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.)

Great Plains Trip to North Dakota and Saskatchewan, May-June 2024 – North Dakota Summary

In 2024 I decided my trip would be to the great plains of western North Dakota and southern Saskatchewan.  Why those 2 jurisdictions?  In ND, although I already had a pretty good list with 206 species, I had recently dropped below my goal of seeing at least half of the species on the official state list.  With the official ND state list recently increasing to 417, I needed at least 209 to exceed that threshold.  In fact, ND was now my only state in the Lower 48 below that threshold, so there was an additional incentive to adding birds to my ND list.  As for adjacent SK, my province list was just 48 based on just 1 hour of birding time in 2018.  So I had huge potential for additional “ticks” in that province.

Given that SK is actually only adjacent to the western portion of ND, I decided that Minot in northwestern ND would be a good starting off point for the trip.  (Even though I had more state bird potential in the eastern part of the state.)  I came up with an itinerary of 3 days in western ND, 9 days across the southern tier of SK, then a final day for late migrants in western ND.  Based on the potential timing of migrants and arrivals of breeding birds in the region I decided to fly into Minot on May 23rd, and fly out on June 4th.  With the general outline of the trip completed, I reached out to my good friend David Donsker who goes with me on many of these trips, and he agreed to join me.

Now came the hard work of the detailed planning of the trip.  For ND, my research was focused on those specific target species that I still needed for my list, with data mostly coming from the eBird database.  And in the last couple weeks before the trip, I especially relied on eBird Needs Alerts though I still had to separate sightings in the western ND counties from those in the rest of the state.  With all that research I came up with a list of more than 35 new ND species that I had a realistic chance of finding, but my chances of seeing almost all of them were quite low.  As a result, I expected to find just 7 additions to my ND list, though I hoped for perhaps 9 or 10.

My research for SK was quite different.  There I focused on the best hotspots to bird, trying to find those spots with the greatest birding potential over the widest range of habitats.  But SK is a huge province (nearly the size of Texas), so I had to limit my birding to the southern portion of the province.  Again, the eBird database was my key resource.  Plus, as my trip neared, I reached out to Stan Shadick who runs a SK birding tour company who gave me great advice to help fine-tune my itinerary.  That final itinerary included visits to Chaplin and Reed Lakes for shorebirds, Grasslands National Park for a diverse set of grasslands species, 2 days at Cypress Hills Provincial Park for woodland birds including several species more likely seen farther west, 2 days at Duck Mountain Provincial Park for boreal species, and a day in the southeast corner of the state for more southern species.  I wasn’t sure how many new species to expect, but conservatively hoped for at least 100 additions to my SK list. 

To quote John Denver – “My bags are packed; I’m ready to go…”

This blog post summarizes the ND portion of our trip.  See my other blog posts for summaries of the SK portion.

May 23 – Arrival in Minot, Birding East of Minot

With a mid-afternoon arrival into Minot there would only be time for some brief birding that afternoon.  And given that it just started raining, we figured we’d focus on some shorebird spots.  Recent eBird reports included a nice location with 4 of my targets in Towner east of Minot, so that’s where we headed.  Along the way we stopped at one of the many prairie potholes in the area that had a few shorebirds and found several Spotted Sands and 1 Solitary Sandpiper (ND – new state bird #1).  Interestingly the Solitary, one of our first shorebirds of the trip, would also be our only one for the trip.  My state bird map for Solitary Sandpiper is inserted below.  The blue shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species in its regular range.  The 6 cross-hatched states are those in its normal range where I’ve yet to see it.  And the brown states are those where I’ve seen it as a rarity.

A few minutes later we arrived at the Towner spot where the targets had been reported and found what looked like good habitat, but only found a couple White-rumps and Semi Sands – and none of my targets.  That was a bit disappointing, but I still added one new bird to my list in that first partial day.

May 24 – Minot and Northern ND

The original plan for the 24th was to spend the early morning hours at the Minot Oak Park hoping for migrant passerines.  Then we would head to the Minot Sewage Lagoons for shorebirds, and then head west and south making several stops in route to Bismarck.  But we awoke to a driving rain storm (sometimes mixed with snow), strong winds, and only 40 degrees.  So we changed our plans to first bird the Minot Sewage Lagoons, hoping to be able to stay at least a little dry.  Here’s a picture of one of the 6 lagoons, each reported to be 160 acres in size.

