It was a beautiful day on the prairie – so much so that I was compelled to zig-zag home again from work.  More field “lakes” were opening up, so I started seeing ducks scattered on most every puddle.  There were lots of Red-tailed Hawks soaring around today.  I even found another Northern Harrier.  As I was driving by a Waterfowl Production Area, I saw a couple of Eastern Bluebirds.  They aren’t lifebirds for us, but they are still fun to see.  I wish they would have posed on the other side of the road so they would have been in better light, but even in bad light you can still see their beauty.

WPAs are great places to go birding or hunting.  It’s nice to reap the benefits of these taxpayer investments.  A couple months ago I was parked half on and half off a county road photographing some Horned Larks when a driver stopped to see if I was in trouble.  I explained I was just photographing birds, and the driver, a federal Fish and Wildlife Service employee said, “I like birders, but you birders are crazy!”  And then he added, “Buy a duck stamp!”  So, even if you are not a duck hunter or a crazy birder, maybe you want to consider buying a duck stamp for someone you know who likes birds.  The money helps acquire habitat for many cool species.

I continued my drive and found a large “lake” in some corn stubble just a mile or so from where we found the Lapland Longspurs two days ago.  Sure enough there were some ducks out there.  I scanned them looking for our target puddle duck that loves the prairie – the Northern Pintail.  I was looking into the western sun, but I found some!  Another lifer for me.  I snapped some pictures and then went home to get Evan so he could get #98.  I honestly was hoping that his #98 would be this bird because I’ve got a plan for #99 and #100.

I got home and told Evan he needed to help me with dog chores so we could go out and see his #98.  He asked me what it was.  I wasn’t telling him.  It drove him crazy to not know.  He must have asked me ten more times.  It only took us a few minutes to get to this “lake” from our house.  The ducks were further away, but with viewing the camera’s LCD, Evan clinched #98 – the Northern Pintail!  Again I had to shoot into the sun and from a long distance, but there is no doubt about what these guys are.

Can you find the Northern Pintail below?

I really wasn’t planning on birding today or trying to push Evan’s life list total.  Honest. We’re only after a couple species of ducks now, so it isn’t worth driving to Willmar each day just to scan through the hundreds of birds for the one we want.  Steve and I are keeping watch for each other’s target birds, and since he checks the lake each day we are just waiting for the call on our species.

Steve is doing a Big Year competition with his brother, and one of his latest targets is the Lapland Longspur, a sparrow-size bird that is only around in the winter.  Today when I left work I decided on a whim to take a different, albeit indirect, route home on some gravel roads.  I saw plenty of birds but nothing terribly interesting until I made my final turn just a mile from my house.  A large flock of darker sparrow-sized birds flushed into the corn stubble.  They fit the profile of the Lapland Longspur.  I watched them in the field for a bit and then texted Steve that I think I found his bird.

After supper Steve called me and said he wanted to come out to take a look.  Ten minutes later, Evan and I hopped into Steve’s car to look for our target.  I just expected we’d race out to the spot to check, but Steve has a keen eye and stopped to check out some birds along the way.  It’s a good thing we did because we might have missed this bird for #96 – the Western Meadowlark.

A couple minutes later we were at our destination, and I spotted movement in the black field in front of us right away.  We glassed the field and found our target, #97, the Lapland Longspur!  There were about 50 of these guys busily moving in the plowed field.  It was tough to get a decent picture.  We got to watch them for about 5 minutes before something scared them off.

This was classic birding to get our target and add a couple birds to our life lists all while helping a fellow birder.  So, what will Evan’s 100th be?  I’ve got something up my sleeve to make #100 extra special.  I’m just worried that we’ll hit 100 before this plan takes shape!

This morning I discovered a great little duck patch in the pond by the Bill Taunton baseball stadium in Willmar.  Last night was so cold that all the field “lakes” froze forcing the waterfowl to crowd up any open water.  As soon as I picked Evan up from school, we checked out this new spot. It was a fun mix of ducks that could be seen very close.  And Evan picked up #94 – the Green-winged Teal!

The number of beautiful species on this little “puddle” was a lot of fun.  The new life bird is in the foreground.

We decided to check out Foot Lake before picking up Marin from daycare.  Lots of birds were out there today.  There was another birder with a spotting scope, so we asked him if there was anything good out there.  Nothing new for us, but he pointed out the American Wigeon which was a life bird over the weekend.

