South Dakota – Reportable Plus 15 (and one Tick in Nebraska) – May 2017

On rather short notice I needed to be in Minneapolis in mid-May for a business trip.  That’s not a part of the country I get to very often, so there was likely to be a fair amount of statebird potential out there.  Although my MN list was pretty good at 17 over the old ABA reportable threshold, I was still 3 shy of reportable in IA, and 13 below reportable in SD.  It turns out that my statelists in both states were missing many regular eastern migrants – mid-May would be the perfect time to try to fill those gaps.  It was now starting to look like making this into a big MN/IA/SD/MN loop could be most productive.  Based on my potential targets it felt like I should plan on 2 solid birding days each in IA and SD, so I starting planning with that schedule in mind.

As I do on most of my trips I like to set statebirding goals for each state.  Formerly I wanted to at least reach the ABA reporting threshold in each state, defined as half of the overall state total.  But the ABA last published thresholds in 2011, and since state lists typically creep up over time, newly calculated thresholds would as well.  With a little on-line research, I found that the SD statelist now stands at 439 – 7 higher than the 2011 total.  And dividing 439 by 2, the present threshold would be 219.5.  Because of these inevitable increases in the statelists, I revised my goal to be at least 15 over the old ABA threshold in each state, or “Reportable Plus 15” as I call it.  As a result my goal for SD was 231.  That meant I needed a hefty 28 new birds in SD – although possible it would be a long shot.

This blog post summarizes the SD portion of my trip on Days 3, 4 and 5.  The previous post summarized the IA portion on Days 1 and 2.

Although my initial plan was to spend 2 days birding in IA and then 2 days birding in SD, my first full day in IA was so successful that I already exceeded my IA goals.  As a result, given my even bigger goals in SD, I decided to shorten my IA birding and head right to SD at the beginning of Day 3, giving me nearly 3 full days of birding time in southeastern SD.

That additional time would likely be needed especially given the weather forecast – rain, strong north winds, and cold temperatures.  And that was for the entire next 3 days.  Certainly not conducive for finding many migrant passerines.  But maybe those conditions could cause fallouts of waterbirds and shorebirds that could be migrating through.  In fact, birders I was with in IA recommended that I vary my planned SD itinerary to head toward reservoirs and wetlands during rainy periods instead of trying for landbirds - advice that turned out to be most helpful.  So although I had a detailed and efficient 3-day itinerary planned for stops throughout southeast SD, I made sure to allow myself flexibility to try to deal with what would turn out to be very challenging weather conditions.

And speaking of getting local advice – while doing my SD research I connected up with SD birder David Swanson.  He is in the process of publishing a guide to birding in SD and forwarded me site guides for many of the sites I was planning to visit.  They proved to be most valuable supplementing reports from on eBird.

Day 3

My first planned stops were in the southeast corner of SD, but when I woke up that morning the radar showed heavy rain in that area moving north.  So instead I decided to head north to Newton Hills State Park to try to beat the rain there.  That meant a bit more driving time but likely better than birding in the rain.  As I crossed the stateline into SD it was just starting to get light and I noticed a large owl fly overhead and land nearby.  There was just enough light to ID it in my binoculars as a Barred Owl apparently residing in the riparian area along the Big Sioux River along the stateline (statebird #1).  That was fast, and a lucky find.  I’ve now seen or heard this species in 33 eastern states (though strangely not in NJ!), as well as in 2 states in the Northwest where it is expanding its range (see my statebird map below).

My key target at Newton Hills was a very small colony of nesting Blue-winged Warblers – likely the only breeding location in SD.  IA birder Joe Jungers had given me excellent directions to the area where they breed, which was to the southwest of the Horse Trail Camp area.  As I arrived at the parking lot it was just starting to rain a bit, so I pulled out my umbrella and headed down the trail.  The first part of the trail went through open brushy habitat complete with singing Field Sparrows and Indigo Buntings.  And then there were the numerous Spotted and Eastern Towhee songs, though all Towhees I looked at were Eastern (even though each was giving Spotted songs).  It all looked like good Blue-winged habitat but no luck yet.

Soon I reached an area where the low brushy trees were replaced by somewhat larger deciduous trees.  And just then I heard the first buzzy song of a Blue-winged Warbler.  It kept singing and eventually I was able to spot it, despite the increasing rain (#2).  SD was my 5th state for this species around the periphery of its normal range, including MN, WI, OK, and TX.

I continued along this trail which now entered a mature deciduous woodland.  As the trail started to climb up a small creek valley I heard the first of several Eastern Pewees (#3).  Then I tracked down a somewhat odd Vireo song to find that it was a singing Philadelphia Vireo (#4).  Shortly thereafter the first of several Red-bellied Woodpeckers called (#5).  All three species were near the western edge of their regular ranges – exactly the key gaps I needed to fill in my SD list.  Interestingly there were almost no migrants.  That is except for a flock of about 80 Kingbirds first perched together in a couple trees.  The flock sure made a racket when they all took off simultaneously.

But now the rain was coming down harder, and I figured it was time to change gears and stop looking for woodland birds.  I decided to head north to Sioux Falls where good numbers of migrant shorebirds had been reported recently at 2 locations.  Although I know spring shorebirds don’t tend to stay long, at least I expected the habitat would still exist so I was hopeful that others would have replaced them.  But I only found a Spotted Sand at each location, and most importantly there was almost no habitat as it had been flooded by the recent rains.  Not a good sign.

