Six Quebec Province Birds, but a Frustrating Experience with a Possible Lifebird, September, 2016

Two of the last three years there have been organized “pelagic” boat trips on Lake Champlain with key targets including Jaegers, Kittiwake, Sabine’s Gull, and the like.  I need all those birds for my VT (and NY) state lists so I’ve signed up for each trip when it has been scheduled.  This year a trip was scheduled for mid-September, the typical peak time for many of these species on Lake Champlain.  Within an hour I had registered and sent in my check. 

Since I don’t get to northwest VT very often, I planned to use the boat trip as an excuse to do some additional birding in the area.  As the trip neared I watched eBird and the listserve for potential targets, and salivated over a report of a Buff-breasted Sandpiper about a week before the trip.  The bird was found at the mouth of Dead Creek in Highgate in the far northwestern tip of VT, but was only reported one day.  Then again there were no subsequent negative reports, so I tried to be optimistic that a stop there a week later could be fruitful.  Plus an Orange-crowned Warbler was reported at Whitney Creek – one of the best spots in all of VT for that species and also for Connecticut Warbler.  So although the Orange-crown would certainly be long gone by the time I got there, maybe it could be replaced by another one.

With no other targets reported in VT, and the Buffie spot being in far northern VT just 3 miles from the Canadian border, I decided to check Quebec reports to see if there might be some targets there as well.  I was pretty happy with my existing Quebec list of 190.  So much so that when leaving Quebec after my last birding trip there I thought that my Quebec birding days were behind me.  But I’m glad I set up an eBird Quebec Needs Alert prior to this trip, because there were numerous shorebirds I needed that were reported from Baie Missisquoi just a short distance north of the US border, and less than 6 miles from Highgate as the sandpiper flies.  Apparently the region-wide drought had caused the lake level to drop enough to cause mudflats to form at the north end of the bay, attracting a diverse group shorebirds.  In the last couple days before my trip birders had spotted 10 species I needed for my list - 8 species of shorebirds, Caspian Tern, and Peregrine Falcon.  Plus there were a couple other targets like Solitary Sandpiper and Golden Plover reported recently a short distance to the north.  More than enough targets to justify yet another trip across the border into Quebec.

But just as I was getting excited about some Quebec province birding and a couple possible long shots in VT, I got an e-mail saying the boat trip was cancelled.  Although I was tempted to cancel my trip as well, I decided to keep the rest of my plans, and replace the boat trip with a lake watch from shore.  So my itinerary would begin with a stop at Highgate around midday of Day 1, followed by an afternoon in Quebec.  I would start Day 2 at dawn doing a lake watch from Charlotte Town Beach, and then make a stop at Whitney Creek to try for Orange-crowns and Connecticuts on the way home.

Day 1

Although I left the house a bit before 8 I didn’t make it to Highgate until close to noon.  Scoping the mudflats from Shipyard Road is quite a challenge as the flats are a ¼ to ½ mile away, complicated that day by quite a bit of heat shimmer.  I scanned the habitat for nearly an hour hoping against hope to find the Buff-breasted, but to no avail.  Though I did have some other pretty good shorebirds there– 4 Black-bellied Plovers, a Sanderling, and 2 Short-billed Dowitchers. 

I left at 1, and within 15 minutes I had passed through the border crossing and had made my way to Baie Missisquoi.  I wasn’t quite sure where to go to bird there, but soon realized I needed to make my way into a “campground” consisting of a number of mobile homes.  I checked in with the host of the park who spoke just barely enough English to explain where to park.  After a short walk I was at the edge of the extensive mudflats, only to see several people kiteboarding (flying kites connected to surfboards) right at the edge of the flats.  I did a quick look around and didn’t see any shorebirds at all.  Had the kiteboarders scared off all the shorebirds?  I then noticed a couple birders a short distance away and asked them for updates.  They said the numbers of birds had been way down from yesterday, though earlier there were at least a few around, including both Dowitchers, Stilt Sandpipers, and Red-necked Phalaropes.  But a Peregrine had come through and flushed all the birds away.  My heart sank – although the shorebirds had been great there for more than a week, they must have known I was coming and had moved on just in time for my trip.

I then looked over to the east and saw 3 other birders with scopes walking toward us.  And with a quick binoc scan in that direction I noticed a distant group of Yellowlegs feeding in the shallow water.  So I started walking in that direction with the first 2 birders I talked with.  As we were heading in that direction a flock of about 30 shorebirds flew by looking for a place to land.  Even without binocs I picked out several Sanderlings in the flock (Quebec bird #1) as they wheeled past.  They landed right in front of us, and the small flock included 11 Sanderlings, and 6 White-rumped Sandpipers (#2) – both numbers were higher than reported in previous days.  Then I noticed a lone Red-necked Phalarope spinning in the shallows right next to them (#3).  Small numbers, but great to pick up 3 new birds nonetheless.

