Carver Park Reserve, Carver County

Categories:

Birding

After obtaining my driver’s license once I turned 16, my access to good birding areas increased dramatically. And while interstate driving was still a bit intimidating to a new driver, I was fortunate enough to live relatively close to one of these good birding areas: Carver Park Reserve. In fact, I remember that I drove the 15-minute drive from my family’s house in Chaska to the park the very next morning after passing my behind-the-wheel exam.

But my visits to Carver Park actually began several years before that, as my dad would willingly take me out to the park on some weekend mornings throughout the year in search of birds that neither he nor I had ever seen. Occasionally we would join a guided bird hike through the park (the park has always been very birder-friendly), but most of the time we just walked the park’s diverse trails ourselves; I fondly remember the high-fives we shared after seeing our first Yellow Warblers, Brown Thrashers, and Bobolinks. And the night that both my mom and dad as well as one of my sisters came to the park with me to watch our first American Woodcock dance will always remain one of my favorite outdoor experiences.

Once I was able to drive, though, my visits to the park became much more frequent (and probably too frequent if you asked my mom). Over the next few years I birded the park religiously and explored its 26 miles of hiking trails, through its prairies and wetlands to its wooded ravines and conifer stands. For more general information about the park (as well as other parks in the metro area belonging to Three Rivers Park District), check out http://www.threeriversparks.org/parks/carver-park.aspx.

Carver Park Reserve has always been known as an excellent year-round birding location to Twin Cities birders. And like most wooded parks in the Twin Cities area, Carver Park attracts a large number of passerines (songbirds) during migration. On the right day in mid-May, 20+ species of warbler can be expected along the park’s trails; the Lake and Maple trails starting at the Lowry Nature Center are especially conducive to migrating warblers. Late August through mid-September can be just as exciting when looking for warblers, and be sure to check out the boardwalk through the tamarack bog on the north side of the park for any southbound migrants (Olive-sided Flycatchers are common here some years at this time). Migrant sparrows, thrushes, and flycatchers are also common sights along these same trails.

As one might expect, the park’s wetlands attract good numbers of waterfowl in both spring and fall. Check especially the King Blind at the end of Carver Park Road west of CR 11; Trumpeter Swans have nested here for many years, and this is also a decent place to look for shorebirds in some drier years. And the “Shorebird Pond” at the entrance of Nature Center Drive, as well as some of the smaller wetlands along CR 11, usually attract a nice assortment of both diving and puddle ducks during migration, although the water has been too high to attract any variety of shorebirds for many years. And beginning in early April, be on the lookout for American Woodcocks performing their aerial courtship displays around sundown, especially in the semi-open areas south of Lake Zumbra off of Park Drive on Carver Park’s east side.

The wide variety of habitats present in the park attracts a great diversity of breeding species during the summer months. The prairies are regularly home to breeding meadowlarks (both Eastern and Western some years, although Eastern has proved more common), in addition to Bobolinks, Sedge Wrens, Field and Vesper Sparrows, and Orchard Orioles; most of these species can be observed in the vicinity of the Shorebird Pond parking lot, but they should be present throughout the park’s grasslands. In recent years some of the park’s prairies have been attracting Henslow’s Sparrows in addition to the usual Grasshopper Sparrows, and just as above a good location to listen for both these species is in the vicinity of the Shorebird Pond parking lot. The wooded trails (especially near Lowry Nature Center) sport breeding Barred Owls, Yellow-throated Vireos, Wood Thrushes, and Scarlet Tanagers among some of the more common birds characteristic of Eastern deciduous forests, and in some years Cerulean Warblers can even be heard singing somewhere along the trails (check especially along the Aspen Trail north of the nature center). Willow (and sometimes Alder) Flycatchers and Veeries can be readily heard in the tamarack bog, and in recent years Sandhill Cranes and Red-shouldered Hawks have been making appearances in the vicinity of Crosby Lake. And any visit you make to the park grounds in summer will likely provide you looks at one of Carver Park’s most charismatic species; Osprey pairs have been occupying several nesting platforms for many years.

Even winter has its rewards for the birder in Carver Park Reserve. The regularly filled feeders behind the nature center are always worth checking, and depending on the winter you might find the likes of Purple Finches, Common Redpolls, or Pine Siskins among the resident House Finches and American Goldfinches feeding on sunflower and nyjer thistle seeds. A Northern Shrike can usually be spotted somewhere out in the open, but check especially near the Shorebird Pond parking lot or on the east side of the park along Park Drive north of MN Highway 5. Finally, in recent years the dense juniper stands on the east side of Parley Lake accessed by driving west of CR 11 on Grimm Road have harbored roosting Long-eared and Northern Saw-whet Owls in addition to overwintering Townsend’s Solitaires.

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Bob’s birdlist from Carver Park Reserve:

  • Canada Goose
  • Trumpeter Swan
  • Tundra Swan
  • Wood Duck
  • Gadwall
  • American Wigeon
  • American Black Duck
  • Mallard
  • Blue-winged Teal
  • Northern Shoveler
  • Northern Pintail
  • Green-winged Teal
  • Canvasback
  • Redhead
  • Ring-necked Duck
  • Lesser Scaup
  • Bufflehead
  • Common Goldeneye
  • Hooded Merganser
  • Common Merganser
  • Ruddy Duck
  • Ring-necked Pheasant
  • Wild Turkey
  • Common Loon
  • Pied-billed Grebe
  • Horned Grebe
  • Red-necked Grebe
  • American White Pelican
  • Double-crested Cormorant
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Great Egret
  • Little Blue Heron
  • Green Heron
  • Black-crowned Night-Heron
  • Turkey Vulture
  • Osprey
  • Bald Eagle
  • Northern Harrier
  • Sharp-shinned Hawk
  • Cooper’s Hawk
  • Red-shouldered Hawk
  • Broad-winged Hawk
  • Red-tailed Hawk
  • Rough-legged Hawk
  • Golden Eagle
  • American Kestrel
  • Merlin
  • Virginia Rail
  • Sora
  • American Coot
  • Sandhill Crane
  • Semipalmated Plover
  • Killdeer
  • Spotted Sandpiper
  • Solitary Sandpiper
  • Greater Yellowlegs
  • Lesser Yellowlegs
  • Semipalmated Sandpiper
  • Least Sandpiper
  • Baird’s Sandpiper
  • Pectoral Sandpiper
  • Wilson’s Snipe
  • American Woodcock
  • Bonaparte’s Gull
  • Franklin’s Gull
  • Ring-billed Gull
  • Herring Gull
  • Caspian Tern
  • Black Tern
  • Forster’s Tern
  • Rock Pigeon
  • Mourning Dove
  • Yellow-billed Cuckoo
  • Black-billed Cuckoo
  • Great Horned Owl
  • Barred Owl
  • Common Nighthawk
  • Chimney Swift
  • Ruby-throated Hummingbird
  • Belted Kingfisher
  • Red-headed Woodpecker
  • Red-bellied Woodpecker
  • Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • Hairy Woodpecker
  • Northern Flicker
  • Pileated Woodpecker
  • Olive-sided Flycatcher
  • Eastern Wood-Pewee
  • Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
  • Alder Flycatcher
  • Willow Flycatcher
  • Least Flycatcher
  • Eastern Phoebe
  • Great Crested Flycatcher
  • Eastern Kingbird
  • Northern Shrike
  • Yellow-throated Vireo
  • Blue-headed Vireo
  • Warbling Vireo
  • Philadelphia Vireo
  • Red-eyed Vireo
  • Blue Jay
  • American Crow
  • Horned Lark
  • Purple Martin
  • Tree Swallow
  • Northern Rough-winged Swallow
  • Bank Swallow
  • Cliff Swallow
  • Barn Swallow
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Red-breasted Nuthatch
  • White-breasted Nuthatch
  • Brown Creeper
  • House Wren
  • Winter Wren
  • Sedge Wren
  • Marsh Wren
  • Golden-crowned Kinglet
  • Ruby-crowned Kinglet
  • Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
  • Eastern Bluebird
  • Townsend’s Solitaire
  • Veery
  • Gray-cheeked Thrush
  • Swainson’s Thrush
  • Hermit Thrush
  • Wood Thrush
  • American Robin
  • Gray Catbird
  • Brown Thrasher
  • European Starling
  • Cedar Waxwing
  • Lapland Longspur
  • Blue-winged Warbler
  • Golden-winged Warbler
  • Tennessee Warbler
  • Orange-crowned Warbler
  • Nashville Warbler
  • Northern Parula
  • Yellow Warbler
  • Chestnut-sided Warbler
  • Magnolia Warbler
  • Cape May Warbler
  • Yellow-rumped Warbler
  • Black-throated Green Warbler
  • Blackburnian Warbler
  • Pine Warbler
  • Palm Warbler
  • Bay-breasted Warbler
  • Blackpoll Warbler
  • Cerulean Warbler
  • Black-and-white Warbler
  • American Redstart
  • Ovenbird
  • Northern Waterthrush
  • Mourning Warbler
  • Common Yellowthroat
  • Hooded Warbler
  • Wilson’s Warbler
  • Canada Warbler
  • Yellow-breasted Chat
  • Eastern Towhee
  • American Tree Sparrow
  • Chipping Sparrow
  • Clay-colored Sparrow
  • Field Sparrow
  • Vesper Sparrow
  • Savannah Sparrow
  • Grasshopper Sparrow
  • Henslow’s Sparrow
  • Le Conte’s Sparrow
  • Fox Sparrow
  • Song Sparrow
  • Lincoln’s Sparrow
  • Swamp Sparrow
  • White-throated Sparrow
  • Harris’s Sparrow
  • White-crowned Sparrow
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • Scarlet Tanager
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Rose-breasted Grosbeak
  • Indigo Bunting
  • Dickcissel
  • Bobolink
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Eastern Meadowlark
  • Western Meadowlark
  • Yellow-headed Blackbird
  • Rusty Blackbird
  • Brewer’s Blackbird
  • Common Grackle
  • Brown-headed Cowbird
  • Orchard Oriole
  • Baltimore Oriole
  • Purple Finch
  • House Finch
  • Common Redpoll
  • Pine Siskin
  • American Goldfinch
  • House Sparrow

