Thanksgiving- Family and Birds

For Thanksgiving, I made the drive from Minneapolis to Lansing, MI to spend some time with family. Although my stay was short, I certainly made the most of it. After spending Thanksgiving day with the family, I got relatively little sleep before heading for Holland State Park and Muskegon on the shore of Lake Michigan. My dad and I left Lansing early on Friday and got to Holland State Park just after sunrise. A friend, Rick Brigham, met us there. While we didn't see the Little Gull I was hoping for, we did see a couple Red-throated Loons, a fly-over Rough-legged Hawk, flocks of White-winged Scoters and Tundra Swans. Not a bad way to start the morning.

We then drove an hour north to Pere Marquette Park in Muskegon County. While there were no recent reports from the area, I always make a point to bird this county. Between Pere Marquette and the Wastewater, good birds can pop up at any moment. Once we got to Pere Marquette we started walking the breakwall. This breakwall is famous for hosting Purple Sandpipers every winter, but none had been reported for the past few weeks. However, it wasn't long before I spotted a shorebird working the rocks. Sure enough, Purple Sandpiper. The birds found here are notorious for being very obliging, and this one was no different.

Purple Sandpiper

We continued along the breakwall and scanned the north breakwall where we had our first two Snowy Owls for the day. On the way back, we had an adult Iceland Gull on the beach with the rest of the gull flock.

On to the wastewater were we quickly had another Iceland Gull. This one allowed better pictures and closer approach.

Iceland Gull

We accidentally flushed another Snowy Owl along the dikes, had a few flyover Snow Geese and a Peregrine Falcon. At the dump we had good gulling: 2 Great Black-backed Gulls, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 1 Thayer's Gull and at least 1 Glaucous Gull.

Thayer's Gull

We dawdled until sunset and we hoped to find Short-eared Owls. We had to wait until after sunset when it was quite dark for the birds to appear. Two Short-eared Owls put on a show for the last bit of remaining light. At this point, it was nearly impossible to get a photo, but that didn't stop me from trying. I managed one identifiable picture of the bird. Pulling this off was nothing short of a miracle. I'm not proud of the picture, but I'll count it!

Short-eared Owl

Three new photo birds in one day this far into the year is outstanding! Especially when I had no idea that these birds were around.

The next day I went with my uncle to Cleveland. Little Gulls were basically a given and a Red Phalarope was sticking around. We got there to find a mass of birders enjoying the Red Phalarope. Unfortunately, the bird has a broken leg. It was feeding and pooping and able to fly and it couldn't have been more cooperative. The bird was within spitting distance!

Red Phalarope

We worked the Bonaparte's Gull flocks all day but still couldn't come up with a Little Gull. We were on a time crunch and as we were already half-way back home, I got a text that a Little Gull had been found. Bummer! Fortunately, I still have time to get that bird for the year.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! With less than a  month left in the year, I'll be frantically trying to find new birds when school isn't consuming my life. Stay tuned!

Sax-Zim Bog Letdown

All of the recent Great Gray Owl sightings at the Sax-Zim Bog persuaded me to take a drive on Sunday (11/24). I spent 5 hours in the afternoon/evening searching for the reported Great Grays without luck. I'm sure they are still around, but they were hiding, and doing it quite well. Therefore, no new photo birds this weekend. I did see a porcupine, a sight I don't often see. I'll be heading back to Michigan for the Thanksgiving break where I'll search for Little Gulls, Short-eared Owls, Long-eared Owls and anything else that might show up. If that Red Phalarope sticks around in Ohio, perhaps I'll make the drive. Hoping for a few new ones by the end of the week!

Two weeks is too long. +2

On this dark and wet day in Minneapolis, I didn't wake early to go birding. Instead I slept in, had a great breakfast, and by 1pm was ready to go look at birds. It had been a full two weeks since my last time even picking up binoculars. To put this in perspective, the last time I had gone two weeks without birding was over 7 years ago!

Since there was a recent eBird report of 6 Gray Partridge south of the cities by only 45 minutes, I thought I'd go explore the area. I've looked for Gray Partridge only once or twice before, so calling them a "nemesis" bird isn't appropriate. More like a much overdue lifer. When we got to the location, the Great Western Industrial Park near Randolph, MN, it was dark and rainy... the exact opposite of what you want for taking pictures. To make matters worse, Gray Partridge are notoriously tough to find without snow (and even when there IS snow), and are often seen only in flight. Even if we did find them, I knew getting photos would be tough.

We walked the area where the Partridge were described from for a while, soaking our feet and pants, but no luck. As I turned to head back to the car, 5 birds flushed away from me. Gray Partridge! I rattled off a few pictures but, shooting at ISO 3200 against a dark sky isn't ideal. The photos leave much to be desired. Luckily, we saw where they landed. This time, when they flushed, there was a slightly better background. While these pictures may be the worst identifiable photos of Gray Partridge that exist, they are still identifiable.