Next I headed to downtown Sioux Falls where a Peregrine Falcon had been reported seemingly reliably perched on downtown buildings.  But despite excellent details on the Peregrine’s favorite perches, I couldn’t locate the bird.  My initial successes were now just a distant memory.

I checked the radar on my phone and the rain that had been the southern part of the state early in the morning was now moving north.  So it was time to head south to make my stops along the Missouri River that I had planned to make earlier in the morning.  But as I arrived in the area it was still raining lightly, so I tried 2 other spots near Vermillion where shorebirds had been reported.  But I again came up empty.  Part of the issue could be that the rain over the last several days had resulted in flooded fields everywhere – there was now too much habitat.  Luckily I stopped to check out one flock of Franklin’s Gulls loafing in a fallow field and noticed a few shorebirds with them.  Although they were distant I was able to pick out a couple Yellowlegs and small peeps, which with scope views turned out to be Dunlin (#6).  I was a bit surprised to see that SD was my 43rd state for this typically uncommon migrant shorebird.

The weather had finally improved to just a few sprinkles, though it was now pretty windy out of the north and temps were just in the 40s, so pretty chilly with quite a wind chill.  So with “better” conditions I headed down to Frost Game Production Area (GPA) to do some river watching.  This spot was reported to be the best location in SD to find Piping Plovers and Least Terns nesting on sand bars in the Missouri River.  There was an island pretty close to the shore on which both species were nesting.  Plus the state line at this spot was such that most of the river and islands were in SD instead of neighboring NE, so most any bird I could ID would be in SD.  Birding had been pretty slow recently, so I was hoping it would pick up here along the river.

I reached the parking lot, scaled the fence into the area, and took a short walk to the shoreline.  The river here was most impressive – lots of water flowing by, and really wide with many sandbars and islands.  I scanned the island with the signs about nesting terns and plovers but only found a few Canada Geese.  I then scanned other bars in the distance and noticed a really distant flock of shorebirds.  While trying to ID these specks in my scope I noticed a pair of lighter shorebirds running along the shore.  Eventually I could tell they were a pair of Piping Plovers (#7).  SD was my 7th inland state for this endangered species – every time I see this species at an inland site I am amazed how this species can survive under such ephemeral conditions.

I returned my focus to the foraging flock of shorebirds and watched as they all took off several times, circled back and forth, and eventually re-landed in the same area.  Most every time they were in flight I was able to spot one with a white rump, and based on sizes of all the birds and brown coloration of the bird with the white-rump, I concluded that it was a White-rumped Sandpiper (#8).  I continued to watch this flock for a few minutes but then noticed visibility was starting to diminish.  I looked up from the scope and realized that fog was engulfing the area, soon making distant viewing conditions impossible.  Then the wind-blown drizzle started again – I thought the weather was improving! 

So I headed back to the car and decided to try a nearby wooded area for passerine migrants until the fog lifted.  Unfortunately I didn’t find much in the way of migrants.  Though I did get this photo of the Missouri River and the NE shoreline with a tall bluff in the distance. 

As you can see in the picture the fog had lifted, so I headed back to Frost GPA (though I first bought a pair of gloves at a nearby convenience store - it was just that cold).  I returned to Frost and made my way back to the shoreline looking over the river.  This time I soon caught a glimpse of a bird in flight that could have been a Least Tern, but it disappeared before I had a good view.  Then a couple minutes later I re-spotted the bird and then had 5 together – Least Tern confirmed (#9).  I’ve seen this species in quite a few inland states; several more than the Piping Plover.

With good visibility I kept scanning the sandbars and eventually spotted a pair of Ruddy Turnstones foraging on one of the shorelines (#10).  And then I found another flock of distant peeps that included two larger, paler shorebirds that turned out to be Sanderlings (#11).  Given my pretty slow afternoon I was very happy that my luck had improved and I had added 5 new birds at Frost.

And in another stroke of luck, while I was birding the river a USF&WS police officer came by to make sure I was on the up and up (after all I was near a water intake well for the local municipalities).  After a little Q&A he decided everything was OK, and we started talking about birds.  This gentleman was very knowledgeable, and I asked about whether there might be any late or injured Snow Geese still around.  He mentioned a pair had been hanging out at a pond at the hospital in Yankton.  That was near Yankton Reservoir that I figured I might visit the next day if the weather was bad.  I also asked about any nesting Osprey in the area (none popped up in eBird), and he mentioned they were trying to entice Osprey to breed at Yankton Reservoir as well.  So that gave me a couple possible leads for the next day.

I next headed a couple miles upriver in hopes of finding other shorebirds along the river.  Here I spotted one or perhaps two pairs of Piping Plovers, and quite a large flock of Least Terns – 14 were in view at once (the total could have been even higher).  And just then a pair of Turnstones flew in – likely the same pair I had a bit earlier down river.  Nice birds but nothing new here.  But then I checked the maps and realized the NE/SD stateline here was roughly down the middle of the river, so at least some of my scanning efforts were in NE, and in fact all of these birds were in NE.  I didn’t need the Plover and Tern in NE, but the Turnstone was new for my NE statelist - #246.  An unexpected addition to my list.

