Washington Portion of the Northwest Sagebrush Country Trip, May-June 2023

In January 2016 an armed group of protesters seized and occupied the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon.  By the time the occupation was over in February 2016, there was a considerable amount of destruction of the refuge facilities, resulting in closure of the headquarters facilities for months.  Unfortunately, I had planned a summer 2016 birding trip to the sagebrush country of eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and southern Idaho to include a lengthy stop at Malheur NWR.  But given the issues at Malheur I shelved those plans and headed to Alberta and British Columbia that summer instead. 

But my interests in birding eastern OR, eastern WA, and southern ID continued as this was the last large section of the Lower 48 that I had not yet birded.  And a new part of the country for me would equate to considerable statebirding potential.  So after further delays first due to moving, and then due to Covid, I finally got around to scheduling the OR/WA/ID sagebrush country trip for the summer of 2023.  Plus I added a short side-trip to the South Hills of ID for Cassia Crossbill.  I reached out to birding friend David Donsker who often joins me on these trips, and he agreed to come along. 

After considerable research on-line especially on eBird, and with invaluable advice from a number of local birders, I set up an 11-day itinerary from May 24th to June 3rd, starting in southern ID, then into eastern OR, next into southeastern WA, then back to ID for flights back home.  Plus I reached out to long-time WA birding buddy Blair Bernson for his advice.  He also helped me connect with local expert birders Mike and MerryLynn Denny and Phil Bartley who provided excellent advice to bird southeastern WA.  Given the potential statebirds in the area I hoped to add perhaps 12 new birds in WA.

But simply adding a lot of statebirds wasn’t my only objective for the trip.  Years ago, the ABA allowed you to report your totals for a given state only if your total exceeded half of the total number of species ever recorded in that state.  Early in my birding career I had set a goal to be able to report my totals to the ABA in each of the continental 49 states.  Eventually I exceeded those thresholds in each state except one – OR, for which I exceeded the threshold on this trip.  Although those ABA reporting thresholds no longer exist, they still represent a logical set of standards to strive for in each state. 

But the state totals inch up over the years as new birds are added to the official state list.  As a result, I set a somewhat arbitrary goal of being 15 over those old ABA thresholds (I call it “ABA plus 15”).  I started the 2023 trip with 267 species in WA, 19 over the old ABA reportable threshold of 248, and 4 over my ABA plus 15 threshold of 263.  But WA has added so many birds to its state list in recent years that as of October 2022 the official state list has risen to 522.  Half that total is 261 – simply being 15 over the old ABA threshold may not be enough to stay over half the state total for much longer.

So adding enough WA birds to stay comfortably above half their state list was a secondary objective for this trip. 

This blog post presents a summary of the WA portion of the trip.  My previous posts briefly summarized the entire trip and detailed the ID and OR portions.

Day 7 – May 30 - Drive to Walla Walla

My initial plan was to have Walla Walla as our home base for most of our WA birding.  While there we would stay at the home of a good friend of David’s, Alan Peterson.  But since my first birding spots were to the west in the Tri-Cities area, we decided that I would make those stops on my own after dropping David off at Alan’s house.  On Day 7 of our trip, after a morning of birding in northeastern OR, we arrived in the Walla Walla area mid-afternoon.  I then dropped off David and was off to WE Johnson Park in Benton County to meet up with Blair.  This spot was suggested by Blair because of the potential to see Black-chinned Hummingbird at private feeders adjacent to the park, and Yellow-breasted Chats in the park nearby. 

But even before I left Walla Walla I spotted my first WA statebird – a Swainson’s Hawk flying along the roadway.  My statebird map for this species is inserted below.  Blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen this western species; the cross-hatched states are those in its regular range where I’ve yet to see it.

When I arrived at the park Blair was waiting for me at the edge of the private yard with lovely gardens and most importantly a pair of hummingbird feeders.  Just minutes before I arrived he had both a Black-chinned at the feeder and a Chat perched prominently in the park next door.  Now we just had to wait for them both to return.  We waited a while for the Hummer but with no luck, so we decided to take a short walk into the park.  And after a few minutes we started to hear a Chat though it was being bashful and never popped out into the open (WA statebird #2).  WA was my last western state for this species – I just need it in a couple Midwest states near the northern edge of its range.  And I’ve seen it in 4 New England states shaded in brown as a rarity.

