The reaction in our household to the snowpocalypse heading our way tonight is mixed. The kids and non-shoveling adults are excited. I am in denial and thinking back on warm, sunny days in Arizona to cope. Just like the warm, snow-less fall was fun while it lasted, so too were the AZ trips of two dozen+ lifers. In both accounts, those days are long gone. While the state still holds a hefty amount of lifering potential for me, the hunt for new birds in the state is becoming more challenging. I had modestly hoped for about a dozen new birds on this trip but fell far short of that: 7. This post will highlight 6 of those lifers. The 7th was the main target bird of the trip and will get its own post.
The very first morning after we arrived in AZ, my dad and I drove up to Gilbert in the predawn to join forces with Tommy DeBardeleben and Gordon Karre to look for a couple lifers. One of the oddest targets I’ve had in Arizona was an out-of-place Tricolored Heron that had become a regular at the Gilbert Water Ranch. The other target bird for the morning was a Black Vulture. We met Tommy and Gordon at the Gilbert Water Ranch where Tommy devised a plan in which he would scour the 7 ponds at GWR for the slippery Heron while Gordon would take us over to Mesa where the Black Vultures roost. The Vultures roost on power poles along a street bordering Leisure World, a gated retirement community where only people over the age of 55 can enter. Oddly, or not so oddly, this is really the only reliable place in the Phoenix area to get this Vulture. Whether it’s the beckoning sun or the knowledge that Leisure World didn’t produce the previous night, the Vultures take flight not long after sunrise. Gordon had been scouting for us and knew we had to be there on time in order to see them. It pays to have a good guide because he was absolutely right.
We spent quite a bit of time watching several of these birds and their Turkey counterparts, hoping for more sunlight and a chance to see their distinct underwing pattern in flight. But they just sat and sat…
Eventually they did lift off allowing us to see the white “hands” of the underwing, but I wasn’t able to capture a photo of it. Later in the trip, though, I spied a small kettle of this new-to-me Vulture and was able to photograph them in flight.
While I was Vulture-hunting with Dad and Gordon, Tommy called saying he had located the Tricolored Heron. So we headed over. Unfortunately it was distant and horribly back-lit and not providing the shocking, up-close looks a lot of birders have gotten of it recently. Tommy and I spent a lot of time trying to find a way to get closer to the bird but we were striking out. On our way out of GWR, we spotted it flying to a better location and I was able to get some photos.
After this brief morning outing with the main objective birds secured, we parted company with Tommy and Gordon–we would all later be meeting up that evening in Madera Canyon in southern Arizona to go after the #1 bird of the trip. Once the family was all settled in our Green Valley hotel, Dad and I headed out once again to meet Tommy and Gordon at the Santa Rita Lodge. After watching a couple Magnificent Hummingbirds on the feeders, we decided to use the last half hour of daylight to try for one more lifer, a Rufous-winged Sparrow. Tommy knew just where to go, and he did not disappoint.
The next lifer of the trip took place on that dark night in Madera. More on that later, but the next morning we were on the hunt for lifers again, taking the De Anza Trail near Tubac. As was mentioned in the last post, several good non-lifers were had. The lifering was a bit slower than expected, but we eeked out a couple. First one was the Pyrrhuloxia. Now for my Minnesota friends who may not have a clue how to say that bird’s name, it is pronounced, “Purr-lux-ia”. Even though I was hoping to see a male, it was still rewarding to at least see a female of the species.
The only other lifer on this walk was a Gray Flycatcher that Tommy detected. I continue to be amazed by how much I find myself liking Empids.
Finally, the last lifer is one I picked up in the desert scrub around the hotel. Lifering around the parking lot while waiting for the family has become sort of a tradition now. While last year I picked up Rock Wren and Cassin’s Kingbird lifers at the hotel, this year I found a cheerful little flock of Brewer’s Sparrows.
I’m saving the best for last and putting it in a post all on its own. Nightbirding usually means one thing: Owls. Coming up is a multimedia post of our successful night. Stay tuned!
