Category Archives: Life Birds

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

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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.IMG_3933

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.

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

IMG_3950I 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.

IMG_3963IMG_3970IMG_3958IMG_3967Once 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.

IMG_3974 IMG_3978It was so nice to finally enjoy the sights of the park.  Hopefully next time we can do more exploring by hiking.IMG_3997IMG_3981IMG_3994IMG_3987 IMG_3986IMG_3998

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

IMG_3932The 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

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IMG_3957After 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.Blue Mounds bound

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.

IMG_3911We 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!

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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.

Blue Mounds Campfire

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

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

Purple Martins and a Nest Check

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It’s that time of the birding year when we are picking off targets one-by-one in a more focused approach.  One life bird that we knew we could get but just haven’t yet is the Purple Martin.  I knew Randy had quite an elaborate Purple Martin house in his yard, so I asked him when we could stop by to check this bird off our list.  He told me anytime would work, but he said we should also check the Purple Martin house he had at the Willmar Pet Hospital because there are a lot more birds at that one.

Finding the Willmar Pet Hospital was more of a challenge than finding the Purple Martin. Once we found our destination, we immediately saw a male right outside one of the cavities of the house.

IMG_3875Randy is very scientific and keeps records of nesting activity, hence the labeled cavities. He reports his records to the Purple Martin Conservation Association. Apparently Purple Martins are on the decline and need these houses to thrive.

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It was fun to watch these birds fly out and back in, calling the whole time.  This pair was nice enough to pose for me.
IMG_3885Evan still wanted to see Randy’s Purple Martins in his yard even though we already got this life bird.  We had plenty of time, so I said we could do that.  As we pulled up, Randy was out in his driveway, so we visited a bit about birds.  He saw the kiddos in the back and said that he thought he was due for a nest check on the Purple Martin house.  How could we say no to that?

Randy has these houses on a winch, so he is able to lower them down the pole to check them, clean them, and rid them of pesky sparrows and starlings.  Pretty clever!  He does it right.  Most of the cavities had nesting activity but no eggs.  One cavity, however, had a nice clutch.

IMG_3886After Randy was done recording the nesting activity for each cavity, he let us poke around his wooded lot.  We came across his Wood Duck houses, so he decided to check up on these birds as well.  After seeing that one had a hen sitting inside, he let each kid take a peek.  This hen was sitting tight.

IMG_3890IMG_3892We checked another Wood Duck house that was also occupied.  This time I got to peek in with my camera.

IMG_3893A little bit later we looked at the first bird again – whoops!

IMG_3895Randy took advantage of the hen’s absence to show the kids an egg and let them feel its warmth.

IMG_3899Getting another life bird today was a treat, but this was a pretty special science lesson these kids got on nesting birds.

Swallows and Sandpipers – More Lifers

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Grandpa and Grandma were in town again today.  They came to attend my cousin’s daughter’s graduation reception on Saturday, babysit our kids on Sunday, and then pick up my sister and her family at the airport on Monday.  With all that going on, we still managed to squeeze in a little birding on the way home from church today.

Last night I had put out an email request to the die-hard birders in our county to give me any information on a list of certain species.  One of the birds I was after was the Cliff Swallow, and one guy wrote back telling me about a bridge in town where I could find them.

So we pulled off the freeway to look for Cliff Swallows living under the bridge seen below.
IMG_3871It didn’t take long to find the signature mud nests with their small entrance holes.  Cliff Swallows were everywhere.  They were poking their heads out of the nests and flying underneath and beside the bridge. In the photo below you can see two of them in the nest holes.IMG_3834Here’s a close-up shot of this life bird.  They look very similar to the Barn Swallow, but this white forehead patch is field mark of the Cliff Swallow.IMG_3829Another field mark to distinguish them from the Barn Swallows is the tail shape.  Barn Swallows have long, forked tails; the Cliff Swallows’ are more square.IMG_3831And this buffy/white rump patch is another distinguishing mark.  Barn Swallows are all dark blue on the back.

