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.)

Purple Gallinule, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, April 16, 2025

On April 14th I noticed several reports on the NC rare bird alert that the Purple Gallinule was “still here” in Mecklenburg County.  It was first discovered by Trevor Kienzle on the 13th – though I missed that post.  The bird was reported again on the 15th so it was apparently pretty reliable.  And the site was only about 2 hours away.  The chase was on!

Now it was time to do more research.  The Gallinule was feeding on aquatic vegetation on the Catawba River at the eBird hotspot called Walker’s Ferry Road Cove.  And one birder posted coordinates of the gravel lot where you should park, the coordinates where the bird was feeding, and the trail you take to get to the spot.  Excellent!  I reached out to Cleveland County birding buddy Bill Hooker to see if he needed the Gallinule for his Mecklenburg County list.  Not surprisingly a rarity like this would be new for his county list, so he was interested in coming along to look for the bird as well.

And there was one other factor that would help us with our chase.  I noticed that Bill’s friend Patty Masten had already seen the bird, so I asked if Bill could connect with Patty for any tips to find our target bird.  Patty offered us even more help – she would meet us at the parking area and take us to where she had the Gallinule.  Our odds of finding the bird just improved dramatically.

I was out of the house early on the 16th, and met Bill in Cleveland County by 7:30.  From there we car-pooled to Mecklenburg County and arrived at the parking area a bit after 8.  Patty was already waiting for us, and we instantly started our short walk down an eastward trail toward the Gallinule spot.  Along the way we met a birder coming back who had just seen the bird.  We picked up the pace a bit and soon reached the spot where Patty had seen our target.  And within seconds we all spotted the Purple Gallinule feeding amongst the vegetation.  Here’s a shot of the bed of vegetation in the distance - the Gallinule is at the blue arrow.

Although the Gallinule was visible the whole time we were there, we never saw much more than the neck and head of the bird.  Luckily the purple feathering and orange bill were conclusive field marks, even in the backlit conditions. 

Purple Gallinule was #328 for my NC state list.  My statebird map for Purple Gallinule is inserted below.  The light blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species in its regular range.  Cross-hatched AR is the last state in its range where I’ve yet to see it. And now NC is the 4th state where I’ve seen it as a rarity (the dark blue-shaded states).

Townsend’s Warbler, Charlotte, North Carolina, March 14, 2025

On the morning of March 7 a text came across the local Blue Ridge Birders text group that a Townsend’s Warbler was coming to a feeder in Charlotte.  Although it was first being reported on the 7th, there was a rumor that it had been present for a couple weeks.  So it certainly seemed to be reliable.  That would be a great bird to chase after and try to add to my NC state list.  It was within my self-imposed 2-hour driving limit to chase rarities – well sort of.  And the homeowner was quite accommodating, allowing birders to watch his feeders from inside his house.

Now it just needed to stick around until I was free.  Unfortunately, I had commitments for each day over the next week and wasn’t free until the 14th.  And even on that day I needed to be home by about Noon.  I kept watching the reports and the Townsend’s Warbler continued to be seen quite regularly at the feeder.  That is until the 13th when it wasn’t seen until the afternoon.  That was more than a bit troubling, but I decided to go for the chase after all, though giving it maybe just a 50/50 chance of success.

After an early 6 AM departure I arrived at the Warbler site just after 8 and the homeowner met me at the door.  He said he hadn’t seen it yet that morning but I was welcome to come inside to watch the feeders.  That sounded inviting, but instead I opted to watch for it in the backyard.  Not only are the feeders visible from the yard, but the bird was also sometimes being seen from the yard both before coming to the feeder and after leaving it. 

The yard was quite birdy, with nearly constant activity at the nice feeding station.  Here is a picture of the backyard deck – the Warbler was coming to the suet feeder toward the left.

The homeowner pointed out the trees in which the Warbler was most often seen, including a nice cedar that looked like one that a Townsend’s might visit in its natural habitat.  So I was all set and ready to wait it out.  At least for a couple hours anyway. 

Just after I arrived a bright yellow Pine Warbler dropped in to eat mealworms – that got my heart racing momentarily but it wasn’t the target bird.  Then no more than 5 minutes later a small bird flew into a deciduous tree overhead.  I got a glimpse of yellow on the bird as it landed, but was it just another Pine?  I got it in my binoculars and it was instead the target Townsend’s Warbler!  It then flew to the feeder where I got these “digi-bin” pictures.