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Swan Lake Wildlife Management Area, Nicollet County

Categories:

Birding

Swan Lake in central Nicollet County is one of  the largest prairie potholes in the contiguous United States, formed over 10,000 years ago as the glaciers retreated and left their melt waters in a series of glacial depressions. Once twice the size it is now, Swan Lake was Minnesota’s largest marsh-wetland ecosystem before being drained for agriculture in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Today the lake itself covers about 14 square miles, and along with the many other nearby lakes and marshes that were once part of the greater lake  it comprises the vast Swan Lake Wildlife Management Area.

A great diversity of avian species — particularly of waterbirds — is attracted to the shallow wetlands of the Swan Lake complex spring through fall. Just about any of Minnesota’s regular waterfowl species (excluding the sea ducks) can be found in the area during migration, and in summer a plethora of ducks, grebes, herons, and terns use the wetlands as nesting habitat. If visiting the area in fall, be aware that this W.M.A. is a favorite for duck, deer, and pheasant hunters.

For birders, there is no shortage of possibilities at Swan Lake. The problem, however, is in the lake’s access; relative to the size of Swan Lake, only a small percentage of it can be viewed from the few public access point on its shores. A canoe trip on the lake allows for the greatest coverage (and the closest looks at the lake’s birds), but most birders will be content to stay on dry land and use a scope to scan the lake to the best of their abilities. Luckily, Nicollet Bay on the southeast corner of the lake harbors a majority of the lake’s denizens, and two access points make it possible to view most of the vicinity’s water. The first access is gained from the Nicollet Conservation Club about a mile west of the town of Nicollet on Hwy. 14; a grassy peninsula juts north from the shore to provide excellent views (and during migration, watch for migrating songbirds in the trees near the parking lot). Red-necked Grebes are common sights here from late April through early September, as are Yellow-headed Blackbirds, both Forster’s and Black Terns, Blue-winged Teals, Northern Shovelers, and Redheads. If you’re present here in the morning or evening during this same time period, listen for the calls of both American and Least Bitterns in addition to the more common vocalizations of Soras, Virginia Rails, Marsh Wrens, and Swamp Sparrows. Note: the best time to view from this access point is in the spring, as the cattails and rushes begin to obscure views of the open water by early June in some years.

Another mile further west on Hwy. 14 is the Nicollet Bay Main Unit; here you’ll find a nice tract of restored prairie on the south shore of the lake (watch for Brewer’s Blackbird here in late April and May). On the east side of the gravel entrance road you’ll see an outlet flowing south from the bay; this causes open water to appear by mid-March most years at this access point, attracting migrant geese and other early waterfowl while the rest of the lake remains frozen. A boardwalk into the marsh is situated to the west of the gravel parking lot, and to find it walk the short grassy trail running west from the gate, listening for Sedge Wren and Orchard Orioles (in summer) as you do so. Before you come to the boardwalk you’ll see a small hill that rises up to your left; scoping from atop this hill provides the best looks at the bay (including areas not visible from the Nicollet Conservation Club). Western and Eared Grebes, becoming somewhat less common on the lake, are best viewed from this hill, and Black-crowned Night-Herons and American Bitterns can sometimes be seen flying up from the marshes in front of you (and be on the lookout for a stray Snowy or Cattle Egret).

The only other productive public access point on the lake is located in its northeastern corner on Currier Bay. This access point is a popular launch for canoeists and other boaters, but also provides looks at birds not visible from the south side on Nicollet Bay. Western Grebes can sometimes be viewed from the dock here as easily as anywhere else on the lake, and both Soras and Virginia Rails (and American Bitterns at night) are commonly seen and heard here. For the canoeing birder, a foray onto the lake is well worth the trip, affirmed by a Common Moorhen about a half mile out from the launch discovered by yours truly in early May 2008.

In recent years, however, the W.M.A. units away from the lake itself have arguably proven more interesting. The Middle Lake Unit, specifically, has been one of the best birding locations in the county (and perhaps south-central Minnesota) since 2008. Located about one mile north of Nicollet on the east side of Hwy. 111, this 80-acre restored grassland sports two ephemeral ponds on the western side of Middle Lake that have attracted a large variety of shorebirds as well as other interesting species. The area begins to merit a visit in early April as the snow and ice disappear; dabbling and diving ducks become common on both the lake and the ponds. During the second week of April in 2010, four Smith’s Longspurs spent a few days in the grasslands between the ponds and the adjacent farm fields, and the year before that a Short-eared Owl was flushed right off the trail going east of the parking lot around the same time of year. A variety of shorebirds begins appearing by late April, and throughout May just about any of Minnesota’s regular species is possible in the shallow ponds or their mudflats (if present); highlights include Black-bellied Plovers and Ruddy Turnstones in 2008, Hudsonian Godwits and a Willet in 2009, a Marbled Godwit in 2010, and an American Avocet in 2011. In both 2010 and 2011, the ponds attracted White-faced Ibis during the first week of May; there are few locations away from the western edge of the state that have attracted this species in more than one year. From late April through mid-May watch for some of the rarer migrant sparrows like Le Conte’s or Nelson’s in the nearby cattails, and from late May throughout summer watch for nesting waterbirds and marshbirds on Middle Lake; the cattails on the southern end of the lake seem to especially attract Least Bitterns. And in the prairie grasses between the lake and the parking lot, look and listen for nesting Grasshopper Sparrows, Western Meadowlarks, and even Gray Partridge (I saw a family group of two adults and twelve young running along the trail ahead of me in 2008).