IMG_3846IMG_3849The Cliff Swallow wasn’t the only life bird we’ve gotten recently. Last Thursday we picked up a couple more when the kids and I went birding in the evening while Melissa went running.  This was the same day I did my prairie photo shoot.  In fact, we went back to that same location.  A beautiful day turned into a stunning evening.

IMG_3811We were fortunate enough to find this small flock of Least Sandpipers.  The Least Sandpiper was a new bird for us.

IMG_3824Then I found the Spotted Sandpiper by a small creek.  Just as I went to point it out to Evan, it disappeared.  He still wants to count it for his life list because he was along on the trip.  I’m sure we’ll run into this resident bird on future birding trips anyway.

IMG_3815I didn’t know either of these sandpipers until I looked at the photos afterward and studied them in the bird book.  I made another cool discovery in the process.  The day before I had seen a shorebird walk into the tall prairie grass.  It was strange to see a bird like this not even close to the water.  Shorebirds are usually found on or near a shore.  I dismissed the sighting because it was brief, and I had no idea to tell what the bird was.  However, when I was reading about different sandpipers, I found out that the Upland Sandpiper lives in a prairie habitat and is not found by the water.  It is the only shorebird that lives in this type of habitat.  Cool!  I can positively say that I saw this bird based on its location.  Plus, my quick glimpse appeared to match the photo in the book.  Hopefully we can find another one of these soon for Evan to add to his life list too.

Two Less Migrants to Worry About

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The urgency to try to get some of the last migrating birds heading north was only increased by the weather forecast for the week: rain every day.  It wasn’t supposed to start until 9 AM this morning, so we had a limited window to get out birding.  I woke up early to a light spitting from the sky.  It was good enough to go.  After letting Evan sleep in a little bit, we headed back to Robbins Island.  It was cold, but we were dry.  We were on the hunt for the Blue-headed Vireo and the Black-throated Green Warbler.

IMG_3667There wasn’t much new this morning.  The flycatchers of the Empidonax genus were everywhere.  These “Empids” are practically indistinguishable except by voice.  There are four or five possible species we could get in our area during migration. Even though we were armed with a limited knowledge of their calls, none of them were making a noise which made it impossible for us to make an identification.  Until we can nail one down with certainty, we will refrain from putting it on the life list.

There was one flycatcher that caught my attention as it perched on a branch.  From my studying, I immediately recognized the white stripe running down the center of the breast of this guy.

IMG_3669This unbuttoned-vest look is a classic field mark of the Olive-sided Flycatcher.  This was a life bird for us and a migrating bird at that.  They will not be around in the summer. Shortly after this we found another.  It was fun to watch them fly out, grab an insect, and fly right back to the same perch, over and over again.

IMG_3666After awhile, Evan grew tired of being out, so we headed home.  After lunch and some down time to play, the kids and I headed back to the park to try one more time for our targets of the Blue-headed Vireo and Black-throated Green Warbler.  The forecast had changed to just cloudy for the day, and Melissa needed some peace and quiet to get some papers graded anyway.  Both of my little birders were enthusiastic to go, and they each had their own sense of style for dressing for the field.

IMG_3680Skirts or not, there is no slowing this girl down as we ventured into a marsh where our target, the Blue-headed Vireo, had been seen just yesterday evening.

IMG_3682One thing we had to do was head down to the water again to skip rocks.  Along the way I was pleased to find a male Bay-breasted Warbler and a female Blackburnian Warbler. As the kids played by the water, I was able to study the swallows flying over the lake a little more closely.  One of them was one we needed – the Northern Rough-winged Swallow.  This is a summer resident, but it was still nice to add a life bird.

The kids were great sports as we walked, stopped often, and looked at distant birds.  It was time for them to have some fun, so we made our way to the playground.  However, one of the birds we stopped for was a new bird and a passer-through: the Philadelphia Vireo.

IMG_3688It was finally time to get to the playground.  Three life birds weren’t the only triumph of Evan’s day.  Nope, today he conquered the monkey bars and made it all the way across to the platform!

IMG_3690We ended our day at Robbins Island by finding an unexpected, active warbler – the Yellow-rumped Warbler.  What’s it still doing here?  We haven’t seen one for two weeks now.

