Jerry & Shawnne's Birding Blog

Great Day Birding at Grey Eagle Wildlife Management Area

Shawnne — Sat, 19 May 2012 02:26:26 +0000

Jerry and I have been searching for new and lesser known areas to go birding. Today we visited the Grey Eagle Wildlife Management Area. It’s about 30 miles from where we live and it wasn’t too hard to find. We walked in a field with scattered trees and suddenly heard Field Sparrows calling. There is nothing like the sound of Field Sparrows! Their haunting call sent chills up and down our spines. There were several of them calling back and forth. We also heard Yellow and Common Yellowthroat Warblers, along with spotting a Great Blue Heron fleeing from us. We heard a Golden-winged Warbler, Clay-colored Sparrow and Great-Crested Flycatcher, along with some other more common birds. This habitat was a mix of fields and woods; there was a small lake at one end of the area as well. The weather was very warm and windy for a Spring day; it was beautiful there. We plan on returning to this area soon and exploring it further.

Welcome Zonotrichia!

Jerry — Thu, 10 May 2012 23:15:25 +0000

Harris's Sparrow 5/8/12

Why the odd title? Zonotrichia is the genus of 3 of our favorite migration sparrow: White-throated, White-crowned and Harris’s. Unlike most sparrow that are hard for the novice to identify these are very easy. When we lived in Randall, the only Zonotrichia we saw regularly was the White-throated. Since we moved to the Long Prairie area in 2010, all three have been regular visitors in both Spring and Fall. On a whim last May I told Shawnne that we should expect the Harris’s Sparrow the week of May 8-14, 2011 (based on only one previous sighthing in Randall in 2007 and based on the fact the we had them in the previous Octover). I told Shawnne that perhaps we should get a banner saying “Welcome Harris’s Sparrow” (similar to the Welcome Fisherman banners that bars have in Minnesota). In any event the Sparrows came back that year. This year we had a bunch of early migrators in March but since the start of April most of the birds seem to be back on their normal schedule. The White-crowned came on 4/16/12, the White-throated on 5/1/12 and the Harris’s on 5/8/12. So far yesterday was the only day we have seen all of them at one time (haven’t been able to get all of them in one photo, though).

White-throated Sparrow 5/9/12

White-crowned Sparrow 5/9/12

Fast start to May birding

Jerry — Sun, 06 May 2012 00:13:34 +0000

Yellow-headed Blackbird 5/1/12

May has started out with a bang. The Warblers are coming in quickly and other expected Spring migrants have shown up each day. The best bird of the week has been the Yellow-headed blackbird. Luckily we got a fairly good shot of the bird. We’ve seen this once before but only in passing and only well enough to identify it, but this time we saw it well.

So far we have seen 66 different bird species this may. Last year in the same time we saw only 35. Most of the birds are expected but the Yellow-headed Blackbird was not. Nor was the Magnolia Warbler. It isn’t a rare bird but we haven’t seen it here before and where we have seen it, we usually see it later in May.

All the pictures below were taken this May.

Northern Flickers 5/2/12	Baltimore Oriole	Yellow Warbler 5/4/12	American Redstart
Green Heron 5/2/12	Magnolia Warbler 5/4/12	Rose-breasted Grosbeak	Hooded Merganser pair

Waiting for Warblers and Sparrows

Jerry — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 22:04:59 +0000

Tennessee Warbler 4/26/12

April was a disappointment. We had a rush of birds coming in during the middle of March until the end. That coincided with unexectedly warm weather. 35 birds made their first appearance for 2012 in March. We expected more for April. We were hoping to get a larger group of Wood Warblers earlier than we did. We had only 3 early Warblers: the Yellow-rumped, the Yellow and the Tennessee. April 2011 had been a very good birding month, April 2012 only brought 14 new birds.

Lark Sparrow 4/25/12

That does not mean we weren’t busy. We saw about 29 birds per day. We did have one new bird (new for us anyway). We saw a Lark Sparrow in Lake Maria State Park on 4/25/12.

Last fall we setup a second post for a Bluebird house and it appears that we have a breeding pair this year. Now that May is at hand we are expecting a very busy month.

Eastern Bluebird

Brown Thrasher

Osprey

White-throated Sparrow

Crane Meadows in April 2012

Jerry — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 01:21:34 +0000

Greater Yellowlegs

With the early start of the Spring migration we decided to visit one of the local birding hotspots, Crane Meadows National Wildlife Refuge on Saturday. It is easily located off Highway 10 just south of Little Falls, MN. It is one of our favorite places because it is close to home so it doesn’t require too much advance preparation. This was our third visit this Spring and the most successful one yet. We spent about 90 minutes there. The weather was warm and both of us were sweating after only a few minutes (and not from exertion). We saw 23 different species but nothing out of the ordinary. Depending on your point of view the best bird of the day was either the Greater Yellowlegs (a bird I haven’t seen in MN before) or the Blue-winged Teal. We met another couple birding and they saw a few more ducks than we did.

Northern Harrier	Yellow-rumped Warbler	Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Song Sparrow	Eastern Phoebe	Eastern Bluebird

It is still early in the season, the bugs are still not overpowering. We are looking forward to the latter parts of April and Early May when the Warblers will be abundant.