 

 

I wasn’t sure of the strategy to bird the lagoons, but soon realized that we could drive along the northern edge of the complex overlooking the water to the south.  And with those strong northerly winds, we could bird from the car with the window on the lee (south) side of the car open giving us good views of the water.

There wasn’t a lot of shorebird habitat, but the best was in the corners of the enormous impoundments.  The first corner we came to had several Sanderlings in nice breeding plumage (ND #2), the first of 8 we had at the lagoons.  We looked out into the vast expanse of the lagoons and saw hundreds of Red-necked Phalaropes swimming about (we estimated 1,500 for the eBird checklist, likely a huge underestimate).  We then turned our attention to the gravel road in front of us and noticed flocks of swallows sitting on the road and the low fencing trying to get out of the weather.  There were a number of Eastern Kingbirds there as well, and an Empidonax that cooperatively stayed in the open long enough for us to ID it as an Alder Flycatcher (ND #3).  The only other target shorebird we came upon was a group of 3 Greater Yellowlegs, which turned out to be the only ones of the trip for this lingering early migrant (ND #4).  ND was the last of the continental 49 states where I still needed Greater Yellowlegs.

Although I didn’t need any of the regular waterfowl for my list, we couldn’t help but scan the impoundments and marvel at the numbers of ducks there.  Most every expected dabbler and diver was there, dominated by an estimated 750 Shovelers.

We felt like we had birded the lagoons pretty well just as the rain began to abate.  Instead of heading to Minot Oak Park we started our drive to the west to hit the other shorebird spots I had lined up.  In retrospect perhaps we should have headed to Oak Park since there was a considerable fallout of passerines reported nearby that day.

Our first stop was at an apparent Ferruginous Hawk nest right along Highway 2 to the west.  But before we got there we spotted a small Accipter flying along the road, which ducked into the brush perhaps in search of a meal – it was a Sharp-shinned (ND #5) – that was lucky.  A few minutes later we arrived at the coordinates for the nest and there it was – an enormous mound of sticks in a tree just off the highway.  But there were no obvious birds on the nest – had the young already fledged?  And just then an adult Ferruginous flew in and landed just a short distance away (ND #6).   While watching the hawk a Gray Partridge flew by – not new for my list but always good to see.  ND was my last state for Ferruginous Hawk in its regular range.

Our next 2 stops were lakes with good recent shorebird reports.  However, with all the rain that morning we couldn’t access Wassaic Lake due to impassable muddy roads.  Luckily roads were better into Causeway Lake, and we pulled in instantly seeing good numbers of shorebirds and waterfowl.  Just then the ducks took off as a Golden Eagle passed by (ND #7).  I wasn’t expecting that one!  We were just one full day into the ND portion of the trip and already had as many new ND birds as I had expected for the entire trip.  This was looking good!

Now back to the shorebirds - we had good numbers of Stilt Sandpipers and Semi Sands and the only Dunlins of the trip, and then finally spotted a lone Ruddy Turnstone on a nearby island (ND #8). It’s great to see this species as an inland migrant, though like many of the Arctic-nesting shorebirds I still need it in a number of central US states.

We were then on to one of my most anticipated stops of the trip – Little Knife Cabins in New Town.  In route we spotted yet another gigantic Ferruginous Hawk nest, this time with one of the birds on the nest.  The attraction in Little Knife Cabins was the home of Peder Stenslie with nesting Saw-whet Owls, and feeders with Pine Siskins and Red Crossbills.  With a bit of research, I found Peder’s contact information, and he invited us to his yard to see his birds.  After just a short wait Pine Siskins came into his feeder (ND #9) right on cue.  But the Crossbills hadn’t been around for a while and were a no show.  Then he took us on a short walk to visit the nest box, and there was an owlet at the opening of the box (ND #10) – too cute!  That was the first juvenile Saw-whet I’ve ever seen.