Another non-contiguous unit of the W.M.A. always worth a check is the Duck Lake Unit, located about one mile east of Hwy. 111 on CR 5. There is a parking area on the south side of the road on the lake’s northwest corner, but the best looks are generally had by pulling your vehicle off on the road’s shoulder and looking south with a scope. This lake is a favorite nesting spot for Trumpeter Swans, as well as more Red-necked Grebes (and the occasional Western or Eared) and terns. Finally, the Little Lake Unit provides close looks at more marsh birds, especially Soras and Virginia Rails (the latter has walked right up to my feet at this location); to get there, drive east of Nicollet on Hwy. 99 for about a half mile and turn north on 451st Ave., followed by your first right onto 460th St. and another left onto 441st Ln., which intersects the marsh and dead-ends shortly thereafter in a wooded area conducive to attracting a few migrant songbirds during migration (at night listen here for resident Great Horned Owls).

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Bob’s birdlist from Swan Lake Wildlife Management Area:

  • Greater White-fronted Goose
  • Snow Goose
  • Cackling Goose
  • Canada Goose
  • Trumpeter Swan
  • Tundra Swan
  • Wood Duck
  • Gadwall
  • American Wigeon
  • Mallard
  • Blue-winged Teal
  • Northern Shoveler
  • Northern Pintail
  • Green-winged Teal
  • Canvasback
  • Redhead
  • Ring-necked Duck
  • Greater Scaup
  • Lesser Scaup
  • Bufflehead
  • Common Goldeneye
  • Hooded Merganser
  • Common Merganser
  • Red-breasted Merganser
  • Ruddy Duck
  • Gray Partridge
  • Ring-necked Pheasant
  • Wild Turkey
  • Common Loon
  • Pied-billed Grebe
  • Horned Grebe
  • Red-necked Grebe
  • Eared Grebe
  • Western Grebe
  • American White Pelican
  • Double-crested Cormorant
  • American Bittern
  • Least Bittern
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Great Egret
  • Snowy Egret
  • Cattle Egret
  • Green Heron
  • Black-crowned Night-Heron
  • White-faced Ibis
  • Turkey Vulture
  • Bald Eagle
  • Northern Harrier
  • Cooper’s Hawk
  • Broad-winged Hawk
  • Swainson’s Hawk
  • Red-tailed Hawk
  • Rough-legged Hawk
  • American Kestrel
  • Merlin
  • Peregrine Falcon
  • Virginia Rail
  • Sora
  • American Coot
  • Sandhill Crane
  • Black-bellied Plover
  • American Golden-Plover
  • Semipalmated Plover
  • Killdeer
  • American Avocet
  • Spotted Sandpiper
  • Solitary Sandpiper
  • Greater Yellowlegs
  • Willet
  • Lesser Yellowlegs
  • Hudsonian Godwit
  • Marbled Godwit
  • Ruddy Turnstone
  • Semipalmated Sandpiper
  • Least Sandpiper
  • White-rumped Sandpiper
  • Baird’s Sandpiper
  • Pectoral Sandpiper
  • Dunlin
  • Stilt Sandpiper
  • Short-billed Dowitcher
  • Long-billed Dowitcher
  • Wilson’s Snipe
  • Wilson’s Phalarope
  • Bonaparte’s Gull
  • Franklin’s Gull
  • Ring-billed Gull
  • Herring Gull
  • Caspian Tern
  • Black Tern
  • Common Tern
  • Forster’s Tern
  • Rock Pigeon
  • Mourning Dove
  • Black-billed Cuckoo
  • Great Horned Owl
  • Short-eared Owl
  • Common Nighthawk
  • Chimney Swift
  • Ruby-throated Hummingbird
  • Belted Kingfisher
  • Red-headed Woodpecker
  • Red-bellied Woodpecker
  • Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • Hairy Woodpecker
  • Northern Flicker
  • Pileated Woodpecker
  • Willow Flycatcher
  • Least Flycatcher
  • Eastern Phoebe
  • Great Crested Flycatcher
  • Eastern Kingbird
  • Northern Shrike
  • Yellow-throated Vireo
  • Warbling Vireo
  • Red-eyed Vireo
  • Blue Jay
  • American Crow
  • Horned Lark
  • Purple Martin
  • Tree Swallow
  • Bank Swallow
  • Cliff Swallow
  • Barn Swallow
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • White-breasted Nuthatch
  • House Wren
  • Sedge Wren
  • Marsh Wren
  • Golden-crowned Kinglet
  • Ruby-crowned Kinglet
  • Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
  • Eastern Bluebird
  • Swainson’s Thrush
  • American Robin
  • Gray Catbird
  • Brown Thrasher
  • European Starling
  • American Pipit
  • Cedar Waxwing
  • Lapland Longspur
  • Smith’s Longspur
  • Tennessee Warbler
  • Orange-crowned Warbler
  • Nashville Warbler
  • Yellow Warbler
  • Chestnut-sided Warbler
  • Yellow-rumped Warbler
  • Palm Warbler
  • Blackpoll Warbler
  • Black-and-white Warbler
  • American Redstart
  • Ovenbird
  • Common Yellowthroat
  • Wilson’s Warbler
  • American Tree Sparrow
  • Chipping Sparrow
  • Clay-colored Sparrow
  • Field Sparrow
  • Vesper Sparrow
  • Savannah Sparrow
  • Grasshopper Sparrow
  • Le Conte’s Sparrow
  • Nelson’s Sparrow
  • Fox Sparrow
  • Song Sparrow
  • Lincoln’s Sparrow
  • Swamp Sparrow
  • White-throated Sparrow
  • Harris’s Sparrow
  • White-crowned Sparrow
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • Scarlet Tanager
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Rose-breasted Grosbeak
  • Indigo Bunting
  • Dickcissel
  • Bobolink
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Western Meadowlark
  • Yellow-headed Blackbird
  • Rusty Blackbird
  • Brewer’s Blackbird
  • Common Grackle
  • Brown-headed Cowbird
  • Orchard Oriole
  • Baltimore Oriole
  • House Finch
  • American Goldfinch
  • House Sparrow

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Linnaeus Arboretum, Nicollet County

Categories:

Birding

The Linnaeus Arboretum, located on the campus of Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, might not be on many birders’ radar in terms of a Minnesota birding hotspot. True, it’s a public garden space surrounded on all sides by human development, from large academic buildings to suburban houses and apartments to agricultural fields.

I would being doing the location a disservice, though, if I didn’t include it on my list of favorite birding areas. Having spent seven years at Gustavus (four as a student and three as arboretum naturalist), I’ve birded the arboretum on countless days at all times of the year and amassed a birdlist comprising 174 species — not bad at all for an area comprising 125 acres. Granted, the Linnaeus Arboretum boasts a variety of habitats; deciduous forest, coniferous woods, cattail wetlands, and even a 70-acre tall-grass prairie are all found in the arboretum in addition to the formal gardens and tree collections. Throughout my career at Gustavus, I’ve been privileged to showcase this landscape to thousands of visitors, and have led birding hikes for a vast number of groups of all ages and interests.

As Gustavus Adolphus College sits on top of the western ridge of the river valley, anywhere in the arboretum can be a good spot for viewing migrating birds as they follow the Minnesota River flyway in both spring and fall. Beginning in early to mid-March, Bald Eagles are common sights above the arboretum (and the rest of campus) as they follow the river north; other raptors — including Red-tailed Hawks and Turkey Vultures — join them by the third week of March. Goose flocks soon follow; and while Canada Geese are still the most commonly sighted, flocks of Greater White-fronted and Cackling Geese are annual sights as well (in addition to a flock or two of Tundra Swans). The last week in March is usually a good time to see hundreds (if not thousands) of migrating American Robins across campus; look for them (and Cedar Waxwings) feeding on residual crabapples in the arboretum. In early April, watch for returning Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Eastern Phoebes, and Eastern Bluebirds flitting around the scattered trees south and west of the Interpretive Center (this area attracted a singing Eastern Meadowlark that stuck around for a month in 2006), and by mid-April several sparrows begin showing up as American White Pelicans, Double-crested Cormorants, and both Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets can be observed in the skies overhead. In late April, Brown Thrashers become nearly abundant in the arboretum as the birds forage across the lawns with Northern Flickers and the occasional Hermit Thrush.

