Canoeing on the Little Sioux

This weekend my dad and I canoed 26 miles down the Little Sioux River in western Iowa along the Inkpaduta Canoe Trail. Starting out on our rental canoes near Quimby at the Silver Sioux County Park we would eventually make it to the Little Sioux County Park in Correctionville. Along the way we saw lots of wildlife, including the Osprey on the left, and worked our way around snag after snag while trying to avoid the hidden sandbars (this was due to the low water levels). The weather was perfect when we started and stayed that way throughout the trip. It didn't take long to find birds there. The Osprey (above) flew right over the river just a couple minutes out. Green Herons, Great Blue Herons, numerous sandpipers (we got really close to some), and lots of Eastern Phoebes and Belted Kingfishers accompanied us along our first day of travel. Great Horned Owls were also common sights as they flew from the trees along the river. A young Bald Eagle flew across the river as well adding to the already numerous bird sightings.

Just as it didn't take long to find birds, it didn't take long for a mishap to happen. About five minutes into the trip we tipped the canoe. A tree was crossing almost the whole river and a four foot gap in between the tree and the cut bank was the only way to go. Unfortunately we got going too fast and hit the bank. My dad began to fall in and he started to take the canoe with him. He went in and quite a bit of water got into our canoe but I managed to stay on. Luckily the water was only up to his waist. After bailing it out he got back in and we amazingly we made it through the rest of the trip with no serious problems. The snags (above) were in many spots along the river and they took a lot out of you (both physically and mentally) when you tried to navigate around them. In some spots you couldn't find a safe way to navigate around them meaning you would have to take the canoe out of the water and walk it along a sandbar to a place in the river without any.

After six hours and 13 miles we arrived at a place called Ranney Knob. We set up camp for the night there and did a little exploring and made a nice campfire. A cliff rose above the river giving us great views of the river below. It was made of sand and gravel and was very eroded so we didn't get to close to the edge for fear that it might give way. You can tell how eroded it was by looking at the picture below. The posts are dangling in mid-air and are connected by wire to posts that were still anchored into the ground near the cliff.

An Eastern Red Cedar (below), the only native conifer to the area, clings on to some soil near the top of the eroding cliff above the river.

The most interesting thing I saw there was a Northern River Otter which was floating in the river below me when I was on top of a small cliff. I had never seen one before and was very excited to see this very neat animal. Eastern Chipmunks were fairly common there and we even got to see a Woodchuck. When the sun went down we even heard a Northern Raccoon. The owls there were also of note, with Barred and Great Horned being very numerous. They called starting just before sunset and on through the night.

The next day we were not so thrilled to get up and go canoeing again because of the troubles we had encountered the day before. We got in the canoe and made it to Little Sioux Park a little before one in the afternoon. The paddle on the second day was fairly easy especially compared to the day before making it a very enjoyable time. The river was also wider and deeper making it easier to navigate than the skinnier and shallower upper portions. The trip came to an end and we were glad we went and ended up having a great weekend The river is a place of beauty and wilderness not far from civilization that is well worth exploring. Wildlife abounded there and was found at every bend making for a truly awesome trip.

Up and Down the Big Sioux

Today I went out with Paul, a birder friend on a day long trip up the Big Sioux River Valley on Iowa's northwestern border. We had a great time and found some nice birds and some good places to go birding.

The day started out at eight in the morning. The weather was dreary and some light rain started falling. Even though the weather was bad at first the sun did come out and so did the birds. One of the first stops we made was the Broken Kettle Grasslands. This area has the largest prairie remnants in Iowa making for some interesting birding. We headed up a windy road that went up to the tops of the hills. On the hillside some dams were constructed to make small farm ponds. We found a Great Egret in no time as well as an assortment of the usual birds. We had a singing Swamp Sparrow in the cattails near the ponds which was a year bird for me. The songs of Field Sparrows could also be heard there on the scenic prairie. In some trees near the road we were surprised to find a Brown Creeper making it's way up a tree. Another year bird came in the form of an Eastern Towhee. There were a few of these in the brush on the hillside singing away. One bird we hoped to see was a Black-billed Magpie but there were none there. These are my largest nemesis state bird. I can never seem to find them there even though other people can. Below is a picture of the Black-billed Magpie habitat that is so prevalent there.