It was now evening, and the rain had stopped, though the wind was still quite strong.  I had leads on Whip-poor-will and Woodcock at nearby Clay County Park, but was concerned that the winds would hamper my efforts listening for these nocturnal birds.  But I decided to give it a try after all – I couldn’t let the weather beat me!  I got to the park a bit before sunset and walked around the trails a bit mostly killing time, and luckily ran into a pair of likely nesting Sharp-shinned Hawks (#12) – a pleasant surprise.  Then at dusk I started to play some tape for Whips and Woodcocks but all I could hear was the wind whistling through the trees.  So I headed into the center of the heavily wooded park where the wind was more muffled and played so more tape.  And now a Whip-poor-will flew right in to check me out (#13).  I don’t get to see Whips too often. 

But I had no luck with Woodcocks at the park.  I realized the habitat was pretty good outside the park along the access road as well, so I decided to try a short distance to the north.  I made a few stops but didn’t hear anything – except for the wind that is.  But then I stooped behind the car to reduce the wind noise and only then could I hear the distant twittering of a Woodcock (#14).  Since this species is such a common bird in the east, I would have thought my statebird map would have had less gaps, but at least it’s nice to add it in SD at the western edge of its range.

With all the challenging weather conditions I was very happy to have seen or heard 14 of my targets that day.  But I had to work hard for most every one of them, including walking 7.7 miles.  With so few passerine migrants, and bad weather still predicted for the next 2 days, I wasn’t too optimistic that I would reach my goal of adding 28 birds total.

Day 4

My initial plan on Day 4 was to start at dawn at nearby Union Grove State Park to look for migrant passerines.  But when I woke up it was raining quite heavily throughout the area, the wind was still blowing out of the north, and temps were in the low 40s – not the best spring weather.  So I went to Plan B – heading west to Yankton Reservoir, a spot not initially on my itinerary at all.  Luckily I had received David Swanson’s site guide for that spot so I had a plan of action.  And that also meant I could head to the lake near the Yankton hospital, and look for Ospreys, as described the day before by the USF&WS officer.

As I headed west I passed by farming fields, almost all of which were flooded.  Several flocks of Franklin’s Gulls and Black Terns passed by, and other flocks were resting in the fields.  And then I spotted a flock of large, dark-chested shorebirds fly up out of a field just as I passed by – 15 Hudsonian Godwits (#15).  SD was my 4th plains state where I’ve seen this species as a rare but regular spring migrant. 

A few minutes later I approached Yankton’s Westside Park with its small lake immediately across the road from the hospital.  Before I had even stopped the car I spotted a white goose – it turned out to be a white Snow Goose paired with a “Blue” Goose (#16).  And there were even a pair of White-fronted Geese in the lake though I already had that one for my SD list.  Over the years I’ve added quite a number of Snow, White-fronted, and Ross’s Geese to my statelists by finding a small number of summering and obviously out-of-season birds.

Next I was on to Yankton Reservoir, first starting at Gavins Point Dam.  My first stop was overlooking the lake from the crest of the dam – quite a number of Franklin’s Gulls and a few Black Terns were over the lake, but little else. 

Then I noticed a small flock of gulls and terns roosting below me at the marina that looked interesting.  So with a few lefts and rights I finally figured out how to get there, and soon had maneuvered my car to allow me to scan through the flock while staying inside out of the rain.  In no time I was able to pick out 6 Caspian Terns (#17) in with the expected Forster’s and Black Terns, plus I even spotted a few not-so-common Common Terns.  (Four tern species together was nice.)  The gulls were dominated by Franklin’s along with a few Ring-billed.  And then I noticed a lone Herring Gull in the flock- surprisingly an adult instead of a more expected immature (#18).  As I continued to look through the flock I noticed a pair of divers fly by – I got just enough of a view to see that they were female-plumaged Red-breasted Mergansers (#19).  Likely this same pair ended up coming back to roost at the marina a couple minutes later.  What a stop!

I went back up to the top of the dam and scanned from several locations but didn’t see much on the lake.  Though I did find yet another pair of Turnstones down below me.  Ho hum…

The rain had slowed down to a drizzle (though it was still cold and windy), so I decided to do a bit of landbirding in and around the campground that lies below the dam along the edge of Marindahl Lake.  I picked up local nesters like Bell’s Vireo and Orchard Oriole, and several migrant Gray-cheeked Thrushes, but few migrant warblers.  I then decided to take a short walk toward the small sewage treatment plant nearby to look for sparrows as described in the site guide.  My trail happened to take me along a channel of the lake where I was surprised to hear the calls of an Osprey (#20).  That made me 2 for 2 on the officer’s tips.  I never did find any sparrows, though the Osprey was a great consolation.  I only need Osprey in 2 more states – MT and MO.

My next stop was at the adjacent Gavin’s Point Fish Hatchery where I hoped I might find some shorebirds around the many ponds and drawn-down basins.  But I could only find Killdeer.  Though I did have a fly-by Ruby-throated Hummingbird (#21) and I flushed a Lincoln’s Sparrow from the grasses on one of the berms (#22).  I also had my only Chat of the trip at this stop.  The 2 new statebirds here certainly made my 2-mile walk worthwhile. 

It was now afternoon, and the rain seemed to have stopped, so I decided to head back east to Union Grove SP to try for passerines.  Just north of the park I went by a flooded field that had quite a number of shorebirds.  I doubled back to get a closer look, and among the Semi Sands, Killdeer, and Wilson’s Phalarope, I had one Red-necked Phalarope and one Semipalmated Plover (#23).