The floodgates of spring open up in May, and migrating sparrows — including White-throated, Harris’s, and White-crowned — peak during the first week (look for them especially at the feeders behind the Interpretive Center). By mid-May you should be able to find a nice assortment of species throughout the arboretum; a walk along the wooded trails north of the Borgeson Cabin can produce a variety of warblers in addition to migrating flycatchers, thrushes, and other passerines. For some reason, the treeline between the woods to the east and the Coneflower Prairie to the west attracts a singing Lark Sparrow or two each May, as Indigo Buntings begin to show up in the same area toward the end of the month. Even the small wetlands have produced some interesting birds in May, including an American Bittern in 2006 and a calling Sora in both 2007 and 2010.

Fall migration can prove just as exciting, although as in other locations the return trip appears to be more gradual for most species instead of peaking within a single week; late August to mid-September is more or less the mirror image of mid- to late May for migrating songbirds in the arboretum. Particularly of interest in fall however is the Coneflower Prairie; similar to other prairies in southern Minnesota, this grassland holds its share of migrating sparrows in early to mid-October (including 19 Le Conte’s Sparrows observed in 2010 during the second week of October). In early November, check the coniferous woods west of the Jones Northern Forest Ponds for roosting owls; Great Horned, Barred, and Long-eared Owls were all present here for at least a few days at this time in 2010 (listen for the mobbing calls of Black-capped Chickadees and both White-breasted and Red-breasted Nuthatches to direct you to them).

I’ve also seen my share of rare birds in the Linnaeus Arboretum, in case the above still hasn’t convinced you to make a visit. These include: an adult Northern Goshawk flying over the arboretum in January 2005, a Golden Eagle flying over the Interpretive Center in October 2004, a White-eyed Vireo behind the Interpretive Center in November 2008, two Northern Mockingbirds four years apart from each other in almost the exact same location south of the Borgeson Cabin in 2005 and 2009, a breeding-plumaged male Smith’s Longspur in the Coneflower Prairie in April 2011, Red Crossbills in late October/early November in 2004 and 2006, a flock of up to 45 White-winged Crossbills during the winter invasion of 2008-2009, and a Hoary Redpoll at the feeders behind the Interpretive Center in March 2009.

For more information on the birds of the Linnaeus Arboretum, check out https://gustavus.edu/arboretum/birdlist.

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Bob’s birdlist from the Linnaeus Arboretum:

  • Greater White-fronted Goose
  • Snow Goose
  • Cackling Goose
  • Canada Goose
  • Trumpeter Swan
  • Tundra Swan
  • Wood Duck
  • Mallard
  • Blue-winged Teal
  • Hooded Merganser
  • Common Merganser
  • Ring-necked Pheasant
  • Wild Turkey
  • Common Loon
  • Pied-billed Grebe
  • American White Pelican
  • Double-crested Cormorant
  • American Bittern
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Great Egret
  • Green Heron
  • Turkey Vulture
  • Osprey
  • Bald Eagle
  • Northern Harrier
  • Sharp-shinned Hawk
  • Cooper’s Hawk
  • Northern Goshawk
  • Red-shouldered Hawk
  • Broad-winged Hawk
  • Swainson’s Hawk
  • Red-tailed Hawk
  • Golden Eagle
  • American Kestrel
  • Merlin
  • Peregrine Falcon
  • Sora
  • Killdeer
  • Solitary Sandpiper
  • Wilson’s Snipe
  • American Woodcock
  • Bonaparte’s Gull
  • Franklin’s Gull
  • Ring-billed Gull
  • Herring Gull
  • Caspian Tern
  • Black Tern
  • Forster’s Tern
  • Rock Pigeon
  • Mourning Dove
  • Black-billed Cuckoo
  • Great Horned Owl
  • Barred Owl
  • Long-eared Owl
  • Common Nighthawk
  • Chimney Swift
  • Ruby-throated Hummingbird
  • Belted Kingfisher
  • Red-headed Woodpecker
  • Red-bellied Woodpecker
  • Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • Hairy Woodpecker
  • Northern Flicker
  • Pileated Woodpecker
  • Eastern Wood-Pewee
  • Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
  • Least Flycatcher
  • Eastern Phoebe
  • Great Crested Flycatcher
  • Eastern Kingbird
  • Northern Shrike
  • White-eyed Vireo
  • Yellow-throated Vireo
  • Blue-headed Vireo
  • Warbling Vireo
  • Philadelphia Vireo
  • Red-eyed Vireo
  • Blue Jay
  • American Crow
  • Horned Lark
  • Purple Martin
  • Tree Swallow
  • Northern Rough-winged Swallow
  • Bank Swallow
  • Cliff Swallow
  • Barn Swallow
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Red-breasted Nuthatch
  • White-breasted Nuthatch
  • Brown Creeper
  • House Wren
  • Winter Wren
  • Sedge Wren
  • Marsh Wren
  • Golden-crowned Kinglet
  • Ruby-crowned Kinglet
  • Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
  • Eastern Bluebird
  • Gray-cheeked Thrush
  • Swainson’s Thrush
  • Hermit Thrush
  • American Robin
  • Gray Catbird
  • Northern Mockingbird
  • Brown Thrasher
  • European Starling
  • American Pipit
  • Cedar Waxwing
  • Lapland Longspur
  • Smith’s Longspur
  • Snow Bunting
  • Tennessee Warbler
  • Orange-crowned Warbler
  • Nashville Warbler
  • Northern Parula
  • Yellow Warbler
  • Chestnut-sided Warbler
  • Magnolia Warbler
  • Cape May Warbler
  • Yellow-rumped Warbler
  • Black-throated Green Warbler
  • Blackburnian Warbler
  • Pine Warbler
  • Palm Warbler
  • Blackpoll Warbler
  • Black-and-white Warbler
  • American Redstart
  • Ovenbird
  • Northern Waterthrush
  • Mourning Warbler
  • Common Yellowthroat
  • Wilson’s Warbler
  • Eastern Towhee
  • American Tree Sparrow
  • Chipping Sparrow
  • Clay-colored Sparrow
  • Field Sparrow
  • Vesper Sparrow
  • Lark Sparrow
  • Savannah Sparrow
  • Grasshopper Sparrow
  • Le Conte’s Sparrow
  • Fox Sparrow
  • Song Sparrow
  • Lincoln’s Sparrow
  • Swamp Sparrow
  • White-throated Sparrow
  • Harris’s Sparrow
  • White-crowned Sparrow
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • Scarlet Tanager
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Rose-breasted Grosbeak
  • Indigo Bunting
  • Dickcissel
  • Bobolink
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Eastern Meadowlark
  • Yellow-headed Blackbird
  • Rusty Blackbird
  • Common Grackle
  • Brown-headed Cowbird
  • Orchard Oriole
  • Baltimore Oriole
  • Purple Finch
  • House Finch
  • Red Crossbill
  • White-winged Crossbill
  • Common Redpoll
  • Hoary Redpoll
  • Pine Siskin
  • American Goldfinch
  • House Sparrow

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Rush River County Park, Sibley County

Categories:

Birding

As the Rush River cuts its way toward the Minnesota River southwest of Henderson, it enters a nice stretch of deciduous woods characteristic of elsewhere along the Minnesota River Valley in southern Minnesota. Under half a square mile, Rush River County Park (formerly Rush River State Wayside) isn’t comparable in size to some of the larger of these areas, including Seven-Mile Creek County Park, yet it nevertheless offers an easily accessible assortment of migrants and breeding birds sought after by many Minnesota birders.