We then continued to walk toward the Yellowlegs flock to the east, and ran into another small flock of shorebirds which included 2 more Sanderlings, 8 more White-rumps, and another Red-necked Phalarope, along with our first Pectoral.  Then up ahead we spotted a flock of peeps on the rocky shoreline farther to the east.  Just as we were starting to look through that flock a Peregrine flew by low over the water (#4), flushing shorebirds from all around us.  A number of small peeps flew right past us, including one larger one that turned out to be a Baird’s Sandpiper (#5).  Baird’s was also new for my Canada list - #357.  Although I was initially unhappy to have the Peregrine flush the shorebirds, it was new for my list, plus it flushed another new species that we hadn’t spotted yet.  So not a bad thing afterall.

We looked back to the rocky shoreline where the peep flock had been and all those birds had hunkered down instead of flying when the Peregrine passed by.  Slowly they started to perk up and walk around again, and we counted 40 Leasts and Semi Sands, along with a Pectoral.  At that point, with all those small peeps around, I wondered why no one had reported a Western Sandpiper yet from this location.  And just then I spotted a small peep in the rocks with a drooping bill.  Only the head was visible (the rest of the bird was hidden by a rock) so I didn’t want to jump to any conclusions yet.  With a few more steps I got a different angle on the bird, seeing dark legs, and rusty scapulars on an otherwise brownish mantle – a Western Sandpiper (#6).  After I got the other birders on this bird, we all continued to walk toward the east and amazingly all these peeps, including the Western, walked within 10 feet of us.

Finally we were nearing the Yellowlegs flock and I set up my scope to scan through the birds.  One of the first birds I looked at had a much longer bill with a bit of a droop at the end.  With a bit of study the bird turned out to be the Long-billed Dowitcher reported earlier.  And the flock included 3 Stilt Sandpipers as well.  Though the Dowitcher and Stilts were rarities for Quebec, I had seen both of them a couple years earlier at Sainte-Martine, Quebec.  (I would have been happier if the Dowitcher had been the much more common Short-billed which I still need for my Quebec list.) 

As we returned to the cars I kept my eyes open for a Caspian Tern that might pass by.  And I kept watching for more little groups of shorebirds.  But I struck out on both.  Although both the total number of shorebirds, and number of species, were way down from reports earlier in the week, and even just the previous day, I was still happy to have seen 13 shorebird species at this location, including several rarities.  And of course it was great to add 6 new birds to my Quebec list – which is now at 196.

I spent the next couple hours making stops at other parts of the bay, and a couple places to the north, and only added Killdeer as my 14th shorebird species that day in Quebec.  And including the Black-bellied Plovers and Short-billed Dowitchers I had earlier in VT (wish I could have seen them in Quebec - I need both of them for my Quebec list!) that gave me 16 shorebirds for the day.  Very nice totals for these inland locations.

Day 2

I started the day at first light at Charlotte Town Beach, the recommended location from which to do a lake watch in VT.  Winds had been light out of the northwest the night before, but were dead calm now.  Not the best conditions to see pelagic birds in VT, since your best chances of seeing them are when there is a stiff breeze from the north or northwest.  But at least there weren’t winds from the south.  As the sun rose I got these spectacular views of the morning clouds and the NY mountains in the background.

If only the birds were as spectacular.  I spent about 2 hours at the lake, and only spotted a few migrant flocks of Cormorants, a flock of Mallards, and 2 single Caspian Terns passing by.  (Where were those Caspians when I needed them in Quebec?)  Chances are even if the boat had gone out that morning we probably wouldn’t have seen much more.  Will I ever be able to time one of my fall trips to Lake Champlain to coincide with a good day of migration?  So with the lakewatch being so slow, I called it quits early at about 8 AM to head to Whitney Creek.  It was still early enough in the morning that maybe I could run into a few migrants there, not to mention my key targets - Orange-crowned and Connecticut Warblers. 

When I arrived at Whitney Creek another birder was just coming out of the trail.  I asked him how he did – he said it was a bit slow, but 15 minutes earlier he had had a brief glimpse of an Orange-crowned Warbler.  I spent the next 2 hours scouring the area with no luck.  If only I had left Charlotte a few minutes earlier.  Ugh…

But there was an even bigger disappointment to come…  That evening after getting back home I opened my most recent Quebec Needs Alert and saw that there were numerous reports of a Common Ringed Plover that day.  I figured they must have come from far northern Quebec, until I opened one of the reports and found that the bird was at Baie Missisquoi.  Not only had I birded this same spot the previous day, but the Plover had spent the entire day there no more than an hour’s drive north of where I birded most unsuccessfully that day in VT.  It would have been a life bird!  Then I started to wonder if the Ringed Plover was present the day I was there, but just overlooked.  But since most all of the birds I saw were not found there the next day when the Plover was spotted, I imagine the bird was just a 1-day wonder. 