Sabine’s Gulls are a rare but expected species throughout the Minnesota during September. What wasn’t expected was a bird that turned up two weeks later in Carver County–a first state record Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, a bird from Siberia. They mostly show up in Alaska but are also seen occasionally in the lower 48 along the west coast. This find by Pete Hoeger and Bob Williams was absolutely remarkable. Consequently, Randy Frederickson and I chased this bird together after work on September 21st. The hordes were out in full force for this mega. Initially when we arrived, we and the 20 other people there couldn’t find it even though it had been spotted 10 minutes before we showed up. After a good 20 minutes filled with much internal panic everywhere, one of the birders got us on the bird. The wind, distance, and similar looking juvenile Pectoral Sandpipers made spotting and re-spotting the bird a tough task. Photography was a nightmare; I would have to settle for diagnostic photos in these conditions. But considering I never thought I would ever, ever see this bird in my life, I’m not complaining.
By birding standards I’ve actually been celebrating Birth Quarter instead of just Birth Month. The great birds have continued long past September. I’ve been to Arizona and back already, so there will be more stories of lifering and night-owling with the famous Tommy DeBardeleben of TOBY fame. There have also been good birds back home, including a new county record that I found. Lots of excitement coming at you on the blog in due time…
Evan was quite pleased to get his lifer Tiger Salamander. The Le Conte’s was just not a big deal to him. In fact, when I noticed a promising-looking patch of prairie that butted up to a cattail slough, he declined to walk it with me, opting instead to stand in one spot observing, whittling, etc. It was on this solo walk-about where the magical moment finally happened: I flushed a Sparrow from the prairie hillside toward the cattail slough in front of me. I advanced, somewhat hopeful, and stopped about 15 feet short of where it landed. I gave a little pish, and a yellowish bird popped up to investigate. I knew what it was before I even pulled up the binoculars. Then, with the sun at my back, I looked through the binoculars and finally saw this striking lifer. What a thrill–and to experience it so close to home made it even better. Not only did I finally get this lifer, but a little more pishing allowed me to get some photographs before it disappeared into the cattails forever.
And with that I met back up with Evan and went home. It was perfect. Finding the last regular lifer I can possibly get in the county on such a beautiful day was bittersweet. I don’t know how many more lifers, if any, I will get in the county, but it doesn’t matter. This was a day to remember.
That pretty much sealed the deal for them, but for added insurance I got seats which put Evan in a position of high probability to check off a major bucket-list item. It worked.
Having the entire family on the jumbo-tron and on TV was the icing.
I mean, seriously, an indoor/outdoor pool where you can actually swim under the freaking wall of the hotel–how cool is that? This is the kind of thing that blows kids’ minds.
So what about the birds? Let’s get on with it then. I had a number of targets of regular breeders in this central part of the country. The first one I targeted is one that has caused me heartache on a couple of occasions in Minnesota, the Least Tern. Since this bird breeds in shallow rivers with sandbars, Omaha is a great place to go after them because of the nearby Platte River. Unfortunately, though, it was getting late in the year to find any, and my chances were slim. Regardless, we were going to give it a try, checking out a couple of spots on the way to our Omaha hotel. The first stop was a place I’d been watching on eBird for months and was eager to see, a sandpit lake in Fremont, Nebraska.
I’ve been yearning to see that bright yellow-bill for awhile. My family waiting in the car probably didn’t even notice the fist-pumping going on outside over this lifer.
Getting a lifer at the first stop for that species keeps the non-birding family happy. And even better (for them) was that this bird only stuck around for 10 minutes before flying off forever.
It was finally time to get to our hotel–Marin was getting antsy for a pool fix. The Heron lifer felt good, really good, but I was still bummed about the lack of Scissor-tailed Flycatchers. Then just 20 minutes from the hotel, I spied one on a fence and turned around for some looks. It was a STFL alright, but a nub-tailed one and not the big male I was hoping to see. Hopes for that, along with a few other birds, would have to be pinned on Day 3.
Shortly afterward we heard another hoped-for/expected lifer, the Carolina Wren. Eventually I got to see a couple of them. Their tea-kettle song is awesome.
After giving up on the Painted Bunting search, we headed out into the countryside south of Kansas City. Malcolm had some ideas about where to find Scissor-tailed Flycatchers. And find them, we did.
We never found any with super-long tails, but at one point we had about 30 of them all together on the wires and fences around us. It was a crazy, cool sight even if most were nubby.