Just like Seven-Mile, Rush River County Park becomes most interesting in May. The running waterway sandwiched between a steep cliff and dense bottomland woods tends to funnel large numbers of migrating warblers (as well as vireos, flycatchers, thrushes, and other songbirds) through the park, particularly from the second week of May until the end of the month; on the right day close to 20 species of warbler are possible (and possibly even expected) along the river and in the lower campground. Be sure to check out the grassy opening just past the park entrance before coming to the campground; other than migrant thrushes and nesting Eastern Bluebirds, keep an eye out for anything unusual (I found a male Summer Tanager along the fenceline here in 2008).

The upper campground across the park road offers a chunk of drier forest, attracting the likes of Wood Thrushes, Eastern Towhees, and Ovenbirds by the first week of May, and sometimes the majority of warblers are found at this location rather than the lower campground. North of the upper campground are a few acres of prairie; here one can find Field Sparrows and Blue-winged Warblers singing from the scattered trees as early as the second week of May.

Near the end of the month, listen for Cerulean Warblers singing from high in the cottonwoods in the lower campground or south of the park entrance along Rush River Park Road, and, if you’re here around sundown, listen for Eastern Whip-poor-wills calling incessantly from the ridges (this species probably breeds here).

At other times of year you’re likely to find a mix of species similar to that found at Seven-Mile; see that page for more information.

——

Bob’s birdlist from Rush River County Park:

  • Canada Goose
  • Wood Duck
  • Mallard
  • Ring-necked Duck
  • Hooded Merganser
  • Common Merganser
  • Wild Turkey
  • American White Pelican
  • Double-crested Cormorant
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Green Heron
  • Turkey Vulture
  • Bald Eagle
  • Cooper’s Hawk
  • Broad-winged Hawk
  • Red-tailed Hawk
  • American Kestrel
  • Killdeer
  • Spotted Sandpiper
  • American Woodcock
  • Ring-billed Gull
  • Rock Pigeon
  • Mourning Dove
  • Barred Owl
  • Common Nighthawk
  • Eastern Whip-poor-will
  • Chimney Swift
  • Ruby-throated Hummingbird
  • Belted Kingfisher
  • Red-bellied Woodpecker
  • Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • Hairy Woodpecker
  • Northern Flicker
  • Pileated Woodpecker
  • Eastern Wood-Pewee
  • Least Flycatcher
  • Eastern Phoebe
  • Great Crested Flycatcher
  • Eastern Kingbird
  • Yellow-throated Vireo
  • Blue-headed Vireo
  • Warbling Vireo
  • Philadelphia Vireo
  • Red-eyed Vireo
  • Blue Jay
  • American Crow
  • Tree Swallow
  • Northern Rough-winged Swallow
  • Bank Swallow
  • Cliff Swallow
  • Barn Swallow
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • White-breasted Nuthatch
  • Brown Creeper
  • House Wren
  • Winter Wren
  • Golden-crowned Kinglet
  • Ruby-crowned Kinglet
  • Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
  • Eastern Bluebird
  • Veery
  • Gray-cheeked Thrush
  • Swainson’s Thrush
  • Hermit Thrush
  • Wood Thrush
  • American Robin
  • Gray Catbird
  • Brown Thrasher
  • European Starling
  • Cedar Waxwing
  • Blue-winged Warbler
  • Golden-winged Warbler
  • Tennessee Warbler
  • Orange-crowned Warbler
  • Nashville Warbler
  • Northern Parula
  • Yellow Warbler
  • Chestnut-sided Warbler
  • Magnolia Warbler
  • Cape May Warbler
  • Yellow-rumped Warbler
  • Black-throated Green Warbler
  • Blackburnian Warbler
  • Pine Warbler
  • Bay-breasted Warbler
  • Blackpoll Warbler
  • Cerulean Warbler
  • Black-and-white Warbler
  • American Redstart
  • Ovenbird
  • Mourning Warbler
  • Common Yellowthroat
  • Eastern Towhee
  • Chipping Sparrow
  • Clay-colored Sparrow
  • Field Sparrow
  • Fox Sparrow
  • Song Sparrow
  • Lincoln’s Sparrow
  • Swamp Sparrow
  • White-throated Sparrow
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • Summer Tanager
  • Scarlet Tanager
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Rose-breasted Grosbeak
  • Indigo Bunting
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Common Grackle
  • Brown-headed Cowbird
  • Baltimore Oriole
  • House Finch
  • American Goldfinch
  • House Sparrow

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A Winter Walk in the Linnaeus Arboretum

Categories:

Nature Writing

Let’s go for a mid-winter nature walk, shall we?

Starting at the Interpretive Center we find several things of interest, aside from the several feet of solid snow. Here we see and hear a flurry of bird activity, as the seed feeders behind the center have been attracting a small flock of house finches, black-capped chickadees, and a single American goldfinch since late December. With all the snow cover in southern Minnesota this winter, birds (and squirrels…we have many of those as well) have been taking advantage of regularly filled feeders, and ours are certainly no exception. In front of the Interpretive Center we spot several fresh eastern cottontail tracks in the snow; this little rabbit appears to be making its winter home under the Colorado blue spruce no more than ten yards from the center’s front door. Walking around to the shelter on the west side of the center we pass a few crabapple trees still full of berries; these fruits still contain nutrition and will probably be foraged on by American robins and cedar waxwings come March. Also notice the large mature cones hanging from the drooping branches of our Norway spruces, reminiscent of the hanging pendulums of a Grandfather clock.

Heading west from the Interpretive Center (but avoiding the groomed ski trails), we enter a rather bleak white landscape. Without snowshoes we would sink into the snow to at least our knees if not our waists; all this snow (and more to come) could mean record flooding for the Minnesota River as spring approaches. As we near the Borgeson Cabin we glimpse many animal tracks; large linear deer trails, Y-shaped cottontail and W-shaped gray squirrel prints, and even scampering evidence of some small mice or voles. Entering the deciduous forest north of the cabin the landscape still feels exposed to the wind as the trees are bare and far from budding. Only a few residual red and bur oak leaves remain attached to limbs, and these are likely to fall in another strong wind. Here and there we come across a red cedar or juniper; these evergreens are naturally occurring but nonetheless invasive in southern and western Minnesota. If you look closely you might find a few of their blue-gray “berries”; while small and round in appearance, these structures are actually akin to the cones of pines and spruces.

Entering the coniferous forest we come to the dense stands of white and red (Norway) pines. On a windy day these trees would help shelter us from the cold, and this same insulation is why many birds and other animals spend a large part of winter roosting among their branches. Our ears pick up the sharp “chick!” of a red squirrel somewhere in the distance; these conifer-loving squirrels are smaller and perhaps more aggressive than their gray cousins. A blue jay shouts a harsh “jay!” nearby, perhaps revealing the location of a roosting owl or hawk. Completing the loop around the Jones Northern Forest Ponds we see a few cattail heads sticking up out of the snow; occasionally a sparrow or finch will find their seeds delectable. Heading south we pass the vast expanse of the Coneflower Prairie, but all we see now is a field of white that promises to abound with color in the onset of its third year of growth.

Upon returning to the Interpretive Center we find our own tracks that have now become a part of the winter landscape here in the Linnaeus Arboretum. How long these tracks will remain is anyone’s guess as we eagerly await the coming spring.

Published in Twinflower 22.1 (2011): 11.

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The Meadowlark

Categories:

Nature Writing

The meadowlark sings to greet the new day
As sweet thoughts of the night shimmer away.
Faint fading stars release their loving hold
Of a story, forever gone, untold;
Yet with each new chapter comes life reborn
That strengthens our ties to the past we mourn.
For the meadowlark truly sings for thee:
Each sunrise brings with it a memory.