Gray Partridge

Notice the rufous in the tail of both birds, and the rufous face, barely visible, on the top bird. No other game bird in North America will show these features. While Chukar have rufous in the tail, they lack the rufous face and are gray overall. I just barely pulled this off!

We decided to check Lake Byllesby. On the way, two male Ring-necked Pheasants were feeding along side the road. This is always a tough bird for me to SEE, so I was happy to have two very cooperative birds.

Ring-necked Pheasants

While the pictures today are far less than great, I'll take them given the conditions. Two new game birds for the year, and a long overdue lifer! New photo birds continue to get harder and harder to find. Stay tuned!

No Birding = No Birds

Apologies for my lack of posts lately. But, since my trip to Hawk Ridge almost 2 weeks ago, I haven't been out... at all. Its horrible. I've been very bogged down with school the past two weeks. However, I plan to get out once this weekend and once next weekend in hopes of cleaning up a few more birds while the weather is nice. Then, over Thanksgiving break, I'll have 2 full days to go birding in Michigan. So, hang in there. More birds will be coming soon. I promise.

Hawk Ridge and Duluth

I visited Hawk Ridge on 11/2 with one goal in mind; photographing a Northern Goshawk. When we arrived at 930am, there were Rough-legged Hawks and Bald Eagles already moving. A nice start. After an hour or so, a very pale Red-tailed Hawk soared right over us, in view for long enough to study the field marks, take pictures, and conclude we had just seen a Krider's Red-tailed fly by. In talking with the official counters, it sounds like maybe 1-2 are seen every fall. This was my first Krider's ever! While the Krider's was still in sight, a Northern Goshawk also started heading our way. It never came close, but it did come close enough for a few distant, identifiable pictures.

Krider's Red-tailed Hawk

Northern Goshawk

We left before noon and ventured to Wisconsin Point for some gulling. When I was an undergrad at Northern Michigan University, I spent 4 years gulling in the harbors just about daily. It became an addiction. Lately, I haven't been able to get my fix as I've lived too far from good gulling locations. Now, with Wisconsin Point only 2.5 hours away, I will be going more frequently. On my last visit a couple weekends ago we had Thayer's, Great Black-backed, Sabine's, Herring and Ring-billed Gulls. I was hoping for Iceland Gull this trip, but no such luck. I did spot what I believe to be a 2nd cycle Thayer's, an age class I don't see many of. At some angles, the primaries looked lighter than others. Here they look pretty dark. If someone wanted to argue "intermediate" between Thayer's and Iceland for this gull, I wouldn't argue back. A beautiful gull, though!

2nd cycle Thayer's Gull

We also had a very snazzy Western Grebe on the Minnesota side of the line. This was a full-on Western with no signs of intermediate or hybrid characteristics and one of the nicer ones I've seen on the Great Lakes.

 I still am managing to find new photo birds, one by one.

Next weekend, I may target Ring-necked Pheasant or Great Gray Owl. Stay tuned!

Boreal Weekend

This past weekend I ventured into northern Minnesota, leaving very early on Saturday morning. I first stopped at the Sax-Zim bog. Battling snow squall after snow squall, I finally made it just after sunrise. Given the conditions, it was still overly dark. Almost immediately after getting into the bog, a Snow Bunting jumped up from in front of the car, landing back on the road. I got out and did what I could to photograph this bird in dismal conditions.

Snow Bunting

I continued down the road and it wasn't long before I ran into another of my targets; 2 Ruffed Grouse were feeding along the road. A quick look in my rear-view mirror revealed another car coming up behind me. I pulled over as quickly as I could scrambling to get a few shots off before the other car flushed the birds. Not cool...

Ruffed Grouse

These two were easy... easier than I anticipated. Feeling productive, I drove the roads again looking for Great Gray Owls. One had been reported in the area 9 days ago, but I couldn't find it.

After finishing the Sax-Zim Bog, I took a drive to Hawk Ridge. I made a quick stop at Page Pond, west of Hawk Ridge, to look for the Winter Wren that was reported from there on eBird. It only took me a matter of minutes before this Winter Wren came in to investigate some pishing.

Winter Wren

At Hawk Ridge, I saw one Northern Goshawk but failed to photograph it. I'll be going back soon for another try. I didn't stay long as I wanted to get further north. My destination was the Pagami Creek Burn near Isabella Lake.

On my way to the burn I had a Spruce Grouse fly right in front of me. I pulled over and started investigating the trees where it looked like it landed. I couldn't see it, but it started making some growling sounds at me and then flew off further into the boreal. Yet another bird I'll have to track down later.

Shortly after the Grouse incident, while driving on Tomahawk Road leading to the burn, I found this Northern Hawk Owl. It was content hunting from alongside the road and didn't mind me at all. Unfortunately, the light was tough and I couldn't get a great picture. This was the highlight of the trip, and it wasn't even a new photo bird for the year!

