flycatcher. Life bird.

Cordilleran Flycatcher

Cordilleran Flycatcher Then there was a life bird that was not hard to ID and whose name is not soon forgotten by birders or non-birders alike – the Bushtit! And the bushes, or Pinyon Pines rather, were hopping with these tiny Bushtits.

Bushtit – It’s okay to giggle.

Bushtit Bushtit Aunt Carol kept giggling over the name when she asked what birds I saw. She even said she wanted to see some Bushtits for herself. At this point I’d like to take an aside to say that I’m glad Evan is learning all the “dirty” bird names now before he hits upper elementary. Names like Bushtits, Blue-footed Boobies, Brown Boobies, and some others are just bird names to him, no different than Northern Cardinal or Pine Siskin. Some day the dam will break, and he will soon be giggling too. But for now it’s just science to him. I’d like to take a second aside to say that I’ve never seen such Boobies, just Dickcissels. Sad, no?

Anyhow, venturing out that morning and driving around a small mountain, I saw an eagle perched on a snag up near the top of the mountain. It looked like a great candidate for my Golden Eagle lifer, but one must always exercise due caution with a Golden Eagle ID as juvenile Bald Eagles are all brown in their first year. The differences can usually be seen when examining wings and tails during flight. This bird wasn’t flying, though. So I grabbed some pictures, filed it away as a “maybe” Golden, and birded on.

Mystery Eagle

When I got home I sent my pictures off to Randy. He wasn’t comfortable making the call. Then I sent them off to the big guns at the National Eagle Center in Wabasha, Minnesota. Education director Scott Mehus excitedly confirmed that I had, in fact, got my Golden Eagle lifer! More than that, he went on to explain subtle differences in beak coloration, leg feathers, and nape color that distinguish a Golden Eagle from the look-alike life stage of a Bald Eagle. Awesome! That made for three big (literally and figuratively speaking) lifer raptors for the trip!

Golden Eagle!!

Evan was sound asleep while I was spotting and photographing these birds in the early morning. You can’t sleep in and expect to see the same things. I knew he wanted to see some of these birds, but birds move on. He seems okay with it. But when I told him I was waking up early the next morning to hunt for Western Tanagers again, he said he was in. He wasn’t going to miss another chance at this cool bird. I had another eBird report by Rich Miller of six of them on one forest service road in the San Isabel National Forest just north of Bishop’s Castle about 45 minutes away.

It was nearly impossible to wake Evan up that morning, and he promptly fell asleep in the car for the entire drive. The ride was incredible as I made my way south along a curving, climbing Highway 165. Conifer-studded mountains rose steeply on both sides of this road. I almost forgot I was bird-watching. In fact, I missed Forest Service Road 383 and had to turn around to find it.

I was excited to take this road. With a report of six individuals, the Western Tanager would have to be a sure thing. I decided to let Evan sleep until I saw one or something else that was good. The optimism of seeing one of these gorgeous birds started slipping the further I drove and the higher in elevation I went. I wasn’t seeing anything. Eventually I decided to give up and turn around. I stopped to check out some bird activity near a streambed. A roving flock of Mountain Chickadees was noisly chattering as they foraged for food. I woke Evan up so he could get this lifer. He lifted his head, saw one fly about 100 feet away, and said, “Yep, I saw it.” A similar scene played out later back at the yard when we picked up our Lesser Goldfinch lifer. Evan seems to be content with check marks for the sake of check marks instead of getting a good look at a bird. Not me.

Mountain Chickadee

Mountain Chickadee Moving on from this spot I kept up hope that we would see the tanagers on the way out. One bird I stopped to check out was interesting for me to see here in Colorado even though I’ve seen hundreds in northern Minnesota, a female Evening Grosbeak.

Evening Grosbeak Female

As cool as this was, Evan and I really just wanted to see that red-faced bird. Despite probability being in our favor by being on this road, it was not meant to be. Now hope was slipping that there would be no more Western Tanagers for this trip. As fun as it was to watch birds back at my aunt and uncle’s yard, like my aunt’s Mountain Bluebird pair that nest under the eaves and come out when she whistles, the habitat just wasn’t right for WETA.

Aunt Carol’s “pet” Mountain Bluebird

But just when nearly all hope was gone and the car was all loaded to leave Colorado for good, Custer County saved its most exciting birding for the very end when we drove away from Jon and Carol’s house. So hang on for a wild ride (figuratively speaking, of course) in the next and final Colorado post.

Birding Colorado Springs – Blodgett Peak Open Space and Garden of the Gods

Posted on July 21, 2014 by Josh

After our brief visit to the Badlands and Black Hills, we were headed south to the Colorado Springs area where we were going to meet up with two of my cousins that I hadn’t seen in years. The fastest way to the Springs was to shoot down through Nebraska, but common sense prevailed and we opted for a slightly longer route that would take us down through Wyoming. We were in the west after all; we might as well see some of it and tally a new state for the kids.

The beauty of the Black Hills and the Oglala National Grasslands in western South Dakota continued to amaze us. And the birds were pretty great too. At one point, three Black-billed Magpies flew across the road. Good birds but nothing new. Lark Buntings continued their ubiquity along the fencelines of Oglala. I also spied a Common Nighthawk perched on a fence post. I almost hit the brakes for that photo op, but I couldn’t risk being late in the Springs, and one must limit the number of birding emergency stops for fear of making the non-birding family members weary.

Instead I spent one of my limited emergency birding stops on this guy – the Ferruginous Hawk!! A spendid and thrilling life bird indeed, a birder’s hawk for sure.

Ferruginous Hawk

There were more raptors perched on poles, but we were in a hurry and couldn’t afford to stop anymore even if I did need to find a Swainson’s Hawk for Evan and for my photo collection. After all, there were relatives to catch up with, good barbecue to eat, and lizards to catch.

Evan lizard Evan’s cousin Andrew showed him the ropes for catching these cool lizards, and Evan caught this one all on his own. As someone who had cages full of lizards as a kid, I wanted to keep this one in the worst way. Even Melissa said it was cute. If Evan had asked, I couldn’t say no. But he didn’t ask, so there was no moral dilemma of the lizard variety.

As Evan played with lizards, I checked out the birds hanging around my cousin’s house. I saw many of our species from back home, but we did pick up the Broad-tailed Hummingbird which would become probably the most common bird of the trip. Its metallic buzzing could be heard almost everywhere we went. Otherwise, Mountain Bluebirds, which would also become quite common, were still captivating at this point.

Female Mountain Bluebird

Male Mountain Bluebird

As fun as it was to hang out with my relatives, all good things must come to an end as they say. So we grabbed a hotel room in town before our journey into the mountains of south-central Colorado near Westcliffe. As I had done in Hot Springs, I was up that next morning before first light so I could do some solo birding before everyone was awake. eBird was again very helpful in finding me a birding locale within a short drive from our hotel. I went up the side of the mountain on the very western edge of the Springs where I birded Blodgett Peak Open Space. This big fella was there to greet me.

Mule Deer Buck

Once again the first bird to greet me of the morning was the Spotted Towhee. I was hoping for better photo ops, but the day was too young and not very accommodating with its early-morning light. It’s too bad because this bird was everywhere and close. I really wanted that killer photo to solidify my first sighting back home in Minnesota last April. But it wasn’t to be. Not yet anyway.

