So it seems I wrote that previous blog post a tad prematurely. Yesterday I was fully living my life like migration was over – I slept in, scrubbed the deck, cleaned out two cars, and was gearing up to take the kids fishing in the afternoon. I was in full-on get ready for summer mode. Then I got a midday email from Randy who had checked out Carlson’s Dairy, an annually flooded field near a local dairy farm that is the go-to spot for shorebirds in our county. Randy said the place was hopping with about 90 peeps, 10 phalaropes, and 10 Stilt Sandpipers. A Wilson’s Phalarope would have been a life bird for Evan and a county bird for me, and the Stilt would have been new for both of us.
Though Evan had been asking repeatedly all morning when we were going fishing, I asked him if he wanted to make a quick run out to Carlson’s first. When he heard about those phalaropes, he was in. It was quite a sore spot for him last year when I got to see them without him.
We got out there and found the place full of tiny shorebirds.
All I could see were the peeps who are no bigger than sparrows. There were tons of them. It took my awhile but I finally located a phalarope. I certainly didn’t see 10. I zoomed in on it and showed it to Evan on the LCD. He was excited to get his Wilson’s Phalarope but then wanted to go right away. Birding doesn’t really compare to fishing to a 7-year-old. So I snapped a picture of this phalarope, just assuming it was a Wilson’s, the most likely species. Then I looked a little closer at the LCD and realized it was a male Red-necked Phalarope in breeding plumage! This was not a life bird as we saw a very drab version last August at the Atwater sewage ponds.
Male Red-necked Phalarope in breeding plumage
Now we had to stay for a bit because we hadn’t even gotten one of the two potential lifers there. I walked on the road to the view the north end of this pond, and I finally found the cache of phalaropes. These were definitely Wilson’s, so Evan got his life bird after all.
Wilson’s Phalarope
Then I spied some chunkier looking shorebirds that were bigger than the peeps but stockier than the phalaropes. The cloudy skies, distance, and strong wind buffetting my camera lens made it difficult to tell what they were. Were these our Stilt Sandpipers or a dowitcher of some sort? After looking back at my photos I could clearly see they were our Stilt lifers. It was interesting to read in the field guide, though, that they are compared to dowitchers in their behavior.
Stilt Sandpiper
“I’m not a dowitcher! Don’t shoot!”
It turns out that there was one more little surprise for us mixed in with the chunkier shorebirds – a couple of Dunlin! This was a life bird for both of us. This is also my kind of shorebird as there is no doubt about the identification with the black bellies and chestnut-colored backs. Awesome.
Dunlin
Three life birds for Evan, two for me, and a breeding plumage Red-necked Phalarope. I guess we better stay alert for a few more late migrants. As for the fishing report, Evan caught four Bluegill and quenched, albeit briefly, his thirst for fishing.
Later that evening we started working on our summer list of bird targets by going out with Randy. We were after anything marshy – Least Bitterns, American Bitterns, Soras, and Virginia Rails. We ended up hearing Soras and Virginia Rails which was pretty neat, but we did not see any. As Randy said, they are the kind of birds that you just have to get lucky with and bump into someday in order to get a good look. In the meantime we shall keep up the hunt for our targets and stay vigilant for any more late surprises.
I raced home to get Evan. It was only 7:20, so I still had time to get him, get the bird, and get him back for bed at 8. I whipped into the neighborhood and saw all the neighbors and neighbor kids were outside hanging out enjoying this gorgeous night. When they saw me pull up curb-side and not bother to pull in the driveway, they all knew I had seen something good and was there to pick up Evan. No time for small talk. I told Evan to hop in because I found us the Western Kingbird. In seconds, we tore off going back to the wire.
And then I noticed a third warbler, the Yellow-rumped! Though none of these warblers were terribly exciting, it was a thrill to have them invade our very own trees. I wondered what else was with this mini warbler wave, but we had to get to scout camp.
I wanted to keep photographing this bird, but it gave me the slip while I was checking on Hercules.
Though not as much fun as playing with dead wood, I photographed a couple of the more common warblers.
A Cape May is a darn nice bird and after getting some shots I was pleased with, I was feeling everything would be okay again even with round 2 of the recital on the horizon.
Sometimes the most unassuming dancers can hold your attention, like this Lincoln’s Sparrow. It is no warbler, but it is arguably one of the best sparrows.
I might be out chasing birds, but Melissa makes sure the ones here on the ranch are taken care of. She bought lots of jars of cheap grape jelly and this cool, mess-free feeder. I know, I said you don’t need a fancy feeder. It’s true, you don’t. Welch’s will not like the following statement either: you don’t even need name-brand jelly.
If you have kids I firmly think you should have a bird feeder of some sort. They are pretty exciting for everyone to watch. As Evan is in Cub Scouts and into birding, I’ve often thought that a great Eagle Scout project would be to erect and maintain bird feeders at a nursing home. If he’s still into both those activites in 10 years, I’ll suggest it.
It was quite the sparrow-fest in the yard today.
We even had a brief drop-in from a Clay-colored Sparrow.
My goodness did those kids play hard and long in the chilly, windy weather. I was content to let them do so. Melissa was ill and bed-ridden all day back home, and I figured we’d have a better shot at those ibises on the return trip the closer it got to evening.
It was pretty neat to see him working so hard at his name-sake – sucking sap.
So, the blog post could very well have ended right here since we struck out on all three targets. Thankfully, though, it doesn’t.
We spent a good deal of time driving up and creeping on these birds only to have them flush a short distance and always together as a group of five.
What a life bird this was. A small colony of them nest in South Dakota, so we do get them as scarce visitors every spring in Minnesota. I remember thinking last year what a strange bird this was and even more strange that it can be seen in our state.
This is one of those life birds that is expected in our area. We just hadn’t turned one up yet. They are quite scarce in relation to the other goose species. I always thought this one would be easy to get since Randy, the wise Yoda birder of Kandiyohi County, had said all you have to do is stand in your yard during migration, find a flock of Snow Geese going over your house, and look for the goose that’s 25% smaller than the rest. Seemed easy enough. Except we don’t get nearly the fly-over flocks that Randy does even though he’s just 5 miles to the west. And I’ve learned that Randy downplays how rare or scarce a bird is. I mean, he’s had a Lazuli Bunting and Yellow-crowned Night Heron in his yard, so why would a Ross’s Goose be so hard to him? I started to get clued in when I’d see people report Ross’s Geese on the listserv and get all excited about them on Facebook.
Nice eye, Evan. We ended up seeing two more of these guys after this. It’s always a fun bird to see.
