Impromptu Trip to Atlanta Yields 7 Georgia Statebirds, October 2-4, 2025

One of the organizations I volunteer for was planning a meeting on the southern South Carolina coast in October 2025.  Of course, I would take advantage of the trip to include some birding in route and while on the coast.  I scanned my Needs Alerts for SC but came up empty.  But since I’d be close to Georgia maybe there might be some coastal birds or fall migrants to pursue just over the state line.  There were a couple records of migrant passerines I needed, but they looked iffy at best.  Instead, there were far more possibilities in northern GA.  I started to wonder if I could swing by the greater Atlanta area on the way home from the SC coast.  But that would make for a very long time on the road.

As I had more or less given up on the possibility of seeing any new statebirds on this trip, my SC meeting got canceled.  Hmm…  I had already blocked out several days to be away from home in early October.  And the statebird potential was pretty good in northern GA. Why not just head directly to the greater Atlanta area and forget about SC altogether?  Atlanta was closer than the SC coast anyway.  My impromptu trip to Atlanta was a go!

With a bit of research, I came up with 3 key targets, or groups of targets, for my trip.  The first was a group of long-staying Limpkins in Clayton County a bit south of Atlanta - I felt pretty good at my chances for this one.  My next targets were migrant passerines.  Numerous species popped up on my Needs Alerts, though none were seen regularly at any specific location, nor in good numbers.  Lastly, I targeted several shorebird species that were reported at a sod farm north of Atlanta.  Though the last report of these birds was a full week before my trip.  Overall, I felt like it would be a successful trip if I saw the Limpkin, 1 new migrant passerine, and 1 new shorebird species.  That would be a rather long trip for just 3 new state birds, but since I had the time available, why not. 

October 2 – Limpkin Search

Ever since the big Limpkin irruption year in 2023 I’ve noticed large numbers of Limpkins reported at the Clayton County Water Authority Lake Blalock hotspot.  These birds have apparently colonized this spot and are likely breeding.  That was the good news.  The bad news is that the birds have been around so long that few of the recent checklists included details for finding the birds.  Plus, the hotspot title included the phrase “limited access”, so I wasn’t even sure if I’d be able to access the spot.  Luckily, I found a couple birders who had recently seen the Limpkins that had eBird profiles with e-mail addresses.  I was able to get the scoop from them on how to buy a daily pass to the site, and that the birds were most often seen at the western end of the lake. 

Armed with those details, finding my target birds was actually quite easy.  I got my daily pass, drove a short distance to the parking lot at the western end of the lake, took a short walk to the water’s edge, and started scanning the shoreline of a nearby island.  Within a few seconds I found a Limpkin foraging along the shore (GA statebird #1).  And with a bit of scanning found 3 more feeding nearby.

My statebird map for Limpkin is inserted below.  I’ve only seen this species in its regular range in light-blue-shaded FL.  The 5 dark blue states (SC, NC, TN, TX, and now GA) are those where I’ve seen it as a rarity.  To think that before the 2023 irruption I had only seen Limpkin in FL. 

October 3 – Passerine and Shorebird Searches

My Needs Alerts for migrant passerines included multiple species, and multiple locations for most.  But no specific sites seemed to stand out as the most likely ones for my targets.  So I reached out to several GA birders to see where they would suggest.  One birder commented that migrants were better in both riparian and wet/weedy open habitats.  And all included one site in their suggestions – the Cochran Shoals Unit of the Chattahoochee River NRA.  My GA birding friend Bob Johnson gave me great details regarding how to bird that site, including birding an area along the river where nearby boardwalks go through wet scrubby areas.  That satisfied both the riparian and open habitat recommended conditions.  It seemed like Cochran Shoals might well be a prime spot so I chose that location as my starting point for the morning of the 3rd.  Now I just needed the birds to cooperate. 

I arrived in the Cochran Shoals parking lot just before sunrise and was surprised how many joggers and cyclists there were.  But the trail along the river was wide enough that hopefully we all could keep out of everyone’s way.  Here’s a shot of the river just as the sun was beginning to rise.

I got to the boardwalk area that Bob had recommended and was just about to walk into the wetlands when I noticed some movement in the trees right along the river.  It turned out that there were quite a number birds flitting around in the treetops.

I stayed there for an hour or more and had 9 warbler species in the trees, dominated by Redstarts, Black-and-whites, Magnolias, and Parulas.  Then I spotted a bird fly in with fine streaking below.  And with a closer look it turned out to be a Cape May, which was soon joined by a second one (GA statebird #2).

I then made my way to the boardwalk and found several Hooded Warblers, and a surprise Sedge Wren right along the boardwalk.  A bit later I heard sharp chip notes coming from the wet understory and eventually got great looks at a Northern Waterthrush (GA statebird #3).  GA is now my 34th state where I’ve seen this species.  The cross-hatched states are those where I’ve yet to see Northern Waterthrush in its regular range – 11 more to go.

I came back out to the main trail along the river and noticed a couple birders walking toward me.  They were local birders Rick Sellers and Pierre Howard who bird that site frequently.  They told me about a couple other areas to bird along the river, and we birded together for the rest of the morning.  We came up with a couple other good birds including a second Sedge Wren, and a few more warblers here and there.  They also took me to an area called the Vireo Trail that had some nice brushy understory.  Living up to its name we got Yellow-throated and Red-eyed Vireos here.  And most importantly I spotted an Empidonax flycatcher that was bright yellow below with a yellow throat - an adult Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (GA statebird #4).  Interestingly, the local eBird reviewers don’t accept silent Yellow-bellies without photos, though they are accepted here in western NC. 

We finished the morning with 55 species featuring 12 warblers, 3 vireos, and 4 Catharus thrushes and Wood Thrush.  It was great birding with Rick and Pierre.  In fact, birding was so good that morning that we decided to meet up there again the next morning. 

