Island Life–The Boys of Summer

Every other summer my side of the family holds a small reunion of sorts on Madeline Island, the flagship island of Wisconsin’s Apostle Islands on the south shore of Lake Superior.  It is a beautiful place to rest, reunite, and play–a place where boys can be boys.

EvanOf course, no boys take this more seriously than the male Warblers of the island. With nearly twenty different species being present on the island, one cannot escape these singing sensations as they belt out their territorial songs telling rival males and the whole world that this is their house.

Northern Parula

Northern Parula

The Warblers are so thick on Madeline Island that one may escape a particular Warbler’s territory only to immediately land in another’s. Or sometimes, several different species all have territories in the same spot, tolerating each other’s different songs but ready to battle any male of their same species.  While I enjoyed a great number of Warbler species, this was not a birding trip and so the camera was rarely raised. Besides, none were new for me. One Warbler that always feels new, that I feel compelled to photograph every time, is the Blackburnian Warbler.  Such a looker! And he knows it.

BlackburnianPhotographing Warblers in their natural habitat is the best. Here this Blackburnian is posing where he is most comfortable–atop a Black Spruce in a decent-sized (and only) bog on the island.Blackburnian Warbler

Though I did not photograph all the Warbers I encountered, I detected many different species:

  • Yellow-rumped Warbler
  • Black-and-white Warbler
  • Northern Parula
  • Blackburnian Warbler
  • Pine Warbler
  • Yellow Warbler
  • Common Warbler
  • Cape May Warbler
  • Black-throated Green Warbler
  • Ovenbird
  • Common Yellowthroat
  • American Redstart
  • Mourning Warbler
  • Chestnut-sided Warbler
  • Nashville Warbler

Naturally I have saved the best for last.  This was my big Madeline Island souvenir, a male Black-throated Blue Warbler.

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Two years ago I searched for this species when I saw appropriate habitat of mature maple forests on the eastern end of the 14-mile long island.  Trying that same area again this year, I stopped at a spot along North Shore Road that looked good–a deep ravine in the Maple/Hemlock woods which created a relatively open understory that BTBWs like.  Immediately I was rewarded that sweet zoo-zoo-zoo-zoo-zoo-ZEE!  Making this sighting even sweeter was that I had been participating in Wisconsin’s Breeding Bird Atlas project, and this bird was right in the corner of one of the priority blocks on the underbirded island.  BTBW is a very good atlas bird for Wisconsin.

Black-throated Blue Warbler

As fun as the Warblers were, they were merely a distraction to bide my time while I anxiously waited to get back to the mainland in Minnesota where all kinds of birds–life birds–were popping up. Stay tuned for the fully-loaded lifer post next.

2015–The Pinnacle Year

It is once again that time of year when bird bloggers the world over parade the best, and sometimes worst, of their year of birding.  I am no exception to this.  Cliche? Yes. Fun? Definitely. If you are already turned off, perhaps you can make it interesting by trying to guess any or all of the birds in my Top 10.

While you mull that over, I must mention that 2015 was very different from 2014. If 2014 could be summed up in one word, it would be ‘serendipity.’ I had so much dumb luck with  my own finds and with other birders’ finds that I was constantly turning up or chasing something cool.  2015, on the other hand could be known as ‘intentionality.’ I did a lot of focused birding for very specific targets that required a lot of planning.  With that said, there was, as there always is in birding, lucky encounters. But overall, like Mr. Noah Strycker himself, it is safe to say that this was and will be my best year of birding.

Before we get into the Top 10, here are a couple of superlatives.

Most Expensive Bird

Far and away this honor goes to the Piping Plover.  Yes, I spent more on other trips, but when you break down the cost of those trips per lifer, none can compare to the cost of adding Piping Plover to my list.  In fact, Arizona with its abundance of lifers becomes dirt cheap if you think about it from a cost per bird perspective.  But the Plover required hiring a legitimate sea captain.  Justified loosely as a Father’s Day present and a boat ride for the kids, was it worth it to see nesting, endangered Piping Plovers from a distance on a rocking boat?

Yes.

Piping Plover

Evan Marin madeline island

Biggest Miss

Red-headed Woodpecker.  I couldn’t find one at all when I literally had dozens the year before.  This is a bird you simply cannot see enough of.  I look forward to redeeming my failure in 2016.

