No secret has been made on this blog that Owls would play a predominant role in 2017’s goals and adventures. Seeing as how my #1 goal of seeing an irruptive Boreal Owl lifer is not panning out (yet), I’d have to look slightly further down my list to #2 if I was to get any check mark action on the little scrap of paper I keep tucked away in my Sibley. While that second goal was not an Owl lifer, it was just as tantalizing: a red-morph Eastern Screech-Owl. Just a different color morph of the EASO which I already had in the gray hue, I know, but so, so different from those other gray Screech-Owl species of Western and Whiskered which I’ve already tallied. Because my list of goals contained so many Owl-related items, I shared it with my friend, Jeff Grotte, a.k.a. Owl King of Minnesota, who lords over his vast digital domain of ‘Owl About Minnesota’ on FB. Jeff’s a super nice guy who I’ve had the pleasure of owling with before, and he told me he thought we could knock #2 off my list. He wasn’t kidding and wasted no time. Not very deep into 2017–Jan. 1 to be exact, Jeff investigated a lead on a red Screech and was successful. Shortly afterward he had gained the necessary permission to return to show me this Owl’s abode, a quiet postage-stamp pond in the grove of a rural residence south of the Twin Cities.
The homeowner, Kathy, assured Jeff the Owl was there regularly; it would just be a matter of me finding a time to make the 2-hour trip. Funny thing when you are a parent, your time no longer belongs to you–work and kid activities keep us hopping and out of the house most every day and now on weekends too. Birding definitely takes a back seat. I was feeling the need to get this done though; bird in the hand and whatnot. With Melissa being gone on a trip all weekend, I was staring at some serious single-parenting. The red Screech dream was seemingly out of reach. So I did what any serious Owler would do: cashed in some comp time and took me an Owliday mid-week.
After dropping the kids off at school on Thursday, I did not drop myself off at school and kept rolling east to the metro where I met up with Jeff. Jeff brought along another birding/owling friend, Steve Brown. The three of us were waiting on word from Kathy regarding whether the red Screech was even home this day. But birders and owlers don’t sit still. We went on the hunt for Long-eared Owls for a short time in Eden Prairie. While unsuccessful with that target, we did kick up a Barred Owl which was a good omen for the day.
After this little foray, we headed over to Steve’s house to drop off my vehicle and consolidate into his. As I tailed Steve and Jeff, I saw a mob of Crows in a tree and began scanning for an Owl blob. One of the birds was noticeably bigger but not Owl-shaped. As I cruised by I could see it was a Red-shouldered Hawk! This is a bird I’ve had terrible looks at and never photographed before. I flashed my lights at Steve and Jeff. No response. It didn’t even dawn on me to use my cellphone. As I put more distance between myself and the hawk, I was resigned to the fact that this bird would continue to elude me in looks and photos.
When I got out of my car in Steve’s driveway, I was just about to tell the guys about my Red-shouldered Hawk woes when Steve started talking first, “Say, I think we should go in the house before we head out again because I’ve got a real tame Red-shouldered Hawk that hangs out in my backyard all day. You can get some nice photos.” Jaw nearly met the ground. I hadn’t even mentioned that this would be a photographic lifer. We went into Steve’s beautiful home that overlooks the Minnesota River Valley, and Steve wasn’t lying. Bam. Another good omen.
These photos were shot through glass. Like Jeff, Steve is an accomplished photographer who ushered me into his photo blind where I could photograph the Hawk without a glass barrier. Unfortunately, the Hawk got a bit nervous and flew into some tangles. But have a look at that tail!
I very quickly learned that Steve, a retired dentist, was taking our birding mission very seriously. While the main object was to get me the red Screech, Steve did not want to send his newest guest away without getting some other good birds too. He was off to a stellar start. In many ways I felt like I was in a parallel birding world to my experiences in Arizona. Jeff was the MN Tommy and Steve was the MN Gordon. Like in Arizona, there was one main mission for the day–get Josh the red Screech. That didn’t mean we couldn’t enjoy a little action while we waited, like this American Black Duck among the 500+ Mallards it was with at the Shakopee Mill Pond. Black Ducks have been really good to me this year.