One of the first lifers I heard that morning but took awhile to see was the Mountain Chickadee. The song I was hearing was definitely chickadee in origin, but definitely different from our Black-capped variety back home. Eventually, though, I was able to lay eyes on this spastic seed-eater. This was a hoped-for lifer of the trip.

Mountain Chickadee

Mountain Chickadee From reading the eBird reports I was expecting to find Western Scrub Jays. It took me awhile, but I found a couple of this life bird.

Western Scrub Jay

On my quiet walk with no other people around I also found a lifer Virginia’s Warbler. In typical warbler fashion, it wasn’t posing for any photos, and I just wasn’t up for chasing down a good photo of a bland bird.

Virginia’s Warbler

Walking in the mountains is always a good way to start the day, even more so when you tally three life birds in the process.

Getting back to the hotel I was greeted by one of the literal trash birds of the west, the Black-billed Magpie. It’s such a shame that such a good-looking bird lowers its standards to the likes of gulls and jays by eating things one can only find in parking lots and such. There must have been a dozen hopping through the parking lot, standing on dumpsters, walking the rooflines of the hotel, and disappearing into the pines across the street. It was fun to actually photograph them up close and in good light – something I have not been able to do in the Sax-Zim Bog. I had never really seen the blue tint on them before, and I also discovered that their eyes are blue too!

Black-billed Magpie

After enjoying the magpies and getting the family assembled, we headed to Garden of the Gods. We visited this National Natural Landmark five years ago, but with its other-worldly rock outcroppings it is a must-see each visit.

Central Garden at Garden of the Gods

If you can look past the artificial hand-holding, you can see that the natural beauty abounds.

And the birds are beautiful here too as this brazen and audacious Western Scrub Jay shows while he prowled the parking lot for picnic leftovers or eyeballs of tourists napping in chairs. It was good that Evan got to tally this lifer too since I had got mine earlier that morning.

Evan’s Western Scrub Jay lifer

Melissa spied this Violet-green Swallow perched conspicuously on a snag. It was fun to see its true colors as its namesake implies.

Violet-green Swallow

While Evan tried to climb rocks,

Evan

I tried to photograph missiles with wings, known as White-throated Swifts.

White-throated Swift (if you squint)

Neither of us were very good. But we both had fun trying.

At one point I heard a Spotted Towhee singing its song. I was still on the hunt for a good photo of this bird. I dragged the family to the spot, and we all looked unsuccessfully. Finally I decided to pull the plug. Then Evan cried out, “But Dad, I’ve never seen one!” I completely forgot he needed this lifer! I never was able to get him on the bird in our own county, so apparently it had been gnawing at him that I had this bird and he didn’t. Alright, so now it was more than just getting a photo; it was a genuine life bird hunt.

We still couldn’t see this particular bird we were looking for, but it didn’t matter because we eventually heard another one singing his heart out from the top of a juniper. Evan got his lifer. I got my photo. Whew. It felt doubly good. I could finally put that great sighting from back in April to rest. And so could Evan. Little did I know that the Spotted Towhee would be obscenely common for the rest of our trip.

Spotted Towhee

Colorado Springs held a nice cache of life birds (and relatives) for us. After Garden of the Gods, we were headed up to the mountains in Custer County. Coming up will be perhaps the best birding we would experience the whole trip.

The Colorado Trip: Birding South Dakota’s Badlands and Black Hills

Posted on July 19, 2014 by Josh

Badlands Finally. After an eight-year hiatus, the great American road-trip was reborn in our family. There’s something liberating about heading out on the open road putting hundreds of miles under our seats, crossing numerous state lines and seeing new sights. Our kids are to the age where they are now able to tolerate such intense travel and enjoy it too. This summer we were headed to the mountains of Colorado to visit my aunt and uncle in their beautiful mountain home.

Though not the quickest route, we opted to head to Colorado via Rapid City so we could see Mt. Rushmore. It would be a first for Melissa and the kids, so it was a must-stop. The scenery and the birding was most unimpressive until we crossed the Missouri River at Chamberlain. But then, as soon as we made it to South Dakota’s better half, a western bird ambassador was there to welcome us. A gorgeous, no-doubt-about-it Swainson’s Hawk soared over the freeway while I was cruising along at 75 MPH. I involuntarily hollered, “Swainson’s Hawk!” Of course, soaring birds and speeding cars do not lend themselves to photo ops or good viewing. Evan panickingly asked, “Where?!” But it was too late and he didn’t see it. Then the porch-lip came out in the back seat, and I was reminded by my wife to not draw attention to wildlife sightings on the road because the kids inevitably miss them. We’ve been down this road before. Though I could now firmly claim this lifer, I tried to console Evan by assuring him that there would be more Swainson’s Hawks on this trip. Boy, was I right, but that’s for another post.

Though not part of the original travel plans, we opted last-minute to dip south of I-90 to drive through Badlands National Park. Growing up in Montana and then moving to Minnesota, I don’t know how many times I’ve traveled the I-90 stretch, but I have no memory of ever driving through the Badlands and seeing them up close. I only remember distant views from the interstate. I am so glad we decided to take this detour. The Badlands are truly impressive with their beauty and other-wordly look. And we were there on a beautiful day with cool temps.

Badlands

The expanse of the Badlands goes for miles, and I could have photographed them all day, but I was distracted by the birds. When we stopped at one of the first scenic overlooks I caught sight of a blue bird. It turned out to be our Mountain Bluebird lifer.

Mountain Bluebird

This was a hoped-for lifer and not one that I expected to get so soon in the trip. It turns out that there would be even more life birds at this little stop. Buzzing around the cliffs and rocky outcroppings were several Violet-green Swallows. My photo in the harsh afternoon sun doesn’t fairly show its namesake, but I can assure you that this is probably the finest-looking swallow there is.

Violet-green Swallow

I expected this bird and was able to identify it easily because of my eBird scouting. That scouting also helped me identify another fast-flier, the White-throated Swift! Photographing swallows and swifts is a daunting task under normal conditions, even more so when you are trying to keep children frum plummeting to their deaths. Needless to say, I didn’t get any photos of the swifts.

Evan I could not believe how accessible death was at this place. Sure there are fun hills to climb like pictured above, but the other side is a doozy. This canyon was well over 100 feet down. Badlands It was fun to look at the bottom of this barren piece of earth and see a family of Say’s Phoebes, another good western bird.

Say's Phoebe What a good little stop this was – three quick lifers and a fun place to stretch the legs after a long drive. But we had more Badlands to see and hopefully more birds too, so we continued on our drive through the park. We spied Western Kingbirds wherever there were trees on which they could perch. Such a fun bird.

Western Kingbird

As we made our way out of the park on Sage Creek Road, I was watching the fences for more WEKIs as well as Lark Buntings. This potential lifer was reported as “ubiquitous” on this road in one eBird report. I was very hopeful. We did stop to be entertained by the myriad of Prairie Dogs as they popped up and disappeared like a real-life whack-a-mole game for as far as the eye could see. The whole family enjoyed the antics of these cute, pudgy rodents.