This birder, Ron, also said there was a lone drake Northern Pintail on Willmar Lake just ten  minutes prior.  We hustled up there but did not find it.  It’s one of our last “regular” ducks to add to our life lists.

It was time to get Marin.  We picked her up and as we backed down the driveway, we saw a hawk fly right through the neighbor’s yard.  It was #95 for Evan and a lifer for me – the Cooper’s Hawk!

All this birding took place in a matter of 45 minutes or so.  Before I picked up the kids,  I had spent my day driving down to Stewart, Minnesota and back to deliver my taxes to my Uncle Larry.  It was fun to visit with them and do a little birding on the road.  It was a raptor day: 16 American Kestrels, 4 Red-tailed Hawks, 3 Northern Harriers, 1 Bald Eagle, and 1 unidentified raptor.  I also saw my first Eastern Bluebird of the season.  Here are a couple pics I snapped along my drive.  They are, in order: American Kestrel, Red-tailed Hawk, and Northern Harrier.

We got confirmation on our gull.  It was, in fact, the Franklin’s Gull.  This gull is a lifebird for  both of us, and it may be my turning point for taking an interest in seagulls.  It was a very cool find yesterday.

Evan is approaching the century mark on his life list tally.  It could happen any day.  This afternoon he and I went out birding while Marin napped and Melissa hid Easter eggs and prepared our Easter dinner.  As we drove along, Evan suddenly remembered that when he was at his friend Soren’s house yesterday, he found the Cedar Waxwing –  a life bird for him.  I have learned to trust Evan’s abilities as he is super observant about habitats, bird behavior, and bird identification marks.  However, I still have some doubts, so I quizzed him.  He told me the bird was in a berry tree (makes sense for the waxwing) and was with some American Robbins (that, too, makes sense).  I asked him if it could have been the female Northern Cardinal to which he replied, “No, Dad, I saw the yellow tip on its tail.  I was right under it!”  That detail clinched it.  Why do I doubt him?

There wasn’t much for ducks today.  I imagine with the increase in field “lakes” from the melting snow that our little hole on Foot Lake isn’t the only happening place anymore.  The few ducks around were taking their afternoon naps on this sunny, but cold day.  Like yesterday’s lifer, the Bufflehead:

We drove along and encountered a Killdeer hunting for worms.  Killdeer are a sure sign of spring.  Look how it listens for its prey.

Its hard work paid off!  I was pretty excited to see a nightcrawler today.  That has to mean to mean winter is finally over.

We were headed home when we spied not one, but two American Kestrels hunting from a wire on the opposing side of traffic of the four-lane we were on.  So we did some driving around and found ourselves on that side of the road to get a better look.  Evan claims this is a life bird even though I know I’ve pointed it out to him last summer.  I’ve been seeing one during my commute to work, and he has wanted to see it badly, so this was a good find today.  It was so much fun to watch this bird hunt.  It would dive down to about 10 feet above the ground and hover like a helicopter for about 10 seconds on rapidly beating wings before pouncing on the ground!  We never saw it come up with anything, but it was pretty cool to see a bird hover like that.

What will Evan’s 100th bird be?  Hopefully it’s something really cool.  I would bet it will happen by next weekend.

There are only so many “regular” ducks that come through our area that we are finishing up checking them all off our list.  Randy and Steve each know what we’re still looking for.  One of those was the Bufflehead.  Steve texted me saying they were on the lake this morning.  We headed in, but it was extremely foggy.  All we could see were blobs out on the water.  Bummer.

The haze hung on into the afternoon.  I needed to get a haircut this afternoon, so Evan and I went into to town together.  We’d try the lake one more time.  It was still pretty hazy, but at least we could make out bird species.  We got our Bufflehead lifer this time.  As I scanned the birds, a certain seagull stood out.  Normally I dismiss seagulls because the difference in species is so subtle, and I’ve never liked gulls.  This was something we had never seen – a seagull with a black head.  I snapped the best pictures I could to help me identify it.  There are a few species with heads like this.  It seems to combine features of a couple of them.  It was a life bird, for sure, but which one?

After our rare encounter with the Greater White Fronted Geese a couple days ago, Randy wanted to know of any lifers for us.  As novices, we may not know what is rare or not, and I don’t think he wanted to take the chance on missing something good.  So I called him up.  No answer.  I got home and emailed him the pics.  Within minutes he said he was heading out with his spotting scope to investigate.

