Welcome, May!

This week was a pretty active week - lots of new arrivals, and I was able to get out a good bit and enjoy it. I visited nearby Louisville Swamp twice since my last post, and also rode my bike into work again. Last weekend of April, I ran down to Louisville Swamp hoping for some shorebirds and maybe some grassland birds on a kind of last minute trip in the late afternoon. People had been reporting American Avocets, and I was hoping to see some of this relatively early species before they mostly moved on. I rounded the final corner and looked down the road- smoke! The Refuge staff were just finishing up a prescribed burn. The conditions were perfect for them and it had gone well, but that pretty much dashed any hopes I had of grassland birds that day. They had just opened the trails back up, so I headed down to the water.

Nice mix of dabblers

Unfortunately, there weren't many shorebirds to speak of, which was disappointing. Lots of waterfowl though. There were a few Northern Pintails mixed in which are always fun. It was a really nice evening, and I mostly had the place to myself which made up for the slow birding. As I was packing up my bike though, I did hear a Lark Sparrow, which was a new bird. A nice consolation prize. 

The weather wasn't as pleasant mid-week, but I decided to ride my bike in (earlier this time) and try for American Woodcock and maybe Eastern Whip-poor-will. I took a different, longer route this time along the river bluffs on the north side of the Minnesota River. When I got outside bright and early at 04:00, I noticed that the roads were wet. It had just rained. Not super ideal, but didn't look like much, so I had hope, even when some lingering sprinkles hit me early on. I crossed the river over a bike trail along a highway bridge and was surprised at the number of vehicles at 430AM (unpleasantly). I had been hoping to listen for marshbirds on the bridge, but the road noise was too much, so I just kept going. While I climbed along the river hills, I heard loud "wok!" call overhead. Black-crowned Night-Heron! An unexpected pick up for the morning, which was great. Shortly after that as I climbed the hill that seemed to take forever, a heard the distinctive "peent" of a displaying American Woodcock as well. A big relief! 

No whip-poor-wills, but I wasn't really expecting them, they are kind of tough around the cities - and there's still more time. The night-heron was a huge bonus though. Despite messing up and adding another two miles to my ride thanks to missing a turn in the low light, I arrived at work feeling good. The ride home was less eventful. I stopped at the same wetland on Minnesota Valley refuge from last week on the way home. Not really many waterfowl, but I did pick up Warbling Vireo and Yellow Warbler. Good to hear them again! I managed to get home before the rain hit too, which was good. 

I took the day off Friday and decided to spend it really hitting Louisville Swamp again for shorebirds and whatever else I could find. After arriving, I immediately went to the main shorebird mudflat. It was quiet. A few Lesser Yellowlegs and a Wilson's Snipe, but not much of anything else. I spent some time really scanning the mudflats and could only find a small group of Least Sandpipers. That was a new bird, but overall numbers seemed low. I decided to check another part of the wetland and walk the trails a bit.

It was a relatively cool, overcast day, which had apparently knocked some migrants down. I got quite a few new birds in woodlands. Small flocks of Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Palm Warbler, and lots of White-throated Sparrows were around. Eastern Towhees were singing a several locations and a group of Gray Catbirds skulked by a trailhead. They looked like they had just dropped in. I wasn't really looking for landbirds, but I'd take them! 

The causeway mudflats were also devoid of shorebirds, other than another small group of Lesser Yellowlegs. Hmmm. I wondered what to do with the rest of my day. Just as I decided to head to another spo, a very distinctive-shaped bird flew in. It had glossy feathers, long legs, and a long, curved bill. White-faced Ibis! A rare bird anywhere in the state, and a really great find. I snapped a couple of crummy photos for documentation purposes and kept going, hoping to try to find it again and get some better ones. It had landed where I was planning to go anyways on the other side of the wetland unit.

This is a White-faced Ibis - really! Zoom in and you'll see the bill. ;)

The walk over to the other side was long, but really scenic. I went through a part of the unit that I'd never been to. Some really nice bottomlands and streams. I was hoping for a Winter Wren skulking around the sticks and branches in the streams, but no luck.

Blue-gray Gnatcatchers were around, and I also heard a Blue-headed Vireo singing from back off of the trail a ways. I sifted through a flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers and found an Orange-crowned Warbler. A Peregrine Falcon flew out from a tree around a small wetland. A huge flock of swallows feeding on another got me another new species, Bank Swallow. All good stuff, but I was really excited about trying for the ibis and hopefully some shorebirds as I rounded the corner to go north along the other side of the wetland.

A cool big boulder along the trail

I walked for what seemed like forever along the trail for a few miles. The flowers were nice, and the wetland was full of swallows and blackbirds, but zero shorebirds! Argh, what a bummer. My feet were starting to hurt too - I had foolishly taken a shorter, but wetter, path earlier to save time, which I did, but my wet feet weren't feeling great in my boots. Eventually I came to the historic homestead near my stopping point, and I took my boots off and had snack while letting things air out a bit. It helped some, and it was fun watching a few raptors fly overhead. 

The walk back was quiet, and my feet didn't feel good. I made it back to the mudflats. There were more shorebirds there now. Unfortunately, a Bald Eagle spooked them as soon as I got there. A little frustrating, but I needed to sit for a bit and rest for a bit anyhow. They eventually came back. Still mostly Lesser Yellowlegs, but I did manage to find a single Semipalmated Plover, which was good. Another new shorebird species, check! I was happy, but after a nearly 12 mile hike, I was ready to leave. The bike ride home was going to take longer than normal. 

I plodded through the last mile. An Eastern Kingbird was flying through the burned area. Love those guys. A nice parting gift for a good day where I'd picked up 12 new green year birds! 

Eastern Kingbird

Birding around my yard has also been good this week. I managed to pick up Yellow-headed Blackbird, Baltimore Oriole, and some flyover American Avocets (!) just before I wrote this up earlier this evening. Lots of new species this week - I'm up to 142 green species now. My legs have also logged a lot of miles the last two days...50 miles on the bike and 12 on foot. Worth it though! I'll keep on checking Louisville Swamp here over the next week and work it over as well as I can for those pesky shorebirds. Wish me luck, and thanks for reading, as always!