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New Year, New Birds

2020 was a lot of things- some good, some bad. I saw 37 new species; went to 3 new places; wrote 17 posts; and, of course, launched the blog! Hard to believe. I’ve got so many strange memories to take away from the year. Here’s my top five lifers from the birding scene last year.

#5: Red-breasted Merganser

I saw a flock of these diving ducks right at the end of a canoe trip on my local lake. They were the only North American species of merganser I needed to complete my collection, so finding such a big flock almost in my own backyard was really exciting.

Red-breasted Mergansers

#4: Chestnut-sided Warbler

This gorgeous warbler species, seen only once by John James Audubon himself (despite his best efforts), was a surprise addition to my life list last May, when I looked up at the right moment and was treated to a bird at the top of a tall tree. I kept my eye on it as it hopped from branch to branch until it finally came close enough to ID as a male chestnut-sided! He came lower after that, and I managed some good pictures of him before he flew away.

Chestnut-sided Warbler

#3: Carolina Wren

This one came about while I was birding the Wabash Heritage Trail in Indiana this September. Compared to Minnesota, the place is absolutely tropical- it was almost October, but I don’t think it dipped below sixty degrees the entire time we were there! I found Killdeers all over the sandbanks on the river, a great Belted Kingfisher sighting, and lots of warblers (mostly yellow-rumped, but one mourning). Then I heard a wren, and after a minute of aggravating calling without coming into sight, it came out and I saw it was a Carolina Wren, a new species for me!

#2: Peregrine Falcon

This one was less of a surprise, as it was one of the species I’d hoped to find when I made the trip up to Hawk Ridge this October. Still, I was thrilled to see it- I’d left my spot on the rocks to look at the totals for the day, leaving the camera behind but still holding my trusty binoculars, when something streaked through the sky. It was going fast, as falcons usually are, but I’m proud to say I still ID’d it right away. While I didn’t get to see one in its famous, 300 mi/hr stoop, it was amazing to see one in the wild for the first time.

#1: Red-headed Woodpecker

Red-headed Woodpeckers are really getting rare in my area, so I wasn’t expecting anything unusual when I spotted a flash of red in a neighbor’s tree. But when I fixed binoculars on it as it flew, the bright scarlet against the black and white gave me suspicions. Finally, it landed on a tree trunk, I confirmed that it was, indeed, a gorgeous Red-headed Woodpecker. That was such a great experience, seeing a fairly rare bird without even having to drive for miles! I’ve always thought it was such a beautiful bird and was thrilled to finally see one- my favorite sighting of 2020!

Red-headed Woodpecker

There you have it- my favorite new species of 2020! Leave a comment if you think I should do a post on my favorite photos of the year, too!

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Welcoming Waterbirds

It’s that time of year again, when the weather is actually starting to feel like spring, and the lake near where I live has finally melted! This change was immediately heralded by a swarm of waterfowl, like always; and this year I’ve already seen Common and Hooded Mergansers, Ring-Billed Gulls, and American White Pelicans on the lake. Yesterday, I took a canoe trip to see all the birds on the lake, and this is what I found!

First, I spotted a pair of Hooded Mergansers, a male and a female. We went right along the shore then, and I saw lots of very loud Common Grackles, a pair of Mourning Doves, and a very nice squirrel, before I turned my attention to an enormous flock of gulls – probably all Ring-Billed – settled on the water.

This enormous flock of gulls resting across the lake was pretty noisy!

Moving on, we spotted a pair of beautiful Common Mergansers, four more flying overhead, and another Hooded Merganser couple. This was followed by a mystery waterbird, which I originally thought was a Common Loon – which I’d had yet to see this year – but realized while scrutinizing the photos I’d collected that the markings didn’t quite line up. The beak was too long and thin, and the chest was much too dark.

What could this mystery bird be?

Then, we passed a female Common Merganser, noticed a mixed flock of Common and Hooded Mergansers across the lake, saw one male Mallard (which I suspect was a decoy, not a real duck, but can’t be sure), and watched a rather flamboyant male Northern Cardinal for a bit.

Finally, with our trip drawing to a close, came the most exciting part. We spotted a large flock of some sort of duck, and drew our canoe in as close as possible without scaring them off. I took as many photos as I dared (my camera is pretty loud), hoping this would be what I thought it was. They appeared to have a crest… their markings weren’t recognizable as any bird I’d seen before… When I got home, I looked the pictures I’d taken over carefully, and it was! A Red-Breasted Merganser, the only Merganser missing from my life list! They only pass by Minnesota during migration, so I was excited to have caught these.

If you look closely, you can see the distinctive ID marks of the Red-Breasted Merganser – brown chest, spiky, disheveled crest, and thin red beak.

With this wonderful highlight over, we headed home after watching one last flock of Common Mergansers. It was an incredible trip, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the spring, in hopes I’ll see even more beautiful waterbirds!