Lake Shetek - Frozen Sky Show

After leaving Flandrau I headed for a lunch stop and started working my Google Map for the next location. I knew I had plenty of time, even for a Sunday to hit another location at least and I started to figure if I stopped at a location for a quick scout I might easily hit a 4th park in the same day.

At 1 hour and 30 minutes apart I saw Lake Shetek as a intermediate destination that might allow me to justify going further and picking up some time at either Split Rock Creek or Blue Mounds. Little did I know that I'd spend 3 hours nearly motionless with my head craned to the sky.

I rolled into the entrance area and quickly spotted my State Park first Western Meadowlarks pushed to the grassland edges by a generous snow pack still hanging on in this portion of the state. A large mixed blackbird flock also chattered noisily as I tried in vane to pick out something exciting.

I stopped for some advice or direction in the park office and was told several roads were soft and closed still, but I could just park on the shoulder of the open ones and hike into any location of interest. I was most curious about Loon island and so I drove to the area that would have me hike down the boat launch road to the causeway for the island.

The causeway to Loon Island at Lake Shetek State Park. I never made it to the other side in 3 hours of intense sky watching.

I reached the bottom and quickly realized I had forgotten to put my sunglasses on before leaving the car. I didn't bother turning back given my plan to hike on a forest laden island.

I never made it to the island as I quickly had movement above me in a flock of Turkey Vulture riding the thermals. I soon found that the snow on the lake was reflecting up and bottom lighting birds in a way I had never seen.

For the next 3 straight hours I had hawks of nearly every type fly over me in slow circles while American White Pelican and Double-crested Cormorant added to the mix. I even added a small group of Purple Martin for a year State Park bird.

This impromptu hawk/raptor lesson was intense and highly educational. I was forced to put some pictures up on social media for identification help and guidance. Thankfully friend and Hawk Ridge counter Clinton Nienhaus was game along with good friend Peter Nichols. I was happy to get many of them on my own, but even I have limits. The under lighting was creating unique view of some birds that was a challenge to lock down. Coupled with not expecting Broad-winged Hawks with snow still on the ground I had an amazing day picking out bird after bird and working for pictures.

Amazingly I even tallied the rare MN migrant form of Red-Tailed Hawk, known as a Harlan's Hawk. In fact I actually had 2 of them during the day with my juvenile pictures showing insane clarity to the barred primary feathers that are often diagnostic for a juvenile Harlan's over the similar Western juvenile variety.

I could continue to rattle on, but I'll close this post with as many pictures as I can pull together showing some great angles on birds.

Harlan's Variety: Red-Tailed Hawk

Broad-winged Hawk

Cooper's Hawk: Notice the straighter wings and larger head projection, which help to separate this bird from Sharp-shinned Hawk.

Composite of 3 different Northern Harrier. Adult male up top and female/juveniles in the next 2 images. I'm not 100% sure if female/juvenile can be determined at this time of year.

Rough-legged Hawk showing a full crop from a recent meal.

Red-tailed Hawks, likely adults showing the signature tail from below even with the color washing light hitting them.

 It is of note I also was able to trek into a wooded stand nearby with 2 feet of snow drifted on the edge of a wet swamp and pick up pictures of my FOY Rusty Blackbird.

These moments are what my big year was meant to be. A total adventure with nearly random site selection and just an amazing and unexpected experience that had me never wanting it to end. What a day as I made the 3+ hour drive home that day.

Proximity Wins - Flandrau Up

Leaving Minneopa behind I consulted my Google Maps and figured with Flandrau just about 30 minutes away that would be a good second park for the day. I like to get the second one in before lunch when possible so that by the time I eat lunch I will have maybe one more park/hike left in me before needing to drive back to the metro area.

I birded along the way as possible for roadside birds or small flood ponds picking up some random county ticks along the way. I can't really say I'm a serious county level birder, but while I'm out I may as well start coloring my state map in a bit so I can eventually say I've birded in every county in the state.

As I drove into New Ulm I realized the park was very tight to the city itself and with the Minnesota River started to take on the vibe of Fort Snelling State Park with a good amount of forest lowlands that likely flood from time to time.