Over the next 90 minutes the bird visited the feeder roughly every 30 minutes, each time pausing in several different trees in the back yard, including the juniper.  And a couple times it even sang softly.  What a great show, especially after its limited visits the day before.

I can’t thank the homeowner enough for his hospitality!

My state bird map for this species is inserted below.  The light blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen it in its regular range.  The cross-hatched states are those where I’ve yet to see it in that range.  And the 4 dark blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen Townsend’s Warbler as a rarity – one I found on my own in NH, at feeders in MA, as a woodland stakeout in RI, and now at feeders in NC.  Townsend’s Warbler was #327 for my NC list.  (Interestingly, Townsend's Warbler was #327 for my RI list as well.)

Tundra Bean-Goose - Life Bird, Portsmouth, RI, February 22, 2025

In mid-February I started hearing about reports of a Tundra Bean-Goose being seen in Rhode Island.  That would be a life bird for me, but it would require a 2-day one-way drive, or a lengthy plane flight, so I didn’t put it on my radar screen.  But then a local western NC birding friend sent me a text that he went up there and saw the Goose with only limited effort.  With just a bit of research I found out that the bird had been seen nearly daily for almost a month in a reasonably small area in Portsmouth, RI.  In other words, the Goose seemed to be pretty reliable.  And since my daughter lives in Providence just a half hour away, I could make it into a little visit with her as well.  The die was cast – I made my plane and rental car reservations to arrive in just 4 days and hoped that the bird would continue in the region.

Now it was time to do more detailed research.  The Bean-Goose was being seen during the day with Canada Geese feeding in a number of different corn fields and pastures throughout the northern end of Aquidneck Island near Portsmouth.  (I birded that area numerous times during my days in New England and remember large flocks of wintering geese using the area.)  In the evening the goose flocks would come into Lawton Valley Reservoir to roost overnight, providing viewing opportunities both in the evening and the following morning.  At least that was its M.O. early in its stay.  It was actually last seen during the day nearly 2 weeks before my trip, though there weren’t too many people searching.  And the target bird was sometimes missed in the evenings if the goose flocks didn’t arrive early enough for an ID in the waning light.  As a result, the most likely time to see the bird now appeared to be in the early morning at the reservoir.  Luckily, I set up my trip to be on the ground in RI for 3 evenings and 3 mornings.  So even if it was no longer being seen during the day feeding, I figured I’d still have plenty of chances to find the Bean-Goose at its overnight roost.

I flew into the Providence airport mid-morning on February 21, and had a quick visit with my daughter before heading off to Portsmouth.  My plan was to first check the fields where the Bean-Goose used to be seen foraging, though I didn’t like my chances.  Then by 4 PM or so I’d head to the reservoir to wait for the geese to start coming to roost.  And if I missed my target that evening, there was always the next morning. 

As expected, I found few geese in the fields: just 50 at the local high school ball fields, and 125 at the car museum parking lot across from the reservoir.  As a result, I was done checking the fields by 1 PM, so I headed over to the reservoir just in case my target came in early that day.  To my surprise there were 250 Canada Geese already swimming on the reservoir – certainly critical mass to find my target.  But despite lots of scans, the Bean-Goose just wasn’t there.  Within 30 minutes all of these birds had left.  And at 2:30 a bigger flock flew in.  This group numbered 380, but again no target bird, though a Cackling Goose was a nice find.  And within a half hour these birds flew off too. 

The reservoir was nearly devoid of geese from 3 through 5 PM, though I continued my vigil scanning the reservoir in the single-digit wind chills.  I started to wonder if the geese coming in to roost that night.  And worse yet, I worried that since I didn’t see large flocks that afternoon, had all the gese moved out of the area.  But then finally at 5:15, after the sun had already set on the reservoir, a flock of at least 1,000 geese descended on the lake.  Another birder was there with me at that point, and we were only able to make 3 or 4 hurried scans of the geese before we called it quits due to the failing light.  If only they had come in earlier we would have had more time to look for the Bean-Goose.  Then again, maybe the flock of Canadas it was with wasn’t even there yet.  After 6 hours of searching, as I expected, I’d have to come back the next morning to find out.