IMG_3693We didn’t get either of our targets today.  As much as I want to see the Blue-headed Vireo and the Black-throated Green Warbler, the thrill of the hunt lives on.  Besides, we always find a lot of other good birds (both lifers and familiar ones) that aren’t on our short list. Not only that, but there are two less species that will not pass us by this migration.  That itself is a victory.

Sunday Afternoon at Robbins Island

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With migration drawing to a close, the pace at which we’re adding new birds has dropped off sharply.  Evan added 26 new birds to his life list last weekend.  Until today, we have not added a single new bird since that monumental weekend. It’s to be expected that we won’t add big numbers to our life lists anymore this season since we have seen a lot of the birds and since migration is ending.  It is now time to become much more intentional in our birding by seeking out our summer residents in their habitats.  We have many of these regulars to chase and add to our lists. I enjoy this type of birding.  It is more like hunting and less like winning the birding lottery.  Both are fun, but going after and finding a specific target is very rewarding.

Not only is it the time to find resident birds, but it is also the time to enjoy those that have chosen our yard to make their home for the summer.  We have now had a pair of Indigo Buntings at our house for eight days.  I think they’re here to stay.

IMG_3604Evan’s doves drop by regularly (Eurasian Collared Doves).  We had a record high of three of them in the yard today.

IMG_3623I’ve really come to enjoy this resident House Sparrow who thinks he’s a finch.

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Though we are shifting into resident birds, migration is still somewhat alive.  We decided to check out Robbins Island today.  It was a family affair. Melissa wanted to do some running in the park, and the kids and I wanted to check out the birds.

IMG_3661 With the trees covered in leaves now, birding has become more challenging than it was a week ago.  The kids and I went down the trails slowly, and Melissa went off running. We saw plenty of birds, but most were high in the trees in bad light.  There were flycatchers all around.  We need to study their sounds so we can identify them correctly.  We still found some warblers.  Like a lot of birders, I really like this family of birds.  They are colorful gems in the woods.  I typically do not keep lists of species I see every time I go out, but I do like to count warbler species.  Today we found lots of Tennessee Warblers, several Yellow Warblers, a couple Blackpoll Warblers, and a few American Redstarts.  We heard the Ovenbird and Chestnut-sided Warbler.  The best warblers that we found, though, were a single Canada Warbler and a single Mourning Warbler.  Eight species of warblers gives me hope for still finding our target, the Black-throated Green Warbler.  Steve and Randy have each had this bird in their yard within the last day.

Birding wasn’t the only thing on the agenda today.  Of course we had to practice skipping rocks.

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Evan finally had success with skipping a rock!  He was pretty proud.

IMG_3647These guys had fun playing with rocks or garbage in Marin’s case.  While they played, I looked at all the swallows, warblers, and flycatchers along the water’s edge.  Birds weren’t the only things moving around today.  There were fishermen, frisbee-golfers, and hikers out in the park.  I would say runners, too, as Melissa was running, but she took a wrong turn in the woods and ended up out of the park running all the way around Foot Lake!  It was much farther than she intended to go.  It turns out that she was on her own birding adventure. There were several Canada Geese with goslings along the trail. When Melissa went by some of them, one put its head down, straightened out its neck and hissed at her!  That’s all the motivation she needed to run fast and get back to the park.  These geese around Foot Lake are nasty.  My friend Joe once had to ride his bike through a huge flock on this path (they refused to move) and ended up running over and killing one!  He was too afraid to go back into the mob of geese to check on it.

Once Melissa was out of harm’s way and had rejoined us, we made our way back to the van.  And then a huge new bird fluttered in the tree above.  It was our lifer, the Great Crested Flycatcher!

IMG_3655I couldn’t have asked for a more patient bird.  It would fly a couple feet away, pose, fly a couple more feet, pose, and so on.  Even so, I couldn’t get on it very well with the camera.  Melissa and Evan patiently kept pointing it out for me.  Although at one point Melissa told me I had to be faster with the camera.  At least Evan is fast at using the index to look up and read about his new bird.