Next, I was onto the Etowah Indian Mounds Sod Farm north of Atlanta to try from some shorebirds.  Exactly a week earlier there was a checklist from this hotspot that included 4 of my targets - Golden-Plover, Buff-breasted, Baird’s and Pectoral.  But there had been no reports, positive or negative, from that site since.  I connected with a local birder familiar with the site who said that a week ago there had been heavy rains that flooded parts of the fields attracting those shorebirds.  But the sod had since dried up and local birders knew that meant the shorebirds were long gone.  I was tempted to pass on the site as a result, but I had the time and directions so I decided to give it a try.

There are 2 main viewing points onto the sod farm – one for the southern half and another for the northern half.  I first pulled into the southern pulloff and my eyes went right toward a small wet area in the distance – maybe I was going to be in luck after all.  But despite several scans I could only find Killdeer walking around the muddy area and neighboring sod.  I then started scanning the dry areas and found good numbers of Killdeer, but nothing else.  But then while scanning a more distant part of the farm to the southeast I spotted a more upright plover walking across the sod.  I increased the magnification on my scope to get a better look – tall upright plover with broad white eyeline and dark cap.  I had an American Golden-Plover (GA statebird #5).  Here are 2 distant phonescoped shots of the bird. 

Then with some additional scanning of adjacent areas I picked up 6 more Golden-Plovers.  Not bad for a bird that hadn’t been spotted for a week.

As they say on the TV commercials: “But wait there’s more…”  While scanning the Plovers another time to make sure I had an accurate count I noticed a pair of browner shorebirds a bit smaller than the Plovers.  They were Pectoral Sandpipers (GA statebird #6) – undoubtedly one of the most common species that I still needed in GA.  I’ve now seen Pectorals in all but 3 states in the continental US.

I was pretty confident that I had seen all the shorebirds present in the southern half of the farm, so I drove down the road a bit to the pulloff overlooking the northern areas.  This time I found a larger flooded area, and it was full of peeps.  I counted 62 Leasts and 5 Semis, along with 3 more Pectorals, a Solitary, 4 Snipe, and a Greater Yellowlegs.  I looked hard for Baird’s or something better, but to no avail.  Then in a more distant pond I spotted a pale bird that was very active – running along the banks, and swimming in the pond.  I thought it could be a Wilson’s Phalarope but couldn’t quite eliminate a more likely Lesser Yellowlegs.  Here are 2 miserable distant shots of the bird.

I ended the day with 5 new statebirds, and now 6 for the trip.  And I still had one more morning of birding ahead of me.

October 4 – Another Passerine Search

Given our success at Cochran Shoals on the 3rd, Rick, Pierre and I decided to head back there for a morning of birding on the 4th.  I once again arrived at dawn and headed to the boardwalk area where we had so many birds the day before.  But soon it was obvious that we wouldn’t have the same kind of morning, with fewer birds passing through the area.  I decided to return to the main trail to get a different view of the area.  And just after I arrived, I spotted a Cuckoo flying by – it had limited rufous in the primaries so I was hopeful that I had a Black-billed.  Luckily it landed in the open in the understory.  Lower perches are more typical for Black-billed so the evidence was mounting.  It started to preen, and as it preened its tail I got a good look at the underside which was mostly dark with limited white.  And then finally I got to see the all-black bill.  I had a Black-billed Cuckoo (GA statebird #7).  I still need this elusive species in a lot of states especially in the central part of the country.

Later we found at least 2 Yellow-billed Cuckoos, both perching higher in the trees which is typical for this species.  We finished the morning with 11 warbler species, 4 vireos, and 50 species total.  Not bad for a slow morning.  As lunchtime neared, I decided to call it quits and start the drive home.  I wished Rick and Pierre well, and hoped that we could bird again together either in north GA, or back home in western NC. 

I ended the trip with 83 species including 7 additional statebirds, obviously much better than the 3 I had hoped for.  That brings my GA state list to 279.  It would be nice to try to get to 300 someday, but there aren't too many easy birds left.

Red Phalarope, Spartanburg, SC, September 17, 2025

On the evening of the 16^th a report came across the South Carolina Rare Bird Alert of a Red-necked Phalarope in Spartanburg County.  That’s a great bird for the upstate of SC!  But with a quick check of my SC list I realized that wasn’t one I needed for the state.  Then a bit later there was another post on the RBA saying that review of the Phalarope photos suggested it might actually be a Red Phalarope.  That’s even rarer, and this one I needed for my SC state list.  There were lots of posts on the RBA that evening including several from birders who planned an early morning trip the next day to confirm the ID.  That is assuming the bird was still there.

Early morning on the 17th I watched the RBA anxiously for updates.  Finally in mid-morning came the update I was hoping for – the bird was still there and it was indeed a Red Phalarope.  The bird was being seen in a runoff retention pond at the Dollar Tree Distribution Center just outside Spartanburg.  That was just an hour away so certainly close enough to chase.  I was free to go by mid-afternoon and left the house at 2:45 to start the drive.

I had never been to the Dollar Tree hotspot so I researched the site a bit on GoogleMaps.  The pond the Phalarope was likely foraging in was between the road and the large warehouse, which was very obvious as I pulled up. 

As I was parking on the grassy shoulder right next to the pond I took a quick glimpse of the open water.  Even before the car had come to a stop, I spotted a very pale (almost white) shorebird feeding out in the middle.  Did I have my target?  With a quick binocular look I confirmed I had the Red Phalarope!  The bird fed cooperatively right in front of me, allowing me to get this phonescoped shot

That’s certainly much easier than looking for a Red Phalarope from a rolling boat on a pelagic trip!  Also foraging in the pond were a Sanderling and a Stilt Sandpiper – more rare shorebirds for the Upstate.  But none as rare as the Phalarope. 