Our last stops of the day were near the Garrison Dam on the Missouri River.  We first headed to the tailrace area where birds often gather to feed on the fish that come down the spillway.  There we had an estimated 75 Forster’s Terns, 75 Ring-bills, 150 Cormorants, and 25 Pelicans.  But our targets here were the rarer Caspian Tern and Herring Gull.  But despite our best efforts the only Terns were Forster’s.  As for Herring Gull, I was principally looking for a larger, darker immature bird, but again with no luck.  But then I noticed a larger adult gull amongst the Ring-bills.  Luckily it kept circling among the gull flock and we both picked it up several times – it was a Herring Gull, surprisingly an adult (ND #11).  Only 5 more states to go to complete my statebird map for this species.

Next we were onto the boat ramp, where we had more of the regular species, including a large resting flock of birds on a distant island.  And our last stop was at the Downstream Marsh Trail with its recent Yellowlegs report.  But we only found Spotted Sand and Snipe, though the adjacent woodlands were full of Least Flycatchers and Yellow Warblers.

Although we came up empty on our last 2 stops, we were happy to have added 10 new ND birds in our first full day of birding.  Especially since we were challenged by the rainy and windy conditions to start the day.

May 25 – Bismarck and Southern ND

Our plan for the 25th was to start the day in 1 or more Bismarck town parks hoping for migrant passerines, then visit several wetlands for waterbirds as we made our way back north to Minot.  Our first stop was at General Sibley Park, where several of my passerine targets had been reported recently.  But the migrants that day were sparse – we found just 8 Swainson’s Thrushes, 1 Tennessee, and 2 Blackpolls.  Perhaps the passerine highlight was listening to Black-headed and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks singing nearly side by side.  It was a great opportunity to compare and contrast their very similar songs. 

We eventually made our way to the boat ramp where you could launch your boat into the backwaters and expansive marshes of the Missouri River. 

I scanned the marsh hoping to find my target Kingfisher, and noticed a hovering bird far in the distance.  At first I thought it was going to be a Kingfisher, but then I realized it was too small- it was a Least Tern! (ND #12).  It was later joined by a second bird which eventually flew right by us.  I sure didn’t expect that one.  Although Least Terns nest on the Missouri River in small numbers, there had only been one report in the area so far this year, and that was some 4 miles upriver.  ND was my 13th inland state where I’ve seen this species as a breeder.

Since there were few migrants in the park, we decided to pass on other passerine sites and instead switch gears to start visiting wetlands spots.  Our first stop was McKenzie Slough where several shorebird targets had been reported.  As we headed east on US 10 in route to McKenzie David and I both simultaneously spotted a large wader in the corn field right next to the road.  Although we only saw it for a couple seconds while driving by, we instantly knew we had a Sandhill Crane (ND #13).  In fact, David thought there might have been 3 birds.  Yet another unexpected bird with only a couple sightings in the area that month and none in the last 3 weeks.

A few minutes later we made it to McKenzie Slough, featuring extensive cattail marshes and large impoundments. 

We had a nice collection of marsh birds including Virginia Rail and 3 Soras, and numerous Marsh Wrens.  Waders featured a flock of White-faced Ibis and a Black-crowned Night-heron.  And in addition to the regular dabblers and divers, we spotted a flock of 5 lingering Snow Geese.  Though we spotted no shorebirds so nothing new for my list.

Our next stop was Horsehead Lake which is home to an isolated colony of Snowy Egrets.  We headed east on I-94 from McKenzie, and then started north on 30th Avenue to make our way toward Horsehead.  We hadn’t gone a half mile on the gravel road when a mid-sized white wader flew across the road right in front of us.  The yellow slippers on the black legs were the clincher that we had our target Snowy Egret (ND #14).  It was surprising to see one so far south as we were still more than 7 miles south of the closest earlier Snowy sightings.  I still need this species in a number of other inland states near the northern edge of its range.

As we continued north on 30th Avenue we passed by a homestead surrounded by a large number of mature trees.  We heard several Least Flycatchers calling so we decided to stop.  We had hardly gotten out of the car when we noticed a Common Nighthawk pass low overhead, joined by at least 7 others feeding in the area (ND #15).  We also had Eastern Pewee, Willow Flycatcher, Warbling Vireo and Swainson’s Thrush at this brief stop. 