The open water was a good chance to pick up some FOYs as I still struggle to reach that barrier of 50 species. Belted Kingfisher, American Coot, Ring-necked Duck, and Lesser Scaup were all new for the year. Ducks do not hold the attention for long, so we were off to do some backroads exploring while we waited for a sighting update on the red Screech. We were told it pops out of the hole of the Wood Duck box regularly on sunny days. This day was dreadfully cloudy, so we were hearing nothing in regards to the Owl. Just like Tommy, Jeff was really wanting to get me the target Owl bad. We discussed an alternative option in St. Paul, but that was quite far away and no one had seen Screech- Owls in that spot for months. As the hours ticked on, we were all wondering if the day’s objective would be a bust. Jeff figured our best shot was still with this homeowner, so he messaged her to ask if we could poke around the property to try to turn it up. With an affirmative answer, we were on our way to at least make an attempt.
We pulled into the driveway, and Kathy and Mike were there to greet us in a warm, Minnesota-nice way on this cold day. And what a greeting it was–with excited eyes, Kathy’s first words through the open car window were, “It’s here!” The car lit up with smiles and laughs not unlike the war room when they got Osama bin Laden. After some pleasantries, the five of us headed out on a cleared path in the snow around some outbuildings to the secluded corner where the Screech had taken up residency. Even though they had cameras as long as my arms, Jeff and Steve urged me to go first so I could get my look and photos. The generosity and mission focus was the Tommy/Gordon thing all over again. Uncanny.
The pond actually had three Wood Duck boxes. Mike told us which one the Screech was in just 15 minutes ago. So we stared and stared at a black hole, hoping it would get filled in with a red face.
Knowing there was a red Screech in there made for some impatient waiting. The Owl was not being cooperative at all while we watched and waited. We were so close to meeting the big objective, but it just wasn’t happening and the impatience of all was festering. Would we have come this far only to fail? What’s that they say? When a door closes, open a window?
We thought this Owl was going to let us photograph it in this position for a little while, but after a half minute or so, it had enough of this nonsense and flew straight toward us and directly into to the hole of another Wood Duck box. We never did see it again and decided to leave it alone. High on a successful trip, we continued to hang out by that little pond and talk Owls with Mike and Kathy. We thanked them profusely and were finally on our way. With a few hours of daylight left, the day was still wide open with possibility.
Steve, Jeff, and I spent some more time looking for Long-eared Owls near Steve’s place but were not successful. Jeff is always up for more Owling (like Tommy), so after we said our goodbyes and thank yous to Steve, Jeff and I were off for Round 2 of Eastern Screech-Owls. I told Jeff that I thought it would be cool to try to see both color morphs in the same day. So we went to track one down in the western suburbs. With some tenacity and brilliance (all on Jeff’s part), we got what we came for:
Quality over quantity is what this birding year is all about this year. This day definitely embodied that as a lifer* Owl was had with a couple of bonus Owls all while having fun with friends. A huge thanks to Jeff Grotte for setting everything up and making a fun day off, to Steve Brown for the other good birds and the selfless enthusiasm, and most importantly a big thank you to Mike and Kathy for sharing their special yard bird with us. There will be more Owling with Jeff and possibly Steve in the months to come. But first, I have a duck to track down.
Walking out in this grassland, we were not expecting but were quite delighted to kick up two Short-eared Owls. It’s a pretty good day when a Short-eared Owl is a consolation prize.
Steve, Riley, and I had phenomenal close fly-bys of these Owls. Though the birds were cooperating for photos, the clouds and dropping sun were not. Even still, I got a few shots to remember the night.
Then with no fear, one of the Owls perched up fairly close. It was exciting to see a perched Short-eared Owl–this likely would never happen again, right?
When it was finally time to leave northern MN, I got word that a Great Gray had just been seen in Cook, a mere 15 minutes from the parents’. I didn’t have time to look for it and had to go back to west-central MN. It seems I am always at the wrong end of the state.
What’s not been mentioned yet is that the other members of my party were promptly notified and arrived on-scene shortly afterward. Just as they arrived, a Rough-legged Hawk appeared and got into an aerial spat with the Owl. The latter was decisively victorious as it drove the former to the ground to the great delight of the Kandi crew. A little while later the Short-eared perched up on a road sign offering everybody a chance to get incredible looks as the Owl at its Vole dinner.
The newer Kandi birders, of which I am one, were elated. The wise old Kandi legends were pleased–their prophecy that such a moment would happen in this very place had come true. They had preached patience all along. Some grasshoppers don’t listen, though, and end up going to North Dakota.
Certainly there was no way for the day to get any better. Or was there?
Not once did I bump this Owl off its perch. In fact, we all got incredible looks as we slowly drove by the bird while it continued to sit on the sign. Brad and I watched it from the vehicle at close range for a long time until it finished its meal and then quickly went out to grab another Vole. The talon to beak transfer we witnessed was incredibly smooth and quick.
At the rate and manner in which things are progressing, you better believe I’m watching the field by my house when I take my dog out to pee.
