Mink, Monarchs, and Many Birds

Late this afternoon I went down to a local wetland area to do some exploring in hopes of finding birds and any other creatures that inhabit the place.

As soon as I got there a Mink, a member of the weasel family, ran across the road a ways from our car.

While I was there I took a hike one mile each way down a mowed path along a dike there. This path gets you way out into the marsh where most of the birds are. The Monarchs were hard to ignore as they were all over in the goldenrod stands, fueling up in order to make their journey southward to the mountains of Mexico.

At first, the birds were scarce and almost non-existence but as I got further away from the road they began to become more numerous. Savannah Sparrows and Bobolinks were beginning to show themselves along with the Eastern Kingbirds (pictured in a flock below) and Red-winged Blackbirds (ditto). All of these birds were in flocks, most likely gathering before they journey south together for the winter season.The first real marsh bird that I saw outside of some Wood Ducks was a Sora that was right near a small pond. I saw it fly and then quickly run back into the weeds on the other side. I sneaked up on a small group of Blue-winged Teal and managed to get a photo of them before they flew. Besides a blade of grass in the way, the picture turned out nice.After that I managed to sneak up on a Great Egret which let me get fairly close before it flew off.

On the way back to the car I had a close encounter with a Northern Harrier that flew over me at about 10 ft! It was so close that I had a hard time getting a photo. Despite that I got a neat shot of it before it left.The real surprise of the trip was a flock of four ibis (most likely white-faced) that flew over! I am glad that I was able to get a photo. I really liked the lighting and how they are all silhouetted in flight in the photo. I wonder if there is a Glossy in there....

After that there wasn't much else that was of much interest. I managed to photograph a flyover Great Egret in good light before my hike at the marsh was over.

Black-necked Stilt & More

This past Sunday my dad and I went on a trip up to the Iowa Great Lakes (north central) region to go fishing. It just so happened that just a short distance from where we were going to fish a Black-necked Stilt (a fairly rare but regular bird in Iowa) was seen just the night before at an area slough. When we pulled up to the area we easily found the bird wading out in the shallow water of the slough looking for food. It's legs were very long and really made him stand out. I was having trouble with getting photos of this, my 309th life bird because of the clouds and distance but then the skies opened up and I was finally able to get a decent but distant picture.
As we were watching him my attention turned to a white colored tern that was flying over with a group of Black Terns. It had completely plain gray upper wings and a hint of black on the underside of the primaries, he was smaller, and had an orange-red bill. This turned out to be the first Common Tern that I had seen in Iowa.

After the stop at the slough we went on and spent some time fishing. We caught bullhead and I even snagged a carp but the line got when we tried pulling it up. It was only a couple feet from us when the line gave out. That was the "fish that got away story" of the trip.

When the fishing was done with my dad and I went out and did some more birding before we had to head home. On Grover's Lake on the Iowa/Minnesota border I was pleased to find two breeding plumage Red-necked Grebes along with five Redheads. At Storm Lake, about an hour south of there we came across a group of thee Caspian Terns. I chased them around trying to get photos but they didn't cooperate.

The day ended up being nice and sunny which was nice since the weather has been bad lately. The fish were biting (for a while at least) and the birds were nice too.

Memorial Weekend Birding Part II

On Saturday birding friend Paul came and picked me up and we went out birding around the county like I did on Thursday but we visited some different areas.

The first place we did some birding was on a small dirt road about 3 miles from my house up in the Loess Hills. The bushes along the road had several foy Bell's Vireos as well as Least and Willow Flycatcher. A couple Sedge Wrens and Grasshopper Sparrows were calling from the grasslands that surrounded the area. Bank Swallows were nesting in a cliff that was created when the cut through a hill to put in a road. Paul got a photo of a swallow with my camera for me since they were not on my side.
The sun was shining and the birds were singing all over the place. Bobolinks were found a mile or two down the road and were singing their strange jumbled song. As we moved on we found a few more grassland birds including an Eastern Meadowlark an more Bell's Vireo putting us at 12 for the day.