Prairie Dog

But doggone it, I completely forgot to check out the Prairie Dog Town for Burrowing Owls. I had seen reports of them being with the Prairie Dogs. One of those dogs poking its head up could just as easily been one of the Burrowers. We’ve seen them before in Arizona, but one should never pass up an opportunity to look for a Burrowing Owl.

We continued our drive, and I was getting frustrated that we were not seeing the “ubiquitous” Lark Buntings. Finally as we pulled out of the park, Evan pointed to a group of birds on the fence and asked what they were. Mixed in with dozens of Mourning Doves were two Lark Buntings! But they were a long way off and not letting themselves be photographed well.

It didn’t matter because as we kept driving on Sage Creek Road on the outside of the park, the Lark Buntings truly were ubiquitous. I guess I should have read that report a little more carefully. In case you are a birder and are looking for the Lark Bunting, the birds were on the wires on the north-south stretch.

Lark Bunting

Lark Bunting After securing a tidy haul of life birds and enjoying the scenery, it was time to make our way to the Black Hills of South Dakota to meet up with the presidents at Keystone. The most notable bird seen along the way was a Red-headed Woodpecker – always a treat to find.

The stop to see Mt. Rushmore was brief. It was basically a tick on the bucket list for many in our party and nothing more. To us it just did not compare to the natural beauty of the area and its wildlife.

Great Faces

With their pine covered mini-mountains, the Black Hills are absolutely gorgeous. Our destination for the night was Hot Springs, a great small-town without the tourist trappings of Keystone. But on the way to Hot Springs we passed through Wind Caves National Park. Nothing new in terms of birds, but this guy right by the road was startling, a little scary, and very cool!

Bison

We eventually made it to Hot Springs where we settled in for the night. But being in new lands with new birds does not lend itself to getting rest. I was up and at ’em at first light to check out a local city park, Lower Chautauqua Park, located near a water park called – get this – Evans Plunge. I was going to this park because it was very near our hotel and there had been eBird reports of Black-headed Grosbeaks among other notable western birds.

The first bird I heard and saw was the Spotted Towhee. It was quite a thrill to catch up with this old friend after finding my lifer as a Kandiyohi County first official record back home in April. In the early morning light I was only able to moderately improve my photograph of this species.

Spotted Towhee

Eventually I had the good fortune of bumping into the reported Black-headed Grosbeaks. Despite my best efforts of following them through the trees, I only managed to get one decent photo. Regardless, I was pretty excited to get this lifer. It was such a cool-looking bird. I don’t think I’ve met a grosbeak I didn’t like.

Black-headed Grosbeaks

I wish I could have hung out longer to get more photos of these birds in better light, but I had to head back to the hotel so we could get ready to venture through Wyoming on our way to Colorado. South Dakota was good to us with several lifers and spectacular beauty, but it was time to get to Colorado to see what avian treasures awaited us.

Birding Brainerd: Gull Lake Recreation Area and Northland Arboretum

Posted on July 3, 2014 by Josh

Gull Lake Recreation Area

Every summer we take at least a couple camping trips with Melissa’s parents and our two nieces. Usually we stay at state parks, but we procrastinated a little too much on making reservations and ran out of time to get a couple camping sites on a weekend. Fortunately Melissa stumbled on to a great alternative which appears to be one of the best-kept secrets in the camping world. Until now. It turns out the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has recreation areas at many of their various projects. And usually those recreation areas have a full-fledged campground. So we booked a couple sites at the Gull Lake Recreation Area near Brainerd – a halfway point between our home and Melissa’s parents’ home.

This past weekend we camped at Gull Lake, and I was thoroughly impressed with what those Army engineers have done. Never have there been more level, well-maintained sites. Never has there been a better public shower house in a campground. And never has there been better engineered service. Within minutes of arriving, a small squad of park rangers shows up on their Ranger utility vehicle to check us in and deliver firewood right to the fire pit. And after they hand you your receipt and tell you your firewood purchase is tax deductible, they ask if there’s anything else they can do. I would bet they’d even refill your Coke, that’s how good they are.

The overkill and built-in redundancies by the Army’s engineers is both laughable and enjoyable. See, they really just needed to build this tiny dam with a one-lane bridge to hold back the drainage of 10 lakes in the Gull Lake Chain, keeping Gull Lake 5 feet higher than normal and preventing the Mississippi River from getting out of hand downstream, but then they confiscate huge chunks of land on either side of it for who knows what reason.

Gull Lake Recreation Area

One side of the bridge is the finely engineered campground; the other side is a large point on Gull Lake named Government Point (the engineers must have named it) with a beach and boat launch and lots of government buildings and this mysterious small structure. Perhaps a missile silo as part of our defense against Canada, eh? The small size and limit of one would fit that theory since it is just Canada.

But this blog is about birding and not just about Canadian conspiracy theories. I was able to get out and do some birding on Government Point. I had to smile when I proved a law of birding true. That law is that once a lifer is seen, they show up everywhere. It’s the law that kept me from sweating that I saw a Pine Warbler last week and Evan didn’t see it because I knew the floodgates would open up for the Pines after that first sighting. Yep, it turns out those Army engineers even designed a perfect territory for this guy.

Pine Warbler This particular warbler has class, choosing the nicest, tallest White Pine right by those government buildings to call his home.

After this discovery on my first morning birding walk, I was eager to get back to share this news with Evan. The warbler was singing on territory and wasn’t going anywhere, and it was a short hike from the camper. Evan, indeed, wanted to come see it along with Marin and cousin Hannah. Before we got there I played the song for the kids so they could listen for it on the way there. Once we got within 200 yards of the location, the kids were excitedly exclaiming that they heard it. Fast learners! Then the challenge was to spot it.

Evan, Marin, Hannah

Many will deride the Pine Warbler, citing its drabness. But I like it. Maybe that’s because it took me so long to find it – kind of like the girl who played hard-to-get phenomenon. Or maybe that’s because it is better at picking habitat than the other warblers. Our majestic Red and White Pines are beautiful whether alone or in large stands. Good choice, Mr. Pine.

Pine Warbler

Pine Warbler I spent a lot of time with this warbler observing and photographing it. When there is no pressure to find a life bird, I really enjoy spending time watching and photographing a particular species that I enjoy. It was fun to watch this guy as he sang his heart out constantly, shaking his whole body with each song. I really like their trilling song which is a higher, sweeter version of a Chipping Sparrow’s song.

My birding was pretty relaxed overall. I mostly photographed birds that presented photo ops, and I got pictures of birds I’ve never “shot” before. Many, like this Turkey Vulture, were practically begging to have their photo taken.

Turkey Vulture

I even relented and took my first ever American Robin picture. Probably my last too.

American Robin

I saw several Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers. My best look came when I didn’t have a camera and one was on a tree just a couple feet in front of my face. I had a similar experience with a Veery that came waltzing through the campsite while I was having coffee with my father-in-law.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

A loud drumming on a bird house at one point alerted me to this female Pileated Woodpecker.

Pileated Woodpecker

I also finally got a photo of an Eastern Phoebe.

Eastern Phoebe – purported by some to be the third-best Phoebe

And a relatively common bird during migration that was fun to see and hear on territory was the Yellow-rumped Warbler.