Red Phalarope was #313 for my SC state list, and the 14th state where I’ve seen this species.  In my statebird map below, the light blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen it within its regular range – mostly on pelagic trips.  Cross-hatched Oregon is the last state where I can still see Red Phalarope relatively easily from shore.  And the 8 dark blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species as a rarity, all as inland sightings.

 

Say’s Phoebe (or was it Western Kingbird?), Buncombe County, NC, September 8, 2025

At 4 PM on September 8th several photos of a flycatcher at the Biltmore Estate were posted on the local Blue Ridge Birders text group.  The bird was bright yellow below, and the initial posted ID was of a Great Crested Flycatcher.  But several group members (including me) thought it was a Western Kingbird.  That’s a great bird for the area, and it would be a new Buncombe County bird for me, but not a new NC statebird.  And since the bird was actually photographed in the morning, many hours earlier, the chances of it still being around were likely pretty low.  So I decided to not chase after it.  Though when the Kingbird was re-spotted at 5 PM I started to second guess my decision to stay home.

And then at 6 PM came a post with a photo of a Say’s Phoebe in the same area as the Kingbird sightings.  That’s an amazing pair of rarities to be in one area!  And the Say’s would be a new NC statebird for me.  So minutes later I was out of the house to head to Biltmore to give them both a try.  The chase was on.

As I was driving into town several texts were posted questioning the initial Western Kingbird ID.  Could there indeed be 2 rare western flycatchers in the same area, or were the initial photos showing a Say’s Phoebe after all?  The belly sure looked to be bright yellow in those photos.  Or could the yellow color be somehow associated with processing the original pictures?  Then while sitting at a red light I noticed that the original post had 3 pictures showing a bird with a yellow belly, but a fourth picture showed a bird with bit of a rusty color below.  Hmm…

I finally arrived at Biltmore at about 6:45, and went right to the field south of the Lagoon where the bird(s) was(were) being seen.  There were nearly a dozen other birders there who had seen the Say’s just minutes earlier.  And now with no new Kingbird sightings, the general thought was that the bird was a Say’s all along.  In the waning light I scanned the field and fencing where the Phoebe had been seen but only found an Eastern Phoebe.

I was told the target bird was generally working its way to the south so I focused on the field and fencing up ahead in that direction.  I scanned the area for at least 5 minutes with no sightings.  Was it now too late in the evening for this insect-eater to still be foraging for food?  Was I going to be the first person to not see the bird?  And then I heard a birder behind me say he had the target bird.  I turned around and there was the Say’s Phoebe perched on the fence just to the north.  The pressure was off…  We watched for several minutes at it fed from its perch on the fence, and then from corn stubble in the adjacent field where I got this phonescoped photo.

Needless to say it was never yellow below.  Who knows what went wrong in those initial photos.  And upon closer review, the structure of the bird was more like a Phoebe than a Kingbird.  In any case, I’ll take a Say’s Phoebe over a Western Kingbird any day.

That was my 4th try for Say’s Phoebe in NC.  I tried twice for a long-staying Say’s in the winter of 2021-22 in Guilford County.  And then I tried for one in September 2023 at nearby Jackson Park.  I guess the 4th time was the charm.

Say’s Phoebe was #329 for my NC state list.  In my state bird map below, the light blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen Say’s Phoebe in its regular range.  The 6 dark blue states are those where I’ve seen this species as a rarity.

Manitoba – The Final Frontier, Part 3 of 3, Churchill, June 2025

When it came time to start planning my big spring 2025 birding trip the destination was quite obvious – it had to be Manitoba.  That was my last state or province that I hadn’t birded extensively.  To paraphrase the Star Trek intro – Manitoba, the final frontier.  ((Then again I haven’t yet birded Canada’s more distant and less accessible territories – Nunavut, Northwest, and Yukon.)

With an existing province list of just 61, there were lots of potential new province birds waiting for me in MB.  And if I flew into Grand Forks, ND, I could also fill a few gaps in my MN and ND lists before or after the MB portion of the trip. 

I reached out to my good birding friends Bill and Anita Hooker who went with me on my trip to FL back in January 2025, and they agreed to come along on this trip as well.  It was all coming together.

One last big picture decision to make was whether to include a trip to Churchill in our MB itinerary.  I’ve heard so much about Churchill over the decades, starting back in the late 1900’s when Ross’s Gulls nested there.  I know Ross’s haven’t been seen there in a while, but birding continues to be great.  So we talked ourselves into making the extra round-trip flights from Winnipeg to Churchill, though it made for a pricey add-on to the trip.

I spent several months planning the trip, including searching for the best birding hotspots in MB to maximize our species total, and looking for specific one-off targets near Grand Forks in MN and ND.  I came up with a 13-day itinerary where I could add at least 140 species in MB to break 200 for the province, add perhaps only 4 in ND, and hopefully 2 in MN.

This blog post summarizes the Churchill portion of the trip, covering June 6 to 9.

6/6 – Churchill

The day had finally come for our trip to Churchill!  I had heard so much about Churchill over the years (in fact, decades), and had read “A Birder’s Guide to Churchill” cover-to-cover at least 3 times trying to prepare for and plan this leg of our trip.  The field guide was now 21 years old, so I knew it was a bit dated.  For instance, Ross’s Gulls were still being seen when the book was written (Ross’s was last reported in 2016).  And one of my hoped-for targets, Smith’s Longspur in its brilliant breeding plumage, was still a regular nester when the guide was published (only 3 reports in all of 2024).  But I still hoped it would be a valuable resource. 