So although I’m happy to have added 6 birds to my Quebec province list, with a slightly different “alignment of the stars” I not only could have added a bird to my VT list but a life bird as well. 

Iowa Statebirding Trip, Part 2 of 2 – Eastern IA, and a Brief Stop in WI, July 2016

I had just completed a most successful day of birding in north-central IA, the second of a 3-day statebirding trip, adding 22 statebirds to my IA list.  (See my earlier post for a summary of the north-central IA stops.)  Now I had a 4-hour drive east across northern IA to my hotel at the WI/IA border.  The plan was to start birding at dawn the next morning at Pikes Peak State Park – IA that is, not CO!  My iPhone app said I would get to my hotel at about 7 PM, roughly 45 minutes before sunset.  That would give me just enough time to do a little bit of birding that evening.  That meant in theory it was feasible to try to add at least 1 bird to my WI list to get to Reportable Plus 15 – the old ABA reportable threshold plus 15 more to stay above the threshold as it slowly creeps up.  Wyalusing State Park, with recent reports of 8 possible WI statebirds, was just a few minutes from my hotel.  But with very limited time, and a large park to cover, I’d have to be very efficient in my searches.  There were very specific locations given for recent Chat sightings, so I keyed in on Chat as my prime target to reach my WI objective.  And as I continued across the northern tier of IA anxious to get into WI, I was able to find a Gray Partridge along the road – though I already had it for my IA list. 

I reached Wyalusing SP just after 7, and while paying the entrance fee at the guard shack, I took a couple minutes to look through the huge flock of hummingbirds coming to the feeders.  I guessed there were at least 25 – I’ve never seen so many Ruby-throats at one feeding station.  Just a quarter mile down the road was the field where the Chats had been reported.  And this site looked good for another target, Orchard Oriole, so I was optimistic.  But after 20 minutes birding around the field I found neither target, though a female Baltimore Oriole got me excited for a few seconds.  I then spent a few minutes at the field across the street but again came up empty.  I guess it was too late in the year for them to still be singing. 

What to do…  I was tempted to just call it quits – afterall it had been a long day.  But I needed just 1 bird for my WI list.  So I decided to head briefly to the woodlands up ahead to try for another recently reported target – Acadian Flycatcher.  One quick stop in good habitat yielded a singing Wood Thrush, which was a good sign since I needed that one the next morning in IA.  But I already had it in WI; and I didn’t hear any Acadians.  As I drove up ahead in the next patch of woods I heard a snippet of song that sounded like Kentucky Warbler.  I stopped the car and listened – it was indeed a Kentucky, which eventually came out in the open for some good views.  A rarity in eBird, and a new one for my WI list.  I’ve now seen Kentucky Warbler in most all of the states in its regular range, along with a few as a rarity in the northeast (see my statebird map below).

WI was now my 37th state where I had reached my Reportable Plus 15 goal.

Day 3 – Eastern IA

My first planned stop of the day was at Pikes Peak State Park, right along the Mississippi River.  Quite a number of my target birds had been reported from the park going back to early summer, but there had only been a couple eBird reports from the park since mid-June, with few targets reported recently.  To maximize the potential to hear any song that might still continue this late in the year, I planned to arrive at the park pre-dawn, starting first at the trail to the Bridal Veil Falls where Yellow-throated Warbler had been reported, followed by a walk along the Point Ann Trail where several other targets had been reported. 

My route toward the park first took me along the Mississippi River in the quaint little town of McGregor, and then up a steep hill on County Road 56 along the western side of the park.  As I started to climb the hill I realized I was in excellent woodland habitat, and decided to roll down the windows and drive slowly to see what I might hear.  Instantly I heard a Wood Thrush singing (IA statebird #23).  IA was likely my last state to find this eastern species. 

And then seconds later I heard a song I couldn’t place that sounded a bit like slow Indigo Bunting notes.  I pulled over to try to check out this unusual song, and while I played a few options on my BirdTunes app, a pair of Barred Owls started to call back and forth to each other.  Eventually I played Yellow-throated Warbler and it was a match (IA #24).  Then I heard the “chip-burr” of a Scarlet Tanager (IA #25).  As I continued to listen to what was becoming a nice dawn chorus, a Red-shouldered Hawk started to call from trees on the hillside above me (IA #26).  That gave me 4 new statebirds and I hadn’t even gotten to the park yet!  And since I got the Yellow-throated Warbler here, I no longer needed to bird the Bridal Veil Trail, and could head right to the Point Ann Trail. 