Evan Robbins IslandWe’re hoping to get out and catch a few more migrants before they’ve all headed north. In the meantime, though, we are making plans to hunt down our summer targets.

A Rare Bird Chase – Multiple Targets Acquired

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When I got done writing yesterday’s post, I didn’t think it was possible to have another epic day.  But that’s just what happened today.  It all started last night when I saw a posting on MOU-Net that a Lazuli Bunting had been spotted at someone’s feeders in Hutchinson.  This is a gorgeous blue and rust-colored bird that resides in the western part of the country.  It is a rare stray to Minnesota.  One had showed up a couple weeks ago in the Cities, and I was tempted to chase that one.  However, I figured that we’d see one someday when we took a road trip out west.  The Cities is a two-hour trip, and the sighting was during the work week.  It just wouldn’t have worked.  Hutchinson was only a 45-minute trip, though, and it was the weekend.  Pete, the person who posted the sighting of the Hutch bird, said he’d provide updates the next day if it was still there. Melissa and I decided that this was another bird worth chasing.

This morning around 8:00 I saw a posting that said it was back at 7:30!  While we were tempted to skip church and chase this bird, we decided to wait until after church.  I was fairly calm and confident that since the bird showed this morning that it would probably be around periodically throughout the day.  In the meantime, though, I watched out our windows.  The oriole activity has been nuts.  A couple of them looked a little different.  It turns out we had female and first-year male Orchard Orioles at the feeder!  A life bird!  I was hoping we’d get to see the mature male to clinch this one, but for now this guy will do.

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As I watched our yard birds, I was pleasantly surprised to see a lifer from yesterday make an appearance and partake of our oranges – the Tennessee Warbler.  This was a real treat because we have not really had any warbler activity in our yard.  IMG_3487One of the birds that amused me this morning was a House Sparrow who thinks he’s a finch.  This sparrow has learned to cling to the finch feeder, even hanging upside-down. House Finches don’t get any love in the birding community or general population, so I went to grab my camera to show this guy off.  As I walked to the window, I looked out and froze.  This is who I saw.

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The Indigo Bunting!!  Not only was this a life bird, but it was a major target bird for the summer of 2013!  I couldn’t believe it – the male Scarlet Tanager and now this guy in less than 24 hours in our yard!  I snapped a quick picture and then calmly said, “Evan, walk – don’t run; we have the Indigo Bunting.”  Everybody came out for this one.  Even non-birding Melissa knew of this bird and had to see it.  She even asked to see my pics on the LCD right away.

It was just a general buffet of color around our yard this morning.  The American Goldfinches and Baltimore Orioles are thick lately.  Here I caught one of each in the same shot.
IMG_3492We finally went to church, and I tried to not think about what emails were waiting in my pocket.  Once we got to the car after church, I checked for updates on the Lazuli.  Nothing new.  Oh boy.  So I called Pete.  He said it was showing well until about 10:00.  Then it was absent until about noon when it only appeared for a minute or two.  That was enough information to make this mission a go.

We stopped and ate some lunch in Willmar before heading southeast to Hutch.  Once there we had to make a potty-stop for Marin.  This potty-training business is really starting to handicap our birding. Minutes felt like hours.

We finally made it to the house which we found with no problem.  When you chase a rare bird, you don’t really have to know the exact address.  Just look for the small flock of people with binoculars.  We quickly hustled across the street to join them – three sets of binoculars pointed up looked promising.

Lazuli Sighting

It turns out these two fellows (the homeowner is nearest the door) from Lonsdale had been watching the feeders from inside the house but had not had any luck.  They were watching warblers out front when we arrived.  The one they were currently viewing was a big target for me and a life bird for both of us – the Cape-May Warbler.

IMG_3520It was such a fantastic bird.  Here’s another shot to show it off some more.

IMG_3519The two gentlemen decided to walk around the block looking for the Lazuli Bunting.  Pete invited Evan and I to come inside to watch for it from the best vantage point, his dining-room window.  Pete was a gracious host who watched with us and visited about birding and teaching.  Undoubtedly he’s had several strangers stop by during the day and welcomed them.  I love how birders are a friendly bunch who help each other out and want others to share in the joy of a cool bird.