Written in 2008.

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Seven-Mile Creek County Park, Nicollet County

Categories:

Birding

Located along U.S. Highway 169 between St. Peter and North Mankato, Seven-Mile Creek County Park comprises close to one square mile of deep wooded ravines tucked away into the western side of the Minnesota River valley. Such ravines are fairly common on both sides of the valley in this part of the state; Seven-Mile however is by far one of the largest and most accessible. Having lived seven years of my life in St. Peter, I’ve found this park to be one of southern Minnesota’s hotspots of avian diversity — on par with similar wooded parks located in the Twin Cities area or along the Mississippi River corridor.

Seven-Mile Creek County Park is by no means an unknown location in the birding world; in fact most birders who have visited the “bend in the river” in south-central Minnesota have spent some time at Seven-Mile. The difference is that such visitations from non-local birders occur only a few times each year, as the Minnesota River valley remains a relatively underbirded section of the state (in terms of numbers of birders). For the majority of the year, then, you’re likely to have the birds of the park to yourself.

The park becomes most interesting bird-wise in May and September, as the expanse of deciduous forest cut by a running stream creates an effective migrant trap. Warblers are as good here as in any other location in southern Minnesota, with 20+ species possible in a single morning, although some years (like most other locations) you have to hit it just right. Warblers start appearing in the park in good numbers as early as the first week of May, and by mid-May waves become common as flycatchers, vireos, and both Yellow-billed and Black-billed Cuckoos join the fray; the trails running west of the final parking lot — and particularly the 2.3-mile-long trail 8 loop — are especially conducive to finding good numbers of migrants. The passage continues through the end of the month, at which time Canada, Mourning, and even Connecticut Warblers are expected finds; Olive-sided, Yellow-bellied, and Alder Flycatchers are among the later migrants as well. In the fall, warblers start reappearing on their return trip south in late August, peaking in good numbers (but rarely in the concentrations seen in spring) around mid-September. April and October offer a different mix of migrants, including migrant sparrows (especially Fox and Lincoln’s), Winter Wrens, Brown Creepers, and Hermit Thrushes.

The park has its share of sought-after breeding species as well, including the rare and local Cerulean Warbler; in some years there is a singing male in the trees surrounding the final parking lot at the end of the park road. Scarlet Tanagers are also readily found singing from the canopies, and Yellow-billed Cuckoos are fairly regular finds throughout summer along the trails west of the final parking lot. Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers and Wood Thrushes are fairly common breeders throughout the park, and in the deeper parts of the ravines you’re likely to hear a Veery adding its song to the morning chorus of Ovenbirds, American Redstarts, and Yellow-throated Vireos. An occasional look up toward the tops of the bluffs might provide looks at a rare but resident Red-shouldered Hawk, and in wetter years the wooded river bottoms adjacent to the Seven-Mile Creek boat launch between the highway and the Minnesota River provide good habitat for Prothonotary Warblers. Beware: mosquitoes can be absolutely horrendous anywhere in the park June through August.

Even winter at Seven-Mile can produce something interesting, although you might get more enjoyment out of a snowshoe hike than a leisurely afternoon of birding at this time of year. That being said, most years the creek stays open throughout the colder months, offering overwintering habitat for American Robins, Belted Kingfishers, and the occasional Wilson’s Snipe.

——

Bob’s birdlist from Seven-Mile Creek County Park:

  • Canada Goose
  • Mallard
  • Wood Duck
  • Hooded Merganser
  • Wild Turkey
  • Double-crested Cormorant
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Great Egret
  • Green Heron
  • Turkey Vulture
  • Bald Eagle
  • Sharp-shinned Hawk
  • Cooper’s Hawk
  • Red-shouldered Hawk
  • Broad-winged Hawk
  • Red-tailed Hawk
  • American Kestrel
  • Killdeer
  • Spotted Sandpiper
  • Wilson’s Snipe
  • Ring-billed Gull
  • Mourning Dove
  • Yellow-billed Cuckoo
  • Black-billed Cuckoo
  • Barred Owl
  • Common Nighthawk
  • Chimney Swift
  • Ruby-throated Hummingbird
  • Belted Kingfisher
  • Red-headed Woodpecker
  • Red-bellied Woodpecker
  • Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • Hairy Woodpecker
  • Northern Flicker
  • Pileated Woodpecker
  • Olive-sided Flycatcher
  • Eastern Wood-Pewee
  • Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
  • Alder Flycatcher
  • Least Flycatcher
  • Eastern Phoebe
  • Great Crested Flycatcher
  • Yellow-throated Vireo
  • Blue-headed Vireo
  • Warbling Vireo
  • Philadelphia Vireo
  • Red-eyed Vireo
  • Blue Jay
  • American Crow
  • Tree Swallow
  • Northern Rough-winged Swallow
  • Bank Swallow
  • Cliff Swallow
  • Barn Swallow
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Red-breasted Nuthatch
  • White-breasted Nuthatch
  • Brown Creeper
  • House Wren
  • Winter Wren
  • Golden-crowned Kinglet
  • Ruby-crowned Kinglet
  • Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
  • Eastern Bluebird
  • Veery
  • Gray-cheeked Thrush
  • Swainson’s Thrush
  • Hermit Thrush
  • Wood Thrush
  • American Robin
  • Gray Catbird
  • Brown Thrasher
  • European Starling
  • Cedar Waxwing
  • Blue-winged Warbler
  • Golden-winged Warbler
  • Tennessee Warbler
  • Orange-crowned Warbler
  • Nashville Warbler
  • Northern Parula
  • Yellow Warbler
  • Chestnut-sided Warbler
  • Magnolia Warbler
  • Cape May Warbler
  • Yellow-rumped Warbler
  • Black-throated Green Warbler
  • Blackburnian Warbler
  • Palm Warbler
  • Bay-breasted Warbler
  • Blackpoll Warbler
  • Cerulean Warbler
  • Black-and-white Warbler
  • American Redstart
  • Prothonotary Warbler
  • Ovenbird
  • Northern Waterthrush
  • Louisiana Waterthrush
  • Connecticut Warbler
  • Mourning Warbler
  • Common Yellowthroat
  • Wilson’s Warbler
  • Canada Warbler
  • Eastern Towhee
  • Chipping Sparrow
  • Clay-colored Sparrow
  • Field Sparrow
  • Fox Sparrow
  • Song Sparrow
  • Lincoln’s Sparrow
  • Swamp Sparrow
  • White-throated Sparrow
  • Harris’s Sparrow
  • White-crowned Sparrow
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • Scarlet Tanager
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Rose-breasted Grosbeak
  • Indigo Bunting
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Common Grackle
  • Brown-headed Cowbird
  • Baltimore Oriole
  • House Finch
  • American Goldfinch
  • House Sparrow

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Red Rock Prairie, Cottonwood County

Categories:

Birding

One of the Nature Conservancy’s gems in southwestern Minnesota, Red Rock Prairie is another one of those grassland oases surrounded for miles around by farmland. Just under one square mile in total size, this prairie tract is situated along the Red Rock Ridge, an outcropping of Sioux quartzite spanning 23 miles east to west. Walking through the grasses interrupted only by an occasional slab of quartzite, at Red Rock Prairie one gets a sense of what the landscape looked like 200 years ago — when tall-grass prairie still occupied two-thirds of the state.

Most birders know Red Rock Prairie as the most reliable location in Minnesota in which to find Smith’s Longspurs. For some reason this migratory species is nearly expected here each fall as it passes through southwestern Minnesota during a ten-day window around the third week of October; it’s possible that other locations in western Minnesota are equally as reliable for turning up this species, but as yet none have been found. There are spring records at Red Rock as well — generally from the latter half of April — but fall continues to be the best time in which to look for them. If you’re present on the right day during their passing, it’s possible to find them in flocks numbering near a hundred birds; other times you’ll find only a few birds hiding among the grasses, and still others you’ll have to sort through a flock of the more common Lapland Longspurs to find a single Smith’s. The best area to look is generally in the grasses a few hundred yards east and south of the main Nature Conservancy sign/parking area. Beware, however: pheasant hunters also frequent the prairie from mid- to late October.