Our flight to Churchill left Winnipeg right on time at 10:30.  A tour group of 11 birders was also on that flight, and Bill happened to be sitting next to one of the birding guides.  Bill made some introductions and I was able to ask the bird guide a number of questions and get his advice on several of our targets.  For instance, he told me the best spots for Spruce Grouse and where the Smith’s Longspurs formerly nested. In general, he said the field guide was still reasonably accurate, so I hoped my research would be on track.   

Our flight landed just a few minutes late at 1:15 PM.  While waiting for our bags at the airport it was tough not to see this sign regarding the risks of polar bears.  They normally aren’t seen in Churchill until July, but we were duly warned.

This was forecasted to be the best weather day of our 4 days in Churchill (spitting a bit of rain, temps in low 50s, windchill in the upper 40s) so we wanted take advantage of the “good” weather.  We picked up our rental car without a hitch – a 10-year old Nissan SUV with over 150,000 miles on it.  The Check Engine and Low Tire Pressure lights were on but the owner of the rental car company assured us not to worry about them.  And, oh by the way, the tailgate didn’t latch.  After a quick stop for staples at the grocery store, we were out birding by 2:45.

I decided to start by heading out the peninsula towards Cape Merry.  Our first stop was the Granary Ponds where we quickly added Greater Scaup and singing White-crowned and Fox  Sparrows. (MB #205-207)

Then we made it to Cape Merry where we started a seawatch at the mouth of the Churchill River where it empties into Hudson Bay.  Our best viewing spot was a former fort structure with walls that were almost too tall to look out over.  Check out the ominous skies on this “best” weather day.

The seawatch started slow but the birding soon picked up.  We quickly got the easy ones out of the way - Common Eider, Arctic Tern, and Pacific Loon.  Later I spotted a flock of Scoters sleeping at the river mouth that turned out to be mostly White-winged with a few Surf mixed in.  And while watching them a flock of Black Scoters flew by in the background.  A bit later a lone Long-tailed Duck flew by, and 2 Red-throated Loons were feeding in the river.  Later a Parasitic Jaeger flew in harassing a Tern that had apparently just caught a fish.  After about an hour we figured we had checked off all the regulars, and we headed back to the car.  We could certainly come back there for seawatches later in the trip – perhaps the bad weather might blow something in.  Along the walk back to the car an American Pipit flew into the grasses right in front of us, giving me 10 new province birds in just an hour.  (MB #208-217)

Next, we headed to Goose Creek Road to get in some birding there while the weather was still good.  Our first stop was the spruce forest along Kennedy Park Road, and here we picked up a Lesser Yellowlegs calling from the top of a spruce tree (MB #218).  I had hoped to see 3 different species seemingly out of place perched on spruce trees (Yellowlegs, Godwits, and Bonaparte’s), but interestingly this was the only one on our trip.  A bit later I heard a distant singing finch “identified” by Merlin as a Pine Grosbeak.  With a bit of tape one flew right in (MB #219).  We had no luck with Spruce Grouse though.  Here’s a shot of the nice boreal forest habitat.

We returned to Goose Creek Road and soon came to several ponds with shorebirds and waterfowl quite close to the road.  We were treated to a great show of Hudsonian Godwits counting at least 7, most being in high breeding plumage (MB #220).  There were also a dozen Short-billed Dowitchers, undoubtedly of the hendersoni race, in their brilliant orange breeding plumage (MB #221).  It’s so rare that I get to see these species in their breeding plumage.

We also had numerous Lesser Yellowlegs, Red-necked Phalaropes, and a few Stilt Sandpipers on the flats.  Plus, we spotted a Wilson’s Phalarope which is rare this far north. 

Our next stop was a feeding station we heard about at the Goose Creek Cottage area, adding numerous Redpolls (MB #222), along with multiple Pine Grosbeaks.  Plus there were  lots of sparrows - at least 1 Harris’s Sparrow (MB #223 and new for my Canada list), Fox, White-crowned, White-throated, and Junco.  It may not be much of a feeding station, but the birds (and snowshoe hares!) sure enjoyed it.

On a later stop Anita and Bill picked up a distant singing Blackpoll Warbler which I just couldn’t hear.  We’ll hopefully get another one of them later. 

We quit birding at 7 PM with only 50 species for the day.  But that tally included 19 new Manitoba species bringing my total to 223.  Not bad for just 5 hours birding.  I was now nearing my next milestone: my single highest province list is 224 in BC.  Surely that milestone will be reached the next day.

6/7 – Churchill

The 7th was rainy, cold and windy – just what the meteorologists had predicted.  It rained off and on all day.  And temperatures started in the balmy mid-40s dropping to 34 degrees by the afternoon.  The 10-20 mile per hour winds gave us a 25-degree windchill.  Not exactly the best for birding.  But we endured anyway…

We started our day back at Goose Creek/Hydro Road to bird the southern portion we didn’t get to the previous day.  But first we went back to the Goose Creek Cottage area for a quick stop at the feeders again.  There was nothing new (though we did stop for more views of the Pine Grosbeaks), so we drove to the end of the road hoping for a recently reported Spruce Grouse.  Despite a walk around a closed gate and some walking through more excellent boreal forest, we struck out on the Grouse.  Though I finally heard and saw a singing Blackpoll Warbler that I missed the day before (MB #224).  Notably we had few other boreal species despite this very nice habitat.

We continued farther down Hydro Road checking out more wetlands hoping for recently reported Black Ducks.  We finally picked out 4 Blacks with Mallards and other waterfowl in a shallow lake (MB #225).  And nearby at the Hydro Road Tower we had several singing Northern Waterthrushes.

We reached the end of the road at the pump station and I got out of the car to check out what birds may be on the river.  But the combination of wind and rain made me scurry back to the warmth of our car.  We turned around to come back toward town, and soon afterwards while driving through an area of spruce woodlands I spotted a large bird ahead in the road.  We stopped and got distant views of what we thought was going to be a female Spruce Grouse.  We were able to slowly pull up even with it for spectacular views.