Eventually we made our way to the southern end of Horsehead Lake and found a spot full of waders, including 2 Snowy’s, 6 Great Egrets, and 5 Black-crowned Night-herons.  As we continued north along the western edge of the lake we made several stops looking for a Trumpeter Swan that had been reported there recently.  But all the large white birds were White Pelicans.  Interestingly there were literally hundreds of Eastern Kingbirds along the way, with lesser numbers of Western Kingbirds mixed in, mostly perched low along the barbed wire fencing.  An amazing site!

We arrived at the eBird hotspot at the northwest corner of the lake (aptly named Horsehead Lake – Northwest), with a smaller body of water to the west, and the main body of the lake to the east.  The smaller lake was full of Terns, with an estimated 150 Blacks and 100 Forster’s.  I scanned a small sand bar that was full of roosting terns and spotted a darker-winged Common Tern in the group that really stood out amongst the extremely pale Forster’s. 

Then I turned my attention to this small unassuming island next to the road to the east that was perhaps a couple hundred feet long and 50 feet wide.

I started a quick binocular scan and spotted a flock of 8 striking breeding plumage Black-bellied Plovers (ND #16).  Then seconds later another flock of 20 Plovers flew in.  But as they turned I could see one had a dark rump – an American Golden-Plover was mixed in.  Here’s a phone-scoped shot of a couple of the Black-bellies with a Black Tern.

Then I started scanning the far side of the island and picked out a Ruddy Turnstone.  With scope views I found a flock of 9 Turnstones in total.  A bit later a flock of 20 more flew in to join them.  I turned back to where the Black-bellies were and only found a couple left.  But there were now good numbers of mid-sized peeps on the mud.  With longer wings and streaks on the flanks these turned out to be 20 White-rumped Sandpipers.  While I was watching that flock they took off and joined a group of similar sized peeps with dark rumps which turned out to be 42 Baird’s Sandpipers.  Then the entire flock took off leaving the island nearly devoid of shorebirds. 

And then we noticed a small group of white geese at the north end of the island.  They were mostly hidden in the vegetation so it took some time to get good looks at them.  I wondered in jest whether there might be any Ross’s mixed in.  And then the second goose I looked at raised its head to show its small blue-based bill with no grin patch – it was indeed a Ross’s.  Finally, I got good views at all the birds and counted 9 Snows and 2 Ross’s.  Amazing!

But it wasn’t over yet.  I turned back to the island where the Common Tern was roosting initially, and found a Hudsonian Godwit.  Then just a couple feet away we spotted a basic-plumaged Dowitcher that cooperated long enough to allow us to ID it as a Short-billed (ND #17).  I just need it in 4 more states in its regular range.

What a stop!  We ended up with 13 species of shorebirds during our 90-minute stop, though none of them stayed long.  And what a way to end our day.  With a good collection of both woodland birds and wetlands species we had a nice tally of 114 species for the day – 6 of which were additions to my ND state list.

May 26 – Minot, Buffalo Pound PP SK

The plan for the morning was to make stops for woodland birds in Minot and then one last stop near the border.  Then we would cross over into SK in the afternoon to begin the SK portion of the trip. 

Our first stop was at Minot Oak Park, which is a wooded downtown park that often had reports of migrant passerines and also Kingfishers.  In past years this has also been the best spot in the area for breeding Yellow-throated Vireos, but there had been no reports yet this year.  We had planned to visit this spot 2 days earlier but got rained out.  So we were anxious to finally get to bird this local hotspot.

We pulled into the parking lot just after dawn and had the park to ourselves.  And just minutes after we got out of the car we heard a nearby Belted Kingfisher (ND #18).  That was easy!  I’ve now seen this species in each of the 49 continental states and DC.

