Radiosavant & Weather Limited Birding

Link to MPR Segment Podcast:

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/03/21/tech-tips-for-spotting-birds--and-why-we-love-to-watch-them

Last week on Tuesday night I was making dinner with my wife (grilled bacon and cheese sandwiches on Pretzel Buns) and my phone started blowing up. I quick checked and was being asked by 2 birding friends if I was available to do an MPR spot on Thursday morning.

Now, complete honesty out front, anything after that was completely unnecessary as I'm the type of guy that can't refuse such an opportunity. The idea of fear in this type of situation doesn't really exist, just nervous excitement at the opportunity to talk about birds to a large audience. I knew I could clear my schedule and work would understand my need to be a part of this activity.

It was interesting to see the approach each friend took as one simply related the opportunity and gave an encouraging word while the other lobbied heavily with quality reasons why I should do such a thing. As I said, I was already sold so they both forwarded my details to the MPR producer and the wheels were in motion.

That evening I got an email from the producer giving me some minor details and checking to be sure I was interested. We arranged a morning call to quick review my background and qualifications. (Probably a general vetting process to make sure I wasn't completely off the wall or in some way likely to lose my mind while on radio.)

Just like that it was set and I would be in studio by 10:15AM for a 10:30AM segment. My wife volunteered for moral support and came along to keep me calm and ready to rock. We sat in the parking lot a bit having arrived early and I did what I always do, identified birds in the lot by sight or call. I noted a Male House Finch singing away from one of the limited trees in the center of St. Paul.

We got into the building shortly after and were moved to the Green Room with about 10 minutes to spare. Just like that it was time to go on as I grabbed my notepad with a single sheet of notes in case I should vapor lock live on air. I was quickly introduced to Mike Edgerly (filling in for Kerri Miller) and found my place across the console from him. The producer adjusted the mic for me and we all talked about the flow of the 30 minutes, etc... It came up that this was my first radio opportunity and Mike was quick to point out it would be a conversation between the 2 of us and we'd talk to a few people on the phone. This relaxed me a lot and given a natural abundance of confidence I was ready to rock.

We spanned many topics, often driven by the callers, which kept the whole thing in conversation mode and impromptu. I really feel like I excel at such banter and never felt like I was out of my element the whole time. The closest though would have to be the nerve wracking bird call identification piece I wasn't aware was going to be a thing....(I found out 30 seconds before going on air actually.)

Fortune smiled though as the first call played I literally had heard in the parking lot and had spent time getting to know the last few years. The complex musical song of the House Finch can actually be a serious challenge for bird watchers. So I got the first one and was at ease. Then they decided to move into insane mode with the alarm call of a non-singing species that almost never makes the sound. To the deep croaking noise I answered Great-Blue Heron's potentially at a Rookery. The answer was Great Egret and I felt find with the result considering the 2 alarm calls are no nearly identical that I would venture most wouldn't detect a difference except in the tone. Many birding friends and experts told me online they did not get the call correct either.

All told though, this was a tremendous experience and I loved every minute of the limelight. The caller subjects were great and insightful leading to excellent topic expansion. I really can see doing this again in the future and it bolsters my desire to work on a podcast.

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On the big year business we had a massive snow storm in the southern part of the state that bombed out 13" on many areas. I avoided such calamity, but also stayed in most of the day working on finally getting taxes done as well as pouring many hours into a presentation I'm slated for on the 31st with good friend Peter Nichols. We will be talking on County Big Year Birding and how to increase your own lists. This is a program put on by the MOU that filled up quickly.

I did get some Sunday morning birding wrapped around more family activities with a few hours of sky watch at Afton State Park in the cold winds. I was able to add State Park year birds of both Sharp-shinned and Coopers Hawks along with Herring Gull and Turkey Vulture.