We watched and watched.  It was dead.  Not a single bird of any sort was showing. After nearly twenty minutes, the activity finally started to pick up.  A goldfinch here, a few Pine Siskins there, and some squirrels gave us something to look at.  The best bird to hold our attention while we waited was the Ovenbird.  We got to see his beautifully striped head as we looked down at him while he bobbed alongside the house in the flower garden going from hosta to hosta.  Pete went about his business while we watched and fielded calls from other birders. We had been there for nearly 45 minutes when it happened.

“Dad, I just saw the Lazuli fly into that tree!”  I didn’t see anything, but I’ve learned to trust my son when it comes to birds.  I looked at the bird to which he was pointing and quickly pulled up the binoculars.  It was, in fact, the Lazuli!!!  I snapped off a few quick pictures.  The quality isn’t the best since I was shooting through glass at an angle and was fighting with a camera that wanted to focus on leaves.  I got one decent shot which at least shows off how magnificent this bird is.
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While we were watching, I heard Pete on the phone with another birder say, “Hold on, I have a sharp-eyed six-year old who just found it.” I didn’t have much of an opportunity to photograph it as it flew away moments later.  It was not on the ground feeding where it had been seen all morning and last night.  Without Evan, we probably would have missed it.

Minutes later, the Lonsdale birders came into the house.  One of them had seen it from standing outside.  They watched for awhile and then decided to canvass the block again. We waited for Pete to finish up his phone conversation so we could thank him and say good-bye.  It was a Minnesota birders good-bye as we had to show each other pictures of the bunting and pictures of leucistic birds we’d each seen.  Then as he walked us out, he pointed out another life bird that was flying high, the Chimney Swift, and told us how they live in his chimney.

It was finally time to drive again.  I called up my cousin Brett who lives in town to see if we could drop by for a visit.  We had a fun time with them and got to watch our daughter be a show-off with all her dance “moves.”  But the birding was far from done for the day, so it was time to go.

Our next stop was a home about 5 miles southwest of Hutch where a Great-tailed Grackle had been consistently seen in someone’s yard for a couple weeks.  This is another bird that is north of its normal range.  Pete had made the report on this bird too and told us that the homeowners were fine with people parking in their driveway and walking around their yard.  So we did just that.  Unfortunately we were not able to come up with the grackle.  Maybe we’ll see it in two weeks when we have to head back to Hutch for my cousin’s daughter’s graduation party.

We were homeward bound now and flying high on birding adrenaline.  At least two of us were anyway.  As we got close to our house, Melissa was on the phone with her mother telling about all the phenomenal birding today.  I was impressed that Melissa not only knew how many lifers we got today, but that she also knew their names.  Just as we approached the one-mile mark from our house, I spotted an LBB that was a candidate for a life bird.  I whipped the van around and drove back.  We found it again with no problem.  Sure enough, it was a life bird – the Vesper Sparrow.
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We are now 2 for 3 on our chasing trips.  Six lifers today – and some real lookers at that.  Today was a birding day that we won’t forget. It was even more special that we got to enjoy it as a family.  Meeting nice new people and visiting with family was an added bonus.  Oh, and that finch-like House Sparrow?  Here he is.

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Birding in Paradise – Pinch Me

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Today the floodgates opened.  As I sit down to write this post and reflect back on this day, I still can hardly believe all the life birds we saw.  Words can hardly do this day justice.  The pictures will tell the story better than I can.  Some are good and others will just have to do.  As you read our story and see our pictures, I hope you will be in awe of what’s out in creation.

Before I tell the story of today, I want to back up to last night.  While we were at our small group Bible study, Steve had called and texted.  I didn’t see this until we got home. When I did see he’d been trying to get ahold of me, I knew something was going on.  I finally connected with him and got the scoop.  Warblers.  Everywhere.  He spent two hours at the small patch where we’ve been birding, known as Bergquist Wildlife Area.  I could not wait until morning.  The alarm was set for 5:30 so Evan and I could do some birding before we had to come back in to take care of Marin at 8:30 while Melissa had a girls’ event today.  I woke up this morning but not to my alarm.  It was 7:10!  I hustled and got Evan out of bed, and we were at Bergquist within a half hour.  Not much time to bird before we had to head back.