Myrtle’s Yellow-rumped Warbler

While I did some casual birding on this trip, Evan was moving on to other scientific pursuits, like marine biology, studying various snail shells and the invasive Zebra Mussels.

Though I spent some time just enjoying and photographing birds, I did make one quest to find a lifer. The Wood Thrush has eluded me thus far. A local birder recommended hiking the trails at the Northland Arboretum right in the city of Brainerd. With 12 miles of trails through various types of forest it sounded promising.

Mature Stand of Aspen

The mosquitoes were incredibly fierce and abundant, though. I was wearing long sleeves, pants, and the hood from my sweatshirt. Even with repellant on the few square inches of exposed skin, I was getting destroyed. I didn’t know what I’d do if I had to stop walking to look at a bird. But then I found out what I’d do when I recognized the song of a former nemesis bird, the Blue-headed Vireo! Once again that old birding law proved true. I endured countless bites as I tried so hard to get a photo of this bird. It’s such a looker and one of my favorites, yet I couldn’t do it justice. But I didn’t care too much because self-preservation was taking over. I had a literal cloud of mosquitoes around me and had to keep moving. My face was already swollen to twice its normal size.

Blue-headed Vireo

I had one other good sighting at the Arboretum that I identified after-the-fact when looking at photos. It turns out a high-flying raptor that went overhead was a Peregrine Falcon!

I also got to see a Brown Thrasher, but I could not turn up a Wood Thrush either by sight or sound. As I was nearing the end of my walk and going by a wetland, I saw this pile of baby Mallards, literally and photographically crushable as they were just 6 inches off the path.

Baby Mallards

Seeing this mass of Mallard babes reminded me of one of those contests where you try to guess how many marbles are in the jar. But if we were playing that game on the blog, you’d all lose because Momma Mallard had Momma’s Boy off to the side, throwing off the count. Apparently she wasn’t too concerned that the bulk of her children were one stray bike tire from being obliterated.

Hen Mallard with her favorite child

So, there would be no Wood Thrush. The hunt goes on. I may have to continue the fight back home. Overall, though, it was some good side-birding on a camping trip. A lifer for Evan and some good looks at fun birds is nothing to sneeze at.

Going Cuckoo over Free Beer on a Blue Bird Day – Wild Birding at Mom and Dad’s

Posted on June 27, 2014 by Josh

The parents’ 80-acre “farm”

Ahhhh, northern Minnesota. It’s good for the soul. I can’t believe June had nearly expired before we got up there this summer. I blame bathroom remodels, snow make-up days, and birds. June is probably the best month to be up there. The weather is wonderfully cool, the scenery is a crisp blue and green everywhere, the fishing is fantastic, and the warblers are unbeatable. It’s a birdaholic’s dream with the great northern species and a maximum of 6 hours of darkness around this time of the summer solstice.

In fact, when we arrived at Mom and Dad’s around 7:30 last Sunday evening, I heard a life bird. An American Bittern, also known as the Thunder Pumper, was just beginning his evening calling in the wetland across the road. I battled the hordes of mosquitos trying to get a glimpse of it, but it never came into view. Maybe tomorrow.

That next morning I was up early to go birding around my parents’ 80-acre spread. The truth is that I’ve never really birded their land as I’ve seen most of my northern birds during migration back home. But this place is where the birding venture kicked off for me a couple years ago when I had a chance encounter with a Chestnut-sided Warbler. It was time to see what I could dig up when birding it properly. My parents’ land is unusual in that it is mostly open prairie instead of being heavily forested like most of the region. As such they get some fun prairie birds like Eastern Bluebirds and Bobolinks as well as a lot of the boreal species in the surrounding woods.

The dew was heavy that morning and the mosquitoes were unbelievably thicker than normal. Admittedly I was quite miserable. The beautiful song of another life bird, the Winter Wren, caused me to bear the misery a little longer. But the Winter Wrens have an affinity for the thickest, shrubbiest, swampiest habitat. Even if I got close I would probably not get a visual and the mosquitoes would increase tenfold. I gave up on it after a time, deciding to go after it during migration back home. My morning was not a waste, though, as I was delighted to find a Northern Parula singing on territory. My visual was quick but good even if I couldn’t get a photo. Other than the Parula, the audio birding was wonderful – Veeries, Ovenbirds, and White-throated Sparrows were constantly at work creating a symphony in the woods.

White-throated Sparrow singing his “Oh, sweet Canada, Canada!” song with great gusto

Later that day Evan was begging for a 4-wheeler ride. Usually I’m the one who takes him on such an excursion. Eventually I relented. Evan told me he wanted to go on “the longest 4-wheeler ride ever.” The appeal of ATVs and snowmobiles has long worn off for me, but with all the birds around I had the sudden thought that I could probably give Evan “the longest 4-wheeler ride ever” and that it could be a lot of fun for both of us. It would have several listening stops at key places. Evan’s a birder and not enough of a motor-head to mind stopping every now and then to listen and look for birds.

Evan 4-wheeler

Our first listening stop was the location of that Northern Parula. I played the song on my phone. Immediately we got a response, but not from the Parula. A Black-billed Cuckoo sounded off in the distance! Holy Smokes! That’s another life bird. I’m not sure if he responded to the Parula song or if it was pure coincidence. Either way, we fired up the 4-wheeler and headed that direction. We made a couple stops, playing the song each time. Randy has said they are very responsive to tapes. Despite our efforts, we were not hearing it again.

Then I was about to give up at our last stop, when all of the sudden the Cuckoo flew in and landed in a dead tree right in front of us!

“There it is!”

“Where?!” Evan responded

“Right there!” I said, pointing as Evan sat on the 4-wheeler seat in front of me.

“I see it! Yes! Another life bird!” Evan said while doing a fist pump and standing simultaneously.

The visual was good. The photos are another story. It’s such a secretive, sneaky bird!

Black-billed Cuckoo lifer – Finally!

This bird flew out into this open meadow a few times checking us out. We had really good looks at it as it flew by. What a thrill it was to finally get this bird! A good sighting like that made a beautiful day even more beautiful.

I took my dad out a couple hours later to see the Black-billed Cuckoo. He had never seen one either. We took the 4-wheeler, but as is the customary pecking-order of father-son relationships, I was no longer the driver. I opted for sitting on the back rack, facing the opposite direction instead of sharing the seat with him. I was able to help Dad see the Cuckoo. It was also fun to enjoy the birds that benefit from the nesting boxes Dad has put up.

Tree Swallow

Eastern Bluebird

Dad and I also got to see a White-throated Sparrow and a Chestnut-sided Warbler singing within each other’s territories. While we were listening and watching, we heard the distinctive “Free beeeer!” call of the Alder Flycatcher. Sweet. Alder Flycatchers are one of the five Empidonax species we can see in Minnesota, and the only safe way to correctly identify them is through voice and habitat. Flycatchers are a drab bunch. Maybe that’s why the Alder and Acadian Flycatchers try to lure in birders and unsuspecting college students alike with their respective “Free-beeeer!” and “Piz-ZA!” calls.

Dad and I found the Alder no problem. Flycatchers love their dead snag perches above the rest of the shrubbery.