On the way to a good magpie site we found a couple shorebirds on a pond including a Wilson's Snipe which was a year bird for both of us.On the way over to the magpie site we heard a Chipping Sparrow (yb). While looking for magpies we heard an Eastern Meadowlark, another year bird.

After we were done at the grasslands we headed to the Higman's Quarry in Westfield, IA and found some intersting birds there. On the way in we found a Loggerhead Shrikethat was hunting from the power lines near the road. He was a challenge to photograph as he kept flushing when we tried to get close enough for a nice picture.The best shot I could manage is below. A Savannah Sparrow was also seen on the way in.When we got into the quarry we didn't see much at first but did eventually find some ducks and four Eared Grebes (year bird) on the ponds there. We moved onward and found some more Eared Grebes which brought our total to 13 of them which is a good number for our area. More ducks were there but not much else so we moved on. We birded a little in some towns in the area but didn't see much. One pond we came across was productive however and had some shovelers and other waterfowl in it.We came across a good birding spot along the river. It was another sand and gravel quarry but the ponds there were bigger and deeper than those at the other one. We saw lots of bird when we got in there including Pied-billed Grebe (yb), Double-crested Cormorant (yb), Bald Eagle, and the more common birds. It appeared to have a lot of potential and we will be back there soon. We went back in a wooded area and flushed a Great Horned Owl there. Unbelievably we found more Eared Grebes putting us at 18 individuals for the day! An American White Pelican posed nicely for a picture at the quarry on the way out.
We headed further north but saw few birds but we kept going. We saw some year bird including Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Vesper Sparrow but there was not much else besides the common birds. Of the few bird species we found far up north this pair of Wood Ducks were one of them.
The count for the day was 71 species with a number of year birds and a lot of fun!

Scouting for Birds

This past weekend I was out camping at a boyscout ranch in Nebraska and saw a few interesting birds. The most exciting of them all was a vocalizing Eastern Phoebe that was there this morning as we were leaving on Sunday morning. Red-headed Woodpeckers were fairly easy to find in some areas. They apparently winter here since I saw them in the same area in January. This is the only place I have found these woodpeckers since last fall. Another bird of interest was a Barred Owl. Actually there were two of them calling in the woods near the creek two nights in a row. I found some fungi out there as well and am waiting for a biologist to id them for me, so I will write more on that later.

Owl in the Yard

The Eastern Screech-Owl is a relatively small owl of eastern woodlands. They are fairly common where I live and I see them from time to time. Last night while outside I heard a screech-owl calling from a small woodlot behind my house. I could not locate the bird at all and it didn't help that he quit calling every time I would head his way.

Today while going out to get the mail I saw a couple nuthatches and a robin near a tree. They sounded distressed. I figured it must be the owl that I head the night before. The tree has a spot where an owl could nest or roost so I went up and checked it out.
I got up next to the tree and out pops an owl. I went inside to get the camera but when I came back out it was gone. He must have went back inside the hole. By this time the goldfinches showed up and the birds were everywhere in the trees above looking to see what was the matter. Eventually I gave up trying to find him since I had a test to get back to. I can't wait to find out if they are nesting. This was a nice surprise to raise my spirit during a long week of test-taking.

Other things of note in my yard today was a singing Harris's Sparrow and the first butterfly of the year.

