Last Wednesday through Saturday were especially impressive days for finding a variety of first of spring species, starting with 36 American Golden Plovers, a Red-headed Woodpecker, and a flock of Cliff Swallows. Thursday's new sightings were 3 Ruddy Turnstones, 3 flocks of Black Terns, 4 male Bobolinks, 2 Eastern Kingbirds, 2 Semipalmated Plovers, and the first Sanderling. New species in Melody's Grove Friday morning included Baltimore Orioles, Warbling Vireos, Gray Catbirds, Western Kingbirds, Eastern Kingbirds, and the second-ever Yellow-breasted Chat I have ever seen in North Dakota!
In the midst of those days, overnight from sunset Wednesday to Thursday morning almost 17 Million birds (16,813,300) were reported to have crossed my local county in southeast North Dakota, and statewide the number seemed astronomical at more than 85 Million, the biggest overnight migration this spring! And that showed graphically by the birds encountered Thursday, but Friday was better, and Saturday was even better on the ground. At Melody's Grove, the big second wave of warblers arrived Friday morning, dominated by Yellow Warblers, orioles, and flycatchers.
Most of the warblers were male Yellow Warblers, with a few females or young males mixed in, and almost all Yellow-rumped Warblers were females – quite a change from the previous week. There were several Baltimore Orioles too, with as many as 4 in the same small tree, including 1 female. At home, as many as 8 American Goldfinches were attracted to the thistle feeder at a time, and as many as 2 male Baltimore Orioles stopped at the jelly feeder repeatedly. An occasional Yellow Warbler appears in the elm tree adjacent to my feeding station – gosh that tree must contain a bird magnet!
As exciting as Friday morning was among the songbirds and flycatchers, Friday evening was even more exciting among the shorebirds at Bobby's Bay! First, it was 2 new Hudsonian Godwits and the first flocks of Stilt Sandpipers and White-rumped Sandpipers. There were also Pectoral Sandpipers, Baird's and Least Sandpipers, plus a Dunlin – and suddenly there was a distant Ruddy Turnstone. Similarly, a sudden sighting of a distant Buff-breasted Sandpiper really made me excited as it made its way among phalaropes, dowitchers, avocets, willets, Marbled Godwits, and Killdeer – Bobby's Bay was electric!
I checked a nearby location for birds and returned to find 3 Ruddy Turnstones close to a parking turnoff at Bobby's Bay, and the colorful shorebirds provided some nice photos as they took turns bathing, but as happens every 10 minutes or so, all the shorebirds took flight and repositioned, and I didn't see the Ruddys again. However, a Buff-breasted Sandpiper also began a bathing session on the other side of the bay, so I took a few long-range photos of that action too. There is something about Buff-breasted Sandpipers that is especially attractive to me (and many other birders), probably because they are so rarely encountered during migrations from southeast South America to the deep Arctic of western Canada and the North Slope of Alaska.
Two days earlier, just 6 miles north of home, I thought I saw the silhouette of a medium-sized plover as I passed along the east side of Carlson Lake. I was on the way to Fargo, and questioned turning around, but did; and when I passed by again I saw 3 plovers that turned out to be 3 American Golden Plovers! Another pass revealed a small flock of 6 more Goldens near trio – how exciting! I pulled onto the shoulder, parked, and walked toward the shore, where I realized there were many more plovers that expected, 36 in all, and they were alerted. However, they permitted me to take a few photos from a distance before repositioning down the shore, which prompted me to return to my drive. It was hard to leave these rarely encountered shorebirds during their migration stop between the wintering range that they share with Buff-breasted Sandpipers, although the Goldens' nesting range is much more extensive across Arctic Canada to northwestern Alaska. I sure hope to see more Goldens, but I've only seen them during spring migration once before – last spring. Not far beyond the Goldens, I observed the first of year Red-headed Woodpecker, and a flock of Cliff Swallows, but I found the Fargo area almost devoid of birds that early evening, despite walking into Orchard Park, a migration hotspot along the Red River.
Saturday, Before the Rainy Days: There was another significant fallout Saturday morning at Melody's Grove, with Yellow Warblers dominating, but also Tennessee Warblers, a few female or yearling Yellow-rumped Warblers, Warbling Vireos, a Northern House Wren, and a few male Baltimore Orioles, but the big excitement were the new species that included Blackpoll Warblers, the first female Ruby-throated Hummingbird, and a Swainson's Thrush. Similarly, a host of shorebirds were on hand at Carlson Lake that notably included 21 Ruddy Turnstones, double that number of Sanderlings in a variety of molt stages, a pair or American Avocets, a pair of Willets, and a Killdeer.