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I actually scouted this bird twice, and it took just a slight amount of arm-twisting to convince Tommy to do what probably no other birder had ever done before–fly in to Minneapolis from Phoenix for less than 24 hours to see an Eastern Screech-Owl. But Tommy is an intrepid Owler and often does what no one else does. And because of that, Owling is always better with Tommy. The view of the Screech in the hole above is what 95% of the Owl paparazzi saw; Tommy and I were in the othe 5. As it has been said, when you think like everyone else, you aren’t really thinking. So rather than show up midday like everyone else to look for a sleeping Owl, Tommy and I were at Lake Harriet before the light of day completely by ourselves. In the emerging pre-dawn light, Tommy discovered the Screech Owl as it flew right by him, and once again I got to hear him say that adrenaline-pumping phrase, “Hey Josh!!” Tommy and I then enjoyed an extremely active Eastern Screech-Owl that wasn’t confined to a hole! The combination of helping Tommy get this life bird and getting Owl #16 for his Big Year along with the show this Owl put on made it feel like a lifer experience even though it wasn’t for me.
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1. So here we are at #1. What is it you might ask? A lifer? A state bird? A vagrant? A colorful bird? None of the above! In my never ending studies of Kandiyohi County birding, I had learned that Kandiyohi County had no record of a Surf Scoter. It didn’t make sense to me since our county is full of lakes, and this species shows up regularly throughout the state during their migration window. So I made it my personal mission to get out there and find one. Besides, I just really love sea ducks. For weeks this fall I checked soooo many lakes and always got the same result–until one day when I got a different result:
It was a brand new bird for our county which is not an easy task these days. In a county with 311 recorded species, of which Randy Frederickson has seen 292 of them, there are very few birding frontiers on the home turf. One of the great things about this sighting was that my Kandiyohi County birding friends Randy Frederickson, Ron Erpelding, Joel Schmidt, and Steve Gardner all got to add this bird to their county lists too. For Joel it was even a state bird, and for Steve it was life bird.
When I pulled up to the boat launch at Lake Waconia Regional Park, I saw a Carver County Sheriff truck trailering a patrol boat. I thought it was odd since no one would be on the lake on a day like this nor could a boat be launched in the rapidly building ice. Strange. I didn’t think about it much more and set about my business of finding my target. Watching the sea swells and facing into the sub-zero windchills was brutal even for being dressed for the elements. Scans of the big lake were intermittent and necessitated warm-up sessions in the car. Having no luck seeing the duck (which was there that morning), I asked Julie for any tips on where to stare into that blue abyss to find this duck. In giving me directions, Julie also reminded me of the ongoing search for a paddleboarder that went missing two week prior. The dots started connecting in my head regarding the Sheriff’s trailered boat, trucks driving slowly along the shoreline who I had thought were also looking for the Scoter, and my own vague recollection of a news report I had seen. It was suddenly a grim realization that I should be looking for more than just my bird.
The incredible distance, the numb fingers, and disappearing/reappearing bird made picture-taking a nightmare. Regardless, I was thrilled to finally add this bird and see an adult male at that, a gender/plumage combo that is rarely ever seen in the state.
The excitement of this new addition was tempered by a Sheriff’s helicopter making constant circles around the lake the whole time I was there, undoubtedly desperate to find this man on this last day of open water. The man was just a couple years younger than me with two young kids and another on the way. He had gone out to pursue his passion of wildlife photography from his paddleboard. And here I was at the same body of water just a couple weeks later pursuing mine. Life really is unfair. The whole ride back to work it was hard not to wonder if I sometimes take unnecessary risks in the pursuit of my hobby. Then again, a life lived with no adventure is a life not fully lived. Seize the day.
I couldn’t believe my luck. This happened once two years ago in this same spot but with just one bird. The female (lifer gender) above and the male below stood motionless on the road as I crept the vehicle closer and closer to them.
As I watched, I spotted a second male just on the edge of the woods who wanted nothing to do with me.
I wanted to creep by the birds and get around them by driving on the shoulder so that I could view these dark, male statues from the front, their better side. As I did so, another car came down the highway and now I was worried these dumb things would get killed. I wasn’t going to let that happen, so I planned to shoo them off the road. But I didn’t have to because my close presence at this point and the approaching car thankfully activated them. I was able to snap another pic of the male on the road before he flew off. The birds barely flew into the edge of the woods and never re-flushed, yet try as I might, I could not pick them out of the Spruce trees. Their camouflage and ability to sit motionless are amazing.
and Birch catkins…
Everyone eats well at Grandma’s house and goes home stuffed.
