30 warblers, 21 shorebirds, 222 species!

Spotted Sandpiper keeping an eye on me

It's been a pretty good stretch here in early September. The weather has cooled off somewhat overall which has been refreshing (although it's hot again today as I type this). With the cooler weather came some good bird movement. I've continued with my strategy of focusing on close by local hotspots and hitting those more frequently and not trying to range too widely - for now. 

Sumac turning to red

Early last week, I focused on working the spruce trees in my yard at every possible opportunity, hoping for a Black-throated Green Warbler. I didn't have any luck there. At the end of one unsuccessful evening search, I decided to have a seat and just watch the water for a while. A pale white bird flew into view that I first thought was a dove until I got my binoculars on it - it was a Sanderling! Not an easy bird to get in Minnesota at any time really, and a nice surprise. Best of all, it was my 20th "green" shorebird species! A great milestone and a very nice "consolation prize" for not getting the warbler. 

Wildflowers at Richard T. Anderson Conservation Area

The next day I met a couple of friends at Richard T. Anderson Conservation Area, with Black-throated Green Warbler on my mind. We spent some good time walking up and down the trails, along the many streams there. I already have trips back there later in September scheduled on my mental calendar. We had several flocks of warblers. Golden-winged, Magnolia, Bay-breasted, and Blackburnian all showed up in the first few flocks. A Philadelphia Vireo was another nice treat. We sifted through time and again - I was interested in Black-throated Green, and one of my friends was hoping for Cape May or Canada, both of which would have been lifers for her. 

Taking a brief break from scolding us to have a snack

Towards the end of the hike, we hit another flock. It had some different species in it so it brought us some hope for new species. After a few minutes a warbler feeding up high caught my eye. Black-throated Green! My 30th "green" warbler, and the last one that I had left as a realistic target. It was a relief to not miss this one! We kept working through the flock trying for more species but didn't find much else, unfortunately. We ended up with 12 warbler species for the morning which is a good total for the fall. All in all, a pleasant morning, and I made sure to stop for some coffee on the way home at Shakopee Brewhall. A warm drink tasted great on a cool morning ride. 

Bald Eagle - numbers definitely increasing as of late

After traveling for a few days for a work meeting, I rode back to Louisville Swamp with hopes of a Gray-cheeked Thrush or a new shorebird. The mudflats are back and looking great, but there wasn't much around, except for some big flocks of pelicans and cormorants. The trip didn't last long however as the mosquitoes were awful, and I didn't bring any bug spray. It was one of those days when you kill 5 mosquitoes with every slap on your arm. I tried to grin and bear it but they were too much, and the birds weren't all that great anyways so I flew out of there on my bike as fast as I could! 

 

American White Pelicans loafing in the morning sun

I came back to Louisville Swamp this morning to lead a bird walk, and this time I brought some bug spray, which made things a lot better! It's warmed back up - summer doesn't seem to quite done yet - but it was very pleasant to start. It's always great to be up first thing in the morning. I was feeling a little lethargic though and came pretty close to driving over instead of biking. In the end I decided to bike, and I am very glad that I did. 

A few minutes into the walk a familiar call note came from high overhead. I immediately thought "Was that an American Golden-Plover?". It called a few times as if to confirm my wishes. I few people tracking the trip on Merlin also had it show up as well. I'm not sure if that made me feel any better given my Blue Grosbeak debacle earlier. :) But another shorebird species was a great add and not expected at all. 

The bird walk was a good one and we saw a decent number of other shorebird species on the flats, Pectoral Sandpiper, Killdeer, and Greater Yellowlegs, which raised my hopes of getting more there later in the week. A few American Pipits flew overhead - those were a little early and also unexpected. Warblers were a little slow, but we did get a few species including a Black-and-white Warbler which put on a good show for the group, creeping up a tree in the open. We said our goodbyes with 53 species for the morning, not bad at all! I'm still thrilled about the plover - a solid 21st shorebird species, to be sure!

The next few days I'll keep trying for Gray-cheeked Thrush, maybe I'll get up early and try to listen for their flight calls pre-dawn a few mornings. I'll definitely be coming back to Louisville Swamp to try to get more shorebirds, and Winter Wrens should be showing up soon, which is making me think about going back to R.T. Anderson again. It seems like a good plan to stop there on a bike ride to work this week. I'm sitting at 222 green species now. I'm pretty happy with that - and am especially happy about getting 30 warblers and 21 shorebirds with just my bike. What fun.  

Until next time!