What a great start!  Now we just needed to find those Vireos.  But despite a slow 90-minute walk through the park we had just 3 species of migrants – Swainson’s Thrush, and Tennessee and Blackpoll Warblers.  And no Yellow-throated Vireos.  But just as we got back to our car, I heard a Mourning Warbler singing from low in the nearby brush (ND #19).  Although it sang off and on for at least 10 minutes we got just brief fleeting glimpses of this skulking bird.  I still need this species in many states where it is an elusive migrant.

Here’s a picture of the river in the background where we had the Kingfisher, and the brush in the foreground where we had the Mourning Warbler.  We should have just stayed at the car…

Although we missed our Vireo target at Oak Park we still had hope, because just the day before there was a sighting of a Yellow-throated Vireo at the nearby Minot Woodland Trail.  After a short drive we arrived at this second location and started to walk the trails, especially focused on riparian woodlands.  And within a few minutes we heard a singing Yellow-throated Vireo not too far from us (ND #20).  And as we walked back to the car we had a second singing bird.  But again, we had few migrants – just Tennessee and Blackpoll Warblers.  ND was my last state to see Yellow-throated Vireo in its regular range.

Our last ND stop of the day was at Wildwood Park in the northwest corner of ND near the Canadian border.  I didn’t know much about this site, and in had only a few checklists in eBird, but the spring checklists included a fair number of passerine migrants.  Sure doesn’t look like much based on the entrance sign.  (BTW – that’s a Vesper Sparrow singing on top of the smaller white sign.)

But once we drove in past the sign the road left the cultivated farmland and descended into a small river valley that was heavily wooded and had thick underbrush.  It was actually quite good landbird habitat.  Our best bird during our 90-minute stay was a cooperative Gray-cheeked Thrush (ND #21) mixed in with a group of 6 Swainson’s Thrushes foraging on the ground.  We also had a singing Eastern Wood-Pewee and a singing Yellow-throated Vireo – both being a bit west of their regular range.  Our only migrant warblers were 2 Tennessee’s.  Unfortunately, we never did have any decent spring migrant fallouts on our trip.

As we packed up and headed toward the Canadian border I continued to be amazed that I was able to add 21 new birds to my ND state list.  Especially after only expecting perhaps 7 new ones.  And we still had about a half day of birding in ND on June 4th after we returned from SK to try to add a few more. 

May 26 PM through June 3 – Southern SK

See my SK posts on my blog for summaries of our 9 days of birding in southern SK.

June 4 – Minot and PM Departure

With a 3 PM flight out of Minot, my original plan was to focus our June 4th birding on late arriving nesters to western ND, namely Indigo Bunting, Dickcissel, and Nelson’s Sparrow.  A review of eBird reports on the morning of the 4th showed that Dickcissels hadn’t yet arrived in the area.  And there was just one report of Indigo Buntings, but at Oak Park so they were likely migrants and not local nesters.  Though I’d have to keep my eyes (and ears) open in case we ran into a migrant bird.  But on a more positive note, there were 3 reports of Nelson’s Sparrows on the 3rd, just 30 minutes east of Minot.  And the best report was of a Yellow Rail an hour east of Minot.  There was also a Red-bellied Woodpecker on the 3rd at the Bison Plant Nature Trail in Minot.  That’s a species typically only seen in the southeastern corner of the state.  That gave me plenty of targets for a morning of birding.

My first stop was to try for the Yellow Rail.  Unfortunately, it had gotten quite windy overnight, and the winds were sustained at 15-25 mph when I arrived early morning at the marsh.  Although that made it tough to hear the soft call of the Yellow Rail, the habitat sure looked great.

I never came up with a Yellow Rail, though I heard Marsh Wrens and a Sora in the wetter sections of the marsh, Sedge Wrens in drier sections, and a pair of Wilson’s Snipe apparently in courtship. 

But the best highlights weren’t from the marsh at all, but instead from a narrow strip of woodlands along the southern edge of the marsh.  Here I heard 2 Veery’s, 2 Northern Waterthrushes, and a Black-billed Cuckoo that called off-and on the whole time I was there (ND #22).  A nice consolation.