A little while later, Julie asked me to stop the car to check out a bird I had dismissed as a Raven. This instance is proof of why two birders are better than one because Julie had spotted a juvenile Northern Goshawk! Like the Crossbill, this was another photographic first for me. I have had several probable NOGOs in the area but had never had one sit still before to know for sure.
To end my birding for this trip, I later went into the town of Cook and found the Bohemian Waxwing flock Julie had told me about.
This holiday’s birds were off the charts. It ended up being some of the best birding I’ve ever had at home up north and certainly gives the birder in me much to be thankful for. Unfortunately gratitude has a time limit before greed kicks in…how many more days until we go home for Christmas?
Back to that Monday off, I was doing my lake scanning thing and sinking into a birding funk when I was getting the same dismal results. Except this time it was aggravated by thoughts of those two birds I missed. Anyway, I photographed a duck on Big Kandiyohi Lake that was a long distance off. My blurry photo revealed a shape similar to a Surf Scoter. I passed it on to Randy, and he thought it was good enough to warrant a trip out there himself to take a look. So Randy and I met up at Big Kandi, and we used his high powered scope and found…nothing. Randy asked what we should do next. I suggested that Lake Lillian was close by and worth a look. Not feeling the greatest, Randy declined and sent his scope with me.
The phone calls to other birders began in earnest as I was making my way to the kids’ school, officially well behind schedule. Eyes were now trained to look for Kandiyohi County Sheriff squad cars instead of birds. Once Randy Frederickson realized I wasn’t lying to him on the phone, the expletives came easy and a coherent plan for him getting down there did not. Remember, I had his scope, and I had to get my kids. There wasn’t time to meet up to exchange the scope. It was a mess, but a good mess. Steve Gardner, the 20-year Army vet, was able to act cool under the pressure and hatched a plan to pick up Randy and get down there quickly with Steve’s scope. Once I got the kids from school and coordinated a drop-off with Melissa, I raced back to Lake Lillian with Randy’s scope. I figured it was a moot point now, thinking the guys had the birds. But they weren’t finding them, and Ron Erpelding was also there looking with his scope. Finally, after nearly three hours of searching, the three of them found the Scoters and added a very long awaited county bird. For Steve it had the bonus of being a life bird.
About a month later, Randy found a Surf Scoter on a different part of Lake Lillian. Whether it is one of these two is anybody’s guess, but this bird was much more cooperative hanging out just 50 feet off shore. In fact, I just saw it this morning–same exact spot.
October 24th ended up being a day better than I could have imagined. Rare bird chases for things like the Red Phalarope or Brant are fun, but they are quickly forgotten. It seems the most memorable chases are the most heart-wrenching misses. While I have enjoyed and loathed many chases, nothing beats finding your own rarity. And finding a rarity when you’ve been searching for it all along beats one that is found by serendipity. But enough pontificating. Kandiyohi County has never had a Black Scoter–back to work I go.
As we crept along the canyon hillside to get in a better position to see the Owl’s face, it suddenly flew off! We could not find it again. The satisfaction of getting the lifer was muted by the Owl showing us his bad side and only briefly at that. Would this be my lifer sighting–the side view of a bird? The discouragement was returning the longer we weren’t finding it. Again, Tommy never panicked or wavered; he just kept that flashlight moving. And then I heard him say those awesome words that I have heard him say so many times before, “Hey, Josh!”
This, this is what I had been waiting/hoping for. Tommy did it.
Maybe I had it backwards. Maybe it was the Owl who was enjoying the show of four happy birders who had just succeeded on their mission.
At this point Dad went back to the car on account of a knee that was giving him fits. Gordon, Tommy, and I decided we would try for more Whiskered Screeches. Why not?
Hearing this vocalization was an exciting learning experience for Tommy. It wasn’t as cool as the Morse-code calling we heard the adult make earlier, but it was still pretty neat regardless. Have a listen for yourself:
Two Owl lifers remain for me in Arizona. The question is not whether Tommy can help find them, but rather, will it happen in 2017? Time will tell.
Eventually they did lift off allowing us to see the white “hands” of the underwing, but I wasn’t able to capture a photo of it. Later in the trip, though, I spied a small kettle of this new-to-me Vulture and was able to photograph them in flight.
While I was Vulture-hunting with Dad and Gordon, Tommy called saying he had located the Tricolored Heron. So we headed over. Unfortunately it was distant and horribly back-lit and not providing the shocking, up-close looks a lot of birders have gotten of it recently. Tommy and I spent a lot of time trying to find a way to get closer to the bird but we were striking out. On our way out of GWR, we spotted it flying to a better location and I was able to get some photos.