Sax-Zim Bog Birding Festival: Day 2

On Saturday morning my dad and I woke up bright and early and headed out to a Perkins where we met trip leaders Lars Benson and Judd Brink and the rest of the group to bird the Duluth area. We took off first in search of Snowy Owls at the international airport, but were unsuccessful in finding any. No Snowy Owls were seen during the day despite our continued efforts to spot one at various locations. A light snow began to pick up as we drove around looking for birds but it didn't stop us.

A bird feeder a few miles outside of town had redpolls and other various birds visiting so we headed there to try our luck on finding any interesting species. The first lifer of the day turned out to be a Hoary Redpoll. My life list was nearing 300, with only three to go. A couple female Pine Grosbeaks also popped in making my life list grow yet again, with 298 species. It has been a while since I've had so many life birds within such a short period of time. The Hoary Redpoll escaped getting photographed but I did get some photos of the Common Redpolls. They were all over the place there and were easy to photograph.This photo shows only a small portion of the hundreds of repolls that were there!
After we had our fill of looks at the redpolls we decided to move on. A Pileated Woodpecker gave us fleeting looks as it flew into the forest as we made our way back to the car. Lester Park was next on the itinerary. On the way over a Ruffed Grouse that was seen briefly in a woody draw along the road was my 299th life bird. That meant that I was only one away from 300! I kept wondering what my 300th bird would be. Would it be an Iceland Gull, Northern Hawk Owl, or even an unexpected bird? To find out what species it was keep reading.

A couple White-winged Crossbills were at Lester Park. The photo below clearly shows the white wings on a female bird. They weren't easy to photograph or even see for that matter as they foraged about in the treetops.A check for gulls down by the lake added an adult Glaucous Gull to the day list. We searched again for Snowy Owls but all that we found was a Coyote. A check of a local landfill revealed some interesting gulls such as Glaucous and Great Black-backed. An Iceland Gull was also seen flying above our heads. I frantically searched for it in the large group of gulls floating around the place. This would be a nice bird for three-hundred. But God had plans of His own. Before I had an opportunity to find the gull a call came in that a Boreal Owl was seen along a road about twenty minutes from the landfill. I decided that I better save the Iceland Gull for another day so I could have Boreal Owl as my 300th. The Boreal Owl is one of the top 10 most sought after birds in all of the ABA area. We wasted no time going over there to see the bird. I tried to avoid looking for any birds on the way over in case one of them would happen to be a new bird. I wanted Boreal Owl as my three-hundreth bird in the worst way. We pulled up to the location and searched along the roadside for it as we drove by. The birder who found it was there and said that we drove right past it! I looked right where it was and couldn't see it. No wonder they are so hard to find. I finally did see the bird and officially added him as my 300th bird on my life list. Boreal Owl-my 300th lifer, what a neat bird!

I called my birding friends that were back home in Iowa and told them about seeing my 300th lifer. After much congratulations and picture taking we headed off to find a few more birds before the day was over. We found a few more Pine Grosbeaks while we were looking for a solitaire. There was no solitaire to be found but the grosbeaks posed for a picture.

The successful birding trip for the day came to an end but we were not entirely done birding. A Great Gray Owl search was done at the Sax-Zim Bog to try to find this species which was rather scarce this year. Not one was found during that search, in fact none were seen during the weekend. Lifer 301 showed up however in the form of an owl. A Northern Hawk Owl was perched atop a tree in the fading daylight allowing close approach.

To wrap up a great day of birding we went to the Meadowlands Community Center to listen to Al Batt, a great comedian that made us all laugh. We went back to the hotel exhausted and ready for bed.

Tomorrow I will highlight all of the birds I saw while birding in the Sax-Zim Bog.

More on the Snowy Owls

As I previously posted on January 27th I saw two Snowy Owls on one day in my home county. Of the two birds the only one that is still present is the juvenile bird that was found at the Owego Wetlands about fifteen miles from my home. People have come from near and far to see and photograph the bird. To see photographs go to http://www.iowabirds.org/photo-gallery/
and then click on owls-landbirds and you should see a numer of photos of the owl. Almost all of the Snowy Owl photo are dated and the ones of the owl mentioned is marked from late January-early February.