I finally reached the state park and began to slowly drive through the woodlands listening for warblers.  I was originally planning to walk the road but it was extremely quiet – not only because it was midday, but I’m sure the windchills in the mid 30’s also limited the birds’ activity.  So a slow drive would likely be good enough.  I eventually reached a nice area of planted pines and got out to listen for warblers potentially more attracted to conifers.  And soon I heard 2 Black-throated Green Warblers singing from the pines (#24).  This is one of those eastern species that barely gets into SD in migration – one I needed in order to get to my goal which was rapidly approaching.  I’ve seen this species now throughout much of its range, though I still need it as a migrant in 3 southeastern states.

Just before the road neared its end I noticed an area with a spring and brushy undergrowth that I thought looked interesting.  I walked over to the area and quickly heard a singing Mourning Warbler which eventually came out to give me good views (#25).  I don’t normally find Mourning in migration, so it was nice to have found one in IA a couple days earlier and now this one in SD.  My last stop in the park was at the end of the road where I ran into a small flock of migrants including a pair of Blue-headed Vireos (#26).  I was closing in on my goal of 28!

Next I headed north to Atkins Slough where Great-tailed Grackle and Least Bittern are reportedly nesting.  However the trail into most of the marsh was flooded and inaccessible.  There was a similar marsh just down the road so I tried there too but unsuccessfully.  The most notable feature of these stops was the incredibly muddy dirt road I had to drive on.  I worried about getting stuck but luckily the car stayed under control the entire time. 

I was now pretty close to Sioux Falls so I decided to make another run downtown to try for the Peregrine.  But it was a no-show yet again.

Wall Lake to the west was the next stop, with the potential for white geese and gulls, and a recent report of shorebirds.  I was also thinking that this could be a possible location for Purple Martins, though there had not been any eBird reports from this site.  Back in IA we had found quite a number of Martins at a very similar lake, but these birds were expectedly always associated with martin boxes maintained by homeowners ringing the lake.  So in addition to looking for birds on or near the water, I would keep an eye open for martin boxes.

Access to the lake was very limited, and my first stop along the north end of the lake was on a private road.  I didn’t stay long, but saw no birds on the water nor martin boxes.  Then I made my way to a private beach near the southeast corner of the lake – one of the few times when it was good that it was raining as I was the only car there.  There were quite a number of swallows flying low over the water, but no Martins.  So then I started to scan the houses circling the lake looking for martin boxes.  Finally in the distance I spotted a box at one of the houses along the shoreline.  I put it in the scope and I could see something dark sitting just outside one of the openings.  It was so far away that I couldn’t be sure what it was.  But I kept watching it in the scope and then suddenly it flew off its perch – it must have been a Purple Martin (#27).  It’s great when such a speculative plan comes together!  Seeing it in SD pretty well completes my statebird map except for a few states in the Rockies where it is a rare breeder (and potentially a different species?).

My last stop of the day was at Weisensee Lake where shorebirds had been spotted recently.  But like most other shorebird spots, not only were those birds long gone, but much of the habitat was gone too as a result of all the recent rain.  But this spot had excellent marsh habitat, which looked like a good spot to try for Least Bittern.  While sitting in my car to wait for the rain to ease a bit I scanned the wetlands and it was full of birds including a number of nesting dabblers, Coots, Redheads, a couple Ruddy Ducks, and Black Terns flying low over the water.  When I finally rolled the window down I instantly heard an American Bittern calling.  Over the next several minutes I played some Least Bittern tape at several locations but with no luck.  Then a bit later I spotted a Least Bittern in flight – flying low over the cattails for quite a distance before dropping into the vegetation (#28).  In my experience I’m more likely to see Least Bitterns exactly in this way, flying over the marsh, rather than hearing them or getting them to respond to calls. 

What a way to end the day – I had reached my goal of Reportable Plus 15 in SD despite very difficult weather.  And I still had another nearly full day of SD birding in front of me.  That evening I tallied up my sightings and I was surprised to have seen 115 species on the day in the rain, wind, and cold, though 7.1 miles of walking through good habitat certainly helped.

Day 5

The first thing I did when I woke up at my Sioux Falls hotel was to check the weather – no rain was predicted for the day, though it was still overcast.  And now the bad news – it was still windy and even colder with temps in the mid 30’s, resulting in wind chills in the 20s.  Great spring weather we were having…

With the dry weather I was planning to head back to Newton Hills SP at dawn for passerines.  But I was only a few minutes away from the Sioux Falls Outdoor Campus where I had a single target – Green Heron.  The Outdoor Campus was a nice urban park which would likely attract a number of visitors later in the day since the rain finally ended, so I decided to head there first to beat the crowds.  I was the first car in the lot when I arrived pre-dawn, and headed right to one of the oxbow lakes where the Heron seemed to be most reliable.  I got to a footbridge over the lake and scanned the likely roosting spots but with no luck.  Then I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and here comes a Green Heron flying in as if to say “good morning” (#29).  I only have a couple more states where, like SD, I might find this species near the edges of its range.

As I headed back to my car I noticed an active birdfeeder at one of the park buildings, so I stopped for a few minutes hoping to find late White-crowned and Harris’s Sparrows that I still needed, but it was not to be.  Finally as I was leaving the park, as an afterthought, I made a quick stop at another oxbow lake near the entrance thinking I might find other waders.  Although there were no waders, I was greeted by a singing Northern Waterthrush (#30) – a nice surprise. 

Next I was back to Newton Hills SP, and although I once again started at the Horse Trail Camp area, this time I took a different trail that headed into riparian and upland habitat.  As I started up the trail I noticed a flock of Goldfinches perched in a dead tree, looking almost like Christmas tree ornaments.  I scanned through the flock and spotted a male Lazuli Bunting – a rarity for eastern SD though I had already seen this species in the western part of the state.  A bit later I was in an area with scattered low trees (see picture below) and once again heard Blue-winged Warblers.

