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, with an existing province list of just 61. Needless to say, 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.
My good birding friends Bill and Anita Hooker went with me
on my trip to FL back in January 2025, so I reached out to them to see if they
might be interested in also coming along with me to MB and the northern US
Great Plains. They like to keep county
and state lists, and Anita likes to photograph what we find, and a lot of this area
would be new territory for them. So they
agreed to come along but decided to drive to ND from home in NC so they could
bird along the way. They would pick me
up at the Grand Forks airport and we could travel together from there in their
car. The trip was 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 (though 0 was a possible outcome – there aren’t
too many realistic targets for me in that part of MN).
This blog post summarizes the MN and ND legs of the trip.
The MB portion of the trip is summarized in the next 3 posts.
5/28 – Fly to ND, Birding in Northwestern MN
The plan for the day was to fly to Grand Forks, ND, arriving
about noon. Then we would head east for an
afternoon of birding in northwestern MN to add some species to my state list,
and for Bill’s county lists. Unfortunately,
the spring eBird reports from the area contained few potential targets for me. Things were looking bleak. But finally, just two days before the trip, there
were several local reports of migrant waterfowl and shorebirds that I needed
for my list. Plus a number of sightings
of Gray Partridge – another one I still need for MN. Primarily based on the reports from 5/26 I
came up with an itinerary to visit 5 spots not too far east of Grand Forks.
I arrived at Grand Forks right on time and Bill and Anita were
waiting for me at baggage claim. After some
rearranging of the luggage, we headed east to our first stop at the Thief River
Falls WTP. Recent reports from there
included several targets – Horned and Western Grebes, Willet, Golden Plover,
Red-necked Phalaropes, and Partridges. But
the reports were now 2 days old, so I hoped the targets would still be around. Once we figured out how to view the ponds, we
found many dabbling ducks, a few divers, and some Eared Grebes. And we only found a few shorebirds, though a
couple breeding plumage Sanderlings were nice.
I was considering heading out to the next stop, but I felt
like I just hadn’t looked through the waterfowl sufficiently. So I did another scan and sure enough picked
out a sleeping Western Grebe that eventually woke up and gave us good views (MN
state bird #236). In my statebird map
below, the light blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen Western Grebe in
its regular range. The 3 cross-hatched states
are those where I still need the Grebe in its normal range. And the dark blue-shaded states are those
where I’ve seen Western Grebe as a vagrant.
And with some additional searching of another pond we found a small flock of Wilson’s Phalaropes spinning on the surface. We continued to scan the flock and Bill eventually picked out a dark-chested bird in the distance that we determined to be a lone Red-necked Phalarope (MN #237). The range map in the Sibley app considers this Phalarope to be a rarity in MN. So MN is now the 6th state where I’ve seen Red-necked Phalarope as a rarity.
Our next stop was the NW Minnesota Pollinator Garden where several target migrant passerines had been reported, along with more Partridges. We found the spot to be quite birdy, including both Orioles, many Clay-colored Sparrows eating dandelion seeds, and a “Traill’s” Flycatcher. But we found none of my targets.
Then we were off to the Agassiz Valley impoundment. The highlight of this site was a very large
active Bald Eagle nest, complete with two adults and one nestling. We had more of the regular waterfowl, and a
few shorebirds along with a surprising 18 Marbled Godwits, but once again none
of my targets.
On our way to the next stop we covered an area where there
had been a number of reports of Partridges.
But again we came up empty. I
recalled the advice I received from one wise birder years ago – “you never see
a Gray Partridge when you’re looking for it.”
Our last stop of the afternoon was at the Warren Sewage
Lagoons where Horned Grebe and more Partridges had been reported. We found a nice flock of Wilson’s Phalaropes
and Stilt Sandpipers, but once again no targets.
We ended the day with 81 species in MN – not bad for just an
afternoon. Plus I added 2 to my MN list
bringing my state total to 237.
5/29 – Eastern ND, and Drive to MB
The game plan for the day was to start with a bit of birding
in eastern ND, then make the 4+ hour drive to southwestern MB. Our key ND birding spot for the morning was Sertoma
Park and the adjacent coulee in downtown Grand Forks. This site is well-known as a hotspot for
spring migrants – a wooded oasis surrounded by the prairie. We started birding there just after sunrise
hoping for some migrants, but the chilly and overcast weather wasn’t very
cooperative. Not surprisingly we saw few
birds in the first 15 minutes or so as we tried to figure out the best way to
bird the site. Then I noticed a large
flycatcher perched on the top of a snag.
The lighting was miserable, but we could determine that it was an
Olive-sided Flycatcher (ND state bird #231).
It didn’t stay perched there for long, quickly dropping out
of sight. Though we saw this bird again
several times elsewhere in the park. Here’s
a distant shot of the bird characteristically perched atop a dead snag.
With few passerines moving about, our focus shifted to Green Heron, which is quite a common nester in the park. The good news is that there are lots of wetlands and rivers there where a Green Heron could forage. The bad news is that that meant there were lots of places for them to hide. We started looking around the wetlands in the park with no luck, and then started walking along the trail adjacent to the coulee. After a short walk Bill spotted one of our targets perched on a low snag. And it was soon joined by a second Heron (ND #232). Their favorite perch is in the background of this shot.