We headed down to the Missouri River Valley to a place called Table Marsh WMA. We were surprised to find so much water and so many birds there. We knew it was there but didn't think that it was as large as it was. Over fifty American White Pelicans were there resting on a small island. Surrounding them there were tons of shorebirds including American Avocet, Dunlin, and Stilt Sandpiper. Black Terns and a Forster's Tern were cruising the area looking for food. A number of Great Egrets were fairly close to the road. They were a bit shy and flew as soon as we got close enough to get a photo. I did however manage to photograph one.
Waterfowl were also there including a Green-winged Teal (strange to see them this time of year), two Hooded Mergansers, a Gadwall pair, and Blue-winged Teal, Mallard, and Canada Geese. We found a large mud flat with even more shorebirds on it. We found a few Semipalmated Plovers there as well as the other shorebirds previously mentioned and some more common ones. Before we left we checked the large cattail stands for birds and found a Sora, a few Yellow-headed Blackbirds, and a good supply of Marsh Wrens. After that it was time to head home after a nice five hours of birding. Table Marsh really surprised us and appears to have a lot of potential and we will be heading back to do some more birdwatching for sure! One thing I forgot to mention that there is a dike that runs along the west side of the marsh making it easy to observe the birds from above, revealing more birds than we could see from eye level.

That concludes my Memorial Weekend Birding.

Busy as a Beaver

I was busier than the beaver to the left on the weekend of May 1-3 because I was at the Iowa Ornithologist Union meeting in Carroll, IA. We had a great time and overall 181 species were tallied. The highlight on the weekend came on Friday night. On the way to the meeting my dad and I stopped at a place called Hobb's Pitts. There was a Black-bellied Whistling Duck there the night before which is casual in Iowa and would be a new bird for my life list. My dad and I searched all around the pitts for the duck with no luck. As we headed back to the car I looked to the east and saw the bird flying! I wasn't able to get a photo of it but there was no doubt about what it was. It was life bird 306 for me and a neat one too.

The rest of the weekend was great aand we turned up lots of other neat birds. A few highlights included a Surf Scoter, Western Grebe, White-faced Ibis, Piping Plover, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and Blue-headed Vireo. The biggest miss for me was the Western Sandpiper. I missed it by two minutes! I was litterally just hundreds of feet away from it and then it flew off. I can't complain though since I did see some other cool birds.

Here are some pictures I got during the weekend:

I got within 20 ft of this Western Grebe but I couldn't get a decent picture because the sun was behind it.

An American Bittern Playing hide and go seek.

A Double-crested Cormorant

An American White Pelican

A House Wren at my house before we left for the meeting.
I saved the best for last-the WORLD'S LARGEST POPCORN BALL

Waterfowl Up Close

Yesterday my family spent the day in Yankton, SD and Sioux Falls, SD. We stopped by a duck pond in Yankton that had a number of ducks, many of which appear to be wild. All of the pictures will get bigger if you click on them if you would like to see the finer details on the birds.
The first picture here is of a Snow Goose. It is not often that you see them up close because they are usually out in the fields during migration. The duck pond provided safe haven for injured geese who loved the food we brought them.
A couple Ross's Goose were there. They were so small and cute and had the brightest white feathers I have ever seen on a bird.

Wood Ducks were also there in numbers. I got great shots of both males and females. They are one of my favorite ducks to photograph since they are such pretty birds.A Mallard (possibly domestic) provided great photo opportunities as well. The lighting was perfect and made the green feathers on it's head shine.

Canada Geese were also there and came in with the other birds to check out what we brought for them to eat.

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!

