Some Great Birds at Murphy Hanrehan (again!)

 

Green Heron getting ready for a day of hunting frogs and such

It's been a busy last week or so at the job, and the weather has been hot and hazy with smoke from wildfires up north, so I haven't been birding at all since last weekend. However, the summer doldrums are rapidly approaching - and the weather forecast looked great for Thursday - so I decided to use some leave and do a day of birding back at Murphy Hanrehan. Several species on my needs list there - Cerulean Warbler, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Virginia Rail, and a White-eyed Vireo that someone else found were on my mind. Plus, an Eastern Screech-Owl was reported there during the evening by a researcher doing moth work at night. I figured I'd get up early and try to start the day by getting that bird.

The alarm sounded at 03:30 and I crawled out of bed. Not super excited for a 13-mile ride to start for sure. But I made it work. It was a pleasant morning and the ride was easy. However, even though I got there at 05:15, it was already light- too light for owls to really be calling (although I did see a Great Horned Owl on the ride over). Oh well. I'd start by trying for the Cerulean. 

Took some work but I got a decent shot of a Henslow's Sparrow!

The reserve was pretty quiet. Red-eyed Vireos, Ovenbirds, Wood Thrushes, and other typical breeding species were in the dawn chorus. I got to the Cerulean Warbler spot and waited around for around 10-15 minutes. No luck. I decided to go try for the White-eyed Vireo and come back later. I made a long loop through some forest edge on the way, hoping for Yellow-billed or Black-billed Cuckoo.

No luck on the cuckoos either, but after a walk through some wet grassland trails I heard the White-eyed Vireo from about a 1/4 mile away. Nice! First one I'd seen in Minnesota. I watched it for a while - it didn't come out much, only for a few brief but good views. I got some great views at other birds, including Henslow's Sparrow and Sedge Wren. I also heard a Virginia Rail from the marsh, which was another new bird for my green list.

A few ducks on the wetland

I walked back to the Cerulean spot again. Again, no luck. Hmm. I figured maybe I might get lucky on the north side of the reserve by the lake, and maybe I could find some other stuff. I had all morning, so I decided to enjoy myself and cover the area more completely, and loop all the way around the other part of the reserve. It was after all a very nice day, and I didn't have anywhere to be! 

Tree Swallow

Other than a late migrating Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, there wasn't anything new or unusual on the first half of the loop. I decided to chill out on a park bench, dry my feet out, and have a drink and snack. It turned into a short nap in the sun, which was refreshing. But I needed to get back to the Cerulean spot before it got too late. 

On the loop back some movement in the tree caught my eye. A medium sized dark, furry animal was running down a tree trunk with an egg in its' mouth. It was a fisher! These large weasels aren't very common this far south. It froze and stared back at me. I reached down for the camera and it quickly continued running and was on the ground and gone. I did manage to get picture of it. You can see it's tail and a little of its general form behind the leaves. :) 

Fisher!

It didn't get exciting until towards the end of the walk. A familiar song from my past stopped me in my tracks. Kentucky Warbler! A very rare bird in Minnesota - not seen in the state every year. It called three times and that was it - I never saw it. Pretty cool though. Hopefully someone else can find it too. I finished my walk and got the Cerulean Warbler, singing very quietly at the spot. The third time was the charm!

I biked a northerly loop back home and stopped by a spot where a Bell's Vireo was being seen after a nice lunch stop. It was very cooperative, got it right away. Nice when it works out like that. The rest of the ride was uneventful, and I got home a little earlier than anticipated, much to the dogs' delight. 

31.5 miles of biking and almost 10 miles of hiking made for tired legs, but I was happy after a fun day. I picked up five green year birds, bringing me up to 205 species. I'll probably try for those pesky cuckoos next at Louisville Swamp, maybe I'll get lucky. Until next time!