Alder Flycatcher

There were many other short 4-wheeler trips during our time at Mom and Dad’s. It’s always fun to see birds that are residents here but migrants back home, like the Olive-sided Flycatcher or this Hermit Thrush.

Hermit Thrush

I tried several times to see that American Bittern. I may have seen it fly, but I’m not sure and won’t count it. While searching for the Bittern one evening I had the good fortune of seeing another Black-billed Cuckoo! But all that gave me photo-ops were this Common Yellowthroat.

Common Yellowthroat

And this rainbow. It wasn’t going anywhere.

Not bad birding around the parents’ farm. I also sneaked away one morning on a quick solo mission to hike the Vermilion Gorge trail by Crane Lake on a tip from local birder, Dee Kuder, to look for Pine Warblers. Pine Warbler is a hole in my warbler life list, and I always forget about this drab warbler during migration and when I’m up north. It’s like that quiet kid in the classroom – always there but greatly overshadowed by the more gaudy and boisterous warbler children. Today was the day to look for the Pine. Evan declined my offer to go on this hike.

The Crane Lake area has the classic northern Minnesota beauty with tall pines and pristine lakes with rocky shores. Unfortunately it was a cloudy day and I had to save my dying camera battery for a chance encounter with that Pine Warbler, so I wasn’t able to get any scenery shots. Not even of the Vermilion River Gorge itself, a deep, narrow canyon a couple hundred yards long where the river rushes through.

Dee’s information paid off though. I found the Pine in a large stand of towering Red Pines. The Pine Warbler is way at the far-end of the beauty spectrum as far as warblers go, but I was ecstatic to find this drab, little bugger. It was my 30th warbler species.

Pine Warbler

A Pine Warbler in the pines. You can’t beat that. I always prefer to see birds in their natural territories rather than in pot-luck sightings during migration. Evan was bummed that I got the Pine; I guess I forgot to tell him I was looking for that bird when I asked if he wanted to go hiking. But as bird sightings go, now that I’ve seen the Pine, I will start seeing them everywhere so Evan should get his in short order.

Our trip up north was productive both birdwise and relative-wise. And I had yet another crazy bird/birder adventure. Hopefully I can secure some guest photos from that encounter so I can share the fun story here. Stick around.

Hunting for Chestnut-collared Longspurs at Felton Prairie IBA

Posted on June 26, 2014 by Josh

This story picks up right where the Wood Stork story leaves off. Steve, Evan, and I were scheduled to depart Willmar at 4:30 AM last Saturday morning to make the three-hour trip up to Felton Prairie just east of Fargo. Keep in mind we returned from the stork chase near the Iowa border around 9:00 PM on Friday night. That’s a short turn-around time for an adult, let alone a 7-year-old. I asked Evan if he still wanted to go. He chose sleep. Evan had been hot and cold with this trip anyway. When I first asked him if he wanted to go, he said he wasn’t interested. Then I saw a picture in my Facebook feed of a Chestnut-collared Longspur someone had seen at Felton Prairie and showed it to him. His response was, “Ok, I’m interested.” Absolutely. But sleep did win out this time, so it was just Steve and I. We have been talking about doing this trip for nearly a year. We were stoked to finally go.

Felton Prairie is designated as an Important Birding Area (IBA) by the the Minnesota DNR. It consists of some WMAs, game refuges, and other public land, and it can host many hard-to-find western species. Such birds include Marbled Godwits, Upland Sandpipers, Grasshopper Sparrows, Baird’s Sparrows, Burrowing Owls, Swainson’s Hawks, Western Kingbirds, Loggerhead Shrikes, Sprague’s Pipits, Greater Prairie Chickens, Gray Partridge, and the reliable number-one bird and reason to head to Felton – the Chestnut-collared Longspur. This is the only place where they are known to breed in the state. Interestingly they are found along a narrow strip of prairie that runs along the top of a long ridge which I’m told is the edge of glacial Lake Aggasiz. There is a road that runs this ridge. Its official name is 170th Street, but everyone calls it Longspur Road. It’s the place to go. It’s even been known to host a complete spring-time party of Smith’s, Lapland, and Chestnut-collared Longspurs.

Steve and I hit Longspur Road right away. Western Meadowlarks were singing everywhere.

Western Meadowlark

A fun bird that is normally very hard to find is ubiquitous here, the Grasshopper Sparrow. We glassed dozens hoping to turn one into our target bird.

Grasshopper Sparrow

Nearly right away on our first pass down Longspur Road, Steve made a fantastic discovery – two Greater Prairie Chickens! It was a life bird for both of us, and with it I have now seen all members of the grouse family that call Minnesota home.

Greater Prairie Chicken

Not only did we see this pair, but we kept turning them up! We had three more bunches of 4,2, and 2 respectively, making a total of 10 birds! A highlight was watching one near the car when it flushed, causing three others hidden in the grass much, much closer to flush as well. Talk about great looks!

Greater Prairie Chicken It was a satisfying life bird but not the one we were after. It alone would have made a solid trip. It was also fun to see Marbled Godwits. At first. Then they were everywhere and noisy. Very noisy. It souned like we were at a beach with a bunch of gulls.

Marbled Godwit

Another fun bird was the Western Kingbird. We saw five. One makes for a good day.

Western Kingbird

As cool as these birds were and fun to see, they were way down on the priority list because we came here for one bird, the Chestnut-collared Longspur. I don’t know how many times we drove up and down the 3-mile road. We kept seeing fun stuff, like this mother Blue-winged teal and her brood appearing out of the grass and disappearing back into it with no water around for miles.

Momma Blue-winged Teal and Brood

Or a pair of Brewer’s Blackbirds.

Brewer’s Blackbird

But still no longspurs. I think we expected this bird to be perched conspicuously on the barb-wire fence that ran alongside the road. Or we thought it would be on the road itself. Then we figured we better watch the prairie more and the fence less. Still nothing. We were fast approaching our cut-off time to leave. Near the very end, we finally had the idea to study its song. We were foolish for not having done so earlier. We were shocked and a little disheartened to learn the song sounds very, very close to the Western Meadowlark song. With minutes left before we had to depart, we picked out the higher version of the meadowlark song and found our target. This was the conspicuous look we were searching for.

Chestnut-Collared Longspur

On 170th Street, start looking/listening for the Chestnut-collared Longspurs in the mile section past the cattle guard. Watch the fence, the road, and the prairie to the east.

Chestnut-collared Longspur

Chestnut-collared Longspur – The Best Longspur

It was quite a thrill to see this bird. I’m looking forward to my next trip to Felton to see this bird again and to show it to Evan. It’s quite the jaw-dropper.

We capped off our visit to Felton Prairie by taking a quick drive down the two-mile Co. Rd. 118, where Loggerhead Shrikes are known to hang out on the wires at the very end of the road. We were not disappointed. Like the intel on the longspurs, this is decades-old information that is still reliable today.

Loggerhead Shrike along Co. Rd. 118 about 2 miles east of MN Hwy 9

It was a good trip with a couple of key lifers, but it was far from the end of this birder’s marathon travel schedule. Steve and I had to get home so I could get packed up and ready for the 265-mile trip to northern Minnesota the next day where more birds and adventures would be in store for us. And relatives too. Those are fun to see. Stay tuned – more birds, pictures, and stories await. Wasn’t I remodeling a bathroom or something?