He called me later, and said he found the gull and watched it.  However, he didn’t know what it was.  He saw it fly and dismissed the possibility of a Bonaparte’s.  He was going to study his books some more and perhaps send the photos off to some gull experts he knows.  So, we found something good, but what is it? Steve and I are leaning Franklin’s Gull.  What do you think?  For now, we just have to wait.

As I drove to and from work today, I saw a sure sign that spring is indeed coming – flock after flock of geese were flying in their V formations heading north!  Migration is an exciting time for birders.  We are checking out the hole on Foot Lake nearly every day for anything new.  Today after we did a family shopping trip for groceries, we stopped by our patch. There were lots of Hooded Mergansers and Wood Ducks tonight.  We also saw Mallards, Canada Geese, Gadwalls, Ruddy Ducks, Common Mergansers, an American Coot, Ring-necked Ducks, and Canvasbacks (top left of first picture).

The Wood Duck is my favorite duck of all time.  It was quite a treat to see several drakes together.

Here’s a shot of our lifer for today – the Canvasback.  They are the three white birds with dark reddish heads in the background.

As we were birding, Randy happened to drive up to glass the waters.  It was at least his second time today watching this spot – that’s how fast things can change this time of year. He pointed out a couple different species that we’d overlooked.  He told me that in all the years he’s watched Foot Lake in the spring, he has only seen the Greater White-Fronted Geese one other time.  He said we were pretty luck to see them yesterday. Huh, who knew?  I have no doubt we’ll be at the patch tomorrow.  You never know who will show up for birds…or birders.

This week I’ve been going through my normal work routine while Melissa and the kids are home on spring break.  It’s never easy to work while they’re at home, and this lingering weather only aggravates that fact.  Today, however, I got a nice pick-me-up when I checked my email.  At 11:00 Randy sent me a one-line email that said he had a Barred Owl 15 feet from his window and that he had just fed it a mouse.  The Barred Owl is a very cool bird that we just added to our life list a couple weeks ago.  I replied thanking him for letting me know, but I still had to put in 5 hours of work plus a commute home.  There was no way the bird would be around.  Well, Randy sent me another email at 4:00 saying the owl was still there.  I didn’t see it until 4:30 and hadn’t left work yet.  Was I too late?

On the drive I called Randy who said the bird was still there and that we were welcome to come watch it.  We were a half-hour out.  I contacted Melissa to tell her I would be in and out of the driveway to grab Evan.  Even though we’ve both seen this species, a twinge of nerves and excitement ran through my belly – would it be gone?  Would we be lucky to get two sightings in as many weeks?

When we got to Randy’s house, he calmly greeted us outside and asked Evan if he wanted to see the owl.  Evan excitedly nodded in his shy-way when he’s around new people.  Randy led us into the living room of his house which overlooks a mature woods and numerous bird feeders.  He stood in front of his patio door and did not point anywhere or look outside in any direction.  Instead, being the teacher he is, he faced us and said, “Let’s see how good you are.  If you stand right in this spot, you will have a clear view.”  Easy.  I stood and looked.  And looked.  Nothing.  “He’s about 20 yards away.” Still nothing.  Randy could tell we were looking high, and he said, “Look lower.”  Now I was getting frustrated with myself.  How could I not see an 18 in. bird in a tree?  After a couple of minutes of this, he finally pointed it out to us.  And here is the very cool Barred Owl that we saw.

You can see how the Barred Owl’s coloration blends into this backdrop of branches and snow.  No wonder it didn’t jump out at us.  Evan had the hardest time seeing it.  Both Randy and I lifted him up trying to point it out.  After several attempts like this he finally saw it.

After watching this cool bird along with all the other avian activity in Randy’s yard (We picked up a life bird – the Brown Creeper), it was time to go.  Foot Lake was on the way home, so we went to check out this new birding patch of ours.

There were hundreds of geese today.  As I glassed through all the Canadas from right to left, I saw a different species of goose – the Greater White-Fronted Goose – another lifer!  I had just learned about these geese a week ago when early migration reports were coming out of southern Minnesota.  These geese only pass through our state and don’t stay long.  What a pleasure it was to see them!  As I’ve said before, birding is a timely hobby.  What’s here today won’t necessarily be here tomorrow.