I picked up my entrance sign picture and rolled into a park nearly devoid of humanity yet again.

These adventures have been so much fun. I can see it on my own face how they lift my spirit.

I'm starting to think some of these State Parks don't get much action save for the best weather conditions. Of course a generous amount of snow and ice was still present on the trails so I'm sure that played a role.

After finding some trail space I quickly heard a number of Yellow-Rumped Warblers chipping as they worked some trees and bushes adjacent to the river itself.

A river view showing high water moving and limited waterfowl potential.

The view down stream from the one above. Any time you have water you have potential and I'll consider myself fortunate to get the Titmouse on this day.

Only a short way down the trail I heard the 3 note call of a Tufted Titmouse several times in the forest. This was exciting of course as a new State Park year bird, but also I would later find out was a bird first eBird reported just a couple weeks ago for the first time. It appears that some number of Tufted Titmouse have setup shop around the park area and neighborhoods in New Ulm. Not knowing this in advance was as treat to pick out the call and then realize it was not a unique find, but a collaborating one.

I continued a reasonable hike as I dodged forest pools and remaining snow pack in the woods. A Belted Kingfisher seemed to be hunting a very narrow stream running along the woods as well as it rattled off a call or two. I thought about hiking some of the additional elevations in the park for the hiking club trail, but the conditions were a bit rough with plenty of mud and snow/ice remaining. I thought better of it and ended my hike after about 2 miles or so of distance. I was happy to see at least 13 Fox Sparrow working he leaf litter along the way.

The park certainly has the vibe of being able to produce good migrant birds with the river flyway running through it as well as the bonus of having some urban landscape nearby that might funnel birds into the park for feeding and natural space.

Never really seem to be out in the middle of nowhere in the park, but it appears to have it's charms and some decent habitat.

A history sign giving a taste of the park naming, etc...

With the constructed swim pond area and a couple camping spaces I would assume this park gets pretty busy with humans come summer and may be a bit of a boisterous vibe. I'll certainly see about stopping in some time in the future, but may not happen this year as the river is limited waterway.

I'm going to limit my review on the park beyond the above simply because I didn't really heavily explore the space as I might have in other cases. It is a reasonable space, but I didn't get any wow factor that would have me raving about it beyond the Tufted Titmouse find.

State Park Roulette - Minneopa

On Saturday the 21st of April I got up before the sun and headed out to Afton north prairie hoping to catch American Woodcock before they head back into the woods for the day time. This plan didn't work out, but I was treated to a great soundscape at sunrise with Wild Turkey, Ringed-neck Pheasant, and Great Horned Owl talking all at the same time. After about 10 minutes I had the great fortune of hearing a Wilson's Snipe sound off from near the trail. A likely migrant that had set down in the prairie grass for the night prior to finding a better destination.

After a long and beautiful day guiding at Afton State Park for the Hastings Earth Day Bird Festival as well as presenting on the subject of birding gear I was certainly tired and ready for sleep. April had been so terrible though that I knew I wanted to put a big day in on Sunday and try to get to a couple State Parks.

So I set my alarm for 5AM and got on the road within minutes of my alarm, ready for what ever was to come my way. I was on the way to the gas station before I realized I had no idea what park I was heading towards. My general though was west and then perhaps south. After getting gas and some iced tea I landed upon Minneopa for no particular reason at all. I didn't build up with a ton of research laying down the best possible location for species X, while plotting out perfect timings, etc... I just picked a park and drove.

I'm actually pretty brutal when it comes to being spontaneous so this was a huge change for me. I want this big year to also be about surprise. Going into a situation and just happening upon the world doing it's thing. Yes, it would be awesome to have the entire year plotted out for max species count, but what really seems to inspire me now is the thrill of the unknown. The idea of showing up and finding a trail that looks fun after I arrive and see what is at the end of that trail.

At about 7:15AM I rolled into the entrance and snagged a quick sign selfie and quickly spotted a fly over flock of Tundra Swan on the move.