Sometimes roosting waterfowl will leave their overnight roost at first light.  But recent morning reports from the Lawton reservoir generally suggested the roosting geese stuck around the lake well into the morning.  As I drove to the site on the 22nd I hoped that would be the case.  I arrived just after 7 to see 2 birders already there.  And this was the view of the geese below us – at least 1,000 birds roosting on the edge of the ice near the southern end of the reservoir.

The “closest” geese were still at least 100 yards away, and the farther birds to the right in the picture were at least triple that distance.  And they were all sleeping in a dense flock, which meant it was tough to see field marks. 

And then I noticed even more geese on the ice at the far northern end of the reservoir.  There were perhaps another 1,000 geese in that distant flock, more than 300 yards away.  Even with my scope on 50 power it was nearly impossible to see field marks on the tightly packed birds.  But at least it seemed that all the geese were still there.

Here’s a screenshot from Google Maps showing where we were standing – the red X, where the close geese were sleeping on the ice – at the number 1, and the distant geese on the ice – at the number 2.

Now it was time to get to work.  I first scanned the closest sleeping birds hoping to pick out a bird that had a brown head and neck instead of the black neck and white cheek patch of a Canada.  Then I started looking at the geese farther to the right and soon picked out a possible candidate.  It seemed to have a brown head, and the chest was not nearly as pale as the Canadas.  I got the other birders on this bird and we all thought it was a possibility.  But we couldn’t see the horizontal white stripe on the flank that others noted on the Bean-Goose when it was sleeping.  We all focused on this bird for a while before it briefly lifted its head and it was indeed black – it was just a Canada.  Later I found a similar candidate on the ice, and I stared at this one for a while too.  But without the white flank stripe, it too was going to be a Canada.  We were just trying too hard.  I scanned the close flock numerous times, and even tried scanning the farther flock a bit, but just kept coming up with Canadas, or geese on which I could see no field marks at all.

At about 9 AM a number of the close geese started to stir, and some walked off the ice into the water.  Now that I had good views, I quickly scanned these birds but still only came up with Canadas.  Perhaps 500 geese were now swimming, and maybe the other half of the close flock was still sleeping on the ice.  But I really felt like I had good views of the birds in the water, and reasonable views of the sleeping birds now that the flock wasn’t as densely packed.  So I was pretty sure that our target just wasn’t in the close flock. 

It was now 9:30, and since I had pretty much given up on the close flock, I started to strategize a way to get closer to the farther flock.  I could hike up to the top of the dam of the reservoir and walk to the north which would actually get me quite close, assuming that was legal to do of course.  But I decided to do just a couple more scans of the close flock before changing my location.  And just then I noticed 2 geese swimming by the edge of the ice.  One had a brown head without the white cheek patch – I instantly knew I had the Tundra Bean-Goose!  With closer views I quickly ticked off all the other salient field marks – a bit smaller and shorter necked than the Canadas, horizontal white flank patch, pale streaks in the mantle and tail, and orange tip to the bill. 

We watched if for the next half hour as it swam mostly out in the open among Canadas.  Here are my two best phone-scoped shots of the bird more than 200 yards away.

After 10 hours of searching over 2 days in single-digit wind chills, it was most satisfying to finally find my target Tundra Bean-Goose.  It was one of my longest ever searches for a life bird (first place goes to a Blue Bunting requiring 4 separate trips to south TX).  Though this was the first life bird chase that also afforded me a nice visit with my daughter.

By my records (following ABA’s countability rules), the Tundra Bean-Goose was #774 for my ABA Continental list, and #754 for my Lower 48 list.  By eBird’s count it was #778 in the ABA Continental region and #757 for the Lower 48.  (Someday I’ll have to figure out the source of those differences.)  And it was #336 for my RI state list. 

South Florida and Southeastern US Trip, January 6-16, 2025, Part 3 of 3

In November 2024 I started planning a mid-winter trip to south FL trip focused on specialties, exotics, and rarities.  And speaking of rarities, there were 3 mega rarities being seen – Bananaquit, Yellow-headed Caracara and Large-billed Tern.  I mentioned the upcoming trip to my good birding friend Bill Hooker, and he expressed interest in coming along.  Soon we were thinking about a trip for 4 of us –including Bill and his wife Anita, plus Bill’s friend Bob Cowan.  Not only were all of us looking for lifebirds and statebirds, but Bill was also working on his county lists, and Bob was embarking on a 2025 big year.  Plus, Anita was great at photographing our target birds.  So there were lots of potential targets for all of us.  And speaking of state and county birds, we decided to drive to south FL instead of flying so we could work on our lists along the way.

