Back From The Southwest

O.K., so the first image isn't a bird. It is something we ran into as I was showing my kids a little bit of the desert around Phoenix. I can honestly say that this is the first live Diamondback Rattlesnake that I have ever seen in the wild. It was quite mellow and pretty much just wanted to get away from us. Later in the vacation we ate rattlesnake at a local steakhouse just to prove that animals can be dangerous and delicious.



While this wasn't a strictly birding vacation, I tried to see as much as possible while with the family. The common residents were cooperative enough and we got to see some cool stuff. The Cactus Wren above was hanging out in a parking lot at South Mountain Park.



The Great-tailed Grackles were everywhere and I'm sure are regularly ignored by the local folks but when you are in a different environment even the common birds are cool. That's why I always appreciate taking visitors on birding trips. I get to see local residents in a whole new light. I'll never forget some visitors from Sweden being enthralled with a Downy Woodpecker.

Maybe the best sighting I had was a Loggerhead Shrike sitting in an Ocotillo bush on the drive to Dobbins Overlook. Never would have predicted that species. The one bird I really wanted to show my son was a Roadrunner but alas, it was not to be. He was pretty excited about a Gambel's Quail.

We spent some time at the Phoenix Zoo and I got some nice waterfowl photos that I will post next time.

Black-throated Sparrows and Verdins

From the title I imagine you can tell I'm not in Minnesota. We had a chance to make a quick getaway to Phoenix for a few days. This morning I wanted to show the kids the desert so we headed up Highway 87 into the Tonto National Forest. Forest only in name because it is cactus and scrub brush everywhere. I was a bit perturbed to see that every place that had a developed recreational area required a pass to use it. If your vehicle didn't have a pass you could be ticketed. Now I have no problem paying to use facilities in order for those areas to be maintained BUT there was nowhere to buy a pass. You had to drive back into town (11 or so miles) and find a vendor. Talk about not happy! Eventually we pulled over at a trail head that didn't require a pass and hiked around for a bit.

The kids quickly found out that in the desert everything either is sharp or it's poisonous. Some of the cactus are in bloom and saw some fun birds. The highlight though was stumbling upon (literally) a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake. Being from Minnesota the first thing the kids did when I told them was to come running and tried to get close for a picture. Did dad let them? Of course not, they would have been in the way of ME getting close for a better picture. Luckily the little fellow was more interested in slithering away from us to find some shade.

Other good birds so far include lots of Turkey Vultures, Great-tailed Grackles, and Jamie saw a Gambel's Quail as we were driving along. Lots of Lark Buntings along the road but no Road Runner yet. That's the one I promised the kids they'd see.

Not sure where we're headed tomorrow but I'm hoping for more good sightings everywhere.

Saturday Morning Banding and Saturday Night Radar

We had our first real banding session of the year that included migrants. It was good to hear all the chatter in the trees and the feeder stations were very busy. Lots of visitors at the session today and I think every youngster who showed up got to help let a bird go. Some of our catches were amazing. The Red-winged Blackbird above was a recapture. It had been banded 2 years ago and was at least 4 years old.



An even rarer catch was this American Tree Sparrow that was a recapture and is at least 6 years old. Imagine 6 years of moving between the tundra in the summer and Minnesota in the winter. You have to admire these tough little guys.



Of course we had plenty of the locals in our totals today. We can hear the nuthatches and chickadees doing their spring calls and the woodpeckers were drumming all over the place but none of our captures today were showing any breeding characteristics such as brood patch or cloacal swelling. Next month should be the time of year when we can correctly sex the monomorphic species we catch.



There are still a good number of wintering birds present. Dark eyed Juncos were our second most numerous species today (17). We even have some Common Redpolls coming into the feeders but not in the numbers like last month. In Feb. we caught 25 Redpolls and today just 2. Totals for the day were 51 birds of 7 species. For a more detailed breakdown you can go to the North Central Bird Observatory website and go to "Banding Results from Carver Park"




There are bound to be lots more birds showing up in the next couple of days if the radar from tonight is any indication. Iowa is chock full of birds tonight. Conditions are good for movement tonight but the weather will be deteriorating here in Minnesota over the next 24hrs. Those birds in Iowa may have to spend a few days there recharging.

Cold Front Blocks Migrants

Tonight we have another cold front moving out of the north that is running head on into migrants moving from the south. It looks like lots of birds will be taking a break in their flight tonight.

Locally the numbers of American Robins has dramatically increased in the last couple of days. Birds that have arrived recently may stay for a while as a high pressure system is moving into the upper midwest and temperatures will be cooler than the last 3 days (actually they will be near normal). By the weekend though winds should be favorable for movement north on the backside of this high pressure system.

Radar Loop of Liftoff

My friend Kirk Mona has posted a really cool loop of last nights radar as the nocturnal migrants begin to lift off and head north. Just the amount of movement is impressive but if you also look at the geographic area that the movement covers it boggles the mind. You can see the loop here.

A run of several warm days in a row is predicted and that can only mean more good birds by this weekend. If anyone is in the Twin Cities area on Saturday March 21st, the regular monthly bird banding session will be held at the Lowry Nature Center from 8 - noon. Everyone is welcome.

More Birds on the Way

This heavy movement is getting to be an every night occurence but I thought I'd post a snapshot from the National Weather Service Radar in the Texas. Note the almost complete coverage of the state by migrants. Also notice that the radar returns do NOT extend out over the gulf. A nice demonstration that birds don't like to move over water if they don't have to.

For a look at a nationwide view of migration I got his shot from this web site.