Only later did I realize my head was literally over the falls in the sign. 

Notable to me was the limited structures and non-paved roads in the park. I also found that a large chunk of the park was actually an enclosed buffalo paddock. The drive was closed, but I later found the hiking trail completely circles the enclosure and a few buffalo were spotted grazing in the prairie. Much of the entrance area and land space leading up to the trailhead parking area had gotten an invasive removal effort so it looked a bit clear cut in areas. These fringe areas looked as though they were thick with buckthorn, sumac, and cedar trees. The cleanup though had the area looking fresh and the dirt roads seems to be well kept and new trail signage was in place along with really new pit toilettes that had the lumber smell fresh from the yard.

I do find a lot of value in being the only one present at a park. The lot was wet, but didn't appear to be crazy soft or anything so it held well.

I soon found myself on the trail enjoying the constant chatter of Dark-eyed Junco and Fox Sparrow that were both in great supply. The trail skirted the noted Buffalo enclosure and also the treed ridge line above a set of railroad tracks and the Minnesota River. From the vantage point I was able to catch some view of the winding river, but few waterfowl moved about on the muddy river and swift current. I stirred up a small flock of Gadwall sitting in a flooded pool off the one marshy area near the parking lot as dozens of Red-winged Blackbirds tried to lock down some territory.

The open prairie still melting off the snow. This is the main feature of the park and dedicated to the Buffalo herd with the exception of a drive through the paddock.

One of maybe 5 or 6 Buffalo I saw from a ways off.

By and large the trail sat just on the wooded edge of the greater prairie space as I found Hermit Thrush kicking around the leaf litter, having survived the winter storms or perhaps just arriving after they were gone.

Hermit Thrush playing hard to get along with 4 others on this stretch of trail.

 I saw my first State Park rabbit of the year as an Eastern Cottontail scampered down the trail in front of me.

I found a small stream running along the prairie and flowing over trail. It took me a while to find a crossing as it eventually turned into a flooded forest zone with many thorn bushes protecting the wooded edges. When I found something narrow enough I was keenly aware I could make the jump, but the wet edges threatened to dunk my gear if I were to slip at all. I found a stout branch near my height and used it to pole vault over the gap so I could just push off and ride the gap.

Back to the trail I eventually looped back and decided against the 2 mile plus add-on for the entire loop. I could see an old wind mill over on that side, but also noted a county highway adjacent as well and felt the habitat wouldn't likely add much on this day. Perhaps a return trip would have the entire hike around and maybe even a drive through the Buffalo pen.

The historic mill that beckons for further exploration in the future. Maybe a combo of this park with Fort Ridgley would be a good day trip with my wife as we both enjoy history.

For what it offers Minneopa State Park is a decent hike and pretty much 1 long loop trail or a couple options to strike out and return on the same section. The habitat is limited, but I can see enjoying the space an potentially pulling in a rarity from time to time. As I left the lot I realized a sign was pointing me to the parks "Falls" area and that I hadn't even realized potentially the best feature was in a detached portion of the park.

I rolled into another dirt lot and found a well kept picnic and shelter area with a nice bridge over an initial drop in the falls putting it on top of the main falls. After crossing over you are shown a great view of the entire falls, which was moving very well with the higher water levels.

A view of the upper (pre) falls while standing on the pedestrian bridge.

The main falls as seen from the walkway showing the pedestrian bridge over the falls as well. It was a nice add for a park after a couple hour hike.

I could also see a path moving away from the falls that seemed to cross back over the canyon and back to the picnic area. I had an Eastern Phoebe singing a bit at the falls as I grabbed photos of my little sidebar adventure and made a note to return to the park with my wife for a fun day of waterfalls, Buffalo, and perhaps history by visiting the old mill I had seen.

The Great: Impressive Buffalo enclosure that provides an opportunity to see an animal we don't often get to see in nature settings. A trail that loops the entire area is nice and provide plenty of distance to cover. The falls when flowing strong were outstanding and certainly a draw.