I continued to head up the trail and finally ran into a few migrant warblers, each in its appropriate habitat.  First I found a couple singing Chestnut-sided Warblers (#31) in more open emergent woodlands.  Then I had a lone singing Magnolia Warbler (#32) in thicker woods.  And lastly I had a singing Canada Warbler (#33) in a wetter, brushy area.  I ended up with 10 warbler species from this spot – not a lot for spring migration but my highest total for any of my SD stops in this winter-like weather.  And finally on the way back to my car I had a flyover Broad-winged Hawk (#34).  An excellent stop.

I made a couple other stops in the park in nice mature hardwood forests.  And although I didn’t add anything new, I really enjoyed the habitat.  I was especially surprised to see how such a lush groundcover could grow under the thick canopy.

My last SD stop was at nearby Good Earth State Park.  Since I had finally had some success with migrant passerines at Newton Hills I hoped to find some birds at Good Earth as well.  However, this very nice park is mostly up on a bluff which was exposed to the winds, which were now sustained at 20 mph or more, so woodland birding was not likely to be too successful.  But there was a nice headquarters building, and I thought perhaps they had a feeder which would attract my target sparrows.  Sure enough they had a seed and suet feeder, and a few minutes later I was standing out of the wind (behind an outhouse of all things) to watch the feeding station.  There was quite a bit of activity but no sparrows. 

Just as I decided to give up on the feeder idea I noticed a very small weedy field right behind me – seemed like a good spot for Zonotrichia sparrows though very limited in size.  I turned to bird this field, and right in the middle was a brush pile – an ideal spot for my targets.  I pished a bit and a White-crowned Sparrow popped right up (#35).  And with a bit more pishing a Harris’s Sparrow appeared as well (#36).  Isn’t it great when birds cooperate as planned.  And amazing these species can find these small postage stamp-sized bits of habitat as they migrate through the area.

SD was my 9th state in the central US for Harris’s Sparrow where it is a common wintering bird and migrant; I’ve also seen it as a regular but rare wanderer in the east and northwest

On my way back to Minneapolis I made two last stops near Sioux Falls where shorebirds had been reported.  But similar to the results at the other spots, the habitat was now under water and there were no shorebirds.  And I didn’t even get the car stuck in the mud, though I came close once. 

SD and the Entire Trip by the Numbers

I ended up with 150 species in SD, 36 of which were new for my statelist – most of which I had to work hard for.  I had hoped for at least 28 additions to my list, so especially given the very difficult weather, I was very happy to not only have reached my target but exceeded it by such a large margin.  My SD statelist now stands at 239, or 19.5 over the present threshold – that should keep me safely above threshold for quite a while. 

SD is now my 47th state over the ABA threshold – just OR and MT to go in the “Lower 49” (Lower 48 plus DC).  And SD was the 41st state meeting my Reportable Plus 15 goal.

Including my IA and NE results, I added 61 new statebirds on the trip, and had an amazing 178 species total.  That includes 20 species of shorebirds, and 21 warbler species.  Excellent results for a short 5-day trip under difficult weather conditions.

Iowa – Reportable Plus 15, May, 2017

On rather short notice it started to look like I needed to be in Minneapolis in mid-May for a business trip.  That’s not a part of the country I get to very often, so there was likely to be a fair amount of statebird potential out there.  Although my MN list was pretty good at 17 over the old ABA reportable threshold, I was still 3 shy of reportable in IA.  On a similar Minneapolis trip in July 2016 I added a couple birding days in IA, so doing the same on this trip was certainly a possibility.  Looking at my IA list I needed many reasonably regular migrants, so an extension to IA in mid-May, near the peak of migration, was likely to be quite productive.  In 2016 I birded with some excellent IA birders in the northwestern part of the state, so I figured I would head back to the same general area and try to re-connect with them.

And just as I was starting to put my plans together I looked at the map and realized that northwestern IA was pretty close to the SD stateline.  I was 13 below the ABA threshold in SD so a trip there could be fruitful as well.  It turned out that my SD statelist was also missing many regular eastern migrants.  It was now starting to look like making this into a big MN/IA/SD/MN loop could be most productive.  Based on my potential targets it felt like I should plan on 2 solid birding days each in IA and SD, so I planned my flights accordingly.

As I do on most of my trips I like to set statebirding goals for each state.  Formerly I wanted to at least reach the ABA reporting threshold in each state, defined as half of the overall state total.  But the ABA last published thresholds in 2011, and since state lists typically creep up over time, newly calculated thresholds would as well.  With a little on-line research, I found that the IA statelist now stands at 428 – 6 higher than 2011 total.  And dividing 428 by 2, the present threshold would be 214.  Similarly, the latest SD statelist is 439, 7 more than in 2011, giving a new threshold of 219.5.  Because of these inevitable increases in the statelists over time, I revised my goal to be at least 15 over the old ABA threshold in each state, or “Reportable Plus 15” as I call it.  As a result my goal for IA was 226, and my SD goal was 231.  That meant I needed 18 new birds in IA – certainly feasible on this trip.  And I needed a larger tally of 28 in SD – although possible it would be a long shot.

This blog post summarizes the IA portion of my trip.  The next post summarizes the SD portion.