Snowy Owl Day

Today my mom and I went out to look for a Snowy Owl that was being reported near the Owego Wetlands which is not far from where I live. I decided to check a wildlife area on the way down for birds since it was on the way and worth checking. When we got there my mom spotted a large white bird fly up to the top of a grain bin. I looked where she was talking about with my binoculars and saw an adult Snowy Owl perched on the bin. The Snowy Owl that we were going to look for was a juvenile so they were different birds, a great surprise! I called up a couple area birders and they rushed down to see it. On the way there I saw a Northern Shrike as well as a couple mammals such as Mink (weasel) and Red Fox.
After I spent some time photographing and watching the first owl it was time to find the second. We pulled up to the spot where the second owl was seen and found it fairly quickly perched on a post. I got a picture before it flew out into the middle of a field. Seeing two Snowy Owls in one day around here is not easy to do. Finding one can even prove to be a challenge. Most years only one (or even no) Snowy Owls are seen. So far this winter we've had three in the area.After I was done watching the Snowy Owl we (more like I, my mom isn't really a birder) decided to look for a flock of forty Common Redpolls at the wetland area nearby. I had already seen the flock a few days earlier but I wanted to see it again to see if there were any Hoary Redpolls in with them. We found the flock but they flew off after a minute of watching them. Redpolls have to be one of the hardest kinds of birds to observe if they are not sitting still on a feeder. They move around from place to place (they usually stayed in one location for a few minutes and then they moved to another one usually far away) and even when they are feeding the are constantly moving.
The regular birds to the wetland are are also interesting. It doesn't take Snowy Owls or Common Redpolls to make it an interesting day. There are many birds there most of the time such as Short-eared Owl (pictured), Rough-legged Hawk, Merlin, etc. It is a great place to visit almost anytime.

Going to the Bog!

On February 13-15 I will be at the Sax-Zim Bog Birding Festival in northern Minnesota in search of the special birds that are there during this time of year. I currently have 295 life birds and I should be able to get to 300 before it is all said and done. A list of proabable life birds that I most likely get while I'm there is below. I should see all of these birds there so if I do I will be over the three-hundred mark.

• Ruffed Grouse
• Northern Hawk-Owl
• Great Gray Owl
• American Three-toed Woodpecker
• Black-backed Woodpecker
• Boreal Chickadee
• Hoary Redpoll
• Pine Grosbeak

I can't wait to see some owls! Details on how the trip went will be posted soon after the festival.

Owego Wetlands Owls

Here are a couple Short-eared Owl pictures that I took at the Owego Wetlands last night. There were at least nine there. A Great Horned Owl (not pictured) was also seen. One day I will get a nice picture of a short-eared owl but until then here are some bad photos of them for you to try to enjoy!

Ida County Christmas Bird Count

Today was the Ida County CBC and despite the cold weather and windy conditions we still managed to pick up a few nice species. As the day went on the weather got better and the birding got better as well.

After driving there with a birder named Jerry, we all congregated at the county conservation board office at a place called Moorhead Park. From there we were all assigned our sections of the designated circle in which to bird. We were teamed up with Bob, a birder who has been on the count a good number of times. He helped us to navigate around the area and showed us some nice birding locations. When the planning was done we were headed out to start counting.

The first stop was at a nearby town to look for Eurasian-collared Doves. We checked a grain elevator in town and found a few different birds but no doves. After looking there we went through town birding all the side streets. Jerry spotted one Eurasian-collared Dove on the road. Before long we counted 39 as they flew out of the roosting site that they were at.

Once we were done birding in town we headed up to bird a lady's property which has been visited on previous cbc's. The area was fairy productive with a Barred Owl being the most interesting bird. We also came across Harris's Sparrow and Downy Woodpecker which are pictured below.