The Meh: The largest feature could actually be the drawback for birding. A giant prairie you can only discover on the edges and by car might limit options for getting close to some bird species and leave you constantly pressed against a fence line squinting for species. Limited wet lands provide a very limited habitat mix so the park isn't likely to fill out a county species card super fast.

The Verdict: Considering a great waterfall and a unique draw of Buffalo, the park is a excellent visit location. From a birding standpoint I wouldn't see it being a must visit every year, but I did just get a 2 hour slice of time. Might be this prairie offers some insane birding post migration and it a must see all the time. Being honest, I likely only return this year if my wife is interested in the falls as a chance to get out of town for the day.

Local Updates

As we work out the 14"+ of snow on the ground I continue to get out almost daily for birding hikes and adventures. Afton is pulling the bulk of that load, but a quick stop at Point Douglas to chase 3 Red-Necked Grebe was fruitful as I saw this species for only the 2nd time in Washington County. This followed a report by another birder from the Prescott area just down river from the bridge.

I then hit Afton and decided that since the trails sucked I may as well go off trail and hike the creek corridor. This proved fruitful as I found several Hermit Thrush trying to scratch out an existence on the creek bed sandbars that were exposed. One came very near my location as it looked for bits of meat to pull from the waters edge. This was very new behavior for me on Hermit Thrush and perhaps indicates an extreme lack of available food in some areas for this only semi-hearty Thrush.

I soon also had a pair of Golden-Crowned Kinglet whirl by my location as they bounced between branches like children hopped up on sugar. The odds of my camera landing on them were near zero so I kept my focus on the Hermit Thrush instead.

The following day I returned for the same hike and found a total bummer in a Hermit Thrush in the snow passed away likely from starvation/hypothermia. A sober reminder that these kinds of large spring storms will stress early arrivals. Birds like American Robin can vary their diet heavily and Hermit Thrush will as well, but I have seen at least 3 other birders post dead or nearly dead Hermit Thrush photos to various social media pages. They live and die on the edge trying to get back to breeding grounds to establish territory before it is claimed. The earliest often run into very challenging circumstances.

A nice pick me up after the Hermit Thrush was my first of year Winter Wren chattering and sitting still giving me the business for several minutes. I was able to rattle off many pictures as the bird bobbed up and down to let me know it was fit and capable of defending it's downed tree and debris zone.

I love finding Winter Wren as they show up nice and early in the migration cycle and you often have to go find them in very specific habitat. Winding creek corridors with leafy debris and downed trees/limbs have been the best for me in spring.

Afton Lifetime Statistics Tracking

Considering my desire to use Afton State Park as my "bulk birding" location for this years state wide big year I wanted to get a stats tracking post up for the park. This is where I'll keep my visit statistics for Afton to give me an idea of my trip count, miles hiked, species seen, life birds, etc...

This will be posted on the side of the main blog webpage along with my overall statistics post that is also continually updated.

Lifetime Bird Species Count:

146 at end of 2017
181 as of 6/4/2018
183 as of 7/31/2018
186 as of 9/6/2018
189 as of 10/2/2018

Single Year Count: 180 species (10/2)

Total Trips in 2018: 50 (9/4)
Total Miles Hiked in 2018: 215

January: 20 species seen
February: 21 species seen
March: 42 species seen
April:109 species seen
May: 104 species seen (Can really tell I went on a 10 day trip away from Afton missing the prime migration window for Warblers and other species otherwise this should have been higher than April.)
June: 57
July: 47
August: 49
September: 86
October: 40

Best 2018 Personal Finds:
1. Golden Eagle
2. Ruffed Grouse
3. Solitary Sandpiper (Really tough with a flooded river and no other habitat.)
4. Sora (Also super tough, found in flooded forest.)
5. Lesser Yellowlegs (First ever in the park for me.)
6. Northern Saw-whet Owl
7. Acadian Flycatcher
8. Pine Warbler
9. Yellow-billed Cuckoo
10. Conecticut Warbler
11. Purple Finch