Red-headed Woodpecker

Biggest Shout-out to a Reader

This goes to Laura Segala for her incredible Yellow-crowned Night-Heron yard-bird which so many of us got to add to our life lists this year.

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

Most Famous Birding Companion

Bob Janssen.

Evan Bob Janssen

Twice. And we even got to help him relocate Andy Nyhus’s Wood Thrush for a new Kandiyohi County bird for him.

Bob Janssen at the site of his latest county bird, a Kandiyohi County Wood Thrush

Bob Janssen at the site of his latest county bird, a Kandiyohi County Wood Thrush

Best Redemption on a Bird

Greater Roadrunner. How did we miss it in AZ in 2014? How did Evan repeatedly just miss it in 2015 before finally getting it?

EvanGreater Roadrunner

Best Photo Redemption of a Bird

Buff-breasted Sandpiper

Buff-breasted Sandpiper

Right?

IMG_4788

Best Minnesota Warbler

Blackburnian Warbler

Blackburnian Warbler

Best Wisconsin Warbler

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Best Arizona Warbler not in the Top 10 and Best Non-Warbler Warbler

Olive Warbler

Olive Warbler

The Top 10 Birds of 2015

So in the biggest year which included 78 life birds, how did I even begin to select a top 10? Well, the answer to that lies not in which birds were the most rare or even the most beautiful, but rather on my experiences with certain birds and the people involved.  These are the birds and experiences that are the most fun to think back upon.

10. Snowy Owl

Wilbur Snowy Owl

Two years in a row SNOW makes the list, and it wasn’t a lifer either time.  So why again? 2015 was another irruption year for this bird, and I finally discovered one on my own.  And then I found another, and another, and so on all right here just a few miles from home.  The pinnacle of this epic SNOWstorm was when I saw three different owls within just 10 minutes or so, tying Randy Frederickson for the most Snowies seen in one day in Kandiyohi County.

9. Townsend’s Solitaire

Townsend's SolitaireMy first lifer for 2015 was a Townsend’s Solitaire, but that’s not why this bird is here.  The reason this bird made the cut is that I found one on my own in the old hometown.  That’s a pretty sweet feeling on multiple levels.

8. Northern Pygmy-Owl

Northern Pygmy-OwlI had five Owl lifers in 2015.  In an ordinary year, they’d all deserve one of the top 10 slots.  Spotted Owl should probably occupy this slot because of its threatened status, but I just really enjoyed seeing this Pygmy in Hunter Canyon. This tiny Owl was cool just by itself, but the experience made it even better. This is just one of the dozens of life birds that Tommy DeBardeleben and Gordon Karre found for us.  Just as much fun as seeing these birds was becoming friends with these guys.  There is no doubt that we will have many more adventures together in 2016.

I’ll never forget those 10 minutes of positive stress that occurred while seeing this Owl when Tommy, Gordon, Evan, and I had multiple lifers pop up at once.  We went from a Hepatic Tanager to a male Scott’s Oriole to this Northern Pygmy-Owl to a Rufous-capped Warbler.  Each required that we ditch the last. How does one focus their attention and photography efforts in such a scenario? Read on and you’ll see.

7. Red Crossbill

Red Crosbill

This was a very fun lifer that I got in July, a time when lifers just aren’t to be had.  Red Crossbill is an especially challenging species to find in the state. I had been studying the calls of Red Crossbills in the hopes of tracking some down that had been reported up north when we went home to visit family. Little did I know how much that studying paid off.  As I stood in my parents’ driveway, this bird was served up on a silver platter when I heard the sound I had been studying and then had a small flock of them land in the spruce tree right next to me. It ended up being a three-generation lifer in my dad’s yard no less. Sometimes it’s the experience that makes the sighting special.

6. Western Screech-Owl

Western Screech-OwlThis is probably one of the most common Owls of all my Owl lifers.  But rarity status alone does not make for the best experiences.  What made this bird so fun was the context in which it occurred.  First, night-birding with flashlights adds a whole new level excitement to this hobby.  Chris Rohrer said it best when he said it makes you feel like a little kid again to be outside after dark past bedtime.  Second, this Owl was so cooperative for Tommy DeBardeleben and me that we got to pose for some laughter-inducing selfies.  This is probably the most fun I’ve ever had birding.

Josh owl selfie

5. Painted Redstart

Painted RedstartWow. Just wow. Seeing them at my feet? Unbelievable.