Some had tails of decent length, enough to showcase the big forked-tail when they flew.
After enjoying the pile of Scissors for awhile, Malcolm took me to a spot to look/listen for Northern Bobwhite. We weren’t having any luck, so for the heck of it I tried playing a recording. Almost immediately a Northern Bobwhite called back! We never did see one, so this bird will have to enter the life list as a heard-only. I’m okay with that.
Malcolm had told me that MIKIs catch dragonflies on the wing, and that’s exactly what this one had done.
But then I noticed there was a juvenile MIKI. That dragonfly was the dinner that its mom or dad brought back for it.
After the dragonfly transfer had been made, the adult took to the skies to find another. Seeing these birds glide around gracefully like their namesake is quite the sight.
Having now seen one fly, Evan and I are certain we did see one the previous day on the way to the Twins game. This experience has also given me confidence that I would recognize this unique silhouette should I see it in the skies over Minnesota some day.
It was fun to return to this area. Two years prior, Randy Frederickson, Evan, and I came up here for a tidy haul of good birds in one trip: White-winged Dove, Cattle Egrets, Black-necked Stilts, and Loggerhead Shrike. This time I was looking for another great gift from Grant, and luckily, I found it.
Initially I couldn’t find it and panicked since Joel Schmidt had just been there before me and assured me it was still there. It took me a good ten minutes to finally spot it, and I may or may not have been crabby and short with the kids during those tense first few minutes as they loudly pestered one another in the backseat to fight off the boredom. But with the chubby red bird now officially in sight, I was much more at ease and took things in stride.
Eventually Joel and I found the Buff-breasteds and eventually I did get those kids home. After all, we had a lot of things to do at home, like get ready for out-of-state birding trip to grab some lifers and do some other fun things. That story is coming next.
The other highlight was when Tommy picked out the sound of a calling Yellow-billed Cuckoo, a county bird for me! Once again, Tommy gives back! So in three successive days, this bird went from life bird to state bird to county bird. But it still was a no show. Someday.
…and two Blue-winged Warblers, a very good bird for central Minnesota.
Another fun find I had one evening when I went out to a local wildlife management area was a completely unexpected county Least Bittern. Though I had a killer look at one flying toward me, I wasn’t able to get any photos but did record two Least Bitterns giving their “chuckling” call. You may have to turn up the volume.
The three of us got out of the car to enjoy this easy lifer. Then I looked back toward the vehicle and spied a second bird in a waterway that had been hidden by some trees. This one was much closer to the road and gave us some great photo ops.
As we watched this Crane, something special happened. This one threw back its head and bugled for us! It was the loudest and coolest thing I’ve ever heard come out of a bird. It sounded kind of like a Trumpeter Swan, only much more impressive. Speaking of impressive, this bird stands at 52″ tall before it does this. That’s roughly the same height as Evan.
The three of us really enjoyed watching these birds.
Here are Evan and Tommy each observing a different Crane. The one Tommy is looking at is visible in the photo. Evan is looking at the first one we found.
The Whooping Crane is one massive bird:
This cooperative bird eventually flew off and joined the much more distant Whooper. So the three of us decided to keep exploring Necedah. Necedah ended up being a phenomenal birding spot, so much so that I will save the rest for a different post and just focus on the Cranes from there in this post. I’ll just say that Necedah plays host to some other beautiful birds, who are also struggling in numbers.
The Visitors Center also allowed us a humorous reprieve from the serious birding with some clowning around and a photo op.
As I was monkeying with the settings for the self-timer on my camera, I ended up getting this gem on accident.
Once we hiked through the prairie habitat and into the woods, we walked along a trail on glacial ridge where the slopes quickly became quite steep on each side of the trail. Thanks to some great insights from Washington County birding guru, Pete Nichols, we cut down one of these slopes on a goat path of sorts to reach the creek in the ravine below. This was the promised land for BOTH the Louisiana Waterthrush and the Acadian Flycatcher. It did not take long for us to hear the sharp “Pit-se!” call of our shared Acadian lifer. Arriving at the creek bottom, Tommy instantly pointed out the chip note of the Louisiana Waterthrush, which had the honor of being my 400th life bird. The bird showed well for us but would not sit still. Its song was beautiful as it rang through the ravine.