Later after family lunch I went back out to non-SP locations with Peter Nichols and we targeted Wilson's Snipe at a boat launch near Stillwater and instead were rewarded with a great kettle of Bald Eagles that included a Red-tailed Hawk, Northern Harrier, and amazingly an adult Golden Eagle. This was a county life bird for both of us and a great opportunity to witness a challenging bird to pin down during migration.

Weather is not looking that great this week and beyond so we will see what State Park Birding looks like for the next 2 weeks as we sputter trying to get spring started in earnest.

Fort Ridgley - History and Hiking

I decided to run to this park on a whim after finishing Upper Sioux Agency limited visit. Being that I had a sweet bird list already, I decided to see if Fort Ridgley could offer me a quality hike to finish the day.

The great entrance sign showing the history of the park as you enter.

I eventually found the parking area near the historic fort site and monument. This high bluff type area certainly provides a strategic position at the top of a few valleys. I quickly spotted several Bald Eagle moving on the wind currents and both a light and dark morph Rough-legged Hawks moving back north.

After reading some signage and taking a number of historic site pictures I found the hiking club trail nearby.

One section of many building foundations that are all that remain on this location. The mixed in signage paints a good picture of the history.

Any time the sun is right with an obelisk type setup I get one of these blocked illumination pictures for some reason. This monument was erected to commemorate the site and likely provide some much needed eye appeal to what is otherwise a pretty flat historical location.

Deeper into my hike this view shows the museum building and the monument near the old fort foundations.

Much of it appeared to be in the upper prairie and Oak Savannah so I figured it would be a nice hike with limited ice and snow cover.

That was true with a few slope runs that were a bit treacherous as I had to navigate melt water runs as only a few winter hold overs were heard moving about like Dark-Eyed Junco and American Tree Sparrow.

American Tree Sparrow giving me the eye while hiking the trails.

I completed the near 3 mile loop and never saw the Hiking Club password sign so I'm not sure if I just straight missed it or if the sign was not present. I caught all the directional signs, but never saw a password sign so I'll have to see what I can do about that in the event I decide to buy the hiking club trail packet.

My list of birds was thin, but I had a great hike and noted some good prairie, lowland river/stream, and Oak Savannah habitat in the relatively small park. I would like to come back to this location with the wife for the historical value when the museum is open to enjoy the full experience of the state history on display.

The Great: Good trails, nice diversity of habitat though limited for waterfowl along with a great historic element that helps add extra value to a park. I can see coming back at some point when the wife is interested in seeing the fort grounds and museum, though it may not be during this years effort unless I make an attempt to find Red-headed Woodpecker or something on the spring/fall migration.

The Meh: Not finding a password sign sucked and I noted a couple times where the hiking club trail was actually just paved road taking you right down the heart of the campground section so I could see this trail being very people heavy during the warm months. It was still very nice and worth the effort.

The Verdict: I'll come back and enjoyed the relative solitude the location offered while I hiked. I just don't see a ton of bird value during most time frames that would force me to return for some kind of specialty, but we'll see.

Lac Qui Parle - Waterfowl Bomb - Spring Release

No doubt coming into the St. Patrick's Day weekend I was grumpy and just ready for winter to be done. It was very easy to avoid serious birding efforts with iffy weather and other things on the list to do. This one felt different though as the weather was turning at the right time and temps were looking to finally hit normal for this time of year.

Mid-week or so Garret Wee in the western part of the state posted up a note about serious waterfowl building up at Lac Qui Parle State Park. With open water confirmed I didn't hesitate to call this my target location for Saturday.

I was so jacked I set my alarm for 5AM and woke up at 4:15AM instead and got going eating breakfast and packing up my RAV4. I was out the door by the original 5AM alarm heading west out of the cities. I made great time rolling into Lac Qui Parle upper segment just before 8AM.

The look of a man who just slayed it on waterfowl for the last couple hours. Determination and  satisfaction reined supreme on this great outing.