4. Rufous-capped Warbler

Rufous-capped WarblerThe Rufous-capped Warbler beat out the Pygmy Owl and the Oriole that day in Hunter Canyon.  This rare Mexican visitor was the main target of AZ trip #2.  I can’t believe I saw one. I can’t believe I got a photo.

3. Elegant Trogon

Elegant TrogonCan you believe a year in which Elegant Trogon doesn’t get the top slot? I mean, seriously? This was the main target for AZ trip #1.  We were successful on the last morning.  Tommy led us to victory that day.  What a thrill it was to chase this bird up the mountainside in Madera Canyon.  The Elegant Trogon Fantastic Four made for an epic team. A huge thanks goes out to these two guys for being responsible for most of the birds seen in this list, but this one especially.  Any other year guys and it would have been tops!

Josh Gordon Tommy Evan2. Gyrfalcon

GyrfalconNow here’s one that I wasn’t expecting, as in at all, as in ever. 2015 was the year of the Gyrfalcon.  I picked up my lifer in Superior, WI early in the year, but what catapulted this bird near the top of this list was when I accidentally stumbled on the bird pictured above right here in Kandiyohi County, giving me my state and county bird in one sweet shot with a good photo op to boot.  Considering one hadn’t been seen in Minnesota in nearly three years, I was just a little excited when Bob Dunlap and a host of birding experts told me my misidentified Peregrine was actually a Gyr.

1. Greater Sage-Grouse

Greater Sage-GrouseThis bird had the top spot locked down before 2015 even began.  This was a very special bird that Evan and I made a special trip to Montana to see.  We got this lifer in the company of my dad who researched this bird extensively in the 1970s for the Montana Fish&Game Department (presently called the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks).  We didn’t just see this bird.  From a blind we got to observe the males doing their elaborate courtship displays on the lek.  There was no better way to add this bird to the life list.  The Greater Sage-Grouse was hands-down the best bird of 2015.  A special thanks goes out to John Carlson for setting up the adventure, Charlie Eustace for joining us, Leo and Jo Jurica for hosting us, and to my dad for humoring my idea. It was a pleasure to meet John and Charlie and go on a very memorable outing together.

L-R: Dad, Me, Evan, John Carlson, Charlie Eustace

L-R: Dad, Me, Evan, John Carlson, Charlie Eustace

Josh Dad Evan

When 2014 ended, I didn’t have any idea that 2015 could rival it. Looking back, I think 2015 actually surpassed 2014 in its greatness.  Not only did I see some amazing things, but I got to go birding with so many incredible people.  The combination of those two things is what makes this hobby so great. So what does the future hold? I’m not sure.  I can honestly say that I have no expectations for 2016.  I have a couple minor birding goals, mostly numbers related, but little else at this point.  It is my hope to not let birding consume my year and that the experiences I do have favor quality over quantity. I’m excited to see the birds and people that cross our path this year.

No More Singing the Blues

I know, I know, I’m really kicking the AZ posts further down the road.  Today is no exception.  The fact is that this November has been the best Vagrant Month I’ve ever seen.  The angst of wanting to take 2-3 hour car trips in every cardinal direction at the same time is a nightmare and a blessing.  ‘How can I grab it all?’ is the question on which my mind has perseverated during these times that try birders’ souls.

With Surf Scoter, Vermilion Flycatcher(!), and Long-tailed Duck locked down and with an accompanying proportional decrease in birder stress, there were just two other birds I wanted bad–a surprisingly reliable White-eyed Vireo just south of Minneapolis and a shockingly late, lingering Black-throated Blue Warbler in St. Cloud.  My schedule in recent weeks didn’t allow for both.  The Warbler won because it was my favorite Warbler and it was close.  Yeah I saw one earlier in the year, and yeah I got a good picture, and yeah I already had it on my state list.  So what gives? It’s a BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER, that’s what.  That’s just plain fun no matter who you are. So, on Monday, November 9th, a.k.a. conference day at school, I carpe diemed by squeezing in a fast morning trip to St. Cloud before I had to report to work at 11. It didn’t take but a couple minutes to locate Tabassam Shah’s incredible find in Talahi Woods at Riverside Park. Who has ever heard of the same migrant Warbler being found and refound for weeks without a territorial song to guide birders to its presence?  What a gift to all of us birders in central MN!