The Ospreys are back

Jerry — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 01:50:43 +0000

Osprey taken 4/10/12

We live on a lake, so it is no surpise that we have had a pair of Ospreys nesting very near to our house. Still we were worried this year. The Osprey pair was using a nest that was at least a few years old. Last fall the local power company had to remove that nest in order to do some repairs. Given the very early start of Spring, I had expected to see the Ospreys return in March, but none of them showed up. We saw our first Osprey last Saturday afternoon 4/7/12, but there was no move to start a nest. The pair flew over the lake and left. Yesterday, though it appeared that the Ospreys had chosen the same location (the flag was erected by the repair crew). As you can see they Ospreys are making a start even if it appears to be a slow start. The photo is mediocre (the bird doesn’t like to be approached) but it does show bird.

A busy March continues

Jerry — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 23:51:17 +0000

Bufflehead pair 3/21/12

The very warm weather we had in mid March has ended. Even though feels a lot cooler, it is hardly cold. So we have been taking short birding trips whenever we can. We went to Crow Wing State Park on Saturday 3/24/12. In a typical year the park would still be snow covered. Last Saturday I was warm while wearing a very light jacket.

Great Blue Heron Flying By

We have taken trips to view the local lakes to see if we are getting any ducks. We saw Buffleheads off County Rd 1 a week and a half ago (and we have posted a photo of that event above). We saw our first Eastern Phoebe on March 21st which is about 2 weeks early. On our lake we are seeing a few different ducks each day. We have seen Wood ducks flying over the lake. We had a Greater Scaup on Sunday. None of these were close enough for photos. Today a Hooded Merganser pair swam by our side of the lake and we did manage a few shots. We are getting other we habitat birds. We have been hearing Sandhill Cranes almost every day and we have seen them a few times too. We saw our first Great Blue Heron of the season last Saturday.

Hooded Merganser 3/29/12

Yellow-rumped Warbler 3/29/12

An Early and Warm Start to Spring

Jerry — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 01:16:44 +0000

It is suddenly and so completely spring. The mean temperature for the first 9 says of March was 24.2 and the mean temperature for the next 7 has been 47.0. The Spring birds are on the move. In the last week we have seen the first appearance of a bunch of favorites:

Eastern Bluebird	3/14/12	Eastern Bluebird 3/14/12
Fox Sparrow	3/14/12
Killdeer	3/14/12
Northern Harrier	3/14/12
Sandhill Crane	3/14/12
Song Sparrow	3/14/12
Purple Finch	3/13/12
House Finch	3/13/12
Barred Owl	3/13/12
American Robin	3/12/12
Common Grackle	3/11/12
Red-shouldered Hawk	3/9/12

We put opened up one Bluebird house earlier this week and erected another house in the back of the property we rent. Once the ice melts on the lake we can expect a good bunch of ducks, geese and swans. We have already heard a few swans but haven’t been close enough to identify them.

Below is a photo of an immature Bald Eagle taken at Crane Meadows in Little Falls. We have been seeing Eagles all winter but here is the first photo I have been able to get in years.

Bald Eagle taken 3/14/12

Eagles and an Early Spring

Jerry — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 03:29:44 +0000

Female Cardinal late in the afternoon

Here is a photo of the female Northern Cardinal. It is a common bird, but for some reason it only appears at our feeder station close to dusk. In the last few weeks the male has come around 5:45. The female seems less devoted to a schedule. This one was taken at 4:40 in the afternoon yesterday. This photo was taken through 3 layers of glass, so much of the resolution of a decent camera is ruined by the extra layers of glass.

In the years we lived in Randall, we would see our last Bald Eagle in December and then usually not see them until March. For the last 2 Winters we have been in the rental house near Long Prairie, and we have seen them all through the fall and winter. We have seen them 3 times in the last 2 weeks (twice while walking Sierra after work). Unfortunately I have not had my camera when the Eagles have made their appearance. I assume the warmer temperatures are driving the Eagle’s behavior. When I lived in NJ, the Eagles would be visible in the Winter once the Northern water’s had frozen. In Minnesota, I don’t know whether that is true. Certainly there isn’t much open water even if our weather is far warmer than normal.

Are we going to have an early Spring? The temperatures are warm, as much as 8 degrees about normal, this year. Some of the Chickadees are singing. The Red-bellied Woodpeckers have been very active of late (not that I know what their activity means).

Below is a photo of a female Pileated Woodpecker. Taken through 3 layers of window glass.

female Pileated Woodpecker

February birding gets off to a good start

Jerry — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:16:11 +0000

Northern Shrike 2/1/12

February has gotten off to a strange start but also a good one as far a our birding goes. On Wednesday we both saw an immature Bald Eagle a few miles south of Brainerd, MN. We’ve been seeing Bald Eagles all Winter. I don’t know if that is unusual for others in MN but it has been unusual for us. In the years we were in Randall, neither Shawnne nor I ever saw an Eagle in January, nor did we see them in the last week of December. Unfortunately we haven’t been able to get a photograph of one but these birds are so easy to identify that I don’t think anyone would dispute the sighting.

In the last few days we have seen a Northern Shrike twice. Not a rare bird, of course, but not always one that you see. This one we caught in the act and I have posted one picture (taken through three sheets of glass unfortunately).

Our last bird of note is the Ring-Necked Pheasant. We’ve been hearing them all winter (they sound like an old car horn) and we have seen them a few times in the distance. Yesterday we caught them in our neighbor’s yard. I wonder if they think it is spring?

Ring-Necked Pheasant 2/3/12