Later we heard from the eBird reviewer that it was actually a Sharp-tailed Grouse.  As we were studying this bird we did consider Sharp-tailed as a possibility.  (We don’t have a lot of experience with these species, especially at distances of less than 10 ft.)  Though we noted that Sharp-tailed just shouldn’t be in Churchill - the Sibley range maps showed it was not in the area, it’s not mentioned at all in the Birder’s Guide, and eBird considered it unreported and needing details.  Plus, Sharp-tailed has only been reported in eBird in the area 2 other times this year, and 3 times in 2024.  That’s a lot fewer sightings than Spruce Grouse.  So I guess a silver lining to correcting the ID to Sharp-tailed is that we actually found a much rarer bird than the Spruce Grouse.  Of course, we saw dozens of Sharp-tailed’s in southern parts of the province a week earlier so it wasn’t a new province bird.

Our next area to explore was on to the east along Launch Rd.  But the weather was now so cold we mostly birded from the car.  The next addition was at the Below-the-Observatory Tundra.  I scanned the wet tundra below from the lee of the car and spotted 2 Tundra Swans, 1 was on a nest (MB #227 and new for my Canada list).  Later we would find 3 more in flight.  Here’s a shot of the wet tundra below. 

A stop at both the old and new landfills revealed not a single gull of any species.  That’s certainly a huge change from the way it used to be.  Quoting the 20-year-old Birder’s Guide:  “The gulls at this dump surely support the claim that after the Niagara River, the Churchill area is probably the best place in North America to see a variety of gulls.”  Though we did see this very authentic mural painted on the side of the former trash incinerator.

On a later stop while driving through the dry tundra on the Golf Balls Road we spotted a flyby American Golden-Plover in the distance (MB #228).  Here’s a typical view of the drier tundra in the area.

The last birds of the day were 4 Snow Geese right outside town, and 2 Brown-headed Cowbirds that are rare for the area.  There were actually quite a number of Cowbird sightings while we were in Churchill.  That doesn’t bode well for species that are subject to parasitism.  In fact, I wonder if Cowbirds might be successful in parasitizing ground-nesting small shorebirds (like Leasts and Semis).

We ended with 62 species for the day – not bad for such difficult weather conditions.  And I added 4 birds to my Manitoba list, bringing the total to 228 – by far my best list for any Canadian province both with respect to the percentage of the total species ever seen in that province, and the absolute number of species.

6/8 – Churchill

We looked forward to spending much of the day of the 8th in the boreal habitats along Twin Lakes Road and at Twin Lakes.  But then there was the weather.  We thought it was bad on the 7th – it was even worse on the 8th.  It rained most of the day, with temperatures in the low 30’s (the car thermometer said -1 degrees Celsius as times), with strong NE winds giving wind chills in the lower 20s at best.  As a result, most of our birding was from the car, with at most short walks into good habitat.  Though our lack of walks likely didn’t cause us to miss too many birds, as there were few (if any) birds at nearly all our stops. 

Despite the challenging conditions, we were able to eke out some good birds.  Probably our favorite was Willow Ptarmigan (MB #229 – and new for my Canada list).  Our first was right along the side of the road on Twin Lakes Road and we had 3 others at later stops including this handsome male. 

A couple times I got out for short walks and found a number of Orange-crowned Warblers.  All were foraging low to the ground which was likely the best location for the insects they searched for in these temperatures.  And speaking of insectivores, at one point we spotted a rare Eastern Kingbird hovering along the road.  That was one confused bird. 

We were now in the heart of Spruce Grouse habitat, with thick stands of spruces and large patches of reindeer moss as a ground cover. 

We drove every mile of road we could in and around the Twin Lakes area, but couldn’t find one of these prime targets.  In fact, our only boreal species for the area was one calling Canada Jay.  Pretty slim pickings…

At one point we were driving along a two-track road through the woods and Anita and I both spotted a large raptor fly up from the road ahead of us.  It appeared to be uniformly gray.  Could it have been a Great Gray Owl?  We got out to look for it but couldn’t locate any raptors or any birds at all for that matter.  And we couldn’t drive any further because of the snow drift across the road.  Here’s a selfie of our intrepid group all bundled up against the elements.

Next we were onto Ramsay Trail, though it took a bit of searching to find it as it was not mentioned in the Birder’s Guide.  Soon after starting on the trail a Solitary Sandpiper called nearby (MB #230).  And no more than a couple minutes later I heard what I thought was a singing American Tree Sparrow.  I played tape and it flew right in (MB #231).  We had 2 others in this area as well.  We also spent some time with a flock of geese that Merlin thought included a Cackling Goose, but that was just optimism on Merlin’s part.

Later in the afternoon I went out on my own along Cape Merry, but the rain and wind had picked up making it difficult to do a seawatch.  Though I was able to briefly spot several Beluga Whales feeding in the river. 

A last stop of the afternoon was at “The Flats”.  I covered only a portion of this area in the wind and rain and had a nice mix of shorebirds including a flock of Turnstones and a Dunlin.  I’ll have to go back there tomorrow when the weather was predicted to be better. 

I ended the day with 3 new province birds, bringing my MB total to 231.  Not bad given the weather conditions.

6/9 – Last Day in Churchill

We woke up on the 9th to much better weather conditions – it had finally stopped raining and the wind wasn’t howling.  Of course, this was the day we were set to leave and we could only bird till about Noon.  Go figure…  Though it was still just in the low 30s.

While standing in the hotel parking lot as we were set to head out to begin our day, I noticed a small bird in a group of stunted spruce trees at the edge of the parking lot across the road.  Initially I expected it would be a White-crowned Sparrow which was common in the town.  But when I got it in my binocs I realized it was a rare female Bay-breasted Warbler (MB #232).  Later it flew to small trees at the edge of our parking lot and we got great views.  That was a nice start to the day.