All Time Best Bird Species:
1. Bell's Vireo (2016)
2. Black-billed Cuckoo (2014)
3. Black-throated Blue Warbler (2014)
4. Common Raven (2018)
5. Golden Eagle (2018)
6. Henslow's Sparrow (2014)
7. Hooded Warbler (2015)
8. Horned Grebe (2016)
9. Long-eared Owl (2016)
10. Northern Saw-whet Owl
11. Ruffed Grouse (2017)
12. Short-eared Owl (2015)
13. Townsend's Solitaire (2016)
14. Western Kingbird (2017)
15. Yellow-breasted Chat (2017)
16. Yellow-billed Cuckoo (2018)

Mammals: 9 [White-tailed Deer, Coyote, Grey Squirrel, Red Squirrel, 13-Lined Ground Squirrel, Fox Squirrel, Muskrat, Eastern Chipmunk, Eastern Cottontail]
Reptile: 2 [Snapping Turtle, Northern Map Turtle]

*Total number of species seen by day. Meaning you can tick a Chickadee once per day every day of the year.

Pure Gold at Afton

With radar lighting up to the south overnight I wanted to get out right after work. Prior to yet another spring storm coming to town I needed to get out and bird watch as much as possible.

Afton was again my target with it being square in my view as a big year within my State Park big year. I figured even with large numbers being blocked to the south that southern Washington county would still be able to put a few new species on the list for the year. I was not disappointed on a nice 48 degree evening with light winds that eventually died down to almost nothing.

One thing I love about going to the same location repeatedly is you get to know the machinations of nature. You get a feel for how things flow and change over time and you begin to notice minor shifts in habitat utilization as migration ebbs and flows. This evening I quickly got a look at the relatively small patch of open water on the river from the top of the bluff. This puts you about 1500 feet away from the water and elevated well above it as well. This patch I've seen briefly inhabited by a flock of Hooded Merganser, but beyond that activity was limited as it is a stretch of water bordered by long runs of ice in the center of a high current river. I quickly found a number of Mallard were setup resting on the ice and paddling around the pool. While doing this a number of Bald Eagle were squabbling over what looked like a large carp that had been pulled onto the ice. (Imagine being a species that must rest and eat within a 100 feet of the thing that constantly tried to eat you for dinner.)

I started scanning the entire pool and soon landed upon a couple Blue-winged Teal, an odd duck so to speak for the middle of a river. Quickly I found some Common Goldeneye that had been joined by a raft of Lesser Scaup. I wanted to ensure I didn't miss anything so I started my hike down to the river edge so I could shrink the distance to the birds and pull in some Nikon shots of what ever else might be moving around. On my way a FOY (First of Year) Hermit Thrush pair popped up from the wooded edge and picked at some wrinkled berries.

One of 4 I saw on my hike, this Hermit Thrush was near the picnic overlook.

Further down I picked up a chip note of sparrow level interest and gave a small low volume phishing noise. A Fox Sparrow popped up into view and put on a show in perfect light for me for a couple minutes. I had wanted to snag one from Afton for a while now to make sure I got one on my year list for the parks.

This Fox Sparrow was so cooperative I had to put two pictures in the post. 

Finally at the bottom I slogged over the flood plain forest section towards the open pool. Fortune smiled as a walker with a dog kicked up a few ducks from the Trout Brook out flow and into the middle of the river. That contained a pair of Green-winged Teal, a bird I would typically rule out of Afton State Park on the account of being very limited desirable habitat even for a  migrant Teal. (Getting both on the same day together was a nice treat and added 2 Afton State Park life birds for me.)

Male Green-winged Teal on right and Malr Blue-winged Teal on the left. Both lifer Park birds for me. 

A FOY Belted Kingfisher also rattled off a few salvo's of calls during this time adding to the wonderful audio layers of a nice spring day. I moved about in some wooded spaces after this and found a couple more Hermit Thrush working open patches of forest. I like adding the hilly sections of Afton as they provide awesome accidental exercise while birding for extended periods. (4 hours on this day)

Making it back to the top of the river valley I figured I could setup for a sky watch at my favorite overlook spot just south of the visitor center by about a 1/4 mile. On my way 3 FOY Vesper Sparrow popped into a tree to give me an eye. This is a nice bird for the park as they don't seem to nest at Afton and they were again a life park bird for me.