One of my first steps in planning the IA leg of the trip was to contact local birders Lee Schoenewe and Joe Jungers who had been so instrumental in helping me find my targets in northwestern IA during my July 2016 trip.  Lee could join me the evening of my first day once I had finally arrived in town, and both were available to bird with me for a full day the next day.  Then on Day 3 I planned to head west and bird some spots close to the SD border to pick up a couple local targets.  With Lee’s and Joe’s help, plus some good fortune, I was hopeful I could meet my Reportable Plus 15 goal in IA.

Day 1 – Late PM

After a nearly full day of work in Minneapolis I made the long 3+ hour drive south to IA, keeping my eyes on the threatening skies the whole way.  Luckily 2 confirmed tornadoes were at least a county away when I passed by them.  I finally arrived in Spencer in the early evening just after the rain had stopped there, and met Lee who took me to the Thunderbridge area nearby.  Lee had had a number of migrants there earlier in the day including several of my targets.  The woods were full of migrants, most notably numerous Tennessee Warblers.  That species turned out to be our most common migrant at virtually every one of our IA stops.  And although the light was fading, the trees were full of migrants, and we were able to get 6 of my targets there - Blackpoll Warbler, Northern Parula, Blackburnian Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Lincoln’s Sparrow, and Wilson’s Warbler.  The Blackburnian was #211 for me in IA – the old ABA threshold – that was easy. 

Shading in IA in my statebird map below for Northern Parula fills the last gap in the regular range of this species – though I have also seen it as a rarity in NM and AZ.

Day 2

Joe and Lee met me at dawn at my hotel and we went right back to the Thunderbridge area to see what we might have missed the evening before.  But the woods were much quieter that day, and we didn’t spend too much time there not finding anything new.

A couple stops later and we were in the town of Spencer where we noticed a Catharus thrush fly up from the ground.  After a brief search we relocated it and it was a Gray-cheeked Thrush (statebird #7).  That’s one we had expected in the woods at Thunderbridge but we’ll take it in town too.

Soon we were driving out through nice prairie habitat and farm fields and several times we saw small flocks of Black Terns moving north over the fields.  Then we noticed a flock of about 50 shorebirds flying by.  They were plovers with dark breasts, and after comparing notes we decided they must have been American Golden Plovers (#8).  My statebird map is pretty spotty for this species that is a widespread though uncommon migrant.

A couple stops later brought us to the small Kindlespire County Park principally to look for shorebirds around the lake.  Though we came up empty on new shorebirds I did spot an Empidonax in a small nearby bush.  Luckily it gave us some good looks and we confirmed it as an Alder Flycatcher (#9).

A later stop brought us to the edge of Pickerel Lake in Laurens where a Northern Waterthrush was singing from the swampy edge (#10).  On the other side of the road in the adjacent wetlands we found a secretive Solitary Sandpiper (#11).  I’m still missing this species in a couple states in the eastern 2/3 of the country where it is a regular migrant.

But the most notable birds at this spot were a flock of 15 Cattle Egrets in with cattle (appropriately) in an adjacent field.  Pretty rare, though not a new statebird for me.  Not to mention an amazing flock of over 800 Black Terns foraging low over the lake. 

Next while passing through Ruthven we made a quick stop at the sewage treatment plant and located a distant perched Common Tern (#12) among several more expected Forster’s. 

We were slowly accumulating a nice list of my target birds, but we had not yet found many passerine migrants.  We hoped that would change at our next stop at the Lost Island Lake County Park.  This park consists of an excellent patch of woodlands on the east side of the lake.  Being in the middle of the prairie and farm fields, this spot can be an excellent migrant magnet.  And in our first stop at the entrance to the park that certainly was the case as there was an impressive flock of 50 (or more) Eastern Kingbirds.  Joe picked out an Olive-sided Flycatcher in the flock, and luckily it eventually cooperated enough for Lee and me to see it as well (#13).  My statebird map has lots of gaps in the eastern part of the country where Olive-sided is less common, but is pretty well complete throughout much of the west where it is more regular.

Then we headed farther into the park and began to walk some of the trails through the woodland habitat.  In addition to the many singing Tennessee Warblers, we slowly started to pick off quite a number of my targets – a singing Bay-breasted Warbler (#14) was followed by a singing Black-throated Green Warbler in the distance (#15).  And a calling Cooper’s Hawk nearby eventually came into view (#16).  Nice to be able to check that one off but needless to say it was having a negative impact on us finding passerines.  IA was my next to last state for Cooper’s – now I just need to find it in MT.

We then chose a trail that left the deeper woods and soon led us into a more open habitat with thick underbrush and more scattered trees.  At that point I heard a faint song that I recognized as a Mourning Warbler (#17) coming from the brush nearby.  It took us a while to get looks at this skulker, but eventually we all got passable views through the underbrush.  In fact there were likely 2 birds together.  Although this species is a regular migrant throughout most of the east, and a breeder in the north, I’ve only seen it in 17 states – a testament to how difficult it can be to find especially in migration.

The trail then led to the main north-south road through the park, giving some excellent edge views of the woodlands along our way back to the car.  And soon after we started birding along the road we heard a faint song of a Magnolia Warbler – this beautiful warbler soon popped into the open to give us nice views.  That was my 18th new statebird for IA – my target Reportable Plus 15!   And we still had lots of birding time ahead of us.  