Our first stop was at the Flats – a portion of which I birded the previous day.  We drove to the end and found our only Sanderlings of Churchill, plus a flock of 12 White-rumps, a Dunlin and a Turnstone.  The tide was pretty high at the time – maybe it would have been better at a lower tide.

We decided to bird Goose Creek/Hydro Road again to see what new birds might have migrated in.  Our first stop was along Kennedy Road for yet another try for Spruce Grouse.  Again, we came up empty though we heard that one was seen there the previous day.

Then we were on to Goose Creek Cottage road.  A quick stop at the feeders gave us views of 5 Pine Grosbeaks.  While watching the feeders I heard a blackbird calling nearby.  I looked up and saw a Common Grackle fly into a tree above the feeders – another rarity for Churchill.

We drove to the end of the road where again our key target was Spruce Grouse.  As we got out of the car we heard a Catbird singing from the brush – apparently a continuing rarity heard there recently.  Though we didn’t hear it when we were there the previous day.  A walk into the woods there gave us a couple Fox Sparrows, a singing Pine Grosbeak, and our only Boreal Chickadee at Churchill.

Back on Hydro Road heading south we spotted the same Sharp-tailed Grouse we saw the previous day.  Continuing south we went by the wetlands that contained good numbers of shorebirds on previous trips, but numbers were way down today.  Though we did have one spot with 2 Black-bellied and 1 American Golden-Plover in nice breeding plumage.  And an adjacent pond had 2 Sandhill Cranes.

As we continued south I spotted a blackbird flying over the road.  I got an extended view of the bird which turned out to be a Rusty Blackbird - the last new province bird for the trip (MB #233).

Our last stop in Churchill was on a bluff along the Churchill River to try to see Belugas.  This was the same spot I saw distant Belugas the previous day so we were hopeful.  On our way along the edge of Hudson Bay we got this view of ice that had been blown on-shore by the strong northeast winds the last couple days.

After a bit of a wait at the bluff we got excellent views of several Belugas when they surfaced.  What a great way to end the Churchill portion of the trip, and for MB in general.

I added 2 birds to my MB list that day, bringing my total to 233.

 

And now a postscript on our trip to Churchill –

I was actually a bit disappointed with our trip to Churchill.  For decades I had heard so many stories about the great birding there, but I’m afraid it just didn’t quite live up to the hype.  Numbers of waterfowl seemed to be about as expected, but numbers of virtually all other species were much lower than I had anticipated.  We saw most of our expected species, but most were in low numbers.  Except for good numbers of Pine Grosbeaks and Redpolls, boreal passerines were virtually non-existent.  And I was really hoping to see Yellowlegs, Godwits, and Bonaparte’s perched on tree tops, but we saw just 1 calling Lesser Yellowlegs perched at the top of a spruce.  Needless to say, the cold and wet weather didn’t help, but with all the time we spent in good habitat I still expected more birds.  Were we too early in the year for nesting species?  For instance, tamarack trees and many shrubs were not yet leafed out.  Maybe a July trip might have been more fruitful. 

Now for some final thoughts on the Churchill rarities.  We found 7 rarities needing ID details in eBird – that’s a huge number in just 3 full days of birding.  All were species that are common in southern portions of MB, so were likely spring migrants that overshot their normal ranges.  Then again, with global warming, were these southern MB birds heading north to expand their breeding ranges?  And continuing that logic, maybe some individuals of the regular Churchill species were missing from Churchill because they are now nesting farther north as well.

 

MB Trip by the Numbers

172 – New MB ticks

233 - MB Province list total, my largest province list both by absolute number of species and the percentage of species ever reported in that province

231 - Number of species seen in MB on this trip (only Palm Warbler and Golden-crowned Kinglet were seen on previous MB trips but not on this trip)

387 – Canada list, adding 4 species on this trip (Black-backed Woodpecker, Harris’s Sparrow, Tundra Swan, Willow Ptarmigan)

20 - Number of waterfowl species seen in MB

26 - Number of shorebird species

20 - Number of sparrow species

22 - Number of warbler species

92 - Number of species seen in Churchill

7 - Number of “southern” rarities seen in Churchill (Wilson’s Phalarope, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Eastern Kingbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Bay-breasted Warbler, Gray Catbird, Common Grackle)

My eBird Trip Report for all our stops in MB can be found here:  ebird.org/tripreport/ 388769

And the Trip Report for the Churchill portion of the trip can be found here:  ebird.org/tripreport/384450

Manitoba – The Final Frontier, Part 2 of 3, June 2025

When it came time to start planning my big spring 2025 birding trip the destination was quite obvious – it had to be Manitoba.  That was my last state or province that I hadn’t birded extensively.  To paraphrase the Star Trek intro – Manitoba, the final frontier.  (Then again I haven’t yet birded Canada’s more distant and less accessible territories – Nunavut, Northwest, and Yukon.)

With an existing province list of just 61, there were lots of potential new province birds waiting for me in MB.  And if I flew into Grand Forks, ND, I could also fill a few gaps in my MN and ND lists before or after the MB portion of the trip. 

I reached out to my good birding friends Bill and Anita Hooker who went with me on my trip to FL back in January 2025, and they agreed to come along on this trip as well.  It was all coming together.

I spent several months planning the trip, including searching for the best birding hotspots in MB to maximize our species total, and looking for specific one-off targets near Grand Forks in MN and ND.  I came up with a 13-day itinerary where I could add at least 140 species in MB to break 200 for the province, add perhaps only 4 in ND, and hopefully 2 in MN.

This is the second of 3 blog posts summarizing the MB portion of the trip, covering June 2nd through the 5th. 