Right away we found a life bird for Evan – the Gray Catbird.  I actually saw this one on the feeder at home this morning, but Evan didn’t hear me call to him.  When I took the picture, I got the message on my camera screen that there was no SD card!  I quickly remembered I had a spare.  Whew.

Gray CatbirdShortly after this we found this plain, but pretty bird.  We identified it later as the female Scarlet Tanager – a definite lifer for both of us.  How I wish it had been the male.

IMG_3382The warblers were all around.  We quickly found our lifer, the American Redstart.  These were very abundant this morning.

IMG_3423Then we found the Blackpoll Warbler – another lifer.

IMG_3446There were so many birds in every direction.  We stayed motionless and had new birds coming to us all the time.  Another lifer – a beautiful male Bay-breasted Warbler dropped to a branch 5 feet in front of me, but I wasn’t able to get a picture.  By this time we had to go home, but not before picking up another lifer – the gorgeous Magnolia Warbler!

IMG_3396We went home and decided we’d grab Marin and come right back.  This was an incredible day, and there were more birds to be had.  Steve joined us for round 2.  It was definitely distracting to bird while managing Marin and settling fights between these siblings, but we managed.  It was nice to have Steve along to help point out new birds and ones I was still trying to photograph.  Here is a lifer he found for us – the Wilson’s Warbler.IMG_3418

And then the Golden-winged Warbler.  Excuse the bad photo, but it’s hard to photograph these small, ADD birds!

IMG_3424We found an Eastern Kingbird – another lifer.

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Then we found a Flycatcher that remains unidentified.  There are several Flycatchers, and the best way to tell them apart is by voice.  I guess we’ll have to study our sounds before we can add them to the life list.

IMG_3413Steve picked up a life bird today that is one of my favorite birds of all time.  The Blackburnian Warbler.  I was later able to find one that was close, and we got some good looks at this male.  This wasn’t a life bird for Evan and me, but we never tire of seeing them.

IMG_3428I also spotted but was not able to photograph the beautiful Northern Parula.  This sky-blue bird with a yellow underside was a lifer as well.  How I wish I could have photographed it.

Another non-lifer that we saw several times was the bird that hooked me into this sport – the Chestnut-sided Warbler.   His call is the “Pleased to, pleased to, pleased to meetchya!”  We were pleased to meet him again too.

IMG_3425It was absolutely crazy how many birds there were.  Every direction, every level you looked, you’d find birds.  The diversity was mind-boggling.  If you’ve ever seen the movie, The Big Year, today was reminiscent of that scene where the birders go to Texas to experience the fallout of birds from a massive storm.

Here is another lifer we picked up – the Tennessee Warbler.

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Here’s an LBB lifer that we got – the House Wren.

IMG_3441After spending two hours at Bergquist, the kids had to go to the bathroom.  Evan – no problem.  Marin – problem. We’re potty-training her, so she has difficulty to begin with. Combine that with trying to have a little girl go in the woods, and you have major problems!  Pee filled her water boots, soaked her pants, and sprayed all over my hand. Birding was over.  We hustled home.

We changed clothes, had a bite to eat, and decided to head back to the patch for trip #3.  There was so much going on there that we couldn’t stop.  Earlier when I asked my little birders who wanted to go back, both shouted, “Meeeeeee!”  Look at them making lists already.  I taught Evan the short code for bird names.  He learned quickly and was marking down everything.

IMG_3444On this third trip we encountered our lifer from Thursday – the Northern Waterthrush.

IMG_3376We also got a chance to photograph another lifer from Thursday – the Broad-winged Hawk.

IMG_3451During this outing, Melissa finished up her girls’ outing and stopped by to pick up Marin. Now it was time to do some serious birding.  Here’s my buddy investigating birds? Nope, turtles again.  See the notebook and pencil, though?

IMG_3465We didn’t see much more after Marin left.  We found another lifer – the Eastern Wood-Pewee.