I could see thousands of waterfowl on the open water and opted to drive to the end of the open water zone and pulled off on a nice overlook. Tundra Swans were immediately visible as I quickly started ticking off State Park year and lifetime birds in this historical hotbed of great waterfowl. Minutes after arriving Alex Sundvall pinged my cell phone telling me I had best get to Lac Qui Parle soon with the massive number of birds present. He, Liz Harper, and Kathleen MacAulay were at the south end of the lake doing the same as I was. Pegging every species they possibly could.

I later joined up with them while we ticked off species after species as I ended up pulling 23 species of waterfowl and effectively finishing the vast majority of likely waterfowl in a single day. Any missing birds I had picked up at Myre-Big Island a couple weeks ago and this day had me take in single birds like Blue-winged Teal, Green-winged Teal, and Canvasback. A single Killdeer called from overhead with it's high volume single piercing call. It is never spring for me until a Killdeer calls overhead looking for some mudflats to feed upon.

A bit into the effort another birder friend Gary Reitan stopped by looking to also add some birds to his list after seeing Garret Wee's post. It is something how influential a single social media post really can be at this time of year for people looking to get out of town and get a start on spring waterfowl searching.

First of year waterfowl aside, several were also lifetime State Park birds for me moving my life total to 196. (Adds of American Wigeon, Northern Pintail, Canvasback, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Greater & Lesser Scaup, and Ruddy Duck.)

Eventually I had to leave the massive waterfowl grouping and checked out the main office feeders that had been hosting an Evening Grosbeak all winter. That bird was not present, but 4 Purple Finches made it a pleasant stop all the same.

The much coveted duo of Purple Finch and House Sparrow. Well, maybe the first half of that anyway.

I soon checked out the lower unit area of the park on the other side of the lake and found little moving around and wasn't ready to engage in a hike for the day so I quickly moved on and targeted Upper Sioux Agency State Park.

A signage selfie with Upper Sioux, a park I'll have to come back and hike in the future. The ground just wasn't good enough for a proper hike this day. I could see a lot of good sloping terrain that would make it iffy at best.

(I'll likely skip much of a write-up on this park at this time though as the roads were very spongy and all trails looked heavily iced and steep.)

The Great: No doubt about why this park has a waterfowl reputation for this time of year. The open water at the south end of the lake creates a great early staging zone in an area of the state with little open water. I left the day missing only American Black Duck and Red-breasted Merganser for the earlier arriving waterfowl. I will of course need to target Grebe in the near future along with Scoter and Long-tailed Duck in the fall, but for the time being I'm well ahead on these birds being found in a State Park. This should give me flexibility in the coming weeks in deciding locations.

The Meh: Given what this park has to work with, I can see it being a specialist in waterfowl. I look forward to another scoping visit as the spring moves on to see if a rarity can be pulled out of the lake. I didn't see much for additional habitat or long secluded hikes, but every park can't be everything.

The Verdict: This is a must visit for anyone looking to rack up a serious waterfowl total. The high overlook areas and platform viewing zone all provide great looks at the lake. I will be back, even if it is just a scope and go type of effort. I totaled 51 species in my time at the park and blew the doors off even Afton State Park, which I've visited 11 times already this year.

Incremental Spring - Afton

The days keep ticking by and we've already run past Daylight Savings time. Winter has had it's icy grip upon us for what feels like an eternity. With all of this many of the waterfowl are waiting to our south pressed against the snow and ice line in Iowa waiting for the farm fields to open up and the lakes. Until then we have to be satisfied with a few harbingers of spring.

Over the weekend I was limited on bird watching and wasn't able to attend a new State Park. Saturday had a scattered mix of snow to the south over the entire state that I wasn't willing to navigate and plans on Sunday to visit my parents moth balled any remaining options to find a new adventure.

That being the case I was able to get down to Afton after work a couple days ago on a breezy, but sunny day. It was remarkable in that not even a single flock of Canada Geese was to be found flying over the park or up the river. All of the usual resident woodpeckers and song birds were present along with a few American Tree Sparrows working the feeders behind the visitor center.