Wood Stork in Minnesota!

Posted on June 24, 2014 by Josh

From reading the blog it may seem that I bird all the time. The truth is that I squeeze in little bursts of birding around the regular stuff of life. One of those regular things has been some home improvement, specifically a bathroom remodel. Daily birding forays have been replaced with daily trips to Menards and Home Depot. And instead of roaming the countryside freely looking for birds, I have been confined to a 7-foot basement bathroom with no window. But I had been diligently putting in my time because I was looking forward to a full-fledged birding adventure with Steve last Saturday to Felton Prairie to look for Chestnut-collared Longspurs and other prairie goodies. Even with that to look forward to, though, I was growing weary of the bathroom project. If only there was a reprieve.

It turns out there was. On Friday morning a very interesting email came in: the previous evening a Wood Stork had been found by a farmer in southern Minnesota very near the Iowa border when he was surveying damage to his grove from one of the recent storms that had pummeled the area. Likely this bird had been blown in by one of the big storms. I wasn’t even sure what a Wood Stork was, so I researched it and discovered this bird only lives in Florida and the Gulf Coast and that this was only the second time it had been in Minnesota! There was a catch, though. The person reporting stated that they had not yet secured permission from the homeowner for birders to come see it. All he could say was that it was along the I-90 corridor west of Blue Earth. Not only that but there was no fresh information of the bird being seen that morning. I would need more info than that to make the 3-hour one-way trip. Nevertheless I had told Evan and Melissa about it, planting the seed that we may need to take off later.

Almost immediately after the email came in I got a call from Randy. He wanted to chase it on the limited information hoping more details would trickle while in en route. I’m surprised he called me first. Maybe he figured I’d go because I was also a teacher and had the time off, or maybe he figured I’d be an easy sell based on my chase history. Anyway, I turned him down saying I needed more to go on. It was back to working on the bathroom for me. Yuck.

Early afternoon came with a new email: the bird was refound and the exact location was given! When I told Melissa, she surprised me by saying, “Well, I’m up for an adventure. Do you want to go?” Do I?! I called up Randy and made arrangements for him to join the family on this wild bird chase. Since Randy works with Melissa and gets along great with the kids, I knew he wouldn’t mind tagging along with the whole fam.

We had a pleasant drive down visiting and surveying all the flooding due to the incessant rains we’ve had. As someone on Facebook stated, our new state motto will likely be “The Land of One Lake.” Once we got to our location, though, we nearly panicked because we didn’t see a big, white stork, but even more worrisome was that we didn’t see any birders anywhere. This was a second state record; there should be birders everywhere. We figured this was bad news and that people had scattered to go refind this thing. Eventually we caught sight of another birder driving slowly. Our hopes were lifted when we saw him stop for awhile. Did he see it? Then he ended up going down a steep embankment onto what appeared to be a frontage road along I-90. What was he doing? We watched him go into this farm place. You can see an east-bound semi on I-90.

We watched. The car never came out. Interesting. Then, all of the sudden, two different cars were driving out of this long driveway, and two cars full of birders were driving in! Quickly we headed down this driveway and stopped to talk to one of the outgoing drivers. He confirmed what we suspected; the bird was there!

And so were the birders.

It was quite a party. Everyone was pretty excited. Marin picked up on the palpable excitement as she asked, “What are all these guys so excited about?”

This is what they were excited about, Marin.

Wood Stork in Faribault County, Minnesota

You would have swore the Vikings finally won a Super Bowl with how jolly these guys were. It was pretty fun. Even the kids wanted to see for themselves what the big deal was. Wood Stork While I photographed the bird, Melissa and the kids went with Randy to check out some of the farmyard animals. Apparently I missed Marin nearly get attacked by this giant rooster when it was chasing her while she ran, unbeknownst to Marin. The ensuing screams would have likely scared away the stork, and I would have been banished from the birding circles of which I participate. Thankfully Melissa thwarted the attack by getting Marin to stop running which then stopped the rooster from chasing her. By doing so, she was able to keep the screams and stork at bay, keeping Minnesota birders happy and my reputation intact.

The kids love any chance they get to pet a cat since we can’t have one due to my allergies.

With enough stork and enough cat, it was time to leave. We had a fun sighting just a half mile from the farm – an Upland Sandpiper at the top of a tall utility pole. With almost zero habitat around I was surprised to see it.

Upland Sandpiper in Faribault County

It was finally time to head home on the 3-hour return trip. The visiting continued, but this time it was Marin who was talking everyone’s ear off and thoroughly thriving on the attention of a new person in the car. By the time we got home our bodies and ears were tired. It had been a whirlwind 7-hour adventure. But it was a lot of fun to do something spur of the moment and witness something unique as a family. I told Melissa that it’s probably the closest thing she’ll get to experiencing a flash mob like she’s always wanted to see.

Savage Birding – Hooded Warblers at Murphy-Hanrehan and Tufted Titmouse at Hidden Valley Park

Posted on June 19, 2014 by Josh

On June 10th I went on a solo birding mission to the Twin Cities metro area, specifically to a couple of key parks in Savage. With Melissa still at work I had splurged to get a babysitter to watch Marin so Evan and I could bird these parks like a couple of savages and go after such wonders as Hooded Warblers, Cerulean Warblers, and a pair of vagrant Tufted Titmice. The two of us can cover a lot of ground when it’s just us. However, Evan found out that the kids’ favorite babysitter was coming, and he turned me down and opted to stay home. When Randy heard of Evan’s choice, his comment was that it will serve Evan well later in life to choose girls over birds. True enough.

Regardless of Evan dropping out, I was set to go. Since it was a solo venture, I’ll keep the words short and let the pictures do the talking. Suffice it to say I had some awesome birding.

I birded Murphy-Hanrehan Park Reserve in search of Hooded Warblers – a rare, regular species that nests in a couple locations in the Cities. I found 3 males at Murphy-Hanrehan. All were first found by voice – setting my phone’s ringtone as the HOWA song several months ago really paid off in helping me learn the song and thus be able to find the bird. The Hooded Warbler was a spectacular life bird that I’ve been wanting to see since last summer.

Hooded Warbler at Murphy-Hanrehan Park Reserve in Savage, MN

Hooded Warbler

Murphy-Hanrehan Hooded Warbler Another fun sighting was a Cerulean Warbler. This was my best look which is not an uncommon look at this tree-top dweller.

Cerulean Warbler at Murphy-Hanrehan Park in Savage, MN

I also got good looks but terrible photos of a Blue-winged Warbler.

Blue-winged Warbler – no-winged sub-species

After Murphy-Hanrehan I stopped by Hidden Valley Park in Savage for the fourth time in a week hoping to see at least one of the two Tufted Titmice that had been reported. This time I was successful. It made for a two-lifer day which is getting harder and harder to come by.

Tufted Titmouse at Hidden Valley Park in Savage, MN

It was fun to see a pair of Broad-winged Hawks doing some aerial courtship.

Broad-winged Hawk over Hidden Valley Park in Savage, MN

So I went, I saw, I conquered. Should Evan ever want to go after those Hoodeds, I now know the lay of the land and would be thrilled to go back with him.