After this brief morning outing with the main objective birds secured, we parted company with Tommy and Gordon–we would all later be meeting up that evening in Madera Canyon in southern Arizona to go after the #1 bird of the trip. Once the family was all settled in our Green Valley hotel, Dad and I headed out once again to meet Tommy and Gordon at the Santa Rita Lodge. After watching a couple Magnificent Hummingbirds on the feeders, we decided to use the last half hour of daylight to try for one more lifer, a Rufous-winged Sparrow. Tommy knew just where to go, and he did not disappoint.
The only other lifer on this walk was a Gray Flycatcher that Tommy detected. I continue to be amazed by how much I find myself liking Empids.
Finally, the last lifer is one I picked up in the desert scrub around the hotel. Lifering around the parking lot while waiting for the family has become sort of a tradition now. While last year I picked up Rock Wren and Cassin’s Kingbird lifers at the hotel, this year I found a cheerful little flock of Brewer’s Sparrows.
I’m saving the best for last and putting it in a post all on its own. Nightbirding usually means one thing: Owls. Coming up is a multimedia post of our successful night. Stay tuned!
There is a pair of Burrowing Owls within a mile of my parents’ place that I usually visit, but this year I didn’t find them as easily in the past. I did eventually see one which brought me relief; I hadn’t seen them the first few times I checked this year. Normally they are always out. To get my Burrower fix this year, I had to find some brand new ones which is always fun. This pair was found on school property in Maricopa. How cool would it be to have Burrowing Owls at your school?
Another new Burrowing Owl I found this trip was only 100 yards from my parents’ backyard fence–I was pretty pumped to find this one.
Burrowing Owls aren’t the only birds I enjoy re-seeing on our annual AZ trip. Vermilion Flycatcher is another. Every year I’m finding more and more around my parents’ neighborhood. Fun fact: Vermilion Flycatchers look just as amazing after November 8th as they did before.
I did get to do some birding beyond my parents’ neighborhood and city. I had the pleasure of once again meeting up with good friends, Tommy DeBardeleben and Gordon Karre for some intense birding outings in southeastern AZ. We’ll save the really juicy lifer stuff for the next two posts, but there was plenty of non-lifer goodness as well, like a Green-tailed Towhee seen along the De Anza Trail near Tubac. Previously I had only seen an extremely back-lit one in Colorado.
In many ways, this was a photo redemption trip of many birds. This Lazuli Bunting was another nice find on the De Anza Trail. The only other sighting I had was a fleeting glimpse at a lifer in MN. Here I got to see the front AND back of this looker.
Black Phoebe is another of which I only had marginal photos before this trip.
And Greater Roadrunners…we got skunked on this bird our very first AZ trip. This bird below might have even let me pet it. It actually walked toward me when I was only 10 feet away.
Now this next bird is one that I have better photos of, but c’mon, it’s a Black-throated Sparrow and needs to be included in this post regardless.
And finally, the best photo redemption of all was of the only Owl Iifer I had never photographed. Last year we saw a Barn Owl, but it flushed from its roost before I could get a photo. It was a major letdown that I wanted to fix on this trip. This time I was able to get a few shots before it flushed.
Next post will be all lifers. With three more posts (two AZ), there is much to look forward to!
Sabine’s Gulls are a rare but expected species throughout the Minnesota during September. What wasn’t expected was a bird that turned up two weeks later in Carver County–a first state record Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, a bird from Siberia. They mostly show up in Alaska but are also seen occasionally in the lower 48 along the west coast. This find by Pete Hoeger and Bob Williams was absolutely remarkable. Consequently, Randy Frederickson and I chased this bird together after work on September 21st. The hordes were out in full force for this mega. Initially when we arrived, we and the 20 other people there couldn’t find it even though it had been spotted 10 minutes before we showed up. After a good 20 minutes filled with much internal panic everywhere, one of the birders got us on the bird. The wind, distance, and similar looking juvenile Pectoral Sandpipers made spotting and re-spotting the bird a tough task. Photography was a nightmare; I would have to settle for diagnostic photos in these conditions. But considering I never thought I would ever, ever see this bird in my life, I’m not complaining.
By birding standards I’ve actually been celebrating Birth Quarter instead of just Birth Month. The great birds have continued long past September. I’ve been to Arizona and back already, so there will be more stories of lifering and night-owling with the famous Tommy DeBardeleben of TOBY fame. There have also been good birds back home, including a new county record that I found. Lots of excitement coming at you on the blog in due time…