Outside my house Friday afternoon, I heard geese – White-fronted Geese – the first Arctic-nesting geese to arrive this fall! I searched the blue sky and soon sighted the flock of about 20, flying due south, and suddenly they turned downward – apparently landing at nearby Melody's Marsh. Waterfowl were already at the top of my list last week after a surprise concentration of about 60 Canvasbacks turned up at Bobby's Lake, just 2 miles north of the office, along with about 30 Green-winged Teal, 20 Ruddy Ducks, and maybe 10 Northern Shovelers. At least that's what my friend Kristine and I estimated at the first stop of our birding drive Friday.
From there we u-turned to the south, where a late adult Swainson's Hawk surprised us just 6 miles south of home and added to Kristine's Dakota birding list. Kristine is visiting her Mom and family with her husband Jacques during a break from the excitement of San Francisco – San Jose to be more exact. Jacques was busy helping to harvest soybeans and corn 45 miles to the east, but I'm hoping he can join us on another field excursion during their visit. We checked for the Burrowing Owl another time without a sighting, but did see 1 of only 4 Red-tailed Hawks encountered along the way to Erickson Marsh and Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge in the Dakota to the south.
Along the way Kristine picked out a 3-some of Buffleheads that included a female and 2 males (the first of the season), and we also observed 4 lone Northern Harriers, a few Ring-necked Pheasants, and a rare Sharp-tailed Grouse in the area west of Erickson Marsh. At the marsh proper, American Avocets were down to about 50 in number, while there were about 15 Long-billed Dowitchers, a few Ring-billed Gulls, many Northern Pintails, and 15+ Green-winged Teal. At Sand Lake Refuge we were impressed by the number of flocks of White Pelicans in flight above the James River floodplain, moving between 3 concentration areas, one of which included a very large communal feeding flock near an even larger group of loafing pelicans. With their 9-feet wide wingspan, the pelicans were especially impressive when they passed directly overhead, low – what fun.
Widely scattered Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets were present in shallow-water areas, and we heard a few Sandhill Cranes not too far away, but hidden by a curtain of cattails. The calls of Western Grebes were a favorite in one area of the marsh, and with some grebes making food begging calls, we saw that there were still a couple late family groups on hand with large, likely fledged young grebes urging adults for food. There were many flocks of Double-crested Cormorants winging by too, and I dismissed a large distant flock as cormorants until the birds approached within hearing range and revealed themselves as White-fronted Geese – a rookie mistake.
After a crazy-wind day Thursday, Friday afternoon was mostly calm and quiet – in fact, we had Sand Lake Refuge to ourselves among the birds, and by the time the sun was low there was a wonderful feeling of calm in the midst of autumn. Giant Canada Geese, Ruddy Ducks, Mallards, Green-winged Teal, Pied-billed Grebes, American Robins, Red-winged Blackbirds, and a few more Ring-necked Pheasants rounded out the birds on hand, and Kristine and I enjoyed a good visit as we returned to my office. Saturday, to add to the list of birds at Bobby's Lake, a flock of about 35 Canada Geese were present – migrants – of a smaller race than the 5 Giant Canadas that were present 20 yards away for comparison.
The Third State: After publishing The Birding Wire last Tuesday, I rushed down to a Wood Duck marsh just north of Minneapolis with the hope that I would find a few Wood Ducks to photograph – or at least 1 – during the short break in the clouds predicted for Wednesday afternoon. That morning the weather was bleak, but I checked the marsh and luckily found a group of 10 Wood Ducks resting in the shade of the tree-lined wetland near some Mallards. Hoping for some photos when (if) the sun broke through the clouds, I spent the rest of the morning with my niece Katy and her little boy Anders – the newest nature boy in our family.
Anders was well aware of the drake Mallard swimming in the pond on the fenced edge of their yard, and Katy pointed out a male Downy Woodpecker in an adjacent tree too. During our outdoor fun with Anders, we also observed a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, a few Yellow-rumped Warblers, American Goldfinches, Blue Jays, and American Robins. I rejoined Katy and Anders later when my nephew Jeff returned home, but at 12:30 I headed back to the waterfowl marsh as the sunlight began to show through breaks in the cloudy sky. I share the rest of the Wood Duck photo story and the best of the resulting photos in the Bird Photography feature in this issue.
Arctic Transfers to Dakota: Was I ever surprised to see the first Snow Geese 2 miles north of the office Sunday afternoon – 2 white Snow Geese and a family group of blue morph Snow Geese that included 1 young of the year. But that was just the beginning. I'm sure my jaw dropped open when I saw that the many white dots at Cindy's Lake were Tundra Swans instead of pelicans. Located about 35 miles to the northwest, I estimated 180 Tundra Swans, and a flock of about 45 Snow Geese circled low and landed among some swans too. Another 4 miles north I intercepted a flock of 5 blue morph Snow Geese in flight, followed by about 25 White-fronted Geese a mile farther. One more mile north I sighted about 75 White-fronted Geese with a family group of 4 Tundra Swans; and 20 more swans were resting in the distance at Wentz Lake to round out the new Arctic arrivals for the day. As I was returning, I spied another flock of newbies – about 30 Sandhill Cranes flying earnestly in a perfect V to the southeast.
Along the way, there were thick single-species flocks of ducks that included Canvasbacks, Lesser Scaup, Redheads, Northern Pintails, and Green-winged Teal. There was also a mixed flock at one lake that included the previous 4 species along with Northern Shovelers, Mallards, and Ruddy Ducks. A pair of American Wigeons stood out on the edge of another lake, and there were Mallards in several marshes along the way. Also, 3 flocks of Buffleheads were present in scattered wetlands numbering 5, 12, and 18. There were a couple big flocks of American Coots, a few single Great Egrets, many Double-crested Cormorants, 2 White Pelicans, scattered Ring-billed Gulls, and 8 Red-tailed Hawks that included a standout rufous morph adult that was not a Harlan's Red-tail. A few male Ring-necked Pheasants were scattered along the way too, and a single Sharp-tailed Grouse flushed as I was driving by. There was also a pretty large flock of Dark-eyed Juncos on the edge of a tree grove with lots of low bushes, and they are among the new birds found in the area Sunday, along with the Sandhill Cranes, Lesser Scaup, and Arctic transfers.
Also of special note, at about the 13 mile point, an adult Bald Eagle provided a series of flight photographs as it was focused on a small road kill. As it circled the second time, I thought it was going to pick the mammal up as if it was grabbing a fish from the water – a very interesting move for an apparently very hungry eagle. At the 20 mile point, a few American Crows that were flying low and due south turned out to be the start of a nearly mile-long flight of crows that I estimated at about 150 – more than I've ever seen migrating in the open prairie where there are few crow sightings of any numbers beyond the low single digits.
Just a mile northeast of the office, Monday I checked Dean's Lake and was pleasantly surprised to see about 55 Tundra Swans, 170 White-fronted Geese, and 110 American Avocets! Considering the new arrivals from the Arctic, I am starting to watch for Rough-legged Hawks too, just days after seeing what was probably the last Swainson's Hawk this far north. It has been another week for me to visit 3 states during enthusiastic birding activities, and I can almost hear the ravens of north-central Minnesota calling again. But you can be sure I will be documenting the advent of more Arctic-nesting waterfowl and other migrants and potential wintering birds in south-central North Dakota as often as possible. Enjoy the birding opportunities around you as the birding season seems to be taking another turn, yet again.
Article and Photos by Paul Konrad
Share your bird sightings and photographs ateditorstbw2@gmail.com