6/2 – Riding Mountain National Park

Earlier in our trip Brandon birder Gillian Richards connected us with local Riding Mountain birder Ken Kingdon to see if he could help us out in the park.  Better than that, Ken offered to show us around the morning of the 2nd, taking us to multiple stops north along Route 10.   

Our first stop was a short walk along Gray Owl dump road.  Here I added Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Cape May Warbler and Purple Finch.  (MB #165-167)  My Canadian province and territory map for Purple Finch is inserted below.  Provinces where I’ve seen this species are shaded in light blue – I’ve now seen Purple Finch in all 10 provinces.  Cross-hatched jurisdictions are those in the Purple Finch's regular range where I’ve yet to see it.  I’ve never birded in Canada’s three northwestern territories (yet!) so none of these will be shaded in for any of my Canada maps.

However, I missed the Siskins that everyone else heard.  Maybe I was distracted by the buzz of the hordes of mosquitoes.  Hopefully that wouldn’t come back to haunt me.

Next, we continued north to Bead Lakes for a longer walk through excellent boreal habitat.  It proved to be a great spot, with finds like Evening Grosbeak right in the parking lot, Hermit Thrush, Canada Jay, Canada Warbler, Mourning Warbler, Blue-headed Vireo, a heard-only Boreal Chickadee, Black-throated Green Warbler, and a calling Three-toed Woodpecker.  (MB #168-174)  Unfortunately we dipped on Winter Wren and Trumpeter Swan at an adjacent wetlands.  Ken also pointed out this tree to us – a bear had not only removed the bark near the top of the picture, but it had also rubbed on the bark below leaving some dirt behind.

Our next stop was at the far north end of the park at Crawford Creek.   I hadn’t picked out this site for a possible stop when I was planning the trip so I wasn’t sure what the targets might be here.  As we got out of the cars Ken said that this location was a reliable spot for Golden-winged Warblers, and before we left the parking lot we were hearing one singing nearby (MB #175).  We took a short walk and soon reached this classic Golden-winged habitat – an area of young deciduous trees with open grassy and shrubby patches. 

Soon we got visuals on one male with 2 others singing a short distance away.  I had planned to search for this species at a site on the eastern escarpment of the park – I didn’t realize they were at this site as well.   

We turned around and started heading south, soon reaching our next stop at Moon Lake.  Here we added 2 birds - a breeding plumage Bonaparte’s flew by just as we arrived, and we finally found Trumpeters Swans in the distance.  (MB #176-177)  We also took a short hike especially focused on Lincoln’s Sparrow and Wilson’s Warbler but with no luck.

Next we were on to the Boreal Trail, a site that has had quite a number of nice checklists in recent years.  Although the gate was closed, we assumed it was OK to walk in and take a short hike.   And we’re glad we did.  Here I finally heard multiple Pine Siskins, then an Olive-sided Flycatcher singing softly in the distance.  Then we focused on the willows and alders lining this fast-flowing stream and added both Lincoln’s Sparrow and Wilson’s Warbler. 

Then Bill got a brief look at a very dark woodpecker – sure sounded like it could be a Black-backed but we needed better looks.  Eventually we all got great looks at not one but 3 Black-backed Woodpeckers.  Seems early in the year to be a family group.  Could it be a small breeding colony?  (MB #178-182)

Our last stop of the morning was at a marsh just south of the park where Ken had had LeConte’s Sparrows recently.  The marsh and adjacent meadows seemed drier than normal – perhaps too dry for LeConte’s.  We listened intently for a while, and played some tape, but with no luck.  It was actually quite windy now, so we decided to come back in the evening to try again when the winds would hopefully be calmer. 

We thanked Ken for all his help in getting us on some great birds that morning, hoping that we might cross paths again some day.

After a quick lunch we decided to head to the west of the park, first to check out a report of 2 Connecticut Warblers.  Ken said that COWAs were not likely in the park anymore, so we were a bit skeptical.  The checklist area had some good habitat, but we couldn’t scare up a Connecticut. 

Then we were on to the dam at the south end of Lake Audy.  The area was quite birdy, and our first addition was a flock of 25 or so American White Pelicans on the north shore of the lake very far in the distance.  Good thing Pelicans are so large because they could have been as much as 2 miles away!  Much closer were several flyby Forster’s Terns followed by 2 Common Terns.  Six Trumpeter Swans were a nice sighting as they swam by.  (If only a 7th bird had joined them, we’d have had “7 swans a swimming”.)  And minutes later an Osprey and Bald Eagle flew by. (MB #183-186)  Finally, not new for my list, but still a nice find, was this Red-necked Grebe on its floating nest.

And as we drove from Lake Audy we encountered this Bear walking down the road shoulder right past us.  At this distance it’s nice to see the bear from the safety of a car.

That evening we went back to the marsh for another try for LeConte’s Sparrow.  Even though winds had greatly reduced, we still couldn’t turn up a LeConte’s.  Maybe water levels were just too low this year.  Next we planned to head to the area east of Lake Katherine for Woodcocks.  We were a bit early when we arrived in the area, so we headed to Lake Katherine and had a spectacular nighthawk show over the lake.  That was the highlight of the evening because we had no luck with the Woodcocks. 

I ended the day with 22 new species for my province list, bringing my MB total to 186.  Closing in on 200…

6/3 – Riding Mountain NP

This day was focused on sites along Route 19 on the eastern side of Riding Mountain.  My first key stop was at a stream-lined with willows, hoping for looks at Lincoln’s Sparrow or Wilson’s Warbler.  Unfortunately, those targets remained elusive, but I did have a Red-breasted Nuthatch calling in the distance (MB #187).  Ken had told us that the lack of a cone crop in the Park this year meant that Red-breasted Nuthatches (along with Crossbills) were very scarce, so I was happy to get this one.