The trail map for the park showed the Point Ann Trail passing through some nice woodlands where I hoped to get remaining targets like Acadian Flycatcher and Ovenbird.  Plus the park had been a reliable spot for Blue-winged Warbler earlier in the summer though no locations had been given.  I picked out a side-trail called the Bluebird Trail which passed through a more open area as a possible area for the Blue-wings.  I started walking through the woodlands and heard more Tanagers and Wood Thrushes, along with good numbers of Pewees and woodpeckers, but couldn’t scare up an Acadian or Ovenbird.  I reached the beginning of the Bluebird Trail, and this area did indeed look excellent for Blue-wings with many acres of low brushy trees in an old overgrown field.  The trail was very birdy, with many Bluebirds, along with a couple families of Redstarts, but no Blue-wings.  Finally after slowly walking through quite a bit of nice habitat I heard a short song of a Blue-winged Warbler (IA #27) – I guess they aren’t one to sing later in the summer.  I’ve now seen this species in most of its breeding range, but still need it as a migrant in a couple southeastern states.

With that target finally under my belt, I headed back into the woodlands toward the point.  Within a short distance I reached a powerline cut providing an opening through some really nice mature deciduous trees.  One of my low-potential targets for the woodlands in the park was Cerulean Warbler, which typically stop singing quite early in the summer.  And since they prefer high elevation canopies, they can be next to impossible to find after the early summer – hence the reason why I gave myself only a 10% chance of finding this target even though they had been reliably reported in the park earlier in the summer.  But at the powerline cut I had great views of the canopy, so I spent quite a bit of time searching for foraging, albeit quiet, Ceruleans near the tops of the trees.  This spot turned out to be quite birdy, including families of Yellow-throated Vireos and Redstarts.  But despite my optimism, there were no Ceruleans.  At one point I noticed a bird perched in the open near a tree top, and as I put it in my binocs (it turned out to be a Tanager), a Peregrine Falcon passed through my field of view in the background (IA #28).  Peregrines had nested n a grain silo in McGregor earlier in the year, so this was undoubtedly one of those local birds.  I had planned to spend some time looking for the falcons in McGregor after leaving the park, so that meant one less stop for later in the day.

I returned to the trail and continued through some excellent Acadian and Ovenbird habitat.  Although both were reported regularly in the park earlier in the summer, they were certainly being quiet that day, even though there was quite a bit of song otherwise.  Then as I neared the point I thought I heard a distant “che-bek” call of an Acadian.  I stopped and cupped my hands around my ears – a few seconds later I heard another really distant call, and then another (IA #29).  Would have been easier if it had been right along the trail, but I’ll take it.  Now I just needed Ovenbird, and I continued to listen intently for a “teacher, teacher” song as I continued down the trail, but with no luck.

Eventually I reached Point Ann, and emerged from the trees into a clearing finding myself on a bluff high above the Mississippi River.  The views of the river and adjacent floodplain below were amazing- this iPhone shot doesn’t do it justice.

But despite the nice scenery, I needed to get back to the birds.  There was quite a bit of activity along the edge of the woods, and I soon picked out more Redstarts and Chickadees as they actively foraged.  Then I got a glimpse of a small bird that was mostly white below with a bit of streaking on the sides – could it have been a Cerulean?  A few seconds later I noticed more movement among the leaves and this time got a good view – it was indeed a Cerulean Warbler (IA #30).  I kept watching these trees and found another Cerulean just a few feet away, and then 2 more – it was probably a family group.  I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen Ceruleans on their breeding grounds without first hearing their song.  And like the powerline cut, the point provided a nice opportunity to view the woodland edge for these canopy dwellers.  My statebird map is still very spotty for this species, especially in states where it is an elusive migrant.

I birded the point a bit longer, and continued to see the Ceruleans which were now quite cooperative.  Other notable birds here were another Acadian which I heard in the distance, and a couple Tufted Titmice near the northern edge of their range.  I need this one in MN, and even though the point is less than 35 miles from the MN line, I would be unsuccessful in finding this target to the north.

I retraced my route back through the woodlands for one more chance to hear (or see) an Ovenbird, but struck out.  As I walked along I started to think about my Ovenbirds back home which are very common breeders in the woods around my yard.  Though I hear them daily early in the summer, I actually hadn’t heard one at home for some time.  So perhaps this may be another species that stops singing early in the summer.  And as I neared my car I realized I had added all of my reasonably likely eastern IA targets except for the Ovenbird.  I had initially planned to make stops at a couple more IA locations to the north, but figured the possibility of finding an Ovenbird, or a less likely target, was quite low.  Plus leaving IA earlier than planned meant I had more time for MN stops later in the day.  So I decided to call it quits for the IA portion of my trip, and head to MN.  (As it turns out I probably made the right decision on not trying for Ovenbirds elsewhere in IA since I did not have any that afternoon in MN as well, even though a couple stops were in good habitat.) 

