I had a few pins in mind that I wanted to return to both Banning State Park and Moose Lake State Park so this was my best shot I figured. I got rolling a bit slow in the morning and arrived at Banning State Park about 8AM or just before that. My interest was hiking the Skunk Cabbage trail that would put me adjacent to the river area, but also not have me listening to the rushing water the whole and unable to hear birds in the area.
This trail was a bit moist, but generally was an outstanding morning hike that offered some very peaceful surroundings as I had 2 hours of trail time to myself. This being May 14th and a Monday I was getting the park at it's attendance low point I'm sure. (Other than my middle of winter visit I had on New Years Day of course.)
A relatively calm portion of the Kettle River at Banning State Park
Spotted Sandpiper working the Kettle River edges and a small stream I was crossing. The bird largely ignored me and walked right under the small bridge I was standing on at the time.
The river bottoms area provided me a quiet stroll where I encountered a very surprised Raccoon that I just missed getting a great picture of as it froze while looking at me from between 2 tree trunks before it scampered into a den at the rivers edge. I found 37 species on this hike that was dominated by Least Flycatchers (16) and Ovenbirds (22) while also offering me a nice selection of migrant or resident warblers such as Golden-winged, Orange-crowned, Nashville, and Yellow-rumped. A good selection of Thrush were present also with Veery, and Swainson's filling out in good numbers also.
What struck me most on my walk was that migration was in what felt like later stages given that Flycatchers were in strong numbers at this point and Warblers were in good supply with resident birds like Ovenbird being well established. This had me confident in finding waves of them to the north yet, but I would soon find an education about what migration looks like in the north vs what we see in the south at the metro level.
By 10 AM I came upon Moose Lake and wanted to check out the wetland that I had seen during my New Years Day effort which had me find a Black-backed Woodpecker. This wetland was as expected with Sora present along with Pied-billed Grebe, Canada Goose, and wetland edge bird like Swamp Sparrow and even a Sedge Wren.
I rounded off this first hike as I also wanted to check the main lake area out and hit a trail I had noted during the winter. I again found some decent warbler action with Golden-winged, Orange-crowned, Magnolia, and even a Canada Warbler. Of additional note on these 2 further north parks I found White-throated Sparrow which had all but exited the metro by this time. With little experience of how far north they retreat it is always interesting to get to know the spaces they inhabit after moving further north for breeding.
A pair of Trumpeter Swan moved about feeding on the lake also as I assume they are nesting in the area as well. My only tough miss of the day was seeing a flock of peeps moved over the water (likely scared up by me approaching) and eventually disappear and never return. Would have been nice to add a shorebird or two for the State Park list considering the lake of opportunities I've had this year inside the parks. I'm sure the flock had Least Sandpiper present, but without some ground time I really couldn't lock them into a species for sure or tell them from even Semi-palmated Sandpiper.
I wrapped up 3 miles and about 2 hours of work at the park and looked to keep moving north and get some lunch in me. The 2 park combo had me add just Canada Warbler to my State Park year list, but both were well worth the follow-up visit and effort.
I had 2 coolers stocked with food supplies and drink, but I hit a restaurant to save my provisions for when I was a bit more off the grid. I had my eyes on some stops in Duluth just to stay casual, but still get some bird watching in on the day. Provided I didn't add many more true hikes on the day I would be well positioned to hit Gooseberry and Split Rock in the morning.
After lunch I started at Canal Park and worked the break water areas seeing Horned Grebe, Common Tern, and the expected Gulls. (Herring and Ring-billed) I moved along Park Point and made regular stops eventually getting to the rowing club location and found 15 White-winged Scoter present in breeding plumage. Later this number would grow as Clinton Neinhaus would spot 19 birds present along with some Lesser Scaup, Redhead, and Ring-necked Ducks. I also pulled out a Surf Scoter in the bunch before I moved along. This was so fun though to finally see breeding plumage Scoter as I'm so used to fall plumage birds that are in their most drab plumage possible.
Horned Grebe that had been hunting close to the break water wall at Canal Park.
A young Bonaparte's Gull that was with a mixed flock feeding just off the end of the Canal Park break water walk.
This was a bit of a mixed group of birds diving on some bait fish or something. I had Bonaparte's Gull and Common Tern in this picture for sure. Pretty sure I saw a Forster's Tern in the group also at one point.
Just one of the many adult White-winged Scoters seen along Park Point on the bay side on this day.
By the time I got to the Dune Bridge area I realized my Facebook post on the White-winged Scoters had gained some comments about me needing to get on the Whimbrel that were present at the sanitation department off of 4th street in the city. I pressed for some extra details and got them from Alex Sundvall and Liz Harper. Eventually John Richardson who spotted them from their count station up on the hill added a map pin for me to follow. When I pulled up and set my scope the birds were hard to miss as I found 13 Whimbrel standing tall on the sandbar along with hundreds of Terns and Gulls. This moved my lifetime MN list up to 304 as I picked up a super lucky life bird on my off day. Minutes later Clinton and Kristina pulled up as well for a look at the Whimbrel. I decided to hang out in case something else was found. Kristina spotted a Green Heron flying by, which turns out to be a really nice county bird that can be a challenge this far north.
The Whimbrel in flight from a bit of distance away. I was never really able to get my camera to focus well on them, but it was great to see this life bird as a bonus on the day.
After some time I started north catching some stops along the way and finding several Horned and Red-necked Grebe along the way on what would end up being the calmest water day I would see the remainder of the week. It was like glass all afternoon as I was afforded great chances to spot birds at places like Brighton Beach, Lakewood Pumping Station, Mcquade Harbor, and finally Two Harbors Lighthouse area. Pretty much every location I stopped at had Red-necked Grebe and finally in Two Harbors I found rafts of Long-tailed Duck also present along with very active Bonaparte's Gulls.
The water at Two Harbors was like glass and a bit of a marine layer started showing up later in the evening. It was a great day by the lake and I only spent a few hours around it on this day.
I even remembered at this point just north of town that Flood Bay State Wayside would count for my big year and picked up official State Park Long-tailed Ducks (8) and a Red-necked Grebe while also meeting Jim Lind out checking the site before a night survey of American Woodcock. I remembered him as my wife and I had stopped at his parents property a couple years prior to see about getting a look at a massive flock of Bohemian Waxwing that had been feeding their for a couple weeks. We saw all 200 of them that day for about 3 seconds as they left the property for the night. It was great to meet Jim for the first time and talk about the area as he noted a lot of great finds at Flood Bay and also some things to check for in future visits with the adjacent wetland that often hides fun birds like Northern Mockingbird.
My day was about done at this point as I retreated to my hotel in Two Harbors looking to rest up and get started nice and early in the morning. My setup day was outstanding, punctuated by Canada Warbler, many Long-tailed Ducks, Red-necked Grebe, and of course lifer Whimbrels as well. Duluth just has that kind of vibe to it that something crazy is going to happen every time you visit for birding in the spring.
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