Then I was onto the 59^th Street Wetlands where 3 Nelson’s Sparrow had been reported the day before.  I pulled up to the drier eastern edge of the marsh and almost instantly heard a Nelson’s calling (ND #23).  I ended up hearing 3 birds at this end and a 4th at the other drier end of the marsh.  Those were the first inland (nelsoni) Nelson’s Sparrows I’ve found on their breeding grounds in the US, though I’ve seen inland Nelson’s in migration and on their wintering grounds in several states.

But the best was yet to come.  While looking over the marsh I was shocked to see a Mockingbird flying by low over the vegetation.  I watched it for nearly 30 seconds, clearly seeing the large white wing patches and white outer tail feathers.  It had a slow wingbeat unlike the whirr of wings of a flying Shrike, and it lacked the black mask of a Shrike (ND #24).  Ironically the rarest bird of the trip turned out to be a common year-round resident back home.  ND is the 6th state where I’ve seen Mockingbird as a rarity.

My last stop was at Bison Plant Nature Trail where the Red-bellied Woodpecker was reported the previous day.  There I ran into Ron Martin, co-author of the “Birding North Dakota” field guide.  They were his reports of Yellow Rail and Nelson’s Sparrows from the day before that I was chasing.  He mentioned that earlier in the morning he had had the Red-bellied near the trailhead.  I went back to that area and wandered around for a while finding a nice singing Lazuli Bunting.  Its song is very similar to an Indigo, so it got me excited for a bit until I spotted it.  Then I ran into a small foraging flock and thought maybe the Red-bellied might join them.  Sure enough, within a few minutes I heard the Red-bellied Woodpecker calling a short distance away (ND #25).

Summary

What a great way to end my trip, with the last 2 additions being rarities.  I expected 7 new birds for my ND list, hoped for 9, and added a whopping 25!  I guess I shouldn’t have been so pessimistic about my chances.  I had a total of 159 species on my ND checklists.  My eBird trip report for the ND portion of the trip can be found at -   ebird.org/tripreport/250883

That brings my ND state list to 230, a respectable total for just 3 short trips to ND over the years.  That should keep me safely above my goal of half of the official ND state list for quite a while.  And once again my state lists for all the Lower 48 are higher than half of each state’s official list.

Here is a link for my eBird trip report for the 222 species we found on the entire trip -   ebird.org/tripreport/246436    The Canadian portion of the trip is summarized in other posts on my blog.

126 Statebirds and Reportable in North Dakota, May 2014, Part 2 of 2

This is the second of two posts summarizing the ND portion of my spring birding trip to the Great Plains.  See my earlier blog post for Days 1, 2 and 3 in ND, and my Montana post for Days 4, 5, and 6.

Day 6 Late PM – Theodore Roosevelt National Park and Medora

After a nearly full day of birding in MT, I rolled into Medora about dinner time, and decided to make a quick stop into Theodore Roosevelt National Park to check things out in preparation for my visit there tomorrow.  I ran into a park employee at the park headquarters who was a novice birder, and he told me about a spot for Violet-green Swallows right next to the headquarters.  I spent a few minutes there but dipped on the swallows, though added 4 new birds - singing Field Sparrows, a singing Rock Wren (surprisingly my only one for the park), a Lazuli Bunting and a Spotted Towhee.  I was now at 100 new ND species!  That pretty well fills in my map for Spotted Towhee in the western states (and as rarities in 3 eastern states).

After a quick dinner I headed over to the Medora sewage ponds where Violet-green Swallows had been reported in e-bird.  En route I heard an oriole which turned out to be a Baltimore, but it was accompanied by a Black-headed Grosbeak which would turn out to be my only one for ND.  When I got to the ponds I flushed 2 Wood Ducks – an odd location for them but a target nonetheless.  And a little later here came a Violet-green Swallow flying low over the water.  This was almost getting easy!

I then went into the park to check out the campgrounds which would be my starting point the next morning.  En route I had a couple calling Chats which were new.  I was shocked when I got to the campground – virtually every campsite was occupied and there were people everywhere.  I was planning to try for Eastern Screech Owl after dark that evening, but there were just too many campers.  And if I was going to bird this spot in the morning I would need to get there very early before many campers were awake.  All things considered it was good that I checked out this area to prepare for tomorrow morning. 