Lighting was tough, but still got a nice picture of this tougher to get Park bird. Vesper Sparrow.

 Shortly after I also picked up a few Tree Swallow working up the river valley for yet another FOY bird on the day. In some cases I had to watch really closely to get some of these birds as they streamed up river at a moderate altitude. At the same time I could see even higher up Ring-billed and Herring Gulls working back down river. Apparently they did not like what they saw in the north or they were returning a roost site further down river.

As I neared my overlook location I locked on a Peregrine Falcon moving like a bullet down river along the ridge. It was crazy to see the speed with which this bird moved. Everything else appeared to either labor against a cross wind or attempt to soar on updrafts and thermals. Not this Peregrine though as it pulled wings in tight and moved with purpose.

During my sky watch an Eastern Meadowlark let out a volley of song behind me in the prairie. A few days back I had my first 3 in this area begin to make some noise. Prior to that I had a single bird near the entrance station giving contact calls only. You can get a vibe for these changes the more you get out in the same space and really track the arrival of a species, it's transition to song, and eventual claiming and winning of a coveted territory that causes others to move onto another location.

My day wasn't done yet though as I started to see some Turkey Vultures working a thermal together to the south. It started with 4 or 5 and as I looked back a minute or two later saw they were joined by many more and the tornado expanded to 35. This is always fun to watch the formation of such a flock looking to spend as little energy as possible.

Watching Turkey Vulture soar in a large kettle is mesmerizing.

Something interesting happened though as this flock overtook my position I noticed another couple behind them and a pair of American Crows came out of the Pine ridge to give chase and started making a racket. I was confused why on earth they would care about a Turkey Vulture. It dawned on me that wasn't the case and I next assumed they were giving chase to one of the many Bald Eagles in the area. That made little sense either as I've rarely seen a Crow work over an Eagle. In fact I had just watched them hang out with the Eagles at the river looking to get in on the Carp that had been landed. It finally dawned on me that I was seeing something else completely and I got my binoculars on a Golden Eagle (juvenile/2nd year). the white tail base and small patches of white at the feather bases on the winds sealed it very quickly. I was able to see a golden sheen on the head and neck, which showed a distinctly shorter projection that you would see on a Bald Eagle. Fortune smiled as I had my camera already on and the zoom fully extended and I just had to get it in frame as the bird started to come out of a soar and switched into a gliding dive looking for the next thermal. The bird flew directly over my head no more than 100' above me. What an amazing moment and one I finally was in the position to snag a picture. As you can see below I had terrible lighting so the post processing is rough, but shows this amazing bird as it quickly exited to the north a mere 30 seconds after the American Crows pointed it out.

First rule of identification shows is to just get the picture. 30 seconds is all I had and as you can see a lot can be done in post to get a good enough picture for identification and documentation. 

I'd go on to add a Sharp-shinned Hawk and many fly by Mallards along with a few more days birds before I topped out at 38 species in 4 hours of after work birding time. What a great evening of bird watching for the spring.

The great finds added 6 all time Afton State Park birds for me and moved my Afton year list up to 65 species while ticking the State Park list up to 93 species. I even added 13-lined Ground Squirrel to my mammal list on the evening.

Fabricating Fun

As we continue the spring cycle of freeze, snow, wind, repeat I have been evolving my goals a bit. State Park Big Year is still happening and I'm not giving that up for anything. However with a stall in that action for the time being it has allowed me to bring into greater focus other sub-goals in this year of focused effort.

This Sandhill Crane from a recent William O'Brien SP seemed to be less than excited about foraging in a frozen swamp in April. Spring is coming dude.

Already well into my participation in birding events, article writing, and radio efforts I started to consider what additional closer to home goals could sneak into this year without being a major hindrance on my larger goal.