See my earlier post for the MN portion of Day 3 of my trip.

I ended the trip with 119 species in IA, 30 of which were new for my statelist - obviously way over my expected 19 new species.  My only reasonably likely targets that I missed were King Rail, Solitary Sandpiper, and Ovenbird.  I can’t thank Joe Jungers and Lee Schoenewe enough for all their great help in showing me around north-central IA!  Plus I added one in WI giving me 231 in that state – exactly Reportable Plus 15.

My IA statelist is now at 208, just 3 short of the old ABA threshold.  Not bad given that I’ve only birded in IA 3 times for a total of 6 days!  With a little web research I found that the current overall IA statelist stands at 427, resulting in a new threshold of 213.5.  Again a reason to aim for the Reportable Plus 15 goal, which for IA would be 226.  One year I plan to do a spring migration trip to include western IA, eastern SD and eastern ND, where I hope to be able to get to Reportable Plus 15 in all 3 of those states.  And perhaps I can bird with Joe and Lee again on that trip too.

Iowa Statebirding Trip, Part 1 of 2 – North-Central IA, July 2016

I don’t get to the upper Midwest very often, so when a business trip to Minneapolis came up in July I naturally started to think about statebirding possibilities.  My MN list was at 226, which was 8 over the old ABA reportable threshold of 218.  One of my original statebirding goals was to be over the ABA threshold in each state.  Those thresholds, last published by the ABA in 2011, were one half of the total list for each state.  And since the overall state lists slowly inch up as new species are added, the thresholds slowly rise as well.  As a result of this slow rise in the state thresholds, I revised my goal to be 15 over the old 2011 ABA threshold in each state – I call it “Reportable Plus 15”.  Although somewhat arbitrary, my hope is that by reaching that goal I would stay above the state threshold for many years to come. 

Now it was time to do some research.  I set up an eBird Needs Alert for MN which revealed that there were quite a number of possible new statebirds within a couple hours’ drive of Minneapolis.  But then I realized that a few of these potential targets southeast of Minneapolis were actually not too far from IA.  I’ve only birded in IA twice before, and with a statelist of just 178, my statebirding potential was of course even greater there than in MN.  Now I started to consider coming into Minneapolis a couple days early to be able to bird in IA as well as MN.  Like I said – I don’t get to this part of the country often so I may as well take advantage of these trips when I get them.

I did a quick search through the range maps in the field guides and made a long list of possible IA statebirds by season.  Not surprisingly I had gaps throughout my list that could potentially be filled on a summer trip.  However, July is frequently thought of as a slow month for birding - landbird targets can be tough to find since it is late in the season for breeders to still be singing, and it is early for most shorebirds that might be passing through.  Then again the optimist might find this as a great time – breeding birds are still around plus the early shorebirds are just arriving – a nice confluence of both breeding and migration seasons.  Ever the optimist, especially when it comes to statebirding, I was hopeful that I could find quite a number of new birds for my IA list, as well as for my MN list.

My first IA eBird research focused on the northern tier of IA counties to minimize driving time.  And one of the first sightings I keyed in on was of a Red-necked Grebe just south of the MN-IA line at Silver Lake WMA.  The range maps in the field guides show that species as a rarity in IA at any time of the year, and certainly not a breeder that far south, so I started to dig a little more.  That’s when I also found recent eBird reports of multiple Red-necked Grebes to the west at Trumbull Lake.  And when I opened those checklists I saw that Western Grebes were being seen there as well, along with Eared Grebes (though I already had that one on my IA list) – and all were breeding at the lake!  Then I noticed nearby reports of a great shorebird spot with a lot of diversity especially for this early in the year.  And another spot had several of my target grassland sparrows.  Then the icing on the cake was a report of a King Rail nearby.  All told that gave me 24 possible targets reported from this prairie pothole country in Clay, Palo Alto, and Dickinson Counties.  Although this was farther west than I was originally planning to travel, needless to say I now needed to include this area in the IA portion of my itinerary.  And my chances of finding these birds picked up significantly when I was able to contact a couple of the local birders in the area who offered to take me around to help me find my targets.