A Good Friday for Birding

My dad and I got up early today (Good Friday) in order to go visit a Greater Prairie Chicken Lek out in the fine state of Nebraska. When we showed up to the site it didn't take long to find displaying birds. We could see and hear them from the road but as you can tell from the picture below we couldn't manage to get a great photo. It was neat to see them inflate their neck sacs with air and dance around. One female in particular had three crazy male birds booming around her.
I have been out to these Leks before to see the chickens but the other two times I have been out there the winds were very strong, the birds were fewer in number, and you couldn't hear them. It was nice to view them on a nice calm morning when I could take it all in. We easily saw close to twenty birds on two Lek sites within an hour.

After we observed the prairie chickens for a while we decided to head out to Yankton to see what birds were around the lake and dam. I had a couple year birds including Pied-billed Grebe and Great Egret. There was a lot there just not much variety. I had some fun photographing the birds there and I got a very nice shot of a Ring-billed Gull that came down to check out our cinnamon rolls. The Bonaparte's Gulls however were not interested in what we had to offer.
The most common bird there was the American Coot. They were all over the place in the thousands. Some birds were out of the water feeding on the grass. During the summer there is one particular location where they are all over the road and it is like the parting of the Red Sea as they run to get out of the way of your car.
I really liked this picture. It is not the prettiest or the sharpest but I loved that the coots were side by side, one with the wings up and one with the wings down as they took off.

After our birdwatching around the lake we had to head home. We did howeverdo a little birdwatching when we stopped at a small city pond. It had a few "wild waterfowl" there including Wood Duck and Ross's Goose (pictured).It was a good Friday for birding indeed with three new year birds and nice weather!

Calm Before the Snowstorm

Today was a great day to be out-55 degrees and sunny. The beautiful weather here is often short lived this time of year as we transition from winter to summer. This latest round of warm and sunny weather is about to come to an end tomorrow as a huge blizzard is going to cover the area with 12+ inches of the white stuff. No this is not some late April Fools joke! I can't believe that we are going to have such a big snowstorm so late in the season. I hope the snow melts quickly!

Anyway, today I went out and did some birding with Paul R, a birding friend of mine through the hill country and saw some nice birds. The most interesting thing of the day were the three Loggerhead Shrikes we saw. We found one pair and then a bird all by itself. We also found a pair of Cooper's Hawks but we couldn't find a nest anywhere in the vicinity of where they were. We did confirm nesting for Belted Kingfisher however, because we saw one go into a hole in a dirt bank near the road. It was neat to see that. Year birds included Savannah Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, Brewer's Blackbird, and Rusty Blackbird. I must not forget to add Harris's Sparrow for all those out of the Midwest.

We also got a few shorebirds in the Missouri River valley at the dairy farm ponds. Dunlin, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, and Baird's Sandpipers were the shorebirds that weren't Killdeer. There were lots of ducks as well but nothing to interesting. The wetlands in the area were full of ducks as well as some FOY American White Pelicans. Two Northern Harriers were also found.

Today was "the calm before the storm" and it was great to be out birding. I might need to get out and look for longspurs on the back roads in our area, so if I am insane enough to head out I will post about my finds then.

From the Hills to the Valley

Today was muggy and warm (it got up to almost 70 degrees F). It was cloudy all day long but there were birds out despite that.
The most interesting thing that I observed was a flight of 20-30 hawks over my house within a 15 minute period. The lighting was terrible and I didn't get my scope out in time to i.d. them all. Most were Red-tailed Hawk although there were probable some others in with them. I saw a kettle of 12 birds moving over at one time. They came in quickly and left quickly, giving me limited time to view them.
Late in the afternoon my dad and I went out and explored the hills south of our house. There weren't many birds, but there were a few interesting ones. I found a group of 18 Ring-necked Ducks in one pond together as well as a Turkey Vulture. The first vulture I saw this year flew over my house the day before spring. Here is a shot I got of it as it headed north.

