Spring or . . . ?

March marks the beginning of spring--at least "officially." Per usual, it's been the struggle of seasons with spring offering glimpses of warmth and hope between winter's cold, dying breaths. The only sign of spring on my outing this morning were the clouds of snow and greater white-fronted geese occupying the water of the White Rock Recreation Area.

Earlier in the week, and on a much nicer day, I took a short walk through the park where the robins and grackles are returning!

Little bit of everything

It's amazing that I'm awake enough to write after arriving home from the Tool show in Minneapolis at 3am and hitting my alarm at 7 this morning to go to work, but I've felt myself surprisingly vigilant today considering the depthless sleep. Perhaps the greatness of the show has propped me. But Tool's performance played second best of the weekend, upstaged by the state championship game of the Minnesota Class AA boy's hockey tournament—an instant classic, double-overtime affair which would keep anybody with half an interest in good hockey at their seat's edge.

And of course, I got out for my fair share of birding around the Twin Cities area, making a stop en route at the Crow-Hassan Park Reserve where I saw my first trumpeter swans and rough-legged hawks of the year.

Plus this very cooperative nuthatch.

This cardinal along the paths of the Kane Meadows was also photographically friendly in his perching.

The last birding venture for the weekend was a visit to the Mississippi Gateway Regional Park. No decent pictures were managed there, but I did spot my first hooded mergansers and common goldeneyes for the year!

Great Backyard Bird Count 2022

Every February since 1988, the Cornell Lab and National Audobon Society have invited birders to celebrate the Great Backyard Bird Count, a four-day stretch to observe and report birds seen from home. Frankly, I had never heard of the GBBC prior to this year, but as I grow further entrenched in the world of birding, I find myself celebrating more and more of these occasions.

The first day of the GBBC saw a dusting of snow being flung all about by the strong winds which would continue throughout the weekend, but the chickadees, house finches and redpolls would not be so easily deterred.

Nor would this eastern gray squirrel who appeared to nibble on some peanuts only minutes after I had been wondering where all the squirrels had been this winter (I actually like when the squirrels visit!).

Saturday was busy with redpolls and the consistent finches, sparrows and chickadees ransacking the black oil sunflower seeds. Meanwhile, the suet feeders went untouched but for a pair of white-breasted nuthatches and a single downy woodpecker.

The cottontails frequently visit the feeders at night, picking up fallen bits of corn and seed, but this one cozied up underneath the house sparrows' tube feeder, making peace and chowing down.

Less welcome to the celebration by its feathered fellows, this sharp-shinned hawk made a few stabs at the sparrows, then perched on a neighbor's swing set, listening to the alarmed chickadees for a bit before moving on.

As the sun began its descent on Sunday, I stepped outside to refill the feeders and snap a few quick photos of the chickadees and sparrows still hanging about the yard. Sunday had been a quieter day at the feeders. A red-bellied woodpecker being the only new species sighted for the weekend, but it was fun watching all the birds that showed up, and I plan to make the GBBC a tradition going forward.

Winter Pandemonium

Another winter storm means a day working from home and a busy morning at the backyard feeders. After work, I peeked outside to see a blizzard of birds, and flickering about the mass of house finches were a handful of juncos, common redpolls and a gorgeous purple finch female--the first purple I've seen at my feeders. Meanwhile, white-breasted nuthatch and red-bellied, downy and hairy woodpeckers swung by the hanging suet feeder, and the house sparrows guzzled down cracked corn in their little corner of the yard.

Arizona Video

Finally went through recordings from this summer's Arizona trip to throw this little video together.

Music is "White Light" by You'll Never Get to Heaven

Fall into Winter

With work weighing heavier on my winter schedule, I don't often have as many opportunities to bird watch as I would like. Last year I made a more concentrated effort to bird on any free days I had, mostly to local parks and nearby eBird hotspots. This year, however, I'm hoping to do a lot more birdwatching from home and made the decision to hop aboard Project Feederwatch. With the 2021-2022 season having kicked off, I've spent the past two weekends stalking my westward windows, both weekends resulting in interesting observations. The first weekend saw the first (or at least the first I've seen) cardinal at my feeders, and this second weekend, a pair of northern flickers appeared on Saturday and a gorgeous pileated alighted on my suet feeders both days.

This nuthatch (photographed before the PFW season) has grown quite comfortable with me, feeding within feet of me with little worry on more than one occasion.

Another fan of the backyard feeders, this sharp-shinned hawk has been hanging out in the hedges the past two weekends.

Duluth 2021!

I gave myself a few options for this year's fall migration trip: go west to hit McKenzie's Slough and Long Lake NWR; go south to bird Pierre; head up north to Grand Forks; go further north to the Winnipeg area; or, the last-second winner, head up and over for another weekend in Duluth. There, I made my first visits to Park Point (after waiting half an hour for the draw bridge to excuse a single ship) and Wisconsin Point over in Superior. It was a fun and rewarding couple of days, and on the way home, I made stops at Jay Cooke and the Rice Lake NWR.

A pack of sanderlings strolling the beach of Wisconsin Point (accompanied by a sole semipalmated plover) provided my only "lifer" bird species of the weekend. Boy, was it nice to see shorebirds up close. I'm too used to seeing pipers and plovers across sizable stretches of water. A pair of these sanderlings scurried just feet from me.

Jay Cooke provided a lifer of another variety--my very first red foxes! When strolling a picnic area of the park, two red foxes darted into the open and went bounding across the trail right in front of me. I was so surprised and excited that I barely thought to raise my camera and grabbed only this photo for evidence.

Rice Lake NWR was my last stop (discounting a couple quick pullovers on the drive home), and it was a great way to go out.

And lastly, a little montage to highlight some other birds of Park Point!