After perhaps 200 hours of research, I mapped out a route that would take us down the coast of SC and GA, through inland northern and central FL, then onto south FL.  Then we would return along the Atlantic coast of FL and back through GA and SC.  We tentatively planned it as an 11-day trip including 5 days in south FL.  Though we included more than enough flexibility to pursue any newly reported target birds.  With this itinerary I hoped for 4 new statebirds in SC, 2 in GA, and 10 new statebirds in FL.  And perhaps 2 of those new FL birds would be lifebirds as well.  Though unfortunately one of the initial triggers for our trip, the Bananaquit, was no longer being seen.

See my previous 2 blog posts for summaries of the first two thirds of the trip.

1/13 – Central Florida

With our south FL birding complete, we started our long drive home.  Though of course we would have some birding stops along the way.  Our next set of stops would be at the Merritt Island NWR, first to look for a long-staying Eurasian Wigeon.  This bird was first discovered back in November, and had been seen nearly daily ever since.  Although it was enticing to look for it on our way south through the state, I decided to skip the search for this bird as we headed south so we could use a more inland route through FL for other targets.  Instead, we would look for the Wigeon several days later as we took a more coastal route on the way back north.  That strategy was a bit risky, but I was betting that the bird would stick around at least until we made our return.  And the bird was indeed still being seen daily when we got to the refuge so my gamble paid off.  Many of the eBird reports provided good details on the location of our bird (between stops #2 and #3 of the Black Point Wildlife Drive).  Now we just needed to find that one bird in a large American Wigeon flock.

We finally arrived at the refuge mid afternoon and headed straight for the Wildlife Drive.  There were quite a number of waders near the beginning of the Drive, but there were next to no waterfowl.  Just after we passed stop #2 we got to a lake on the left with good numbers of dabbling ducks in the eastern end, including quite a few Wigeon.  Now the pressure was on.  I started a slow scan of the closer ducks, then the ones a bit farther out, and finally the dabblers in the distance.  There were 50 or more American Wigeon but I couldn’t find the Eurasian.  There were a couple small mangrove islands in the middle of the lake that blocked my view of part of the lake, so I changed my vantage point a couple times but still couldn’t find our target.  I was getting worried.  I tried to tell myself that I wasn’t overlooking the bird; instead it was just in a different location.

We drove a short distance farther along to check the western end of the lake and came upon some more Wigeon.  Did we have the right location now?  Sure enough, within just a minute I had picked out the Eurasian Wigeon.  It was backlit a bit, but the orangey-red head and gray sides really stood out.

That was my 16th state where I’ve seen Eurasian Wigeon, mostly along both ocean coasts.

Our last targets of the day were a pair of American Flamingos wintering in the northern part of the Merritt Island refuge.  Initial eBird reports seemed to suggest that the birds were being seen in multiple locations, but that mostly turned out to be erroneous locations for the checklists.  Instead, a bit of research indicated that they were principally being seen at the south end of the Haulover Canal, most often on a small island called Bird Island.  All the photos showed the birds were quite far away, roosting with Cormorants and Pelicans.  So some distant searching might be necessary.

When we pulled up to the canoe launch area at the south end of the canal we quickly spotted Bird Island about a half mile away, along with the roosting flock of Cormorants and Pelicans.  And even with just binoculars you could see pink dots among the flock.  Scope views confirmed we had the 2 Flamingos.  Good thing they are such large and colorful birds.

Flamingo wasn’t a life bird or even a state bird for any of us, but it was great to see these beautiful birds again for our year lists.  And it sure was easier than my last FL Flamingos in the Everglades at the end of Snake Bight Trail.

1/14 – Central and Northern Florida

As we continued to head north, our first stop of the day was at Blue Spring SP for Florida Scrub-Jays.  The park is in the heart of Scrub-Jay habitat, and that part of central Florida has lots of Scrub-Jay reports in eBird.  But these birds are often in isolated spots, or move through the habitat in small family groups. So you often have to be lucky to run into one of those small wandering flocks.  In any case, it’s not a sure thing to find them on any given trip, even in good habitat. 