With that one out of the way we headed back to the yard and continued our vigil for the Black-chinned.  After a while with no activity we thought about calling it quits.  And then we noticed the homeowner had come out to her front yard and we struck up a conversation with her.  She invited us into her back yard where we could have a better view of the feeders while standing in the shade on that hot day.  And within just a few minutes we had a female come to the feeder and nearby flowers (WA statebird #3).  And a couple minutes later a male arrived and proceeded to go through its elaborate “U” shaped courtship display.  Quite amazing to watch and glad we waited.  Here’s a picture of part of the gardens with the Black-chinned perched at the top of the bare snag with the park in the background.

Afterwards we made a feeble attempt to try for Grasshopper Sparrow and Chukar seen nearby last year, but realized the locations given in eBird weren’t sufficiently detailed.  So we decided to call it quits for the day and we’d meet up again the next morning.

Day 8 – May 31 – Benton County and Tri-Cities

I was on my own on my first stop of the day in excellent sagebrush habitat south of Rattlesnake Mountain in Benton County.  Phil had given me great advice for finding my targets at this location, and I mapped out a route through the sagebrush to get to all the suggested spots.  I started there pre-dawn along Rotha Road on the off-chance that I could run into a Poorwill reported there in previous years, even though Phil said they were no longer possible there.  I should have listened to Phil as I struck on the Poorwills though I had 24 individual Horned Larks sitting on the road in front of me – couldn’t turn any of them into a resting Poorwill.  I also heard numerous Common Nighthawks overhead.  Plus, in the light of my headlights 3 different Lark Sparrows flushed from the roadway (WA statebird #4) – a nice bird for a nocturnal list.  WA was the last western state where I still needed this species, though I’ve seen it in 8 eastern states as a rarity.

It was now closing in on sunrise so I drove to the Rothrock Rd. parking lot hotspot where Sagebrush Sparrow is quite regular.  While I waited for the sky to brighten I got this nice picture of the sun about to rise over the sagebrush.

I then positioned myself at the eastern edge of the parking lot and listened for my target Sparrow.  I just had to wait a few seconds before I started to hear a Sagebrush Sparrow singing (WA statebird #5).  And within a couple minutes I could hear 3 different birds singing from throughout the sea of sagebrush.  Although I was able to add this species to my lists in all 3 states I covered on this trip, I still need it in 4 other western states.

Next I tried walking along the grassy shoulder just north of the parking lot for Gray Partridge but this species continued to elude me. 

I went back to the car to warm up a bit (temps were in the low 40s – 50 degrees colder than yesterday’s high) thinking I had now seen all my potential statebirds that I could in this habitat.  But then I started to wonder why I needed Sagebrush Sparrow in WA but not Sage Thrasher.  Since this was my first time birding in this habitat in WA I bet I needed Sage Thrasher as well.  Luckily I had just enough cell reception to allow me to pull up my WA statelist on eBird and sure enough I was missing Sage Thrasher.  Good thing I realized this before leaving.  I quickly pulled up Phil’s e-mail and noticed he suggested the swails around the intersection of Crooks and Franks Roads as a possible spot for the Thrasher.  I drove over to Phil’s suggested spot and had no sooner gotten out of the car when I could hear a Sage Thrasher in song (WA statebird #6).  Once again luck was on my side to add this species to my WA list.  Here’s the lush vegetation from which the Thrasher was singing.

It was now time to connect with Blair and the Denny’s who agreed to show me around for the morning in the Tri-Cities area.  So I started my drive south out of the sagebrush and had only gone a couple miles when I noticed a sparrow perched on a bush near the road.  I pulled to a stop and found it to be a White-crowned Sparrow, the only one of the trip.  And then I heard another singing Sagebrush Sparrow.  While I was trying to track down the Sparrow I heard some “chuck” calls behind me.  I turned just in time to see a Chukar crossing the road behind me (WA statebird #7).  That was a most unlikely spot for a Chukar with no exposed rocks in the area.  Another lucky find, and the 5th state where I’ve seen this species.