The first of which is micro listing with Afton State Park being my target. Considering it is a State Park I figured it would play a key role this year for weekday efforts and close to home outings when family events demanded my time. What I didn't expect is that by the first week of April I would already have visited the park 15 times and scratched out 53 species in a terrible migration year. My owl species in the park are at 5 with hopes of finding at least 1 more this spring. (Eastern Screech) Last year Afton had a pretty sick list of birds that are super tough if not impossible in the rest of the county. (Ruffed Grouse, Western Kingbird, Yellow-breasted Chat, Summer Tanager, Hooded Warbler, Townsend's Solitaire, and Common Raven all immediately come to mind.)

My goal then tacked onto my year is to Big Year at Afton State Park. I'm not even sure what is possible in the park by myself, but it would be fun to see if I could get to 170, which is roughly the number of species identified in the park since January of 2017.

This goal also helps me mentally to plug into the effort fully and not think about the fact that I'm missing out on a trip to another State Park or something. Now it will be interesting to see how my weekends go once the weather gets nice. I'll need to get my out of town trips in, but perhaps this is where a few days of vacation come to play where I can get out of town for a 2 or 3 park swing and then have another day for pure Afton. Then have a day of vacation to recover/relax so it's a 3 day weekend and not beastmode every day while trying to work all week.

A bit blurry as I also had to push the color/brightness up on this backlit photo of a Red-Shouldered Hawk. In the top you can see a fresh snagged mouse/vole in the left talons. The bottom cut was a throw away shot that ended up showing the tail really well of this species.

I have had a couple Afton trips recently with poor weather that is suppressing migration a lot, but I was able to scratch out some good species anyway. During the week I was able to get decent pictures of a Red-Shouldered Hawk hunting in the open prairie and yesterday I found a Brown Creeper working near Trout Brook loop. This hike from the north end was a bit snow and mud laden but I really needed the trail time and some hills to flex my legs on a bit. Of interest on the hike at Trout Brook Loop was a single bat flying around. I'm pretty sure I've never seen a bat flying around with snow on the ground before. I'm not even sure if it can be identified to species with just an aerial view, but I've recorded it at least as a mammal species for my list.

My long Brown Creeper working the trees down in the Trout Brook Loop. I was hoping for maybe a drumming Ruffed Grouse, but I'll take this and bat on the trip.

I actually wanted the hiking to try for a Fox Sparrow at the park, but only Dark-eyed Junco and Song Sparrow were interested in showing up on this day. I realized this morning while writing this post that I'm 30 species behind my count from last year already. It is amazing how far behind the migrants will get when you have these challenging weather patterns that suppress movement.

Terrible Spring & Great Experiences

Over the weekend I was able to present along with my friend Peter Nichols on county birding and increasing your species counts. We each put in 20 hours of research and prep time to create the slides and content. It was very well received by the audience of just over 100 people.

I was very happy with how it went and humbled to be able to present to such a large audience and along with notable birders such as Bob Janssen, Kim Eckert, and John Richardson. Additionally found great education in listening to Karla Bloem and Steve Stucker during the day.

This build up to the presentation along with nasty spring snow storms coupled with an Easter Weekend heavily restricted my bird activities for State Park visits. I'm hoping to get out this coming weekend, but even that is in question with barely tolerable weather on the back side of the current snow storm that is dropping inches on us as I write this post.

My patience is nearly at an end, but I can at least say on presentation day last Saturday I was able to squeeze in some birding at Carpenter Nature Center and nearby spots to pick up several FOY birds like Fox Sparrow, Brown-headed Cowbird, Wilson's Snipe, Common Loon, Horned Grebe, and Pied-billed Grebe.

The wind was insanity out of the north stealing the warmth from your very soul, but still several of us birded anyway. It wasn't a State Park to contribute to that year long effort, but we still snagged some species tried to eek out an existence.

I'll be looking forward to this weekend but with snow blanketing many areas I'm not sure what I'll be able to get done. I may have to target the next weekend and hope the weather shifts enough to get some melt going. I need open ground and hiking time to build up my long hike endurance. Getting into May with the plans I have for 20+ parks in a week or so is not going to go well without some endurance built up.