I also needed a number of landbirds for my IA list, and some were reasonably common breeders throughout the state, such as Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Wood Thrush, and Ovenbird.  Although these might be possible in the area where I hoped to find all those grebes and shorebirds, that area is more known for its prairie and farming than for its woodlands.  In addition I needed a few landbird breeders that are limited to the eastern part of the state, including a number of warbler species.  So I wondered if I could also do some woodland birding in the eastern edge of the state on this trip.  It would make for a long drive across IA, but it would put me nearly directly south of several of my southeastern MN targets, resulting in a nice loop through MN, IA, and back into MN.  Then again, it was late July and I continued to worry that my target breeders might prove too difficult to find.

The alternative to the eastern IA woodland sites was to head to southcentral IA including Hawkeye WMA where excellent numbers of shorebirds had been recently reported, including several rarities like Avocet, Piping Plover, and Marbled Godwit.  I could also do some landbirding in the area and potentially pick up some of my more southern landbird targets.  But on the day before my trip there was a post from the area that mentioned water levels were way up and shorebird numbers were much lower, with Avocets being the only rarity that remained.  I sure hated to pass up the opportunity for good shorebirds, but it seemed like my timing wasn’t the best, and decided on the eastern IA woodland stops instead.

After digesting all that research I came up with this itinerary making a large loop down to IA and back –

• Day 1 – land in Minneapolis midday, bird in MN toward the southwest in the afternoon and evening
• Day 2 – bird in north-central IA for prairie birds, drive to the eastern end of the state that evening
• Day 3 – start in northeastern IA for woodland birds, then try for targets in southeastern MN on the way back toward Minneapolis

With that itinerary I expected to get 19 new species for my IA list.  Though I sure hoped to be able to stretch that total a bit to 22 to get my statelist to 200.

And then while on the plane to MSP I realized that my planned stops in eastern IA would put me just across the Mississippi River from WI.  I’m 14 over threshold in WI, so just 1 bird shy of that magical Reportable Plus 15 goal.  With some quick eBird research I found Wyalusing State Park right across the river from one of my IA stops had recent reports of no less than 8 possible WI statebirds.  Though with a very full itinerary, I didn’t think I would actually be able to squeeze in a stop at the park.  At the very least it was something to keep in the back of my mind as the trip unfolded…

This post details the northcentral IA portion of my trip.  The previous post detailed the MN part of the trip and my next post will summarize the eastern IA and WI portion of the trip.

Day 1 – Southern MN, and a Little Time in IA

I made multiple stops in MN adding 5 birds to my statelist as I worked my way south.  And although I didn’t leave my last MN stop until 7:30 PM, and still had an hour to go to get to my hotel in IA, my statebirding wasn’t over yet for the day.  One of the species I needed for my IA list was Common Nighthawk.  And since I was arriving so late into IA I was going to be passing through several towns at dusk when Nighthawk might be a possibility.  Sure enough the first larger IA town I came into was Estherville and I quickly spotted 3 Nighthawks flying through the downtown area (IA statebird #1).  Plus I had several a few minutes later in Emmetsburg.  I’ve now seen this species in 45 states (see my statebird map below).

With this bird disappearing as a nester back home in New England, sure nice to see this species is still a common breeder in this part of the country.  And a nice start to the IA portion of my trip.

Day 2 – Northwestern IA

My plan was to bird through mid-afternoon in Clay, Palo Alto, and Dickinson Counties where so many targets birds had been recently reported, including several that are rarities for IA.  Local birders Lee Schoenewe and Joe Jungers had offered to bird with me that day.  And since they knew the area so well, I was very optimistic about my chances for finding many of these birds. 

We met just after 7 at Lost Island Prairie Wetland Nature Center.  I say “just after” 7 because although I arrived before 7 I went to the wrong part of the park to wait for Lee and Joe.  As a result I wasn’t with them a short distance away when they had a calling Black-billed Cuckoo as they waited for me.  By the time I figured out the correct spot to meet, the Cuckoo has stopped calling.  Ugh.  But things would pick up I’m sure. 

Our first stop was at a small marsh in Dewey’s Pasture WMA on 350^th Avenue north of Ruthven where Lee and Joe had found King Rail just a couple weeks before.  As we arrived we were greeted by a Black Tern flying low over the marsh (IA #2).  Although this species is seen across the country, I still need it in a few Midwest and northwest states.

Then we had several Virginia Rails quickly respond to a bit of tape (IA #3).  But the key target here was their larger cousin, so we positioned ourselves along the edge of the marsh and Lee played some King Rail calls.  While we waited the first of many Marsh Wrens came to the edge of the marsh (IA #4).  Joe got several shots of these most cooperative birds, including this bird right in front of us.

And while we were watching the Wrens a Clay-colored Sparrow called from the dry hillside to the north (IA #5).  But despite playing tape from several locations we couldn’t get the King Rail to reply. 