As we continued down the trail we started picking up a few migrant passerines, mostly Redstarts and Swainson’s Thrushes. At least there was now some activity. We returned to the park and found a paved loop trail through some nice vegetation. And then located a small dirt trail that took us into the thicket. Soon we started picking up a few migrants like Philadelphia Vireo, Alder Flycatcher (several of which were singing), and Tennessee Warbler. Then a female Magnolia Warbler popped into view (ND #233). And a bit later a male Canada Warbler passed through the woods (ND #234), singing a couple of times. I still need this species in a number of south-central states as a migrant.
Later we found a nice male Mourning Warbler – not new for my ND state list but always a beautiful bird to see. And it was our 12th warbler species for the park.
By then we had birded all the trails in the park at least
once, and decided to start heading northwest toward MB. But first we made a pitstop at the Larimore
Rest Area just west of Grand Forks. A
small island of trees at the rest area included a singing warbler that we eventually
heard close enough to identify as Northern Parula (ND #235). ND was the last state where I needed Parula
in its regular range.
We of course continued to bird as we headed west across the northern tier of ND counties. Mostly we picked up field birds that could be identified at highway speeds. But the highlight was at one point where Route 2 passed close to a lake near Leeds, ND. As we checked out the lake a Caspian Tern conveniently flew right alongside the car (ND #236).
We ended the ND portion of the day with 86 species including 13 warbler species. And with 6 additions, my state list was at 236.
5/29-6/9 – 12 Days in MB
See my next 3 blog posts for the Canadian portion of the
trip.
6/10 – “Surgical” Stops For MN and ND Targets
Our plan was to choose a border crossing that would take us from
MB heading into northwest MN. I had only
1 realistic target in MN – Nelson’s Sparrow.
Although there had been no reports of this species at all in 2025 in
northwest MN, they were reported at one spot in the area last year – at the Karlstad
CR-9 Marshes on June 10th – interestingly a year to the day before our 2025
visit. My only concern was whether the
marsh would be too dry for the sparrows this year given that many areas of MB
just a short distance to the north were going through a severe drought. But it would only be an additional 30 minutes
of driving time, so I thought we’d give it a try.
Soon after we crossed the border Anita spotted some large
birds in the adjacent field. They turned
out to be a pair of Sandhill Cranes with a colt perhaps half the size of Mom
and Dad. A nice way to start our time back
in MN.
We arrived at the Karlstad marshes at 9 AM and instantly
were serenaded by multiple Sedge Wrens – that was a good sign. And there were numerous winnowing Snipe
overhead. We could see standing water in
the cattail-lined ditches along the road so we were hopeful that water levels
could support our target Nelson’s. We
listened intently, hearing numerous Sedge Wrens and a few Swamp and Savannah
Sparrows, plus a pair of Marbled Godwits.
Finally, I picked up a Nelson’s Sparrow singing in the distance. We played some recordings and got a second
one to answer as well (MN #238).
We got back in the car and started our 30-minute drive west
toward ND. Just a few miles before we
reached the state line Anita spotted a large raptor overhead. It was flying with its wings held in a
dihedral – could it be a Swainson’s? We
pulled over and the dark trailing edge to pale wings quickly nailed it as a
Swainson’s Hawk (MN #239). I now just
need this species in 2 more states in its regular range.
Initially Swainson’s had been a MN target based on
several reports of this species in northwest MN in 2024. But there had not been any reports in the
region at all this year, so I had dropped it off my target list. Not surprisingly it was listed as
“Unreported” in eBird.
That was a most successful brief visit to MN – finding 2
species that had not been reported nearby at all in 2025.
After getting our fill of the Swainson’s Hawk, we continued
on to ND, where our first target was Gray Partridge. That would be a US lifer for Bill and
Anita. We had a lead from local birder
Sandy Aubol on a site where she had seen them recently. We scoured the roadside edges but came up
empty. Though we briefly got excited by
a distant “bump” in the road which turned out to be just a Mallard. Then we headed to an eBird hotspot, Prairie
Chicken WMA, where Partridges were reported a week earlier. But again to no avail. A US sighting just wasn’t meant to be for us
on this trip. Though we did have
Partridges several times in MB.
Our last stop of the day was at the Turtle River State Park
where three of my targets had been reported recently – Trumpeter Swan, Scarlet
Tanager, and Indigo Bunting. I got
excellent advice on locations for all 3 once again from Sandy Aubol and from
fellow local birder Judy Johnson, so I was cautiously optimistic. Especially for the Swans which were nesting
in an oxbow lake right at the park entrance.
We pulled into the park entrance and had excellent views of the lake next to us. But there were no large white swimming birds in site. Despite lots of many different angles and views of the lake we couldn’t find the Swans. We would just have to try again on the way out.
Then we headed to the CCC parking lot where both birders reported
our passerine targets. We crossed a
small footbridge at the west end of the lot and soon heard a distant
singing Scarlet Tanager (ND #237). I just need this species in one more state in
its regular range.
We doubled back to another trail and soon had 2 singing Indigo Buntings a bit surprisingly in this opening in the woods under a thick canopy (ND #238).
Many thanks to Sandy and Judy for their advice!
As we headed out of the park we of course needed to try for
the Swans one more time. But still no
luck. Wonder if they were tucked back
into the cattails out of view on or near a nest.
We finished the US part of our trip with 113 species in ND,
8 of which were new for my state list – much better than the 4 I hoped for. That brought my ND state list to 238. Plus we observed 95 species in MN, including 4
additions to my state list, surpassing the 2 I expected. My MN list now stands at 239.
(See my next 3 blog posts for a summary of the MB portion of the trip.)