If you do happen to miss out on the Smith’s migration window, you’re still likely to see something of interest, particularly in the fall. A migrant Sprague’s Pipit was found by yours truly and some friends while looking for the longspurs on a weekend in mid-October, and a walk through the prairie near sundown that same weekend turned up no less than three Short-eared Owls flying like huge moths directly above our heads. Good numbers of American Golden-Plovers and American Pipits often stop to feed among the shorter grasses from late September through late October, and plenty of migrant sparrows (including Le Conte’s) are present in both spring and fall. From late April through the summer months, Northern Harriers, Grasshopper Sparrows, and Western Meadowlarks are nothing short of ubiquitous among other expected grassland species.

——

Bob’s birdlist from Red Rock Prairie:

  • Canada Goose
  • Mallard
  • Blue-winged Teal
  • Ring-necked Pheasant
  • Double-crested Cormorant
  • Northern Harrier
  • Red-tailed Hawk
  • American Kestrel
  • Merlin
  • American Golden-Plover
  • Killdeer
  • Franklin’s Gull
  • Ring-billed Gull
  • Mourning Dove
  • Short-eared Owl
  • Eastern Kingbird
  • American Crow
  • Horned Lark
  • Tree Swallow
  • Barn Swallow
  • Sedge Wren
  • American Robin
  • European Starling
  • American Pipit
  • Sprague’s Pipit
  • Lapland Longspur
  • Smith’s Longspur
  • Snow Bunting
  • Yellow-rumped Warbler
  • Clay-colored Sparrow
  • Vesper Sparrow
  • Savannah Sparrow
  • Grasshopper Sparrow
  • Le Conte’s Sparrow
  • Song Sparrow
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • Bobolink
  • Western Meadowlark
  • Common Grackle
  • American Goldfinch

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Blue Mounds State Park, Rock County

Categories:

Birding

I was first introduced to Blue Mounds when I was 6 or 7 years old; the family had stopped here en route to visit more family in Omaha, NE. This was probably the first time that I had seen real, live buffalo (the park is home to a fenced-off herd that grazes a large portion of prairie), and certainly the first time that I had walked across a prickly-pear cactus! Since then I’ve been back many times to enjoy the park’s approximately three square miles of tall-grass prairie outlined to its south and east by a stunning outcropping of Sioux quartzite that literally rises out of the surrounding land.

Today I find the the birds of Blue Mounds to be just as charismatic as its landscape. And to most Minnesota birders, Blue Mounds State Park means one thing: Blue Grosbeak. Indeed, this species can be found here more reliably and in greater numbers than at any other location in the state; in fact Blue Grosbeaks are generally rare and unexpected away from the extreme southwest corner of Minnesota. The grosbeaks seem to be quite fond of the shrubby borders between the prairie and the more wooded cliffside, and this is where I usually find them. Some years they tend to be more prevalent on the southern end of the park (especially in the vicinity of the many plum thickets), but I’ve recorded them throughout the park’s expanse in the habitat mentioned from late May through early August.

Yet the park also serves as a wooded oasis among miles and miles of agricultural and pastoral lands, and thus Blue Mounds provides prime breeding ground for several species in addition to an important stop for migratory songbirds. During the summer months, you’re guaranteed to find Bobolinks, Western Meadowlarks, Grasshopper Sparrows, and Dickcissels galore among other expected grassland birds; species present in smaller numbers that you still have a decent chance of finding include Upland Sandpipers, Western Kingbirds, Swainson’s Hawks, and displaying (booming) Common Nighthawks. A hike through the park’s woods during the same season can turn up both Baltimore and Orchard Orioles, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, and both Yellow-billed and Black-billed Cuckoos, and the man-made wetlands situated on the park’s north side attract breeding Yellow-headed Blackbirds, Belted Kingfishers, and Willow Flycatchers.

Migration is perhaps even more exciting than the breeding season at Blue Mounds. In spring and fall the park has attracted a long list of western strays more common in the Dakotas, including a Lazuli Bunting in 2003. Spotted Towhees have been found in the park’s woods during late April and May on several occasions; watch for this species especially along the wooded stream that runs north of the walk-in campground. Any warblers, vireos, and flycatchers migrating through Rock County are likely to make a pit stop at Blue Mounds, and although you’ll probably never run into any significant waves or fallouts you should be able to find a nice mix of several species throughout the park. The prairie itself attracts a large variety of migrant sparrows; even Le Conte’s Sparrows can be easily located by taking a walk through the park’s grasslands from late September to mid-October.

——

Bob’s birdlist from Blue Mounds State Park:

  • Canada Goose
  • Wood Duck
  • Mallard
  • Blue-winged Teal
  • Hooded Merganser
  • Ring-necked Pheasant
  • Pied-billed Grebe
  • American White Pelican
  • Double-crested Cormorant
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Great Egret
  • Green Heron
  • Turkey Vulture
  • Northern Harrier
  • Cooper’s Hawk
  • Broad-winged Hawk
  • Swainson’s Hawk
  • Red-tailed Hawk
  • American Kestrel
  • American Coot
  • Black-bellied Plover
  • Killdeer
  • Spotted Sandpiper
  • Wilson’s Snipe
  • Franklin’s Gull
  • Ring-billed Gull
  • Forster’s Tern
  • Rock Pigeon
  • Mourning Dove
  • Yellow-billed Cuckoo
  • Black-billed Cuckoo
  • Eastern Screech-Owl
  • Common Nighthawk
  • Chimney Swift
  • Ruby-throated Hummingbird
  • Belted Kingfisher
  • Red-bellied Woodpecker
  • Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • Hairy Woodpecker
  • Northern Flicker
  • Eastern Wood-Pewee
  • Alder Flycatcher
  • Willow Flycatcher
  • Least Flycatcher
  • Eastern Phoebe
  • Great Crested Flycatcher
  • Western Kingbird
  • Eastern Kingbird
  • Yellow-throated Vireo
  • Warbling Vireo
  • Philadelphia Vireo
  • Red-eyed Vireo
  • Blue Jay
  • American Crow
  • Horned Lark
  • Purple Martin
  • Tree Swallow
  • Northern Rough-winged Swallow
  • Bank Swallow
  • Cliff Swallow
  • Barn Swallow
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • White-breasted Nuthatch
  • Brown Creeper
  • House Wren
  • Winter Wren
  • Sedge Wren
  • Golden-crowned Kinglet
  • Ruby-crowned Kinglet
  • Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
  • Eastern Bluebird
  • Gray-cheeked Thrush
  • Swainson’s Thrush
  • Hermit Thrush
  • American Robin
  • Gray Catbird
  • Brown Thrasher
  • European Starling
  • American Pipit
  • Cedar Waxwing
  • Tennessee Warbler
  • Orange-crowned Warbler
  • Nashville Warbler
  • Yellow Warbler
  • Chestnut-sided Warbler
  • Magnolia Warbler
  • Yellow-rumped Warbler
  • Palm Warbler
  • Bay-breasted Warbler
  • Blackpoll Warbler
  • Black-and-white Warbler
  • American Redstart
  • Northern Waterthrush
  • Mourning Warbler
  • Common Yellowthroat
  • Wilson’s Warbler
  • Spotted Towhee
  • American Tree Sparrow
  • Chipping Sparrow
  • Clay-colored Sparrow
  • Field Sparrow
  • Vesper Sparrow
  • Savannah Sparrow
  • Grasshopper Sparrow
  • Henslow’s Sparrow
  • Le Conte’s Sparrow
  • Song Sparrow
  • Lincoln’s Sparrow
  • Swamp Sparrow
  • White-throated Sparrow
  • Harris’s Sparrow
  • White-crowned Sparrow
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Rose-breasted Grosbeak
  • Blue Grosbeak
  • Lazuli Bunting
  • Indigo Bunting
  • Dickcissel
  • Bobolink
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Western Meadowlark
  • Yellow-headed Blackbird
  • Rusty Blackbird
  • Common Grackle
  • Brown-headed Cowbird
  • Orchard Oriole
  • Baltimore Oriole
  • Purple Finch
  • House Finch
  • Pine Siskin
  • American Goldfinch
  • House Sparrow

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Stranded

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Nature Writing

The following was written in early June 2008 and originally posted on one of my former blogs. After graduating from Gustavus Adolphus College and prior to working there I briefly took part in a National Park Service vegetation study on the Apostle Islands of northern Wisconsin.