As I entered the park a Red-tailed Hawk could be seen working close to the road. On a short mile long walk on the paved trail I soon found an American Kestrel, my first in a State Park this year.

American Kestrel working the prairie and roadside areas of Afton State Park.

Given my 10 visits to Afton this year I'm sure this bird was not present all winter so it was perhaps an early raptor migrant starting to move north.

Little else presented itself to me as I walked in the chilled breeze. After about an hour and a half I headed home thinking we really are on the slow incremental path to spring this year compared to some prior years. It was only 2 years ago we had 70 degree days in March with open water and no snow on the ground.

On my last 1/4 mile out of the park a group of American Robins was seen working the exposed road edges for food. At the exit station a lone Northern Shrike was also working for a meal.

Northern Shrike perched low to the ground looking for a meal.

I'm so ready for open ground, green leaves, and long hikes in the parks in relative comfort. Soon.

Rice Lake - Scouting Effort

Finished with a solid hike and sky watch at Myre-Big Island I figured I would make a stop at another new to me park in Rice Lake. I didn't have much in my mind for what I could see at the park on the day, but wanted to at least add another stop and scout for possible habitat.

The entrance sign showed a Bittern (Least?) and I hoped this was indicative of the lake habitat. It certainly was. Though the park had basically shut down the entire road network space except for a single plowed dirt lot off the lake edge and a pit toilette.

I checked the lake out from a dock that was pulled up and sitting high on the banks. The lake has a very large ring of cattails and other emergent vegetation and the space looked perfect for Least Bittern habitat and related birds like Sora, etc... (I could see renting a canoe and really working the lake edges for birds at some point, maybe making a serious attempt for something like Common Gallinule to really spice up the year list.)

I picked up another Song Sparrow starting to sing and some Dark-eyed Juncos were chattering a bit as well, but the park was pretty quiet overall.

I only ended up staying for about 20 minutes as I did not have another crunchy uneven snow hike in me on the day and I had failed to stop for lunch by this time and it was already getting on towards 1PM.

I'll reserve any other comments on this park until I get a chance to really explore and look for key target species after the water melts and we get some more serious migrant action.

Myre-Big Island Sky Watching Odyssey

Several days in advance of Saturday the 3rd of March friends had been calling Saturday our first solid window of opportunity for spring waterfowl movement. Specifically Peter Nichols noted the very strong SE winds in the 15+ MPH range and warm temps that it was very possible we would get our first serious flights of Snow Geese and Greater White-Fronted Geese.

I thought about my options for the day and consulted the snow coverage map that I have linked on the main page of this blog with the DNR. This gives a weekly view of what snow coverage looks like all over the state. Additionally Garret Wee out in the western portion of the state mentioned that the latest snow storm had them sitting on a wall of snow likely to dissuade birds from continuing any type of serious flight beyond their area.

Using all of this data and eBird current year species details for Great White-fronted Geese I guessed that something straight south and right on the Iowa border would give me the best option on the day. This ended up being Myre-Big Island State Park.

I can't state enough the importance of being able to pick out a viable location in advance of efforts like this. Of course with a less restrictive year that would put me in any location I could be a bit more granular in my approach, but ranking my options I put Myre as number 1 with a few options along the Mississippi as secondary options.

I didn't get rolling really early considering we would need some time for the sun to get things cooking a bit and really get the birds moving. I drove south on I35 and saw a few casual flocks of Canada Geese along the way, but few other flocking birds of note. My eBird list started at 9AM and I figured this put me right where I wanted to be timing wise for setting up at a viable location.