Next we were on to Trumbull Lake where breeding had been documented for 4 species of Grebes and Forster’s Terns this summer.  Apparently local authorities had recently done a lot of work to rejuvenate the wetlands, and the new conditions were most attractive to these and other more common nesters like my other targets the Common Gallinule and both Bitterns.  One minor challenge was that viewing was getting more challenging of late as the cattails rimming the lake had gotten taller, so we might need a bit of luck to help us see birds out on the water. 

As we drove along we passed through several wetlands, though we only made a couple brief stops so we could concentrate on Trumbull Lake up ahead.  But one stop was most fruitful – we flushed an American Bittern right next to the road (IA #6).  At our first lake stop on the east side of the lake we set up our scopes on a bit of a high spot to peer over the cattails.  I quickly picked up a rare Eared Grebe (an eBird rarity) and several Pied-billed Grebes along with several Ruddy Ducks.  Then Lee got me on a pair of Red-necked Grebes (IA #7).  IA is only my 4th state where I’ve seen this species as a breeding bird (along with ID, ND, and MN).

We couldn’t come up with any of our other targets here so we headed to another overlook a bit to the north.  Here we had a broader view of the lake, though again the tall cattails blocked our view of the near shore.  Lee picked out a couple Western Grebes mostly obscured by the vegetation.  I wasn’t tall enough to see them, though I heard them calling.  Luckily we all had views of this target a couple minutes later (IA #8).  I’ve now seen Western Grebe throughout most of its western range along with a few eastern and 1 Midwest state as a rarity.

Another target we searched for here was Forster’s Tern which nested at the lake and had been quite easy to see in Joe’s and Lee’s recent trips to Trumbull Lake.  We found numerous Black Terns dancing over the lake at these first stops, but no Forster’s.  Then Joe picked out a juvenile Forster’s flying among the Blacks in the distance.  Unfortunately I didn’t pick it out.  But we weren’t worried because our next stop was at the north end of the lake where they had been easiest to see in the past.  But again we came up empty – sure wish I had spent more effort to find Joe’s bird.  Though we did pick up a cooperative Willow Flycatcher (IA #9) driving to one of our overlooks.  And then our last stop on the lake was at a portion of the marsh where Common Gallinules were regular that summer.  We went to “the” spot for them, played some tape, and one called back right away (IA #10).  Another example where I wouldn’t have found one of my targets without the local birders’ help. 

One of our other targets that had been regular at Trumbull Lake earlier in the summer, but had eluded us so far, was Least Bittern.  We made stops at lots of great cattail habitat where they had been heard regularly that summer but couldn’t scare one up.  So we headed to Dan Green Slough, and specifically the boat ramp near the southern end of the lake.  This spot too had lots of cattails, but most importantly had numerous openings in the vegetation where we might spot a Bittern.  We played some tape, but to no avail.  Then just as we were leaving the boat ramp a Least Bittern took off from one of the edges just a short distance away (IA #11).  It must have been there the whole time.  Although I’m slowly filling in my statebird map for this species, I still have quite a number of gaps – especially in the southeast.

We left the wetland habitats very happy to have spotted all but 2 of our targets, though we were all surprised that we hadn’t found a cooperative Forster’s Tern.

Next we were on to a couple sheetwater pools northwest of Spencer.  These flooded fields had attracted some nice rarities recently, though there had been no recent reports from this spot.  Before we even got out of the car we could see quite a number of peeps moving about along with a few larger shorebirds.  With several scans we picked out good numbers of Pectoral and Semi Sands, and smaller numbers of Yellowlegs, but none of the rarer species jumped out at us.  But then slowly we started to pick out some of my targets.  First we spotted a Semipalmated Plover (IA #12).  Then we added a Short-billed Dowitcher to the list (IA #13).  And a nearly breeding plumage Stilt Sandpiper was nice, though not a new statebird for me. 

We then drove over to the other pool just a couple hundred yards away.  One of the first birds I spotted was a basic-plumaged Western Sandpiper (IA #14).  While we were scanning the birds here a couple different shorebird flocks dropped in both to this second pool as well as the first one.  So we headed back over to the first pool and added another half dozen Short-billed Dowitchers, a second Semi Plover, and several more Stilt Sands, but nothing new.  Although diversity was lower than a couple weeks earlier, we still were able to spot 12 shorebird species at the pools.