Now I was truly leaving and set off to Hood Park in Walla Walla County to meet Blair and the Denny’s.  We weren’t planning to bird there, but while waiting in the parking lot I spotted an Eastern Kingbird in the distance, the first of many (WA statebird #8).  I’ve now seen this species in each state in its range except for NV.

Our first stop with the Denny’s was the Peninsula Unit of McNary NWR.  Our key birding spot there was a small peninsula that afforded good views of the Columbia River.  My key targets here were Terns, with Forster’s being the most likely and with outside chances for Common and Black.  We were able to quickly find a small group of 7 Forster’s Terns perched together in the distance (WA statebird #9).  WA was the last state in which I needed Forster’s Tern in its regular range across the US.

We were also able to pick up several Caspian Terns, but no other small terns.  We stayed at this spot for about an hour, picking up 37 species including a rare male Common Goldeneye, before heading off to our next stop.

And that next spot was an eBird hotspot known as the Tyson Blood Ponds.  These “ponds” are at the edge of a very large cattle feed lot, which apparently accept wastewaters generated from slaughtering the cows.  Although the pond appeared to be solid, the gray material is actually fats floating on the surface.  Not surprisingly the area was rather aromatic. 

We didn’t stay here long, but were able to quickly pick up 2 Black-necked Stilts likely breeding here (WA statebird #10), along with an Avocet.  Just one more state to go in the Stilt’s regular range, though I’ve seen it in 5 states in the northeast as a rarity. 

Our next stop was the Port of Walulla with more views of the Columbia River.  Here we picked out both Clark’s and Western Grebes, and more Caspian Terns, but found no new target birds.

Then we took a short drive south along the river to a steep cliff face to look for White-throated Swifts.  Mike Denny mentioned to look for them flying in one of the gaps between two parts of the cliff and sure enough there they were, flying among the Violet-green Swallows.  Although that wasn’t a target bird for me in WA, I needed it for my OR list.  Just a few days earlier I had an unsuccessful search for White-throated Swifts on a very similar cliff south of Malheur NWR in OR.  Ironically the Swifts we were looking at were only about a mile from the OR stateline.  Statebirding is like that sometimes…

Next we were on to another hotspot in McNary NWR called Millet and Woodland Ponds.  The Denny’s had a Wilson’s Phalarope there 2 days earlier, so I was hopeful we would be successful with that target.  We parked in the small parking lot for the site and began to walk through some cottonwood and riparian vegetation toward the ponds.  One of our first birds was a Common Nighthawk perched on a horizontal branch – always a nice find.  Then a short distance ahead a small bird flew in to feed on some grasses just a short distance away – it was a Lesser Goldfinch (WA statebird #11).  WA was my last state in which to see this species in its regular range.

When we arrived at the wetlands we all scoped from numerous angles but could not come up with a Phalarope.  Perhaps it was feeding back in the brush out of view.  Though we did find 6 species of dabblers and a couple more Stilts.

It was now lunchtime and we had pretty much covered all the possible locations for my target statebirds in the Tri-Cities area.  And it was time for the Denny’s to move on, so I thanked them for all their help for our morning searches.

What to do next?  I had thought that the locations we birded that morning would take all day to cover, so I had quite a bit of free time on my hands.  Blair mentioned that a Wilson’s Phalarope and a rare White-faced Ibis had been recently seen at an eBird hotspot named Para Ponds.  Plus Tricolored Blackbirds are possible there.  With a bit of eBird research I found Para Ponds and reports of as many as 4 Phalaropes as recently as 2 days earlier, and both the Ibis and Tricolored Blackbirds were last seen 3 days earlier.  It was only about an hour’s drive to get there, and I had spare time and statebird potential, so I was off to Para Ponds.