Meet me in St. Louis? Nah! Well, maybe.

Posted on June 14, 2014 by Josh

Fair warning: you will not see a single bird photo in this post. Yet, a great bird was involved. No, a phenomenal bird was involved. Even still, the story is not even that riveting; it is filled with angst, confusion and regret. However, it is a story that needs to be documented since a life bird(s) was had. Well, sort of. For you bird lovers, I promise to make up the lack of bird photos to you in the next post which will be very easy on the eyes as they say.

But regarding the current post, I have a love/hate relationship with county listers, those birders who strive to tally as many species as they can in all 87 Minnesota counties. Love ’em because in their quest to find some ordinary bird in some remote county, they explore the nooks, crannies, and nether regions of that county and end up finding dynamo birds that rock the larger birding community. Hate ’em because they find those dynamo birds forcing me to make a decision to chase those birds.

Last Saturday, on June 7th, one of these county listers was driving on a remote minimum maintenance road in Yellow Medicine County going over a one-lane bridge when he spotted a Eurasian Tree Sparrow sitting on the railing of the bridge. Now this may not sound exciting, but you have to understand that Eurasian Tree Sparrows are typically only found in St. Louis and its suburbs. Their range has not expanded from there, and they rarely stray anywhere else. It was a big deal. This location was only an hour-and-a-half away, so we simply had to check it out. It was better than taking a long drive to St. Louis for this bird. And it was certainly better than taking a chance at missing a turn to see the Gateway Arch and ending up in East St. Louis like Melissa and I did a decade ago.

Steve joined Evan and I for the trip. We had an uneventful ride down other than sighting a gorgeous Red-headed Woodpecker on a telephone pole. It’s just one of those birds you can’t not take a photo of even if you have 500 pictures of it in your archives already. Well, when I pulled over to get some shots, it flew into a grove never to be seen again. It was a precursor of things to come.

We found the bridge no problem and began to make sense of the report we had: the Eurasian Tree Sparrow had been associating with two male House Sparrows, and the trio had been known to be on the bridge and fly underneath the bridge. So we got out and we looked and waited. And looked. And paced.

And played in the dirt.For the better part of an hour Steve and I were both trying to turn every House Sparrow we saw into our target bird. But we failed. The highlight was maybe seeing an Alder Flycatcher, a life bird. I say ‘maybe’ because it’s a bird that can only be safely identified by voice, and Steve and I were convinced it was giving the Alder’s call of, “Free beer!” This bird, too, flew off before we could analyze it further.

As exciting as free beer and a new life bird would be, we really wanted to see that Eurasian Tree Sparrow. Several times I went down the steep embankment to look underneath the bridge. My hopes were buoyed by finding a couple House Sparrows hanging out and chirping in the girders. But my excitement was limited to some Cliff Swallows flying at my face. On one of these trips down the embankment Evan decided to join me. I think he was attracted to the little river and the mysteries associated with the undersides of bridges. After all, that’s where trolls live. Then Evan had a strange request: he asked for my huge, clunky binoculars that I bought at my own Grandma’s garage sale about 25 years ago. You read that right. I loved my Grandma and may she rest in peace, but she was a frugal lady who couldn’t let something go for nothing. She was also very fair – if I got free binoculars, then all the grandkids would have to get free binoculars. But I digress. Evan’s request was strange considering he has trouble making small binoculars work, let alone ones the size of his head. Still, he put the strap around his neck and was trying to look at this or that.

Then it happened. “I’ve got it,” Steve said from up on the road. In an instant, in what could be considered justified or stupid, I grabbed the behemoth binoculars and lifted them off Evan’s head. I reasoned that he couldn’t see anything with them anyway, but the selfish move was exacerbated when in the process of removing them I bonked him in the forehead causing him to say, “Ouch!” Right then I should have turned in my dad card.

But I didn’t and instead srambled to get up the near-vertical embankment. Evan was right on my heels. Steve pointed to a fallen tree leaning against the bridge. I saw the bird and caught a glimpse of the brown-capped sparrow through the reposessed binoculars. Evan was asking where the bird was. I tried to redeem my previous actions by trying to point out the bird before I whipped out my camera. Evan could not locate the bird that was hopping in the branches not that far away. And then the bird vanished never to make a second appearance for the duration of our visit.

As much as Steve and I would have liked to wait it out for a chance to get some good, solid looks and photos of this bird, I was on a time crunch. Evan had gotten a free ticket to the Stingers baseball game, and it was free jersey night for the first 250 kids. This was a big deal. Not only could we not be late, but we had to be there plenty early to ensure getting a jersey. So, in an effort to earn back my dad status, we left this remote, country site on time in order to get back for the game.

Maybe I’ll have to go to St. Louis after all to really see this bird well and for Evan to see it for the first time if he wants to. And with some planning and good luck, we might be able to do that AND avoid a misadventure in East St. Louis.

Avian and Animal Adventures at Afton State Park

Posted on June 5, 2014 by Josh

Anyone who read our blog last summer may recall that we have a special fondness for state parks, especially those that hold new and exciting birds. One of the bonuses of visiting a new state park is that Evan gets the park’s signature patch for his birding rucksack. We are not indiscriminate in which parks we visit. There has to be a compelling reason to go to a certain park. Afton State Park had been on my radar since last year when Pete Nichols, the moderator of the Minnesota Birding Facebook Group, discovered a Hooded Warbler there. Hooded Warblers are rare but regular in Minnesota, and they are a bird I’ve been wanting to see. This year Pete rediscovered not one, but three of these birds at Afton! Additionally, there were many other birds popping up at Afton that we’d never seen. The most prominent that I would consider equals with the Hooded Warbler is the Prothonotary Warbler. There were also Henslow’s Sparrows (many), Blue-winged Warblers, Black-billed Cuckoos, Eastern Towhees, Tufted Titmice, Summer Tanagers, and Bell’s Vireos. The Hooded Warbler alone would have brought me to the park which is east of St. Paul and on the St. Croix River that runs between Minnesota and Wisconsin. But this buffet of potential life birds made it a must-visit spot right now. In fact, I even pulled Evan out of a couple days of school to make the trip. Let’s face it, if we didn’t have all the snow days this past year, he’d be out of school by now anyway.

One complication with Afton is that you can’t pull a camper there. That wouldn’t be a problem as we can tent it, but the tent sites are back-pack sites which means a significant hike – not a task I wanted to do with two kids. The park’s saving grace is that it has camper cabins for rent at a very reasonable rate. So that’s what the kids and I did.

They were pretty enthralled with the accomodations. Seeing how nice the cabins were and how cheap they are to rent, I started to question why I bought a camper. Oh well, variety is the spice of camping.

Camper Cabin at Afton State Park

The cabin was nice and all, but I was itching to find one of the nearly ten potential life birds that could be had in this park. So after we unpacked, we headed for the car to drive to our hiking destination. But I jumped back when I discovered this 4-foot Fox Snake between me and my car!

Fox Snake

What a sighting! I’ve never seen anything like it in Minnesota. The kids and I were within just a few feet of it checking it out. I couldn’t resist touching it. In my younger days I would have caught the thing, but I wasn’t up for that. He shot off like a rocket the instant he felt my touch. Then it disappeared in the weeds, gone for good. Or so we thought.