I decided to head over to the nearby stables area which also had a good riparian woodland, to see if I could get away from all campers.  There weren’t many birds there but I did find a colony of Red-headed Woodpeckers which was new.  Although adding ND to my statebird map fills in a gap in its range, I unfortunately missed it in MT earlier on this trip, and in NM last year.   

The last stop for the day was a try for Poor-will at dusk.  While waiting for it to get dark I got to see an amazing lightning show in a storm to the east.  And about 20 minutes after sunset I heard a Poorwill calling nearby.  Great to have the last bird of the day be a statebird – my 10^th of the day in ND.  I’ve now seen/heard Poorwill in a number of western states but I still need it in a number of states in its normal range.

 

Day 7 – Theodore Roosevelt National Park and Ponderosa Pines

After a short night sleep I was up before dawn and was at the national park campground at first light.  The campground and adjacent stable area was the only riparian area I had on my western ND itinerary, so these were my only possible spots for several local nesters.  Migration was virtually over by now, so the chances of finding interesting migrants were pretty slim.  I parked the car and made two complete loops walking through the campground.  In 2 hours I picked up all 4 of my targets – several Turkeys calling at dawn, 5 Bullock’s Orioles, numerous Red-eyed Vireos, and 2 singing Western Pewees.  I also had only 1 Baltimore Oriole and it was paired with a female Bullock’s.  A quick stop at the stables didn’t yield anything new.

I next took a slow ride around the park by driving the loop road.  The park was full of birds, and interestingly Black-and-white Warbler was a common singing bird in most every wooded draw.  Lark Sparrows, Spotted Towhees, and Western Meadowlarks were everywhere.  At one point on my drive a medium-sized dark bird with a long tail flew over the road right in front of me showing a reddish wing-stripe - Townsend’s Solitaire.  They are regular wintering birds in the area but not in May and not one I was expecting.  I still have a few more gaps in my statebird map for this species, though have seen it as a vagrant in 4 eastern states

A bit later I noticed some bird activity in some cedars which included 2 Mountain Bluebirds.  Another target could be checked off.  I left the park in late morning, and headed to an area to the southeast where Brewer’s Sparrows had been reported on e-bird.  I made numerous stops in these sage areas but with no luck for the sparrows.  Though I did find the first of several Loggerhead Shrikes in the area.  I’ve now seen this species throughout its present range, though alas in only 1 state in the northeast where it was formerly a nesting bird.

 
And on my last stop before getting onto the highway I had my only Sprague’s Pipit for ND – of course singing from overhead. 

My next big stop was to be the ponderosa pine area to the south, but I decided to make a short side trip to an area where Burrowing Owls, Brewer’s Sparrows, and Baird’s Sparrows had been reported last summer.  As I turned onto the dirt road I flushed 2 Gray Partridges – unlike most others I’ve seen these flew to the edge of a field and sat in the open affording good looks.  I checked several prairie dog towns but could not find any owls, though I did have several Baird’s Sparrows.  And I never found suitable sage habitat for Brewer’s.

After a short ride I was heading up to the ponderosa pines area.  Unfortunately it was mid-afternoon and pretty hot, so the birds wouldn’t likely be too active.  But I did get two key targets there – Red-breasted Nuthatch and “Audubon’s” Warbler (it will be split from “Myrtle” someday, right?)  I had 4 Yellow-rumps singing in this area, and I tracked down 2 of them - 1 Audubon’s and 1 Myrtle.  Audubon’s is the expected nester here – Myrtle is actually a rarity even though Myrtles are the common migrant north of here and throughout the state.  That gave me 10 new statebirds plus the Audubon’s for the day. 

Day 8 – Rhame Prairie

My key birding spot for the ND part of this day was the Rhame Prairie – the sole spot in ND for McCown’s Longspur.  It was about a 45-minute drive through some nice prairie to get to the spot for this small colony of McCown’s.  En route I had 4 Short-eared Owls right along the road.  And I finally got Lark Buntings – I guess this late migrant had just come into the area because they were truly everywhere although I had not yet seen them in similar habitat previously in ND.  I’ve now seen Lark Bunting throughout a big swath of the center of the country and in 2 northeast states as a vagrant.