A bit further down the road I had a Pileated Woodpecker calling in the distance – the first for the trip but not new for my list.  And as I neared Whirlpool Lake I spotted the first of 3 Wild Turkeys ambling along the road shoulder (MB #188).

Soon afterwards I reached Whirlpool Lake and the woodlands near the parking lot were quite birdy, including 13 species of warblers.  Plus this “scruffy” Canada Jay.

And the lake itself was very pretty.

I doubled back to Lake Katherine and did some quick birding along the trails there.  The highlight of this stop was an Olive-sided Flycatcher characteristically perched on top of the tallest dead snag.

Our last stop of the day was along Clear Lake where we heard another Boreal Chickadee though couldn’t get any visuals.  We called it quits early that day, taking the late afternoon off.    

 I finished the day with 2 additional species, bringing my MB list to 188.

6/4 – Riding Mountain, Portage-la-Prairie

The plan for the morning was to bird the East Escarpment of Riding Mountain along Route 361 out of McCreary.  But first we had to take a picture of the formal east entrance to the park.

Our key target along the East Escarpment had been Golden-winged Warbler, but of course we already found this one at the north end of the park.  Our other 2 remaining targets were Indigo Bunting and Eastern Towhee, both near the northern edge of their ranges.  Gillian had suggested a trail to take to find both targets, along with the Golden-winged.  So that trail was our first stop, and almost immediately after getting out of the car at the trailhead we heard a singing Eastern Towhee.  And then seconds later a singing Indigo in this habitat.  That was easy… 

We took a short walk along the trail adding a flyby Ruby-throated Hummingbird (MB #189-191) and an additional Indigo.  We didn’t have any Golden-wings though – good thing we got them earlier.  Though I’m sure we would have birded more of the trail if we still needed this target.

Next we headed to the former ski slope at end of the road.  One of our first observations here was of a mid-sized mammal walking up one of the slopes – perhaps a mink? 

Notable birds here were a cooperative Blackburnian Warbler, and another flyby Hummingbird.  It was interesting to imagine this spot during its skiing hay day.  Our last stop in the area was a short hike on the Oak Ridge Trail, with a half dozen Least Flycatchers being most notable,

After 3 ½ days at Riding Mountain NP, we were off to the Portage-la-Prairie area.  Gillian had helped to connect us with Cal Cuthbert who was a local birding expert in that area.   Not only does he know the area extremely well, he has an amazing property with widely diverse habitats and great birds.  But first, Cal took us to the Portage-la-Prairie landfill which is well-known for its gull flock and the potential for rarities mixed in.  When we arrived, we drove right up on the landfill, and had just an estimated 60 Herrings, 40 Ring-bills, and 10 Franklin’s.  That didn’t seem like enough critical mass to have any rarities, but we quickly picked up at least 4 immature Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 2 adult Californias, and this stunning immature Glaucous photographed by Anita. (MB #192-194)  

MB was my 5th province where I've seen Lesser Black-backed Gull - 4 of which as rarities (the dark blue shaded provinces in my map below).

Plus, we had one bird that I thought was a Thayer’s but eBird reviewers said it was a Herring.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get on the Thayer’s that Cal spotted when we first arrived.

After a most successful time at the landfill, Cal took us to a private location where he had Saw-whet Owls nesting in a nest box.  

We were lucky enough that this juvenile bird was peering out of the box when we arrived (MB #195).

Next Cal took us to the Delta Beach area at the southern end of Lake Manitoba.  Here we witnessed a spectacular shorebird show thanks to Cal taking us to numerous secluded vantage points along the beach.  At each stop along the lake there were hundreds of shorebirds foraging in front of us, and an almost constant movement of birds heading west in waves along the shoreline.  We estimated at least 5,000 birds were included, mostly Semipalmated and White-rumped Sandpipers among the 14 species of shorebirds.  Here’s a typical shot with Semis, White-rumps, and a Sanderling in the foreground, and a pair of Caspian Terns in the background (one Tern is standing directly behind the other – can you see the 4 legs?).

By the end of the afternoon I had added 3 new MB species – 2 Red Knots (MB #196), 2 Caspian Terns (MB #197 – the old ABA reporting threshold for MB), and 32 Black-bellied Plovers (MB #198).  But nearly all were chased away by a Peregrine (MB #199) – at least now we don’t have to spend time trying for that one in downtown Winnipeg. 

We ended up with 101 species for the day, including 14 species added to my province list which now sits at 199.

6/5 – Portage-la-Prairie

We met up with Cal early that morning and he took us to a wet grassy field that had been good for LeConte’s Sparrow in the past. 

Unfortunately, the local drought meant the field was drier than normal, but with the help of some tape we eventually found LeConte’s - in fact we got great views. 

That brought my MB list to 200 – my original goal for the trip.  And we hadn’t even reached Churchill yet.

Then Cal took us to a large lot heavily wooded with mature oak trees at the Young Husband Lodge, in hopes of finding White-breasted Nuthatch.

We not only were successful in finally finding the Nuthatch, but also had views of, and heard, a Great Horned Owl.  And as we were leaving the lot 4 Sandhill Cranes flew overhead.  (MB #201-203)

We went back to Cal’s amazing yard where we walked several trails and ended the visit with some leisurely birding on the back deck.

We bid farewell to Cal, and couldn’t thank him enough for his help and allowing us to visit his amazing property.

The it was off to Winnipeg where I had 3 possible targets – Cooper’s Hawk, Cardinal, and Red-bellied Woodpecker.  All had been seen several times recently at multiple parks in the city, but local directions were limited for almost all of them.  I decided to try Bunn’s Creek Centennial Park as perhaps the best bet, and we headed there for a late afternoon visit.  Unfortunately, we dipped on all 3 targets, but we added an unexpected singing Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (MB #204).

I added 5 to my province list for the day, bringing my MB total to 204.