Para Ponds are located in a broad area of wetlands just north of the little town of Othello in Adams County.  Just after coming through the town the road descended down a pretty considerable hill into the valley and the wetlands beyond.  I parked on the shoulder at the edge of the Ponds and started my search.  On my first scan I hoped for a large dark wader but just found a Great Blue and a couple Great Egrets.  Then a quick scan of the mudflats just netted a Spotted Sandpiper and a few Killdeer.  This was going to be difficult…

Over the next hour I viewed the ponds from as many different angles as possible, but couldn’t come up with any of my targets.  There were a few dabbling ducks in the ponds, but considerably less waterfowl than in the previous checklists, so I wondered if water levels had dropped enough that the Phalarope and Ibis were no longer interested in this spot.  I was getting ready to leave when a Blackbird flew by just a few feet away.  Even without binoculars I could see that it had a bright white band on the shoulder and there was no red visible – it was a male Tricolored Blackbird (WA statebird #12).  Later I found another make feeding along the water’s edge, and then came upon a flock of 5 males on another bank, along with a flyby female.  Here is a distant photo of several on the shore. 

I’ve now seen Tricolored Blackbird in each state in its regular range, including in isolated colonies in OR, NV, and now WA.  That’s quite a nice range expansion for a species that was once thought to breed only in CA.

After looking at the Blackbirds I spent more time searching for my other targets but still came up empty.  Little did I know that another birder would see a Phalarope there that evening.  Ugh…

My last realistic statebird target of the day was Wild Turkey.  There were numerous eBird reports of Turkeys throughout the Walla Walla area so I was cautiously optimistic.  But Turkeys can be difficult to find since there aren’t often specific locations where they are very reliable.  But the Denny’s mentioned that they are often seen at the Whitman Mission National Historic Site near Walla Walla.  That was right on my way back to Alan’s place and reconnecting with David so it would make for an easy stop.  I arrived at 4:30 and went into the visitors’ center to see if anyone had suggestions for finding Turkeys at the park.  One of the park employees said that the Turkeys are most often seen there at sunrise and sunset, and that she had seen them most anywhere in the park.  I took a quick stroll around without seeing any Turkeys, so I headed out to get dinner and come back later that evening.  Unfortunately, I still came up empty.  Maybe I’ll be luckier at dawn the next day.

Day 9 – June 1 – Biscuit Ridge Road

David and I had one key stop this day, and that was to bird our way up Biscuit Ridge Road.  We left Alan’s place around sunrise and as we walked toward the car we could hear a Wild Turkey gobbling (WA statebird #13).  That was easy – I shouldn’t have spent so much time looking for them the previous day.  I just need this species in 5 more states across the country.

Fresh from finding one new gallinaceous bird for my statelist, we reminded ourselves that Alan sometimes sees Gray Partridges on his property.  As we headed down the hill through Alan’s property we paused briefly at the hedgerow where he often sees them, then continued very slowly down the hill watching the grasses nearby.  And just then we spotted the head of a Gray Partridge sticking up above the grass (WA statebird #14).  We continued to watch it walk slowly along feeding on seeds at the top of the blades of grasses.  And just a couple minutes later it walked back into the grass and was once again out of view.  Here’s the grassy field the Partridge was walking through.

WA is only the 6th state where I’ve seen this elusive species.

And then as we left Alan’s property we heard a California Quail calling and saw a Pheasant on the road side – that gave us 4 gallinaceous species in less than 5 minutes!  Then just a mile away we passed by this flock of Turkeys in a farm field.  I really shouldn’t have stressed so much over this species!

After a short drive we reached the base of Biscuit Ridge Road where our two key targets were Veery and Green-tailed Towhee.  We started our climb up through scattered houses often tucked into nice riparian habitat.  We kept our ears open for Veerys but couldn’t make frequent stops among all the houses.  Then a couple miles uphill there was a break in the houses with some nice riparian habitat nearby so we made this one of our first key stops.  And sure enough we soon heard a couple singing Veerys (WA statebird #15).  Nice to fill in the northwest portion of my statebird map for this thrush one might think of as an eastern species.

 As we continued uphill we heard quite a number of singing flycatchers, most notably 3 different “Western” Flycatchers.  Although the songs sounded the same to me, Merlin repeatedly ID’d 2 of them as Cordillerans, and 1 as a Pacific-slope.  Many birders in the region don’t agree with the 1989 split of these species given the similarities between their songs and plumage, particularly in southeastern WA.  Plus there is a proposal for the AOU to re-lump these 2 species later in 2023.  As a result, I decided to enter all 3 as Pacific-Slope/Cordilleran Flycatchers in my eBird checklist. 