Thus ends one of the most stressful weeks of my entire life.

It all began Monday morning with the scheduled 8 AM pickup at Roy’s Point, a NPS dock just north of Bayfield. Upon parking the car there we are told that we are being picked up by someone other than who we had scheduled with the week before. Ok, fine. 9 AM rolls around, with no sign of our boat. We attempt to use our radio to reach dispatch in Bayfield. But oh no, our radio doesn’t appear to be programmed correctly. Twenty minutes later, our radio is working after a phone consultation with people at HQ in Bayfield, and we are told that our pickup was never told to pick us up (a fine example of federal miscommunication). At 10 AM our boatman finally arrives, and we’re off to Sand Island.

We get dropped off at East Sand Bay and find that our campsite is only 50 yards from the dock. Easy enough. So we set up camp, have lunch, then around noon set out into the field to do some survey points. The weather is warm, so we wear t-shirts. The mosquitoes quickly point out our mistake, however, as we retaliate with bug repellent.

8 survey points, 7 hours, and one Black-throated Blue Warbler later, we’re back at camp and cooking dinner, which for me is trail mix and a can of Chunky Beef soup. Before going to bed in our tents, the lead ecologist says to us, “If bears start sniffing around your tent, just give ‘em a kick.” Yeah…

But no bears come sniffing during the night, and by 8 AM Tuesday morning we’re off on the trail to our survey points on the southern end of the island. (The trail, actually, ended just a few hundred yards south of our campsite; the majority of hiking was done off trail). The habitat we walk through seems different from the yew (Taxus) forests that we had seen the day before, and sure enough before long we find ourselves in the middle of an alder bog.

The next ten hours have us all wondering why the **** we decided to take this job. With our hiking shoes wet (nobody told us to bring waders or knee-high boots), mosquitoes swarming in clouds around our bodies, and a persistent drizzle from an overcast sky, spirits are understandably low. (Alder bogs are now my least favorite vegetation type, by the way).

But the harsh conditions urge us on, and we end the day around 5 PM with 10 points surveyed. To celebrate the end of the long day, we attempt to build a fire. But our feeble attempts to create a blaze, with wet wood mind you, are in vain.

By the grace of God there is a troop of upper level girl and boy scouts camped next to us this night, and they eagerly show us the proper way to build a fire. (This has to be one of the most useful things I’ve ever learned.)

Sitting by our now roaring fire, we hear talk of inclement weather from the scout camp. Listening to their weather radio (what’s that saying about scouts always being prepared?), we learn that tomorrow is forecast to be cold and rainy, with thunderstorms, gale-force winds, and possible flash floods starting in the afternoon. We decide to radio Bayfield HQ in the morning to ask for a pickup.

We wake up Wednesday morning to gray skies and a little wind, but otherwise stable conditions. At 8 AM we call for our pickup, but are told that no boats can reach us today. Our spirits sink, but we call our official boatman at Roy’s Point, who tells us to sit tight and he should be able to pick us up and take us back to the mainland. Hooray!

False ending #1.

An hour later, as we’re surveying some points near camp, our boatman calls us to say that a pickup today is impossible under current lake conditions, and that we will have to wait until Thursday. Disheartened, we painfully accept the news.

Meanwhile, the wind has picked up, and the smell of impending rain is in the air. We continue to survey until it begins to rain hard. Hustling back to camp, our clothes and boots get soaked despite our rain gear. Around 3 PM we frantically dive into our tents and put on some warm, dry clothes. By this time it is pouring outside, so we decide to get some afternoon sleep. But the rain continues unbroken, and before we know it the gray daylight is fading.

Sharing a 4-person waterproof tent, the other assistant ecologist and I realize that some water is infiltrating the tent’s fabric. We do our best to throw towels and clothes over these wet spots and go back to sleep. Around 10 PM it begins to thunder. Lightning soon precedes it, as both the wind and rain intensify further. We try our best to ignore the storm, and continue to doze intermittently for the next few hours.

Around 2 AM Thursday morning we wake up to find the storm still howling, except now we note two new things: 1, it’s about 40 degrees outside, and 2, everything in the tent is soaked, including our pillows and most of our sleeping bags.

Contemplating our next move, we realize we are currently in a survival situation, as the tent is our only means of shelter. Fearing the onset of hypothermia, we flush out some water and do our best to stay warm. Somehow, my legs and feet are dry, which might be the only thing keeping me from hypothermia. Half an hour later the storm begins to subside somewhat; at the least it is no longer raining hard. We try to remain dry despite the pools of cold water scattered around the tent floor (and despite my sleeping pad being 100% saturated).

At 4 AM my tentmate goes out for a break from the wet tent, but then quickly runs back in with a wide-eyed frightened look on his face as he pants, “BEAR!…bear….” At this point I’m too tired and cold to care much, so I just tell him that running was the last thing he should have done and try to fall back asleep.

Around 7 AM we wake up for good. It’s still about 40 degrees outside, and everything is wet. There is a large fallen branch on the ground not more than 15 feet from our tent. My rain pants are soaked, so all I have to wear is a pair of long-legged shorts (my man-pris, as they have been affectionately called by some). My fleece jacket is also drenched, so all I have on my upper body is a few t-shirts under a hooded sweatshirt.

Realizing that none of us is in any condition (indeed, it would be dangerous) to spend another night in our tents, we call Bayfield HQ on our radio and ask for a pickup. “Negative,” replies HQ. We then explain our current state and make it clear that we absolutely CANNOT spend another night in our tents. After purging us on whether we were prepared to begin with (how can you prepare for a flash flood on an island?), HQ makes a phone call. “Be ready in 15 minutes,” we’re told. “If something isn’t on the dock it will be left behind.” Around 10 AM all our gear is on the dock as a boat approaches. Finally, we’re saved!

False ending #2.

As the boat approaches, the lakeshore becomes too choppy near the dock, and the boatmen radio to us that a pickup is impossible. Instead, they float a bag to us that contains some warm blankets and a key. This key gives us access to a NPS cabin not more than 75 yards from our campsite. As we retrieve the bag, we are told that a pickup will occur Friday morning. And thus we have to spend one more night on Sand Island. The island, it seems, didn’t want us to leave.

Friday morning we wake up to a beautiful blue sky and a calm lake. Around 8 AM a boat lands at the dock and lets off a group of archaeologists. Meanwhile two kayakers who spent the night in our former campsite approach us, and we share stories. One of the two graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1994 and has been kayaking in the Apostle Islands during summers ever since. Never, he says, has he seen a storm that did this much damage or dumped so much rain on the islands. Great. And we camped through it.

Our boat arrives after the archaeologists’ boat, and finally we depart the island at 9 AM. 15 minutes later we’re on the mainland, only to be confronted by a person from HQ who verbally chastises us for trying to get pickups off the island prior to Friday morning. Apparently there was a miscommunication between our employer and the NPS as to how much they care about our safety while we’re on the islands.

But now I’m back on the mainland. It’s been a long, tough week of work, and tonight I’m probably going to drink myself silly. It can only get better from here.

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