Northern Hawk Owl

I was able to poke around the burn for about an hour before dark. I found 3 Black-backed Woodpeckers but no American Three-toed Woodpeckers. I found a nice place to camp and called it a night.

On Sunday (10/20), I woke at sunrise and spent 3 hours in the burn. Again, I failed to find any American Three-toed Woodpeckers but came up with at least 7 Black-backed Woodpeckers and tons of sparrows.

It was getting time for me to make the long drive back to St. Paul, but I wanted to make one more stop at Wisconsin Point/ Superior Entry to look for the Thayer's Gulls that were being reported. Luckily I arrived just as another group of birders started throwing moldy bread to the gulls. It wasn't long before an adult Thayer's joined the crowd.

Thayer's Gull

Thayer's Gull

Shortly after the Thayer's excitement, a juvenile Sabine's Gull showed up. What a great way to end the weekend! When I see this bird on one of the Great Lakes, it is usually very distant and through a scope. This one almost came too close!

Sabine's Gull

This was an excellent weekend! I added 5 new photo birds for the year, missed a few that I will have to track down later, had some unexpected sightings and got to explore some new areas in the state.

Hang in There

I haven't been birding much lately, and that is a direct result of grad school. But hang in there, I'll be searching for Winter Wren around the cities sometime in the next few days. On Friday or early Saturday morning I'll be heading north to the boreal forest. I've tried to make this trip happen two times already, but each weekend has been rained out. Lets hope this weekend is clear!

Targets up north include Ruffed Grouse, Spruce Grouse, Boreal Chickadee, Great Gray Owl, American Three-toed Woodpecker and Northern Goshawk (and perhaps a couple others I am forgetting). With so many options, I hope to run into at least a few.

Oh, There They Are

Today was a lot better for finding migrants than yesterday. I spent a couple hours this morning at Old Cedar Ave Bridge area near the Minneapolis Airport. Things started off with a bang. Right as I exited my car, a group of at least 30 Franklin's Gulls were moving along the river.

Once I got into the woods, things were a lot slower and it was hard to pick up any migrants other than Orange-crowned and Yellow-rumped Warblers. I kept going and finally heard the unmistakable calls of Rusty Blackbirds somewhere near me. I tracked them down and had a total of 5 birds chasing each other. My first new photo bird in a long time!

Rusty Blackbird

I then ran into a big group of White-throated Sparrows and was sure I would get a Harris's in the bunch. I worked them over and over again, but alas, no Harris's. I turned around and took a different path back, one I had never been on before. That is when I spied a flock of sparrows flitting about the road. I was disheartened to see they were mostly Song Sparrows; but then a White-crowned. Then it finally happened. A youngster Harris's Sparrow came in to investigate some pishing.

Harris's Sparrow

Two new photo birds in one morning right here in Minneapolis! Can't complain about that.

On the way back I found another flock of sparrows that held yet another Harris's! I'll likely see them everywhere now. Also had a getting-lateish Blackpoll Warbler that eBird flagged. Here it is.

Blackpoll Warbler

Now I just need to track down a Winter Wren. Still a lot of reports of them flowing through eBird so I imagine I'll see one sooner rather than later... I hope.

New Photo Birds are Everywhere!

... everywhere except where I am looking that is. The past few days have seen a huge rise in the amount of Harris's Sparrow, Winter Wren and Rusty Blackbird reports on eBird. I finally had some time to go look for them. Of course, they chose to hide today.

I did re-find a Le Conte's Sparrow at the General Mills Research Natural Area near Minneapolis. Apparently there were 50 White-throated Sparrows and 6 Harris's Sparrows yesterday, but I couldn't find either.

Le Conte's Sparrow

Le Conte's Sparrow was not a new photo bird, but was only the second one I have seen this year. The other was in Florida in the winter, so it was a welcomed sight. It is hard to ever tire of these gorgeous sparrows.

I'll be out birding around the cities tomorrow if the weather cooperates. It looks like it is going to rain for the majority of the day, but hopefully I can get some birding in between storms. I also hope to be birding on Sunday and Monday. Fingers crossed!

Pledge Update

It has been a while since I have updated folks with how the fundraising has been going. Huge thanks to the eBird team for supporting this endeavor by advertising it on their website. With the generosity of many birders and wildlife enthusiasts, we have raised $7.15/bird species photographed, along with another $110 in flat-rate pledges. With the birds I currently have photographed, this comes out to almost $4000 for Hawaiian bird conservation! Hopefully we can get a few more pledges throughout the rest of the year. Lets get to the $5000 mark!

Thank you to everyone who has been supporting this big year! I'm having a blast and the money will go to a very important cause. There is still plenty of time to contribute, and all pledges are 100% tax deductible! See here for more information.

Thanks again! I'll be birding for the majority of the coming weekend, so look for more updates soon.