I did not plan for the typical winter state of a State Park as Myre had most side roads closed and pretty much had just limited plowing done into the camp ground on the Big Island itself. This island was surprisingly dense with large deciduous trees and presented no direct view of the lake that I could see. I eventually bounced over rutted road to a parking spot in the middle of the island and put on some Yak Trax and hiked with gear along a single trail to the far south end of the island. It was wooded all the way to the shore line and I eventually set up shop on the ice to get some type of view to the South and East. In my haste though I had left my sun glasses in the car and the view over a snow covered lake was like looking directly at the sun still low in the sky. This plus the 20MPH wind made it almost impossible viewing from this position. I made the quick call to get off this spot and perhaps setup near the entrance station with a good segment of prairie between me and the island tree line.

I hiked on the ice around the east side of the island and found no viable views for the island that was much more wooded than I expected. (This is ultimately a good thing as many tree cavities begged for possible owl habitat.) I worked a rough trail in the woods back to my car and eventually had a Big Year avatar Pileated Woodpecker make some noise for me in addition to the full sweep of winter woodpeckers for the area. (Downy, Hairy, Red-Bellied)

Driving back to the entrance parking I noted a first of year Song Sparrow on the roadside along with some American Tree Sparrows. Shortly after I heard a flock of American Robin and Eastern Bluebirds starting to work back north for the year. These more hearty thrushes certain portent spring and much warmer weather.

Back at the entrance I spotted a small feeder setup next to the entrance building that seemed to be supporting the local Chickadee population at best.

A Fox Squirrel hanging out under the limited feeder station at the park entrance.

I hopped on the Blazing Star State Trail segment that is paved and was starting to clear in the open prairie spaces. I figured I'd start this hike and setup shop for sky watching at a prime high point. Within minutes I had a Red-winged Blackbird fly by looking to get in on some breeding territory nice and early. Then the flights of geese started in earnest as I soon had 400+ Snow Geese and Greater White-fronted Geese fly over in varying sized flocks. I eventually was able to pick out key oddities in both Ross's Goose and Cackling Goose from the flocks to get them on my State Park list for the year as well.

Wind and light made it hard for my super zoom to get any really good flight pictures. Greater White-fronted Geese in the upper left and then various Snow Geese in the remaining pictures showing White and Blue Phase.

In total I would finish the park sky watch adding 11 birds to my State Park year list and several to my all time State Park list, now at 188. My hike added all the geese in such a short period of time I decided to hike the full trail noted as the Hiking Club trail and also picked up a couple Sandhill Cranes calling over head at one point and a quick view of a Ring-billed Gull as well.

I even had a Kinglet of some type call really quickly, but play hard to get. I couldn't lock it down to species so I had to leave the bird unidentified. Spring was definitely starting at the south end of the state with some excellent early season birds to be found and a really nice boost to my big year.

The Great: Several options for hiking at this parking including some nice prairie tracts and some great mature forest on the island. I also noted several pieces of swampy/marsh habitat that evoked some good possible marsh bird stop over potential. The sheer amount of lake adjacent hiking also presents a ton of possible hidden spots to see ducks on the water in migration. (Once the water melts anyway.) I really think this park in migration could provide some insane bird counts.

The Meh: The big island surprised me in not really having much in the way of lake viewing from what I could tell. A single trail may lead around the island giving you a chance to try to find some views from the shore. If you want to scope for ducks it may end being a bit more of a hike to drag your scope to viable points on the trails. This could also be good in a way, but it is not readily apparent that a convenient single location exists. Though the picnic area was blocked off to road traffic so I did not get a view of that at all. It is apparent that much of this parks facilities are shut down in the winter and contrast heavily with parks like Afton and Fort Snelling that strive to keep as much trail space and buildings open as possible. I wanted to note also on the western portions of the park the highway noise of I35 is very apparent as it was up north of the cities for places like Moose Lake that is also adjacent to the highway.

The Verdict: The park provided what I was looking for though I ended up needing to focus on being in the prairie instead of on the island looking over the lake space. That was a minor issue though and I can see this park being seriously dense with birds on migration and I look forward to another spring trip to this park for ducks on the water and other migrants. Though not a massive park the amount of trail space that edges the large sprawling lake provided some really serious potential for water birds. I may have to lug a lot of gear on such a trip with my large scope, but it would be worth such an effort.