Confession: I’m starting to really like the Empids, at least the eastern ones. Though the five are difficult to differentiate visually, their unique habitat choices and equally unique songs make identification a lot easier than I once thought. Hearing this Acadian Flycatcher was much more fun than just seeing it.
An equal auditory delight was the Louisiana Waterthrush. It was loud. We had at least two different birds. This one below put on an impressive spinning and tail-bobbing display on this log right in front of us.
Tommy and I became absorbed in our separate pursuits spending more time than we anticipated in our searches. Is that a Scarlet Tanager? Nope, just a super content Evan who kept busy the entire time playing in the creek. Good thing he wore his water boots.
Another lifer for Tommy that we both enjoyed up close was the Veery.
The Veery’s song is the best. It’s unmistakable song can often be heard throughout the deciduous woods of Minnesota. Never before I had I actually seen one sing.
Coming up is one more Minnesota post with Tommy about a rare Warbler we went after for Tommy’s life list. And then we will cover our side trip to Wisconsin to search for two endangered species. Stay tuned.
Arctic Tern is casual in Minnesota with most records showing up in Duluth. I never really expected to add this to my life list because A) I’d have to be in Duluth at the right time and B) I’d have to be standing next to an expert birder who could help me differentiate this species from the Common Tern while it flew in the distance.
I had thought the Tern was resting on its belly, but I guess its legs are just that short that it only appeared that way. I was hoping to catch the Tern in flight to see the diagnostic dark trailing edge of the primaries. I didn’t get to see it fly, but some other birders did see it fly and captured that field mark in photos. The bird appeared quite lethargic to me, understandable considering the Arctic Tern is famous for its migration from the Antarctic to the Arctic breeding grounds and back each year, a minimum of 24,000 round-trip miles as the crow flies. And we all know Terns don’t fly like Crows. Research with tracking this species has shown that they typically put on 44,000 miles a year. This bird was probably quite wore out and chose the most random of stops to rest.
Keeping the Tern company was an American Avocet which is not that rare of bird this far west in Minnesota. Avocets have almost become something of a trash bird on this blog this year. Who would’ve thought?
Since the Black-necked Stilts are a good bird for MN and since they had been relocated while I was on my way to the Tern, I decided to check up on them too. The Stilts would not even be a state bird, but I won’t pass up a chance to see some easy ones that are nearby. They are still quite revered here and have not attained the trash nickname of ‘Mud Poodles’ as they have in some other states.
Three great birds, two of which were casual species and one of which was a lifer, made for a great day of birding. Terns out I made the right decision to chase when I did. Unfortunately for Randy and Steve, they were not able to relocate either the Arctic Tern or the Black-necked Stilts the next day.
On the way out of Salt Lake I ran into Herb Dingman just heading in. He, of course, was disappointed to hear my report but decided to look anyway. I told him to call me if it showed before I got too far away. That call didn’t come…until I was 15 minutes from home. Herb had seen it. I couldn’t turn around; I had obligations at home before my parents came to visit.
This felt great and made up for the double dip. Dad and I continued to check Salt Lake for the Tern who did not keep any kind of regular schedule. We were not successful, but we did enjoy some of the native grassland birds, like Bobolink and Dad’s favorite, Western Meadowlark.
With no luck on the Tern, we decided to try one last time for the Bunting. Nothing. Grasshopper Sparrows are nice, just not LABU nice.
After church, the dreaded news came: the Tern had been re-sighted at Salt Lake. I hemmed and hawed over going back a third time. This bird had burned me bad. Finally I gave in. It is only 1.5 hours away. Dad and I hopped in the car for another chase. This time I was smart about it, though. ABWCH reader, Tod Eggenberger, had been there all day, left to go home, and turned around once he saw the news. He was 30 miles away. I asked Tod to keep me in the loop and let me know if this unpredictable, elusive bird were to give people the slip again. Unfortunately for Tod, he missed it by 5 minutes before the bird vanished again forever. Fortunately for me, I got the news before I reached the halfway point to Salt Lake. I decided I would go that far in case there was positive news. There wasn’t. So I turned around at the predetermined spot and cut my losses. Take that, you stupid Tern!