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 140th 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 140th 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 180th
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.