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Getting some birding in on a beautiful 50-degree day in November on conference day–rejuvenating.  Getting a Black-throated Blue Warbler on such a day–exhilarating.

The rest of this post is more or less some good junk drawer items that just didn’t have a home, like this window-strike American Woodcock I found in downtown Minneapolis while attending the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics conference last week. It’s my first photo of this species, so you better believe it’s going on my photographic life list on this blog.

American Woodcock

Finally, my quest to find sea ducks in the home county continues after having some success last year around this time.  So far, nothing of the sort has turned up.  I did, however, finally get a county Red-necked Grebe on one such outing.  I spent many hours last summer looking for one of these, and here I get one when I wasn’t even trying.  I guess that’s birding for you.

Red-necked GrebeWe shall see if AZ makes the next post, but it’s looking doubtful as the vagrant party just won’t stop. ABWCH will hopefully have a tidy little write-up from South Dakota after the weekend.  Keep your fingers crossed everybody.

Superior Warblers

Gone are the days of spring migration when the Warbler blitzkrieg causes hordes of Warblers of nearly 30 species to descend on our little patches of woods, putting us birders on the defensive as we scramble to see them all before the invasion is over.  Chasing a specific Warbler sighting during migration is a fool’s game of which this fool has partaken way too often only to crash and burn. Now in summer, though, it is the time for the offensive Warblering, the deliberate Warblering, the better Warblering–IF you are in the right location.  And that I was when I was vacationing on Wisconsin’s Madeline Island in Lake Superior.  Close to 20 species of Warblers call the northwoods of northern Wisconsin and Minnesota home.  Seeing Warblers on their breeding territories is the best way to see Warblers in my opinion.  You get the full Warbler experience – their incredible looks, their robust songs, and their species-specific habitats.  With migrants and vagrants you are often getting just 1/3 of the true Warbler experience.  It is inferior Warblering to be sure.  The Warblering on Madeline was far from inferior and provided this birder much entertainment.  So let’s get to it.

Starting off this parade of Warblers will be my spark bird, the bird that caused me step foot on this slippery slope of birding: the Chestnut-sided Warbler.  I was very pleased to, pleased to meet him too.

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

I also took my annual Yellowthroat shot on this trip.  It fits in a mega Warbler post but rarely anywhere else.

Common Yellowthroat

In my exploration of Madeline Island, I found a “habitat island” of Red Pines along the beach at Big Bay Town Park and Big Bay State Park. Most of island is mixed deciduous forest. I wanted to check out the pines in the hopes of finding Pine Warblers or lifer Red Crossbills.  I was successful with the former as this patch of woods held several of those drab but likeable Pine Warblers.  This thin strip of pines with Lake Superior on one side and a lagoon on the other has a great boardwalk running the length of this point which is over a couple miles long.

Evan Madeline IslandKudos to Big Bay Town Park and Big Bay State Park for this awesome boardwalk and kudos to the PIWA for having the best habitat preference of all the northwoods Warblers.

Pine Warbler

This bird was a lifer as recently as a year ago.  I do not take my PIWA sightings for granted.  Their trill is similar to a Chipping Sparrow’s, but much richer and more musical.

Pine Warbler

Pine Warbler

Pine Warbler

Another Warbler I’m quite fond of is the Black-throated Green which was the second-most common Warbler on the island behind Ovenbird.  Despite the many “Teacher! Teacher! Teacher!” calls of the 30+ OVENs I heard one morning, I didn’t pay them any mind.  It is summer after all, and this teacher was off duty.  The Black-throated Green was a much better bird to watch anyhow.

I really like this Warbler.  Perhaps this is because it was once an actual target bird a couple years ago.  In 2013, we were inundated with them on a camping trip to Temperance River State Park along the north shore of Lake Superior.  I have fond memories of my kids imitating their catchy, buzzy song.  To whom such things matter, the Madeline Island  Black-throated Greens who sang zee-zee-zee-zoo-ZEE outnumbered those who sang zoo-zee-zoo-zoo-ZEE by a ratio of 8 to 1.  It was a bit of a letdown as I prefer the latter version.

Black-throated Green Warbler

Black-throated Green WarblerNot only did the Madeline Island Black-throated Greens have a preference for the lesser song, but they also preferred the lesser light, always perching underneath the leaves’ shade and casting them in weird, greenish light. Black-throated Green WarblerBlack-bearded Green Warbler would probably be a more appropriate and much cooler name.