We were some 9 or 10 miles up the road when we ran into a couple of other birders heading upslope as well.  They too were looking for Green-tailed Towhee, in their case for their year lists, since this was just about the only spot to find them in all of WA.  They had seen the Towhee here before, and knew their preferred habitat as isolated patches of thick brush on grassy slopes high up on Biscuit Ridge.  Luckily they let us join them on their search, and we followed them for several miles while the road entered into nice Ponderosa pine habitat.  But our target was the Towhee, so we passed by the pines and pulled over in a spot where the slope below us to the southwest was grass-covered but had patches of thick brush.  At our first stop we had no Towhees, but did find this mother bear and two cubs in the distance.

We drove a bit farther up the road and stopped at areas of similar habitat.  And this time we had success, hearing at least 1 and maybe 2 singing Green-tailed Towhees singing below us (WA statebird #16).  One was singing from the brush in the middle of this picture.  And the scenery was nice as well!

We also had a MacGillivray’s Warbler that perched up nicely in the distance long enough to get this phonescoped photo.

On our way back down the ridge we birded the Ponderosa pine habitat and had species like Red Crossbill, Cassin’s Finch, and Red-breasted Nuthatch.  Plus we were treated to more nice scenery of the valley below us to the west.

We left Biscuit Ridge Road about 11 AM and once again had spare time on our hands.  So we decided to take a drive north to Harder Spring in Franklin County where a colony of Tricolored Blackbirds were breeding.  This spot turned out to be an isolated oasis consisting of a wetlands covered in cattails and surrounded by riparian vegetation.  As soon as we arrived we spotted numerous blackbirds flying between the wetlands and the desert.  Upon closer look nearly all of these turned out to be Tricolored Blackbirds foraging out in the sagebrush desert to look for food to feed their young.  I wondered how sustainable a colony of this size could be, not only since the parents had to fly so far to find food, but also to have to look for that food in the desert vegetation.  Must be a tough existence.  In any case, we got good views of both the females that were darker than female Red-wings, and the males with their white-trimmed shoulder patch that only occasionally showed any red plumage.  We also ran into an Olive-sided Flycatcher perched in a tree at the oasis.  A nice way to end our day and to end the WA portion of the trip.

Conclusion

The WA portion of our trip featured 112 species, most importantly including 16 new statebirds, much better than the 12 I hoped for.  That brings my statelist to 283, now 35 over the old ABA reportable threshold of 248.  With the official WA statelist at 522 as of October 2022, the new threshold for half of the total would be 261.  Looks like I’ll stay over the threshold of half the statelist total for some time to come. 

Here is a link to my eBird Trip Report for the WA portion of our trip –

WA Portion of 2023 Trip - eBird Trip Report

Many thanks to Blair Bernson, Phil Bartley, and Mike and MerryLynn Denny for all their help on so many of our searches.  And thanks to Alan Peterson for allowing us to stay at his home, not to mention creating habitat on his property for the elusive Gray Partridge.

Minnesota Statebirding Trip – “Reportable Plus 15”, 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.  For instance the most recently published MN list (as of 12/31/13) is 441, so the new threshold would be 220.5.  That also means I’m only 5 ½ over the latest threshold using 2013 data.  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.  And all that means that I wanted to add at least 7 more birds to my MN list.

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, though the targets were scattered southeast, southwest, and northwest of the Twin Cities area.  I figured that with a couple early morning stops before work and evening stops after work I could have a shot at several of these targets.  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.

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

Plus I would still have early mornings and late evenings available while working the next couple days to try for some local targets in the greater Twin Cities area if I missed them earlier.

Then again you need to be flexible when planning a trip such as this one.  As I was sitting in the Boston airport waiting to leave I checked my eBird MN Needs Alert and noticed new posts of 3 needed shorebird species– Baird’s Sandpiper, Willet, and the very rare Black-necked Stilt.  The birds were in a couple spots in southwestern MN which would require a bit of a diversion from my planned route and more driving time, but likely worthwhile if I could squeeze it all in. 