Also en route I made a quick stop at a location called the “raptor spot” on e-bird.  When I got there I realized how it got its name – a short distance away was a set of cliffs and within just a couple minutes I had several Harriers and a Red-tail.  And then a Prairie Falcon flew from a perch on the cliff and dropped down to the prairie below.  Another target checked off. 

I arrived at the McCown’s spot and started a short walk down a two-track into a prairie dog town.  Along the way I heard 2 Baird’s Sparrows calling from the grasses to the south.  I got down into the dog town and found numerous Chestnut-collared Longspurs and Horned Larks, but no McCown’s.  But a little later I started to look a bit to the north and watched a longspur fly-by that I thought had the right tail pattern.  I headed to the area and quickly found one, and then a second, male McCown’s.  Later I found 4 males together, giving me at least 6 birds.  I never saw females but they were likely present too.  Along with the birds in MT, I’m filling in my McCowns statebird map, though need them on their wintering grounds yet.

 

I then spent quite a bit of looking for the Burrowing Owls that had been reported from the dog town in past years, but with no luck.  That gave me 3 new statebirds for the day, and a statelist of 198 – just 1 short of reportable.

The next stops were two spots where Brewer’s Sparrow had been reported.  But again I came up empty for this species.  And as I drove out of ND to start the SD part of my trip, I kept watching to no avail for Ferruginous Hawk which was one of my few remaining targets.  Less than 5 minutes after leaving ND, and no more than 2 miles from the stateline, I had a Ferruginous flying right along the road.

(see my other blog post for the SD part of my trip)

Day 9 – Afternoon and Evening in Bismarck

After leaving the Grand River National Grasslands in northwestern SD, I headed up to Bismarck to team up with local birder Clark Talkington.  As was the case with the other birders I teamed up with on this trip, Clark was an expert on the birds of his area.  I had sent him my short-list of remaining targets, and he had developed an itinerary to search for as many as time allowed.

Our first stop was at a spot where he had recently had Burrowing Owl, and we spotted one perched on a pole as soon as we arrived.  Just think of all the other spots I looked for this little owl earlier in ND with no luck.  And that was number 199 for my statelist – the old ABA reportable threshold.  Slowly filling in my statebird map for this declining species.

 

As we were pulling away a Bald Eagle flew overhead - #200.  After a brief stop overlooking the river unsuccessfully for Least Tern (my 5th failed attempt for them over my entire trip), we headed into Bismarck and a person’s backyard with a remarkable feeding station and bird houses.  With just a few tapes calls we got a White-breasted Nuthatch to come in, though we couldn’t get the local Red-bellied Woodpecker to cooperate.  The last stop in town was to the Bismarck landfill to try for Herring Gull.  There were about 75 gulls at the landfill, but no Herring.  Though the birds were in almost constant motion or frequently out of view behind piles of trash, I kept getting glimpses of a bird with a darker mantle and strong tail band.  I mentioned it to Clark saying I thought I was seeing a Lesser Black-backed Gull.  He said he was seeing this bird too.  That certainly wasn’t on my target list – ND is my 26th state for Lesser.

We then headed out to the extensive wetlands east of Bismarck with lots of potential targets.  We found a large number (thousands?) of migrant shorebirds, but nothing new.  We also found a large flock of Cattle Egrets and distant dark ibises (can’t say there wasn’t a Glossy in the flock), all part of a breeding colony.  But we couldn’t tease out a Snowy.  Though I did spot a Black-necked Stilt which is a good bird for the area.  As we headed back to town I noticed a Great-crested Flycatcher perched along the road.  My last statebird of the trip, and the sixth of the day.

I ended up with a 202 species in ND, including 126 statebirds (and 1 possible lifebird).  That gives me 204 for my ND list; and ND is my 44th state over threshold.  I never would have thought that I’d be that successful in ND.  And although I’m 5 over the reportable threshold, my somewhat arbitrary goal is to be get to 15 over the old ABA threshold to stay over that threshold for a long time to come.  So I would likely need to make a short trip to the eastern part of the state either for eastern migrants or eastern nesters to reach that higher goal.