Black-throated Green WarblerBlack-throated Green WarblerThe Black-throated Greens were nice, but they really just whet my appetite for a much, much better Warbler with a black throat.  Because of its stunning beauty and scarcity, the Black-throated Blue Warbler was one that I was yearning to see again since my initial viewing in 2013.  It was one of my two main birding goals for the trip with the other being the Piping Plovers. I tried real hard to find one on the under-birded Madeline Island.  Area birder Nick Anich had described the very particular habitat choice this species likes:  mature Maple forests with a high canopy, a fairly open midstory, and a thick understory full of saplings. I’m not sure what it is they like about the Maples, but that is the same type of habitat where the Black-throated Blues are found on Oberg Mountain in Minnesota. Schoolhouse Road on Madeline Island seemed the best I could find to match this habitat description, but I just couldn’t pick out a zoo-zoo-zoo-zoo-zee from the zee-zee-zee-zoo-zees or the zoo-zee-zoo-zoo-zees of the Black-throated Greens.

The search for the Black-throated Blues would have to take place on the mainland after our trip.  Nick Anich and Ryan Brady had given me some places to try.  Like in Minnesota, this bird is far from an easy find.  Though I had a few options for trying for them, I put all my money (or my family’s time, rather) on one bet: Jammer Hill Road west of Bayfield a few miles.  As I drove down the gravel road, it suddenly made a turn for the worse–there was a section of very large, jagged gravel. I’m not exaggerating when I say the rocks were about the size of my fists.  No way was I going to pop a tire looking for a bird, so I decided to give up on the Black-throated Blue search and turn around.  The problem was there was no place to turn around, so I had to keep inching forward.  Turns out this jagged gravel section ended shortly afterward and we were back on smooth, packed gravel again. And a minute  later: zoo-zoo-zoo-zoo-zee!

Black-throated Blue WarblerJust as presidential hopefuls are emerging left and right declaring their intentions, I, too, am now making a bold announcement: the Black-throated Blue Warbler is my favorite Warbler.  Though I was hooked by the Chestnut-sided, though I’ve stood in awe of the Blackburnian, and though I’ve been dazzled by Painted Redstarts at my feet, the Black-throated Blue is simply the best in my book.  I have yet to see the Red-faced, but I don’t even think that beauty could change my mind.  My wardrobe is disproportionately blue after all.

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Black-throated Blue Warbler

So with that major target achieved, this should be the end of this post.  This is how I wanted to end this post.  But the Warblering went on.  I’m not talking about lame Tennessees and Nashvilles either; I’m talking about some really good stuff.  On our way home it worked out rather conveniently that we had a non-birding errand to run in St. Louis Park, a Minneapolis suburb. It was convenient because while on vacation on MI, a birder had found a Hooded Warbler on territory at Westwood Hills Nature Center in St. Louis Park.

Hooded Warbler sign

Hooded Warblers nest in small numbers in the south metro at such strongholds as Murphy-Hanrehan Park and Lebanon Hills.  It seems, though, that more and more have been popping up this year in new locations, Westwood Hills being one of those.   Evan and I hiked the trails at Westwood Hills to see the HOWA while Melissa and Marin waited in the car.  We both heard it real well, and I even had some quick fly-by views.  Overall though, it was just a bugger for showing itself.  Even still, Evan decided that hearing it was good enough to add it to his life list.  For me it was a nice addition to the year list.

The HOWA wasn’t the only non-MI Warbler causing angst while I was away.  Wifi on an island is a double-edged sword providing birding help while on vacation but also creating birding anxiety back home.  Joel Schmidt had notified me that a Blue-winged Warbler was reported at Sibley State Park.  He had then tracked down the info from the original finder and saw the bird himself.  We are at the very fringes of the Blue-winged Warblers’ range.  In other words, it is a very good bird for Kandiyohi County that was not yet on my county list.  At dawn that very morning after we got home from vacation, I zipped out to Sibley.  Warblers on territory–so fun, so incredibly reliable.  Getting the 3/3 experience at home with a great Warbler was a fitting way to cap off a great trip full of Warblering in the northwoods.

Blue-winged WarblerBlue-winged WarblerThere are more Warblers on the horizon as I have since made two post-MI trips to northern MN with a third one coming this weekend.  But first, what could make a Woodpecker chase so compelling?