Afton - Weekday Redux

With limited light after work, but weather improving I got out to Afton 3 days in a row this week. My first day has already been related in the prior post, but it was the second day that really stole the show.

I decided that even with minimal birds moving into the area that I needed a good elevation hike and figured down to the river bottom from the main picnic lot and then a full loop of the back country camping zone would be perfect. As I began the hike I thought to myself that these hikes would be important to try and lock down a couple more owl species in my secret side quest for the year.

That quest being the totally unofficial single year owl species high count. I had already locked in 3 very challenging species in January and February with Short-eared, Long-eared, and Northern Saw-Whet. Amazingly I was short both of the common species for this area in Barred and Great-horned. With nesting and mate selection in full swing by this time I figured this hike would give me a least a shot at one of them, though to be honest I had never had Barred at Afton before.

It was quiet at the park as I made my way to the river bottom on a well packed set of stairs that didn't really present much concern in the way of quality footing. A few small aircraft moved overhead as it seems the St. Croix River valley draws in such craft bouncing between the states. Beyond seeing a person or two gearing up for some x-country ski time at the parking lot I wouldn't see another soul during my entire hike.

Shortly after hitting the lowest point of the trail and crossing the outflow of the partially open trout brook I began to climb back up the hillside towards the campground area. Barely a 100 yards into this as I scanned the trees around me and locked on a ghost of a bird starring boldly at me with inky black eyes. A Barred owl was out early on the hunt for something to eat.

Barred Owl pictures from my 2 encounters with the same bird at the start and end of my hike at Afton State Park. Easily the most cooperative Barred I've had before.

I was surprised at how it only seemed to be casually interested in me moving through it's territory. I snapped a number of pictures that I later realized showed a partially blood stained beak, indicating a meal had occurred at some point not long ago.

This was a great moment as I just stood and watched the owl observe the area around it's perch looking and listening for a wayward mammal. I eventually moved on and made the top of the hill and the relatively open setting of the campground sites. I spent a bit of sky watch time picking up flocks of Canada Geese moving about and at one point I saw a large flock (25+) of American Robins flying into the park from Wisconsin at a pretty high elevation. As I neared the north end of my loop I found a flock of American Crow setting up shop for the night in a stand of trees. The lifted as my footfalls got closer and I saw it to be at least 100 strong. They circled a few times complaining of the interruption and I presume eventually got back to roost.

My climb turned back into long winded descent as I wound my way back down towards the river with light fading fast. I stopped every 100 yards or so to listen to the solitude and hope for some additional owl action. I wasn't disappointed as a Great-Horned Owl let loose a volley of low soft hoots from behind me. Excellent, my 2nd species of the night and 5th this year at the park. My only hope now is that I can be fortunate enough to track down an Eastern Screech at some point this year and make it a solid 6 species.

As I hit bottom again and started making my way past the beach area and back to the climb up to the parking lot I bumped a Barred Owl from the trail edge and it flew forward and perched just over the trail again. I was able to get another series of pictures and confirmed later the same blood stained beak had it as the same Barred I had seen earlier. I figured the Barred and Great-Horned were perhaps a 1/4 mile away from each other at the most.

It was an outstanding late winter hike with temps in the low 40's and dipping to the mid 30's by the time I was done. So nice to be able to hike without a dozen thermal layers on and being able to go without gloves for much of the circuit even.

My follow up day on Wednesday had me on another trail circuit attempting an older spot known for Eastern Screech, but I didn't see anything of the sort as I spent a fair amount of time looking for potential tree cavities. This location is in the shadow of Afton Alps ski slope and I suspect if it does host a regular owl, that most likely this space is filled during migration as opposed to being an overwinter location. Time will tell as I'm sure I will grab several more attempts at this location in the future.