Our next stops were at some natural prairie and planted pasture fields nearby to try for Upland Sandpiper.  They had nested in these fields this year, and had been reasonably reliable earlier in the season.  But in late July I wasn’t too optimistic – even if they were still around they would likely not be calling, and grasses would be quite high by now.  So it could be a needle-in-a-haystack kind of proposition.  We slowly drove down the road passing along the edge of a very nice prairie habitat, but couldn’t spot an Uppie.  Then we got to the field planted in pasture grasses and saw that about half the field had just been cut.  I wondered if the cut grass might attract Uplands since their food might be easier to find.  Not to mention the birds would be easier to see in the short grass.  And sure enough, a short distance down the road there was an Upland Sandpiper standing in the field near the road (IA #15).  Joe got this great shot right from the car.

Then it was on to an adjacent natural field of prairie grasses where Henslow’s Sparrows had nested earlier in the year.  It was now late morning, and of course late summer – not the best timing to hear singing passerines, so again I wasn’t overly optimistic.  We pulled over and listened – I was pleasantly surprised to hear quite a bit of song – there were a number of Sedge Wrens and Grasshopper Sparrows along with a single Clay-colored Sparrow, and of course the ever-present Dickcissels.  But no Henslow’s.  We pulled up a bit farther and listened again but heard pretty much the same mix of birds.  Then I played some Henslow’s tape and we listened some more.  Again no luck.  Just as we were about to pull away I heard a single “tslick” of a Henslow’s Sparrow (IA #16).  I still have a long way to go to find this species in the states in its range throughout much of the eastern US.

Next Lee took us to a small sod farm just a couple miles away to check for early Buff-breasted Sandpipers.  There had been no reports from this spot so far this year so this location wasn’t on my radar screen.  But within seconds of pulling up Lee spotted 3 Buff-breasteds close to the road that joined 2 others farther back on the sod (IA #17). 

I still needed Vesper Sparrow for my list so Lee next took us to a dirt road that dead-ended at the Spencer Municipal Airport where he said he almost always has Vespers.  We drove slowly down to the end but only picked out a few Dickcissels.  We then turned around and headed back down the road and flushed a sparrow off the ground that had white outer tail feathers – a successful side-trip for a Vesper Sparrow (IA #18).

We then headed back to Lee’s house for a lunch break.  Plus Lee had hummingbirds coming to his feeder – another of my targets.  That’s one I had hoped for the next day in woodlands in the eastern part of the state.  But getting it today would take the pressure off having to randomly run into a bird tomorrow.  We had not been back at his house for more than 5 minutes when a Ruby-throated Hummingbird came in to drink at his feeder (IA #19).  Another of Lee’s stakeouts came through for us.  IA fills one of the last gaps in my statebird map for this species.

After a quick lunch we were off again, this time to Freda Haffner Kettlehole State Preserve near the MN border which has been a traditional spot for Blue Grosbeak.  Along the way I got a quick view of a Yellow-billed Cuckoo as it flew right in front of the car – not the best views but good enough for my 20th IA statebird on the trip.  As we approached the preserve we came upon a small flock of Lark Sparrows in the road as if to welcome us to this new habitat.  When we got out of the car we were serenaded by a nice mix of Grasshopper, Clay-colored, and Field Sparrows, and Dickcissels, but no Grosbeaks.  We had waited a couple minutes when we all spotted a chunky finch-like bird fly over the road and into a nearby brushy tree.  A bit later the bird popped into the open and it was a female Blue Grosbeak (IA #21).  And just a minute later we heard one singing – a male had flown in as well and was singing from the powerlines overhead.  I now have only a couple gaps in my statebird map to fill in for this species that stretches across the southern and central states.

That was the last of my target birds, and as we walked back to the car I quickly reviewed my notes and realized that my IA state list now stood at 199.  I shared that detail with Lee and Joe and none of us wanted to call it a day one short of 200.  Lee mentioned that we might still have a chance at finding Forster’s Tern if we added some stops around Spirit Lake.  So we started with a couple stops overlooking the lake from the west side but with no luck.  Then we made a stop on the north end of the lake right at the MN/IA line but only found some roosting gulls.  Now we were on the east side of Spirit Lake and Lee navigated us to one last spot where he had seen Forster’s in the past.  We got out of the car and scanned a distant shoreline and at first only spotted a flock of gulls.  Then I noticed what appeared to be a smaller roosting bird worthy of a scope view.  A few seconds later we confirmed an adult Forster’s Tern (IA #22).  With that target bird under my belt IA became my 48th state with at least 200 species (I’m under 200 only in MT and HI – and also Washington, DC).

That ended a remarkable day where we found all but 1 of my staked out target birds.  Needless to say I couldn’t have done it without the help of Lee Schoenewe and Joe Jungers.  Great birders who know the birds of their area like the backs of their hands.  As we parted ways I mentioned that I hoped to bird with them again someday, perhaps on a return trip in spring some year to work on passerine migrants in western IA.

My next post summarizes my statebirding stops in eastern IA, and a brief stop in WI.