We didn’t dare take too much time to celebrate because there were a fair number of other migrants in the area.  Lee then picked out a Black-and-white Warbler which frustratingly took a long time to reveal itself to me (#19).  Unlike my statebird map for the uncommon Mourning Warbler, IA was my last state in the regular range for the much more common Black-and-white (plus I’ve seen it as a rarity in spring fallouts in CA, NV, and NM).

Unlike the shy Black-and-white, Lee’s Philadelphia Vireo was much more cooperative (#20).  And then perhaps as an exclamation point to this stop a Broad-winged Hawk flew by us along the road (#21).  That gave me 9 new birds for this little park.  Although we didn’t have too many passerine migrants, the diversity was quite good.  Plus of course our list was supplemented by a couple raptor species.

Now we were on to Dewey's Pasture WMA and Trumbull Lake.  Among our targets here were Avocets and White-faced Ibis that had been mentioned in recent eBird posts.  Our first stop was at a small wetlands along one of the access roads into the area.  And while scanning through the swimming waterfowl we picked out one Avocet feeding in surprisingly deep water (#22).  I’ve seen this species throughout the west as well as quite a number of southeast states where it is regular, as well as a number of northeastern states as a rare but increasing vagrant. 

Lee then took us to a marshy area around the lake where he predicted we would find the Ibis.  And right on cue, there were 4 White-faced Ibis feeding among the numerous waterfowl and occasional shorebird (#23).  Would have been nice to turn one of them into a Glossy but it wasn’t to be.  Also at this marsh was one of the many flocks of migrant Franklin's Gulls that we encountered during the day - many with rosy breasts.

Throughout our many stops we struggled to find many shorebirds, that is besides the regular Killdeer, Wilson’s Phalaropes, Spotted Sands, and Yellowlegs.  But then at one of our last stops of the day at Goose Pond near Spirit Lake there was a small group of nice breeding plumaged Stilt Sands.  And mixed in was a single breeding plumaged Dunlin (#24).  A nice way to end the day – our 138^th species. 

As Lee and Joe dropped me off at my car I couldn’t thank them enough for all their excellent help and guidance that day.  And speaking of guidance, just before we parted ways Joe gave me some advice for Spotted Towhee in IA and Blue-winged Warblers in SD.

As I was driving west I started to rethink my plans for the rest of the trip since I was way over my goal by the end of the day, and a full day ahead of schedule.  I still had at least 3 reasonably reliable IA targets ahead of me in the western part of the state – Whip-poor-will, Ovenbird, and Spotted Towhee.  Plus of course I could always run into other migrants I still needed at any of my stops.  But I knew I had a tall task in front of me to try to reach my Reportable Plus 15 goal in SD.  Plus the forecast was for rain and wind pretty much the entire rest of my trip, making finding those SD targets even more challenging. 

I weighed my options and decided to call it quits for IA and spend Day 3 in SD instead of IA.  I hated to pass up on a few more possible IA statebirds, but it seemed that spending more time in SD would be necessary if I were to meet my goal there.

IA by the Numbers

I ended the IA portion of my trip with 24 new IA statebirds, compared to a goal of 18, and a total of 143 species.  My new IA statelist is now at 232 – 21 over the old reportable threshold and 18 over a newly calculated threshold.  That makes IA my 46th state over the old ABA threshold and my 40th state over my Reportable Plus 15 goal.

Little Blue and Tricolored Herons, VT, May 2017

On April 27^th there was a most intriguing post on the VT listserve that someone had sighted not one but two Tricolored Herons at Lake Bomoseen.  That is an extremely rare species for VT, with perhaps just 2 prior records in the state.  I was a bit skeptical at first, but follow-up posts confirmed the ID.  I don’t normally chase after birds that far away (these were nearly 3 hours from home) so I only casually monitored the updates.

Then on May 2^nd came a post that an adult Little Blue Heron was spotted in Shelburne – not quite as rare as the Tricolored but still very rare in VT.  That spot too was beyond my normal chasing distance (a bit more than a 3 hour one-way drive).  But could I justify one trip to go after both herons?  Several posts that day and the next suggested the Little Blue might be quite reliable.  I rechecked the Tricolored posts and 1, and sometimes 2, were still being seen reasonably reliably.  I looked at the maps, and it would require a lot of driving – 7 hours total.  But that’s less than the driving distance for one trip each for two rarities 2 hours away (8 hours total).  So with that admittedly twisted logic I decided I could justify the long trip to go after these 2 rarities.

The next morning I was out the door early and heading toward Lake Bomoseen in Castleton.  One Tricolored and occasionally 2 birds were being seen at a small park at Crystal Beach.  When I arrived at the park there was another birder there, but no herons were in sight.  He said he saw the target bird a few minutes earlier, and showed me his excellent photos of the bird as it foraged just a few feet away.  Some recent reports had mentioned watching a bird fly a short distance to the north and out of sight.  In doing my research I had noticed that most of the lake had no marshy habitat at all except for the small immediate area at and north of Crystal Beach.  So I bet myself that the bird was at most just a couple hundred yards to the north though certainly out of view from the park.

Now what to do?  Sit tight and wait for one or both birds to return, or try to find it just to the north?  I decided to head north to look for where the bird had gone, and I traded phone numbers with the other birder who stayed at the beach – so we had both areas covered.  But access to the north was very limited behind houses along the lake.  Luckily I found a trail along the lake edge behind the houses and I didn’t feel like I was trespassing too much.  And within just a couple minutes a heron flew right in front of me – it was the Tricolored.  I got this phonescoped photo of the heron as it began to forage in a small cove nearby. 