Can you pick them out below?  Hint: Look for the orange feet then look up.

I continued to glass all the geese, and I found another species of geese that was on my radar – the Cackling Goose – another lifer!  The Cackling Goose looks like the Canada, but is smaller, has a shorter neck, and has a stubby bill.  It was only recognized as a separate species in 2004. Can you find it in the picture below?

Here is a three goose picture that I got.  Do you see all three species?

We saw some species of ducks among all the geese: Mallards, Common Mergansers, Hooded Mergansers, Common Goldeneye, and Wood Ducks! Yes!

We also got to see a new life bird – the Ring-necked Duck!  Its name is a misnomer.  It actually doesn’t have a ring on its neck, but it does have one on its bill.

After showing Evan all the birds through the LCD, we headed to the neighboring Willmar Lake where there is also some open water.  More geese, but it was nice to run into this flock of Northern Shovelers!

Despite the wealth of life birds for us today and the owl sighting, Evan was eager to get home.  Melissa had planned to dye Easter eggs with the kids tonight, and Evan didn’t want to miss it.  A birding guide in northeastern Minnesota once described birding as one big Easter egg hunt.  I can’t think of a better way to put it.  There’s always something to look for in any location during any season.  Sometimes the eggs are easy to find, like an American Robin in your yard, and sometimes you need a more experienced person to point the egg out to you, like Randy showing us the Barred Owl.  We had a thrilling hunt today and got to put some really cool eggs in our basket.

Something’s gotta give.  This winter is clinging on with an iron grip.  Maybe it’s good, though, so I can get my taxes done without the distraction of warm weather and new birds coming through.  This morning I did just that and was in need of a break by afternoon.  It was time to go out and look for a bird or two.  Evan wanted to look for the American Kestrel I’ve been seeing a couple times on my commute to work.  But as I worked on my taxes, Steve texted me saying he went birding at Foot Lake in Willmar this morning and picked up a Wood Duck.  Now a Wood Duck is nothing new for us, but it is always a thrill to see, and it is definitely a sign of spring!  So we decided to check out the gymnasium-sized patch of open water on Foot Lake today.

Our vantage point was far away from the water, so I was using the camera as my binoculars to see what was out there.  We could see lots of Canada Geese with the naked eye, but some smaller birds – ducks – showed up in my view.  I snapped some pictures just for identification purposes.  It was tough to see the LCD outside, but once I got in the van I noticed we had some Common Mergansers mixed in with the Mallards and Canada Geese.

We went back out to look at them again, and this time we found the Hooded Merganser.  That was fun to see.  They are not all that common.  My camera was zoomed to the max, but you can see him at the edge of the water.

I’ve gotten smarter about how I use the camera I have – not for taking pictures, but for showing the kids the birds that are far away.  My camera has a flip-open LCD and a viewfinder.  I use the viewfinder for taking long shots, but I’ve started flipping open that 2.5″ LCD and showing the kids the birds and ducks up close.  Both Marin and Evan got some good looks today.

No Wood Ducks for us today, and we didn’t find the Kestrel afterwards.  We and the waterfowl are anxious for more open water.  Until then, we’ll keep checking this little patch for new migrants.  Hopefully we see fewer ice fishermen next time…

Out of the cloudy skies you burst onto our feeders.

We were thrilled.

You told your cousins.

We bought more feeders and more food.

You brought your second-cousins and ate. And ate.

We watched. And watched.

Your differences amazed us.

Your differences frustrated us.

Hoary? Common? 

Hoary! Hoary?

Definitely maybe a Hoary.

Your enemy followed you here. Pursued you. Got you.

We watched. Amazed. Neutral.

You made our trees sway with movement and POP with color.

We could stand another day of winter.

But you ate. And ate. And ate.

We were going broke. Broke. Broke.

You reminded us of winter’s icy, lingering grip.

We loathed you. We cut off your food. Time for you to head north.

You stayed for a time. You left.

Ahhh.

A mid-March blizzard brought you back.  In droves. Hungry.

But you brought a fellow countryman this time. A lifer.

The blizzard wasn’t so bad anymore – for us.

You endured the wind. The snow. The cold.

We felt sorry for you. Our food was gone.

The storm died. We caved. We bought you food.

Fill up for the flight home.  You really need to go now.

It’s not you. It’s us.

Come again, just not so soon.

No more Minnesota good-byes.

Farewell Canadian friends.