We didn't see much more on our jaunt in the hills. I did however find a Mourning Cloak butterfly at a county owned nature area which was a pleasant surprise. We decided to head out of the hills and go down to the Missouri River valley. We checked a couple dairy ponds to check for migrant shorebirds and waterfowl. We found four species of shorebirds at the ponds three of which were year birds: Killdeer, Lesser Yellowlegs, Greater Yellowlegs, and Pectoral Sandpiper. A nice array of waterfowl were also at the ponds including a few Common Mergansers as well as the more common waterfowl. Snow Geese are getting scarce now so seeing one at the ponds was a treat.When we got home we were greeted by our dogs and a nice springtime thunderstorm.

It's that time of year again...

It's springtime again and the birds are on the move. The past couple days I have been out watching the waterfowl, looking for some new arrivals. Birds are literally all over the place around the wetlands. The skies are filled with many flocks of ducks and are almost always filled with something to see. Among the thousands of ducks and geese I picked out some year birds including American Wigeon, Blue-winged Teal, Canvasback, Northern Shoveler, and Ruddy Duck. Ring-billed Gulls were also migrating through but were only around for a short time. Killdeer and Common Grackles as well as the occasional Brown-headed Cowbird are back and are as annoying as usual. The warm weather the past few days has really pushed the birds north with the south winds. Today it got up to a beautiful 73 degrees Fahrenheit, the warmest it's been all year. At last, winter has released it's icy grip on our area that seemed to be colder than usual this year.

The Birds Are Moving (slowly)

As I type this the temps outside are in the single digits (5 degrees to be exact). As you may be able to guess we are still waiting for the waterfowl pour in. I have seen no divers or dabblers anywhere this spring except for Blue Lake, which is a ways to the south. The geese have been seen on and off but nothing sectacular.
Last week we had a warm-up allowing for some birds to make their way north. I had the first Killdeer of the year fly over my yard, as well as four species of geese. One thing that also caught my attention was a group of 22 American Crows flying over. Crows are certainly not unexpected here, but I have never seen that many in a group over my house.
I hope that warmer weather comes soon since this winter has been unusually long and cold. Looking back to last year waterfowl migration was at it's peak about now, but they just haven't come this far north yet. I remember seeing lots of birds migrating in late February last year but this year is different. I guess I will just have to wait.....

Birding in the Snow

Looking out the window early in the morning I noticed big, fluffy snowflakes falling from the sky. I was to go birding in an hour or so and it was snowing fairly hard. Despite this I got dressed and ready and my dad and I were headed out the door. The reason I got up so early was the fact that a strange duck had been found at the Port Neal Flyash Ponds. The bird of note was a possible Mottled Duck that was seen there. I drove with Paul, a local birder, and we headed out to get there very early. We met up with two other birders there, also in search of the bird. After getting clearance to get in we drove into the area and started scoping the many ducks that were there.
After a couple hours of searching we found Ross's, Snow, Canada, Cackling and Greater White-fronted Goose, American Wigeon, Northern Pintail, Wood Duck, Common Goldeneye, Mallard, and more out in the water but nothing like a Mottled Duck was there. A few Ring-billed Gulls flew around there as well adding to the show. One unexpected sight was that of a Least Sandpiper that was foraging on the ice! After searching there for sometime we decided to go down to the river where we found few birds, with Great Blue Heron being the most interesting. After our fruitless search we headed over the Owego Wetlands. Birds of interest included eight Rough-legged Hawks and several Northern Harriers but not much else was out and about.

We then made our way up into the hills to look for sparrows and other interesting things that may be hanging out up there. We saw many of the usual birds as well as a few more Rough-legged Hawks, making our total for the day 12. After that we headed back to the river valley to finish our trip. Only a few birds were seen during this part of the trip. One interesting thing that we did see was a young Red-tailed Hawk perched in a tree with one wing open and placed (or stuck) on a branch. I took this photo just before he flew off. The day then came to an end and I went back home after a nice (not weather wise) day of birding.