2 Good Points

Ted Floyd visited this blog and posted some very nice comments on Birdchat. Thank-you Ted for your nice "props". He does bring up a couple of good points. When seeing evidence of migratory movement on a radar image all you know is that birds are moving but Ted asked "Which birds?" I had an idea of what I would guess, but rather than just throw out a list I decided to check the listserves to which I subscribe to see if I could see any indication of what started showing up today in places like Wisconsin and Minnesota.

The reports suggest that the biggest movers into the area today are Red-winged Blackbirds, Common Grackles, Rusty Blackbirds, Killdeer and Eastern Bluebirds. I know that lots of species made up last nights flocks but I feel pretty good that a significant percentage here were probably the species listed above. This would be a typical list of early migrants for this area. Of course, if we were talking about Illinois and Indiana the species that would make up flocks in that area would be different, maybe swallows and some of the early sparrows for example. Here we would also be expecting big movements of waterfowl about now but many of our lakes are not yet open and the waterfowl tend to be concentrated along the Mississippi River which is open.

Ted's second point was about my statement that lots of places were "going to very birdy tomorrow". It is true that even with a big influx of birds they don't land everywhere in big concentrations. I've spent many mornings wondering where all the birds I saw on radar are and then I hear reports of big numbers just north or south of me. I guess my point was that these birds were going to land somewhere and if you were lucky enough to be in one of those places you would see an obvious change overnight. Here in the Twin Cities region the last two days have had lots of migrants both moving in and some of our wintering birds moving out. A couple of birders reported big flocks of Lapland Longspurs and Snow Buntings moving through.

This is the season that many birders live for. Every day is a chance to see a new "First of Year" bird. Every morning has the chance of containing a new song in the dawn chorus. All in all it is the time of year to just "be there and be aware".

Good birding!

Big Move Tonight

Even in early spring a day can make a big difference on what birds are around. I went out with my friend Mark yesterday to see if anything exciting had shown up. We got a nice look at the eagle (above) on it's traditional nest in Lakeville, Mn and we found 4 species of goose at one lake (Canada, Cackling, White-fronted and Snow) but not much else.

Today, it was a different story. Hawks and eagles soaring overhead all day. House finches in bright spring plumage all over my feeders and from the sounds of the reports I've heard, it's just going to get better with lots of new migrants showing up just south of me.

Radar tonight shows a huge movement in Illinois and Indiana. This site shows a time loop of movement in the southern Great Lakes area. There is also a big movement in Texas, north of a line of rain just offshore in the gulf. I'm posting this as it is still early in the night (10:00 pm) so the movement may get even heavier in the next hour or so. If you are on line this is an interesting map. When you look at the time loop notice that every dot is headed pretty much straight north! If you are reading this in the morning, bookmark this URL to check out migration in your area.

Tomorrow is going to be a great birding day in the midwest!

An Approaching Thaw

With the snow and cold at the beginning of the week, it is with great anticipation that I look forward to this weekend when it is predicted to get into the mid to upper 40s for daily high temperatures. I'm already trying to decide where I should head to for a little birding. Reports from southern Wisconsin indicate the arrival of early migrants that haven't shown up here yet like meadowlarks, killdeer and locations with open water are hosting ever more diverse collections of waterfowl.

Several people have asked where I obtain the radar images that I've been posting. There are several weather sites that lead to nexrad images but the one that I find most useful is a composite map that covers all of the United States. It's a rather long URL that can be found here. A couple of folks also asked if there is a good site for basic info on radar ornithology. I found a really good tutorial produced by John Idzikowski over in Wisconsin.

I hope everyone finds these links useful but don't stay up all night watching radar. Get some sleep and go out to meet the migrants as they land at dawn.

The Effects of a Storm Front

Here's a really interesting radar map from Tuesday night at 11:30 pm CST. Look at the heavy movement of birds to the east and south of the storm front moving east out of the Mississippi River Valley. The flight appears to be pretty significant ahead of the front and nothing is moving behind the front.

Here in Minnesota we've had a day of pretty intense snow and wind especially in the western part of the state. The temperatures are plummeting and we'll be very cold the next couple of days. South of here the front was a line of strong rain storms but it looks like the migrants are trying to move ahead of the storms.

You don't get a better map to compare areas of movement with areas where everything is staying where they are.

A Slow Weekend

I finally had a chance to get out and do a little birding yesterday but even though the temps were not bad and the wind hadn't picked up yet, the birding was pretty slow. The farm fields held lots of Horned Larks like the fellow above but not much else. The water hasn't really opened up anywhere away from the rivers yet so no early waterfowl to see. There is movement to the south (way south) so it will be a while before we get into any serious early spring birding.



This image is from Sunday night at 10:15 pm (That would have corresponded to 9:15 yesterday). There is some indication of movement and will probably increase for an hour more or so. The concentration still remains south of the Ohio River Valley. Notice that along the Texas and Florida coast the green does not extend over the water. Birds stick to moving over land. That's another way to tell if what you're seeing is birds or actual rain. A strong wind out of the south will really extend the movement into the Great Lakes region. I hope that happens soon!

Nexrad Radar Tonight (Thursday)

Well it looks like the first big movement of migrants is starting. The picture of Nexrad radar taken about 10:20 pm shows lots of classic green donuts concentrated mostly in the southern U.S. east of central Texas and south of the Ohio River Valley. Big flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds and waterfowl perhaps???



There is a bit of storm activity near the Gulf Coast that probably masks any movement in that area. With strong winds from the south predicted for the midwest tomorrow (at least they are here in Minnesota) we should see more movement tomorrow night.

It's only going to get better from here!