With that revised itinerary I expected to get 6 new birds in MN.  Though I sure hoped to be able to stretch that total just a bit to get 7 and reach the Reportable Plus 15 goal. 

This post details the MN portion of that trip; the next post details the IA (and WI) part of the trip.

Day 1 – Southern MN

My first stop was just a half hour drive southeast of the MSP airport at a landfill east of the 140^th Street Marsh where up to 2 Blue Grosbeaks were reported on eBird as recently as a week earlier.  Dickcissels were reported here as well, though they were reported at most every one of my future stops too so certainly not a rarity.  Directions were quite detailed, so I was hopeful that I might add 2 species at this stop.  When I arrived along 140^th Street I ran into a couple other birders also looking for the Grosbeaks.  But not only had they not seen the birds, but one birder mentioned he had been there each of the last 7 days without seeing them.  Plus he said the Dickcissels had moved out of the area too.  Unfortunately an example where eBird can paint a picture than is rosier than reality.  I allocated a full hour at this spot, but given the negative news, I gave up after 45 minutes without seeing the Grosbeaks.  Though I did see and hear a couple Dickcissels (MN statebird #1).

Next I was on to the 180^th Street Marsh area just 15 minutes to the south where Loggerhead Shrikes have been seen all summer, including two family groups seen just the day before my visit.  All the sightings were along just a few miles of roadway, and all the posted pictures had Shrikes perched along powerlines and fencelines right along the roads.  So again I was optimistic.  But once again I came up empty despite spending the better part of an hour slowly searching the roadsides and adjacent land for perched Shrikes.  I finally threw in the towel on the Shrikes, and stopped to plug in the GPS coordinates of the location of my next target birds.  I was feeling pretty sorry for myself, having missed 2 of my first targets, as I headed out of the area and toward the highway.  Just then I happened to look up and there was a Loggerhead Shrike above me on the wires – at least a mile west of all the recent sightings (MN #2).  Goes to show you that you’ve got to keep your eyes open!  I’ve now seen Loggerhead Shrike throughout most of its present range, as well as in a couple northeast states where it was a former breeder (see my statebird map below).

My next targets were Swainson’s Hawks, which were a bit of a long shot.  Even though there were a few sightings in a reasonably small area, and sightings occurred both this summer and last summer, the sightings were very sporadic and no specific location(s) were offered.  But since this spot was on my route, it was worth at least a quick try.  In route to this spot I had a flyover Osprey (MN #3), which I was most happy about since I had no pinned-down locations for them now that they were no longer on their nests.  A few minutes later I arrived at the area of the Swainson’s sightings - the area was mostly cropland with an occasional small patch of trees.  I checked the trees that seemed to be suitable as raptor perches and scanned the skies, but no raptors were in sight.  I was thinking of running through the area again, but wondered if it was better to shorten this stop and use the extra time to look for those shorebirds in the southern part of the state.  Given that my first stops were lengthy ones, I decided to call it quits here and crossed my fingers that things would pick up in southern MN, though I hated to give up on yet another target.

The Black-necked Stilts were first reported the day before I arrived in MN in wetlands between the towns of Jackson and Windom.  And the morning I arrived they were reported again, this time giving a distraction display, suggesting that they were breeding at the site.  So along with explicit directions in that morning’s post, I was hopeful that I would find this rarity.  As I neared the site I spotted a Mockingbird along a hedgerow – not a new one for my MN list but a nice rarity for the day.  As I pulled up to the suggested viewing location I looked to the wetlands to the west.  And despite the miserable sun angle, I quickly spotted a large shorebird.  With the scope I confirmed it as a Stilt (MN #4) - quite the rarity in MN, and likely nesting too.  My statebird map is indicative of both this species’ expanding range as well as its tendency toward vagrancy.

Sure glad that one came quickly given the long stops earlier in the day.  Although I wanted to bird this spot longer, it was already past 7 PM and I still had a couple more MN targets to search for.  So it was off to the next spots.