And how do we know it was a Fox Snake? Marin discovered it on a poster at the Visitor’s Center (and it was confirmed by Randy). She was quite proud that she found it.

The kids and I finally made it to the area where we needed to hike for the Hooded Warbler. Our path would go down a large hill to the St. Croix River where we could walk the river bottoms trail and look/listen for this warbler. The hike down was full of stops and starts as one kid or the other had some emergency or another, mostly bug or heat related. Finally we gave up and went back to the car. No Hooded.

As we drove through the parking lot a meadowlark with a lot of white in its tail flushed up and landed in the tree next to us. I was confident it was our Eastern Meadowlark lifer because the Westerns are rare visitors to the park and the Easterns are classified as common. I was waiting for it to vocalize, the surest indication of what species of meadowlark it was.

Eastern Meadowlark

As we spent more time in the park, we saw and heard many Eastern Meadowlarks. Though its simple song is far inferior to our melodic Western, it was fun to hear and be able to gain confidence in distinguishing the two species. Because it is nearly identical to the Western Meadowlark, it wasn’t an exciting life bird, just a tick on the life list.

When we got back to cabin, we had another visitor – the Wild Turkey. This tom (he’s shy about showing his beard) didn’t really care that he was blocking our way.

Wild Turkey

After some lunch, a nap, and some bunk-bed antics, it was time to go out for another walk. This time we were going to hit the north prairie loop to look for Henslow’s Sparrows, Black-billed Cuckoos, and Blue-winged Warblers.

North Prairie Loop – Afton State Park

We walked in the hot sun and didn’t come up with anything. I didn’t hear a Henslow’s, and I certainly didn’t see a Cuckoo in the nearby woods. We did end up seeing our Blue-winged Warbler lifer in flight. It was a dull yellow with bluish wings, and it was in an area where they had been seen. We saw it fly into a pine. I watched for it to show itself, but then an American Goldfinch popped out. I asked Evan if that’s what we had seen. His answer confirmed my own thoughts when he said the one we saw wasn’t as yellow and had blue wings. Finally our bird popped out again, flying away and not landing in sight. Bummer. It’s not the way I’d like to get a lifer. A good solid view is a must followed by a good photo.

At least this Eastern Bluebird posed for a photo even though they are quite common wherever there is prairie. Though I wish a Black-billed Cuckoo were sitting in his place, I couldn’t pass up a chance to photograph a bluebird.

Eastern Bluebird

After our prairie hike it was back to the cabin for more food and rest (me) and more horseplay (the kids). I told the kids we’d go on one last hike in the early evening and then come home to make a fire and cook supper. This time I was determined to get us down to that river bottoms trail to adequately search for that Hooded Warbler.

We drove a little ways down the road and look who was sunning himself! I’m not sure this is the same snake as before or even the same species. But two mega snake sightings in one day was incredible!

After this experience we finally made it to the trailhead. This time things went a lot smoother with a lot less complaining. The hike down the large hill was the most challenging as the sign shows, though Marin was convinced the sign meant it was a snake trail. Given our day, who could blame her? Here you can see Evan contemplating her observation.The river bottoms trail was flat and easy as it took us right next to the St. Croix and right along the base of an oak-wooded hillside where the Hooded Warblers were known to be. I knew the song well as its been my phone’s ring tone for some time, but I just wasn’t hearing it. Argh. Later on, though, as we passed by some flooded timber along the edge of the river, I heard the distinctive call of the Prothonotary Warbler! Not the main target, but good enough! After a little while we got to lay our eyes on it. What a thrill it was to see it for the first time!

Prothonotary Warbler

If there would be no Hooded Warbler, it didn’t matter so much anymore with this bird. It was quite a sight. We never did see the Hooded that day; it would have to wait until the next day. The kids were tired, so we headed back to the cabin for supper and bed even though there was a good hour or so of daylight left. We pulled in to find yet some more visitors in the campsite – three deer!

As I had made a trip out to the car after getting the kids in their pajamas, I heard the distinctive “Drink your teaaaaa!” song of the Eastern Towhee! This would be a life bird, and its song was coming from across the prairie to the south of our cabin. Quickly I had the kids throw their shoes on, and we followed this bird’s song. I was able to locate it at the top of a dead tree belting out his tune for everyone to hear. And he did not care that we were watching him from down below. Nor did he care that Marin sang his song with him. I’ve been looking forward to seeing this bird for a long time, so it felt pretty good to get this one on the trip.

Eastern Towhee

“Drink your teaaaaa!”

When we got back to the campsite this time, a fox scampered out of our campfire area. What a magnet for wildlife this little spot was. It would be fun to see what the next day would bring.

That next day I decided we would do the river bottoms trail one last time and the prairie loop one last time. If we didn’t get our main target or some other lifers then so be it. All the river bottoms trail yielded was another look at the Prothonotary Warbler which never gets old. The prairie loop trail didn’t provide the Henslow’s Sparrow we were looking for or give any better looks at that Blue-winged Warbler. It was fun to see a Field Sparrow, which is a fairly uncommon bird.

Field Sparrow

It was also a treat to see a male Orchard Oriole, even if he was a long ways from the road.

Orchard Oriole

It was finally time to go. I had a couple more birding moves to make, though. The night before someone reported a pair of Tufted Titmice at the Hidden Valley Park in Savage. I decided we’d swing by and check it out. There were plenty of birders there, but there were no binoculars or cameras pointing to the trees – not a good sign. Turns out that no one had been seeing them all day. The kids had fun at this cool, well-named park that had a small river running through it. The big draw for them was looking for tiny shells.

Looking for shells at Hidden Valley Park in Savage, Minnesota

No Titmice and a handful of shells. At least some of us were happy with this place. I did see two male Indigo Buntings, a much more colorful bird than the drab Tufted Titmouse. Ironically, because of its commonality, it is a lot more boring than a Titmouse.

Indigo Bunting

We gave up on the Tufted Titmice and made one quick stop at Murphy-Hanrehan Park for another reported Hooded Warbler. The walk was short, and so was the birding. This Hooded Warbler wasn’t singing or showing either. I guess I can’t complain. Four life birds and some other cool wildlife sightings made for a memorable trip. Plus, we still have a warbler to hunt (the list hasn’t gotten quite short!).

A Boy Who Cried Heron

and started a three-generation birding adventure

Category Archives: Life Birds

Raising Birding to a Whole New Level in Custer County, Colorado

Birding Colorado Springs – Blodgett Peak Open Space and Garden of the Gods

The Colorado Trip: Birding South Dakota’s Badlands and Black Hills

Birding Brainerd: Gull Lake Recreation Area and Northland Arboretum

Going Cuckoo over Free Beer on a Blue Bird Day – Wild Birding at Mom and Dad’s

Hunting for Chestnut-collared Longspurs at Felton Prairie IBA

Wood Stork in Minnesota!

Savage Birding – Hooded Warblers at Murphy-Hanrehan and Tufted Titmouse at Hidden Valley Park

Meet me in St. Louis? Nah! Well, maybe.

Avian and Animal Adventures at Afton State Park

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