In doing my research I found multiple recent reports from Blue Spring, some concentrated near the campground and others from the Scrub-Jay Loop trail.  We asked for advice from the ranger at the entrance booth and he said the best spot was the Scrub-Jay Loop trail.  With a name like that how could you go wrong?  We started a slow walk down the trail in nice habitat but didn’t encounter any Jays.  We turned a curve in the trail and Bob spotted a bird foraging in the trail in the distance – we had our first Florida Scrub-Jay.  When we got closer we found 3 birds at this spot.  And a bit farther down the road we ran into another group of 4.  This one perched in the open affording nice, albeit backlit, views.

Later we took a short side trip to the spring and got great views of numerous manatees lounging in the relatively warm waters of the spring. 

Next we headed back to the Ocala Wetland Recharge Park for another try for the Swifts and Ash-throated Fly.  The Swifts had been reported several times since our last trip there, but they continued to be seen only sporadically.  The Ash-throated had been reported a couple times too, so we tried to stay optimistic.  But despite nearly an hour of waiting near the southern impoundments the Swifts were once again a no show.  Then we walked to the northwest part of the park where the Flycatcher is typically seen but had only Phoebes.  Rather than doubling back as we did on our first visit, we continued on the loop around the northern impoundment and came back on the eastern side.  We had only walked perhaps 50 yards when we spotted some movement at the edge of the low brush – it was the Ash-throated Flycatcher, nicely captured by Anita in this picture.  (FL statebird #11) 

We were lucky we saw it when we did because it soon slipped down further into the vegetation mostly out of view.  FL was my 8th east coast state (along with KS) where I’ve seen this species as a vagrant.

Our next stop was a home in Gainesville where a female Western Tanager was coming to a feeder.  It took a bit of effort but I was finally able to obtain contact information for the homeowner.  With a quick call it turned out that he was very willing to have us come by his home and watch for his Tanager which had returned for its 3rd consecutive winter.  We watched his feeders through his kitchen window, and after a 30-minute wait, the Tanager dropped in to feed (FL statebird #12), along with several of his Baltimore Orioles.  Once again, here is one of Anita’s pictures of the Tanager.

My statebird map for Western Tanager is actually quite similar to the Ash-throated map.

Many thanks to the homeowner for his hospitality!  He also told us about a pair of rare Common Goldeneyes in a nearby pond, which made for a most successful last birding stop in FL. 

1/14 – Coastal Georgia

We had just enough time before sunset for 2 quick stops in southern GA for unusual waterfowl.  The first was a male Common Goldeneye in a small lake along Queens Court just outside of Brunswick.  Unfortunately, we weren’t successful in finding it, though we had at least 150 Ruddy Ducks on the lake.  The bird was last seen a couple days earlier, with a photo showing it sitting on the shore, and the birder commented that it had a bad eye.  It sure didn’t look healthy in that picture; perhaps it passed before our visit on the 14^th.

Our last GA stop was at Blythe Island Park where a White-fronted Goose was hanging out with a small Canada Goose flock.  As we arrived at the park gate it was 5:45 and we all noticed the sign that the gate would close at 6.  But it was a small park so we hoped we would have just enough time to find our target and get out by 6.  We pulled up to the park lake and heard some geese calling in the distance.  It was starting to get pretty dark, but I was able to pick out the White-front in the distance.  We quickly drove over to the campground where we last saw the bird, re-spotted it in with the Canadas (Anita was able to snap this one picture) and got back out just 2 minutes before 6. 

 Can’t get any more efficient than that!

1/15 – Coastal Georgia

Our last full birding day of the trip was focused on several of our targets along the GA coast.  First we headed just a couple miles inland from Brunswick to Paulks Pasture WMA where Henslow’s Sparrows had been seen recently.  I had reached out to a local birder and got precise locations for the birds lurking in wet grasses along a powerline cut.  I donned my boots and rainpants and trudged through the tall grass but came up empty, finding just a Sedge Wren, despite what looked like ideal habitat.  It was nice to find this large patch of pitcher plants that measured at least 3 feet across.

Our next stop was in the Spartina marshes along the causeway to St. Simons for the 3 “marsh sparrows”.  We timed our visit to be close to high tide to aid in flushing them out, but we only had one Seaside Sparrow respond to tape.  A Clapper Rail in flight was a nice bonus bird.

Once onto St. Simons we headed to Sandcastle Drive near the airport.  A ditch and small riparian area continued where the road stopped, and a Lincoln’s Sparrow had been seen there recently near a railroad tie retention wall.  This area was quite birdy, and we found birds like Painted Buntings and an Orange-crowned Warbler.  Eventually we found the retaining wall and spotted the Lincoln’s Sparrow skulking in the low brush just below the wall.  (GA statebird #1)  I now just need this species in 4 more states (the cross-hatched states in my statebird map below).