There were several eBird reports in the area from the previous day where one birder reported some nice concentrations of shorebirds in what appeared to be flooded fields.  One spot about 20 minutes from the Stilt location had a Willet in with a few more common shorebirds, and another location a short distance farther away had a pair of Baird’s.  On my way to the Willet spot I came upon another flooded field with quite a number of shorebirds.  I made an unscheduled stop here and found good numbers of Yellowlegs and Pectorals, along with a nice flock of Franklin’s Gulls, but nothing unusual.  Next I went to the Willet spot and found the flooded field was teeming with shorebirds – many times the number reported from the day before.  I scanned through the many Lesser Yellowlegs, and picked out a couple Greaters, but couldn’t come up with the even larger Willet.  While making that scan I noticed quite a number of peeps in another part of the field, so I returned to scrutinize that area, counting 30 Pectorals.  And then I noticed 3 slightly smaller peeps which were Baird’s Sandpipers (MN #5).  Sure seemed like there was a lot of turnover in these fields – my numbers were quite a bit higher than the day before, the Willet had moved on, and Baird’s had dropped in.  Although I was tempted to head to the spot where the Baird’s was reported the day before, I decided to call it a day since I still had an hour drive to get to my hotel in IA.  Although I missed a couple MN targets, I was happy that the shorebirds came through for me, and I hoped I was on my way to getting the 7 new birds I needed to reach Reportable Plus 15 in MN.

Day 2 and Early Morning of Day 3 – IA and WI

See my next post for the details of the IA and WI portion of the trip.

Day 3 – Southeastern and Central MN

I finished my most successful eastern IA birding by mid-morning, and was now on my way into southeastern MN in search of 3 specific targets – Acadian Flycatcher, Louisiana Waterthrush, and Yellow-throated Warbler.  I had heard all 3 species singing at dawn that morning in eastern IA, so there was room to be optimistic that they might cooperate in MN as well.  The Flycatcher and Waterthrush were regular nesters at Beaver Creek Valley State Park.  I was lucky that both are mentioned on the park’s website since I didn’t realize that the Waterthrush was at this spot until I went onto that website looking for a trail map for my Acadian search.  Based on eBird reports both had been heard and seen regularly in the park this summer through 6/27.  But there were no reports from the park since that time.  So now nearly a month later, and in the late morning on this warm summer day in the doldrums of mid-summer, I wondered how cooperative these birds might be.  So I put my chances at 50% to find each bird.

I pulled into the parking lot of the park headquarters to pay the day-use fee, and within seconds of getting out of my car I heard an Acadian calling (MN #6).  That was amazingly easy!  I also had a couple potential locations for Acadian closer to Minneapolis, so no longer any need to try to try to squeeze in those stops before or after work later in the week.  The park ranger was also helpful in suggesting spots for the Waterthrush so this was definitely a worthwhile stop.

I took the ranger’s advice and headed to the Beaver Creek Valley Trail.  The beginning of this trail crosses over Beaver Creek which was an amazingly clear stream that ran through some excellent riparian habitat.  Not a surprise that Louisiana Waterthrushes would like this spot.

After crossing the creek the trail paralleled the creek but first a distance away through some nice upland habitat.  Not good for Waterthrushes but I did hear 2 more calling Acadians here.  Then the trail returned to the creek valley, and now that I was back in good Waterthrush habitat, I stopped to listen.  Within seconds I heard a bird giving sharp chip notes a short distance downstream – was it the Louisiana?  Then not 30 seconds later it started to sing – bingo – a Louisiana Waterthrush (MN #7).  I’ve now seen this species in 33 states virtually throughout its regular range.

I had added two nice MN birds in less than 30 minutes.  And with my 7th new bird for MN I had reached the Reportable Plus 15 goal.  But there were more targets to pursue…

The next potential MN statebird was a Yellow-throated Warbler that had been reported since May at Whitewater State Park east of Rochester.  The bird was being seen in the vicinity of the Nature Store, with earlier reports mentioning the bird right at the store, though the most recent 2 reports said it was seen in white pines in the picnic area just north of the store.  I wondered if that meant the bird was now more likely at the picnic area rather than at the store, especially since I’m used to seeing this species in the southeast in pine woodlands.  Then again, the last report was from more than 2 weeks ago, so who knows what the bird’s preferences may be now, assuming it was still around of course.  As an afterthought I reminded myself that even if I missed the Yellow-throated here, there was another one being seen in downtown Minneapolis that I could try for later in the week.