After a successful time of birding it was time to go to lunch. When we were done eating it was time to get back out in the field for the afternoon. On the way to an owl roosting location we saw a Merlin which was spotted by Jerry. We parked right below him and amazingly he didn't fly. I got a nice photo of him as he watched us from the wire. This was a nice species and was definitely a highlight of the day.
Our group headed to the owl roosting spot and hiked all over around the area with no owl to be seen. We found owl poop, owl pellets, owl feathers, and fresh owl prey at various locations but no owls were to be seen. Luckily we had a backup location at Moorhead Park which usually has owls.

Since a Northern Saw-whet owl was located at Moorhead Park we drove back a little early to see if we could find it. We were guided by another birder to where the owl was and we found him with no trouble. The little owl was tucked into a pine tree not far from the road. He was hard to get a picture of but I did manage to get a couple good ones before we left. I heard a saw-whet owl in South Dakota once but haven't seen one before so this made it my first time to see one. It is amazing how tiny they are and how approachable they are. This is definitely an experience I will remember for some time to come. This is a new state and year bird for me making it even better.Once the owl viewing was over we headed down to where all the birders met in the morning to have dinner. The food and the building was nice and warm which aided in our thawing out. After that Jerry and I drove back home after a fun and successful day of birdwatching.

Christmas Day Birds

As Christmas Day was coming to a close my dad and I headed out in search of Short-eared Owls. We have had several failed attempts at locating this species so far this fall so I figured that our chances would be slim. We stopped at three large wetland areas before finding them. The first location we stopped at was the Luton WMA North Unit. As we pulled up to the area I spotted a Northern Shrike perched atop a small tree. I haven't had one yet this fall so it was a nice surprise. As we drove along we saw a few birds including Ring-necked Pheasant, Horned Lark, and Red-winged Blackbird but there was no owl to be seen. After that we headed to the south unit and found nothing but pheasants and larks. We decided to try one last spot before the day was over. The Owego Wetland Complex was not only the last stop but it was the best stop for Short-eared Owls. On the way there a couple Horned Larks and meadowlarks flushed from the road. When we got there it looked rather lifeless with no birds to be seen. The sun was setting and it was getting late.

I took out my scope and scanned the large wetland area. Only a moment later I found a large bird coursing over the fields. It was a Short-eared Owl! The search was finally over to find this species for my year list and I was rather happy to find one on Christmas. I got out a bird caller that my mom gave me for Christmas as a side gift and I used it to mimic mice. Only a few seconds later the owl was headed right for us! He quickly came and landed in a field behind our car. As he sat there I got the picture below by poking out the sunroof. It is a nice picture considering the distance and lighting at the time.I continued making the squeaking noises as he flew around trying to find what was making all that noise. A few moments later he dissapeared just as quickly as he had appeared, not to be seen again. Incase there where anymore of them to be found my dad and I drove around the area for a short while. We were rewarded with great looks at an owl that was perched on a post. He stayed there long enough for me to get a decent picture.The Short-eared Owls were a great Christmas treat adding to the fun of the already great day!

Screech Owl

Late this afternoon while taking my dogs outside I spotted an Eastern Screech-Owl sitting rather low in a tree near our house. I went inside as soon as I spotted it to get my camera and quickly made my way back outside. He was still perched in the tree and allowed close approach. I got lots of photos of him and he was very cooperative and even stuck around for my parents. The cold air and breezy conditions made my fingers numb while I was taking the pictures. I couldn't even feel them at all and I had a hard time using them after a while because the were so cold. This was a nice end to the rather boring day I had. When it got dark he eventually flew off looking for a new place to hunt. Hopefully he will stick around to nest next spring.

Owl on a Crane

Here is a neat photo I got of a Great Horned Owl the other night. He was sitting on top of a crane (no, not a sandhill crane) at Owego Wetlands. I was out looking for hunting Short-eared Owls but this was the only owl I saw.