Filling Gaps in Minnesota and North Dakota State Lists While Heading to and from Manitoba, May-June 2025

When it came time to start planning my big spring 2025 birding trip the destination was quite obvious – it had to be Manitoba.  That was my last state or province that I hadn’t birded extensively, 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.)

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.