I pulled into the parking lot for the Nature Store to get my bearings.  The trees around the parking lot were mostly mature deciduous trees with a few white pines sprinkled in, and I could see the picnic area adjacent to the lot to the north.  Giving more credence to the most recent reports I headed to the picnic area first to give that spot a try.  The woods there were more open, and there were at least a couple dozen mature white pines shading the picnic tables.  So I started slowly walking through the picnic ground spending a minute or two staring up into each individual pine tree looking for movement.  Some 45 minutes later I had taken two laps through the picnic area, finding quite a number of birds foraging in the pines (including pewees, bluebirds, orioles, and sapsuckers), but no Yellow-throated Warbler.  At one point I came upon a pine of a different species looking more like the pines of the southeast.  But despite spending some extra time at this tree, still no target bird.  Then I decided to walk back to the nature center parking lot and made a lap through that area, but again came up empty. 

I figured it was time to call it quits on this bird, and as I started to walk back to the car parked in the picnic area I was already thinking about which early morning before work would be best to try for the Minneapolis bird.  Just then I heard a sharp chip note in the trees above me at the edge of the lot.  I looked up and heard it again, but despite 30 seconds of searching saw no birds at all.  Just like the Waterthrush earlier at Beaver Creek, I was pretty sure I had the target bird, but was reluctant to check it off just based on chip notes.  Then a few seconds later I spotted movement and there was the Yellow-throated Warbler (MN #8), sparring with a Pewee of all things.  Interestingly the bird stayed in deciduous trees and was never even close to a pine.  MN was my 33rd state for Yellow-throated Warbler – my statebird map is very similar to the one for the Waterthrush.  But one difference is that Yellow-throated Warbler is more prone to vagrancy – the bird was a rarity in 8 of the states where I’ve seen it in the midwest and northeast. 

When I was initially planning my trip I had included Tufted Titmouse as a possible target bird in southeastern MN based on the field guide range maps.  But there were few recent eBird reports, and I traded e-mails with a homeowner of one of the more reliable series of reports only to find out that his family group had moved on after nesting was complete.  So although I saw several Titmice a short distance to the south in IA, this one was no longer a realistic target for MN.  And that meant that the Yellow-throated Warbler was my last target for the southeastern part of the state.

My 2 remaining target birds were Least Bittern about an hour northwest of Minneapolis and Western Grebe another 90 minutes farther to the northwest.  Initially I was planning to try for both.  But it was a long drive just to get into Minneapolis, and then I hit some nasty traffic around the Twin Cities.  And since I had already reached my Reportable Plus 15 goal, I decided to just try for the nearer Bittern.  Several had been reported recently, but likely the most reliable location was at Sherburne NWR.  And although none of the recent reports included details on locations, a couple reports from a month earlier mentioned birds near mile marker 3 on the wildlife drive.  It was a good thing that I found those notes because there were many locations along the wildlife drive with large beds of cattails that could have harbored Bitterns.  And in fact maybe there were Bitterns all along the drive.  But I keyed in on the area near mile marker 3, first scanning the marsh and edges of the open water for quite a while with no luck.  Then I found a slightly elevated spot and watched the marsh for a while hoping for a Bittern to fly by, again coming up empty.  Then a few seconds later I thought I heard a Bittern calling a short distance up ahead.  I drove a bit farther along to get closer to the bird - and this time I heard the Least Bittern giving its 3-note call right next to the car (MN #9).  Unlike a couple of my earlier statebird maps where I had seen the species in most all its regular states, I still need Least Bittern in a number of states in its regular range.

As I continued on the wildlife drive I counted 25 Trumpeter Swans, including this one quite close to the road.  A great way to end the trip.

MN Trip Summary

I finished the MN portion of my trip with 84 species, including of course 9 new statebirds.  Especially given my slow start, that was much better than expected.  My MN list is now at 235, 17 over the old ABA reportable threshold.  That makes MN my 38th state reaching my Reportable Plus 15 goal.  I have 7 other states where I’m over the threshold but not Reportable Plus 15, so I’m not far from my goal in those states as well.