 

VT was only my second inland state for this typically coastal species (see my statebird map below).

 

A few minutes later I was back in the car and was driving north heading to Shelburne Bay to try for the Little Blue.  This rarity was being seen in a relatively small marsh along the LaPlatte River.  Most sightings appeared to be from a hiking trail called the TiHaul Trail adjacent to the marsh.  That seemed straightforward enough.  But as I walked south down the trail and neared the marsh I met 3 birders coming back who did not find the heron.  They took me down a side-trail with a different view of the marsh but still no luck.  Though we did get spectacular views of this juvenile Great Horned Owl. 

 

So I decided to head back to the TiHaul Trail to wait to see if the bird would return.  On my way back I noticed two birders quite a distance farther down the trail staring intently into the marsh.  Did they have the target bird?  As I continued down the trail I met those birders coming back – they had indeed spotted the bird, and gave me specific directions to the spot farther south than its normal location.  Within a couple minutes I reached the spot they described, but couldn’t find the bird.  Where did it go?  Did I get the directions wrong?  But then I changed my location a bit allowing me to search a portion of the marsh out of view initially, and there was the Little Blue Heron in the distance. 

And with a bit of hiking off the trail I was able to get this much closer look at the bird. 

That's two really nice rarities in one day in VT.  Good thing I talked myself into making the trip.

VT was my last New England state for both Tricolored and Little Blue Herons, giving me 245 species in all 6 states.  And now my VT statelist stands at 279.

Sandhill Crane in Delaware and Redhead in Pennsylvania, April 2017

A short trip to visit relatives in the Mid-Atlantic states in April 2017 provided opportunities to try for at least a couple new statebirds.  As is typically the case on my trips I set up eBird Needs Alerts to look for possible targets.  But I typically don’t have a lot of birding time when visiting relatives so any birds that I could chase after would have to be close by. 

Our first stop was in northern DE, and although my DE state list was already pretty good at 274, my Needs Alert revealed two realistic possibilities.  The first was Sandhill Cranes that had been seen sporadically at the Ashton Tract of the Augustine Wildlife Area – just 20 minutes from our visit.  And nearby were several recent sightings of Ring-necked Duck, though it was getting quite late for this wintering species.  So my plan was to get out of the house pre-dawn, arrive at the Crane spot by dawn for a quick stop, then make a couple stops on the way back to try for the Ring-necks.

Right on schedule I was pulling into the parking area at the Augustine Wildlife Area at dawn.  There were a few sightings of up to 3 Cranes in this marsh over the last couple months, so I hoped that these birds might be nesting there.  The most recent sighting mentioned a calling bird heard “from the observation platform towards the left”.  I quickly found the observation platform which provided a nice panoramic view of this large freshwater marsh, and I started to scan hoping to find the birds foraging in the vegetation.  And all the while listening for their bugling calls.  But to no avail.

Then on my second scan I noticed two pairs of large birds in flight off in the distance.  Although far away and just using binoculars, I thought I could see the long outstretched necks and legs of Cranes.  But I needed to confirm the ID, so I quickly got them in my scope and they were indeed 4 Sandhill Cranes heading north away from the marsh.  I watched them for a few more seconds until they disappeared out of sight.  I’m guessing that they had been roosting in the marsh overnight and were heading out to feed somewhere else.  Boy was I lucky – not only in picking them up in the air in the distance, but if I had arrived just a few minutes later they would have already left the marsh for the morning. 

DE was my 35^th state for Sandhill Crane.  As a result my statebird map below still shows a lot of gaps for this expanding species.   

With that one quickly checked off, I did another scan of the marsh and began to pick out numerous Bald Eagles.  I counted at least 11 birds, including this group of 5 together.

 

Time was getting short, so I quickly headed off to a couple nearby spots where Ring-necked Ducks had been reported.  But I came up empty - my targets were most probably gone for the year.  Even though I missed my second target, I was happy to have seen the rarer of the 2, and happier still to arrive back just as everyone was getting up – no one even knew I had been out.

The family’s next stop was in south-central PA, and my PA Needs Alert revealed 2 nearby targets – a pair of Redheads and yet another Sandhill Crane.  The Redheads had been reported for some time in a small pond at the Chestnut Grove Natural Area, hanging out with Mallards.  Less than an hour away, my plan once again was to make this a very early morning stop, and then return back before I was missed.

I arrived at Chestnut Grove Natural Area just after dawn, and could see the pond where the Redheads had been reported in the distance.  After a short walk I neared the pond, but didn’t want to get too close in case the waterfowl flushed.  So I set up my scope and quickly scanned the water – no birds at all.  Then I noticed a couple Mallards resting on the shore.  I zoomed in and found 6 male Mallards together, along with the male Redhead.  A couple minutes later all 7 birds woke up and began to swim across the pond, when I got this barely passable phonescoped photo.

 

In my experience with dabblers, when you only see males together that means the females are off on their nests.  So I wondered if that would be the case with the Redheads as well.  But based on eBird records, the male Redhead was only spotted for 4 more days and the female was never spotted again at this location, so nesting was not likely.  PA was one of my last remaining gaps for this species – now I just need it in AR and IN.

 

Sandhill Crane was my last realistic PA target – one bird had been hanging out with a flock of Canada Geese in farmfields right along our route back home.  So we made a quick stop there on the way home at the end of our trip, and although we found the goose flock, the Crane was nowhere to be seen.  I’d have to be content with adding just one bird to my PA list – now at 241.