Our next targets were a pair of Western Kingbirds near the south end of the St. Simons airport, just a 5-minute walk from the Lincoln’s Sparrow spot.  They were typically seen perched in a large brush pile, and along the airport fences.  But even though they had been seen in the area for some time, they were only seen infrequently.  In fact, my local contact told me that he had recently spent 3 days looking for them with no luck.  And then the day before we arrived there was a report that they were seen perched on a relatively hidden back side of the brush pile.  Luckily I got directions to reach that portion of the pile, and we headed straight to that spot.  And within a couple minutes I was able to get distant scope views of one of the birds.  (GA statebird #2)  Western Kingbird is another of those typically “western” species that is a regular vagrant to the east coast.

Our last stop on the island was a shorebird hotspot named Gould’s Inlet.  A Snowy Plover had been spotted there recently, but not reported in the most recent couple checklists.  So I wasn’t too hopeful, though looking forward to seeing some big numbers and variety of shorebirds.  As we arrived there were already good numbers of shorebirds on the flats, and more continued to fly in as the tide dropped.  We were able to find 9 species of shorebirds including the only Piping and Wilson’s Plovers of the trip.  And wild estimates of numbers were dominated by 500 Dunlin, 100 Semi Plovers, and 75 Least Sandpipers.  An estimated 300 Black Skimmers were notable as well.  But as expected, we could not find the Snowy Plover.  A flyby flock of Black Scoters were nice as well.

We continued up the GA coast and headed for yet another try for Purple Sandpipers at the Tybee Island North Jetty.  Two had been reported and photographed there on the 13th, so we were actually more hopeful this time than on our first try.  But once again we only found Turnstones and Sanderlings.

1/16 – South Carolina

We made 2 final stops in SC on our last day on the road.  The first was at the Savannah NWR Visitor Center where Bill hoped to find Purple Finch as a new SC statebird.  I wasn’t too hopeful since the last time a Purple Finch was reported there was 12 days earlier at the feeding station.  But I liked Bill’s optimism.  We arrived at dawn and only found squirrels at the feeder.  We started talking about how wintering Purple Finches like to eat tree seeds, especially tulip, sweet gum, and sycamore seeds.  I started looking around and spotted a large gum tree nearby loaded with seed balls.  Sure enough there were 4 birds near the top of the tree that turned out to be Purple Finches.  Like I said, I like Bill’s optimism.

Our last stop was at the Orangeburg Sod Farm where we hoped for Ground Doves, especially around the maintenance buildings.  We found numerous MODOs, but alas no Ground Doves.

Summary of Trip Results

We amassed 213 species on the trip.  When the trip was over we were all briefly in eBird’s top 20 for the ABA Region for the year, and top 5 in FL.  And speaking of FL, we saw 43 of 53 south FL targets. 

Other highlights among our 213 species were:

- South FL Specialties - Short-tailed Hawk, Snail Kite, White-crowned Pigeon, "Great White" Heron, Burrowing Owl, Lesser Nighthawk, Florida Scrub Jay, Vermilion Flycatcher, Whooping Crane, "Golden/Carribean" Yellow Warbler, 15 species of wintering warblers

- Exotics - Spot-breasted Oriole, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Common Myna, Indian Peafowl, Egyptian Goose, 6 species of parakeets/amazons/macaws

- Rarities - 4 Tropical Kingbirds, Ruff, Brown-crested Flycatcher, 10 Shiny Cowbirds, 2 American Flamingos, Eurasian Wigeon, 2nd record of Gray-headed Swamphen for SC, 5 Cave Swallows, 2 Ash-throated Flycatchers, 2 Western Tanagers, Black-throated Gray Warbler, and a remarkable 18 Western Kingbirds

I ended up with 2 new Lifebirds – Blue-and-yellow Macaw and Orange-winged Amazon - bringing my ABA Continental list to 776 per eBird’s countability rules.  Plus I added 20 new statebirds, much better than the 16 I hoped for:

- SC – added 6 bringing my total to 312

- GA – added 2 with a new state total of 272

- FL – added 12 raising my total to 343

The eBird Trip Report can be found at – ebird.org/tripreport/318837

It sure was a nice break from winter birding in western NC!