IMG_3457After this bird, we decided to head home.  Then I remembered a tip from one of our readers and decided to check out the fairgrounds.  Wow, were there birds there too! I was able to photograph a lifer for Evan – the Common Yellowthroat.

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We picked up more life birds here that I wasn’t able to photograph – my camera battery died after nearly 8 hours of work today!  Those lifers included the Canada Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Yellow-throated Vireo, and Palm Warbler.  We also saw the non-lifer Mourning Warbler.

It was an epic day.  How do you top something like that?  Well, you come home to find the male Scarlet Tanager in your own yard!

IMG_3473It was also fun to see both the front yard and back yard feeders loaded with American Goldfinches.

IMG_3476This was an incredible, exhausting birding day. Here is the re-cap of lifers.  I’m doing this mostly for myself to help me count them:

Gray Catbird (Evan)

American Redstart

Scarlet Tanager

Bay-breasted Warbler

Blackpoll Warbler

Magnolia Warbler

Northern Parula

House Wren

Golden-winged Warbler

Wilson’s Warbler

Eastern Kingbird

Common Yellowthroat (Evan)

Northern Waterthrush (Thursday and today)

Broad-winged Hawk (Thursday and today)

Eastern Wood Pewee

Tennessee Warbler

Nashville Warbler

Canada Warbler

Yellow-throated Vireo

Palm Warbler

Evan added 18 life birds today (2 of the 20 above were on Thursday).  I added 16 just today.  We saw a total of 20 warblers today (not mentioned were the Yellow, Ovenbird, Orange-crowned, and Black-and-White).  Amazingly we did not see a Yellow-rumped Warbler, and we missed on the Blue-winged and Black-throated Green which were present last night.

What a day.  I don’t know if we’ll ever have another life bird day like this again.  This was absolutely incredible.

A Local Birding Patch – Bergquist Wildlife Area

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Even when the blog is silent, the birding goes on and the life birds trickle in.  This past week we’ve had the opportunity to explore Willmar’s Bergquist Wildlife Area twice and have found birding success each time.  This wooded park, hardly bigger than a football field, borders a lake and contains a small pond.  It is a lovely sanctuary for birds (and other wildlife) in the midst of the city.  We took a quick walk there on Mother’s Day.  Here are the highlights:

Spotting the Swainson’s Thrush – a life bird.

IMG_3346Seeing the Yellow-rumped Warbler again (one of several) – a common colorful bird that moves constantly.

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Watching turtles bask in the sun – big brother is always looking out for his sister.IMG_3347Spending time with Mom who puts up with our birding hobby addiction.

IMG_4269Tonight after school, Evan and I went through Bergquist again because we got the daily update from Steve who hikes it during his lunch.  Several birds on Steve’s list were potential life birds for us.  We found two life-birds tonight.  One was the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.  This time Evan saw it with his own eyes, and I finally got a good look.  Now we could officially count it.  Sorry, but I couldn’t get a photo of that quick little bugger.  I did capture this lifer – the Black and White Warbler.

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It was fun to watch warblers in the treetops again.  They bring so much life and color to the woods, but they are so difficult to photograph because of their size, constant movement, and propensity for being in the tops of trees.  Watching through the binoculars is a lot more fun and relaxing than watching through the camera while trying to get a shot.  Here is an attempt at photographing a male Yellow Warbler.  I think he was in the center of my frame but moved just as I took the picture.  We’ll see more of these at my parents’ house this summer and hopefully get a better picture then.

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The yard birds have also been fun to watch.  We’ve had Baltimore Orioles coming to eat our oranges and grape jelly for four days now.  We keep hoping an Orchard Oriole will drop by soon. On Mother’s Day we were visited by a life bird for me – the Brown Thrasher.  Evan got his when he went to his Uncle Larry’s a couple weeks ago with my parents.

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I also got a chance this week to photograph a bird we’ve seen sporadically and have nick-named Poop-head, our second leucistic Common Grackle to visit us this spring.

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With migration underway, the local birding can be pretty exciting.  We have dozens and dozens of birds to see that are back in the state already.  We’ll be looking up.