Later Saturday, the first male Ruby-throated Hummingbird appeared at my nectar feeder, although the American Goldfinches that numbered up to 13 at a time may have been a bit off-putting to the hummer. Up at Bobby's Bay, there were 5 more Ruddy Turnstones, but few other shorebirds during late afternoon, so I headed south thinking I would check a small seasonal marsh where I have seen Buff-breasted Sandpipers before. About a half-mile beforehand, I encountered a flock of birds standing on the remote gravel road where it bisects a sizeable marsh.
The birds initially looked like Black Terns because of their black head and underside, but as I came closer I realized they were plovers – yahoo, more American Golden Plovers! But a quick look through binoculars provided their true identity: Black-bellied Plovers! The rare plovers stood in a line that spanned the road from north to south, along with 2 Ruddy Turnstones and 9 Long-billed Dowitchers. To read about the rest of this chance encounter and see some of the half-week's resulting photos, take a look at the Bird Photography feature in this issue.
Oriole Rains: Exciting arrivals outside my bay windows Sunday morning as days of rain approached from the southwest included an Orchard Oriole – but not the expected males that always arrive a bit earlier than females. This year a female was first to find my feeding station, and a "pair" of Baltimore Orioles arrived together with the male gingerly checking out my "circus oriole feeder" for grape jelly (the orange half has not been touched yet). A very light-colored female Baltimore with a bright yellow breast and tail became a regular jelly diner, as were at least 2 males. Two Hermit Thrushes, a Chipping Sparrow, and a few lone male American Goldfinches (or the same one) checked for dry nyjer thistle seeds; but all woodpeckers and nuthatches have been absent lately.
Another exciting new arrival Sunday was the first female or yearling male Ruby-throated Hummingbird who visited my nectar feeder and checked out nearby petunia flowers. By 10:30am a male Baltimore Oriole was drenched by rain when it arrived to feed on grape jelly. During lull in the rainfall, 3 orioles arrived at the same time, the female Orchard, the female Baltimore, and the male Baltimore. It was notable that the female Orchard Oriole is less than half the size of the Baltimores. Thereafter, it seemed the trio of orioles traveled together, loosely, appearing at the same time, absent at the same time, and vying for position at the jelly jar; but eventually the 2 females fed together, a rare occurrence at the circus feeder that hasn't happened since, but both were terribly soaked by the continuing rain. An hour later a high-and-dry female Orchard Oriole joined the trio at the feeding station, and Tuesday morning a new female Baltimore Oriole appeared that was colored fairly similar to a male, making the count 2 female Orchard Orioles, 2 female Baltimore Orioles, and at least 2 male Baltimores = at least 6 orioles altogether. Monday the cool weather cleared and it seemed there were 3 new female Baltimore Orioles and another male that brought the crowd to number 10.
Nesting Hawk Watch: By last Tuesday the female Swainson's Hawk in the Alaska Grove was egg-laying or incubating while lying low in the nest, and she continues to be in incubating position. And while that is an especially exciting update, the attentive male is usually perched nearby. As for the Ferruginous Hawk pair, they remain on territory with one or the other adult standing on the nest during about half of my drive-by nest checks. But there is still no indication that this female will lay eggs this season, which suggests that this is a young pair that is establishing a new territory where I hope they will return to next year. In the meantime it will be interesting to see how long the pair will remain on territory this year, and if they do in fact return next spring. Saturday I was surprised to find both Ferrugs standing in an alfalfa field, feeding on something together – that's a new twist I have not seen before.
Maybe the biggest surprise in that southern edge of my "Hawk Nesting Route" was 10 days ago when I first saw a new pair of Swainson's Hawks perched in a tall cottonwood tree about 250 yards west of the Ferrug nest – and there was a new Swainson's nest built high in the tree! The pair was perched on either side of the nest when I checked back Saturday evening, so it's interesting but not unusual to see these 2 species nesting so close to one another. Also, keep in mind, there is a territorial male Krider's Red-tailed Hawk just a mile to the south, so we are talking all 3 plains nesting Buteo hawk species nesting within a mile of prime habitat. And during that Saturday hawk nesting check, I found the male Red-tail perched a few feet away from a dark-brown colored female Red-tail that showed a level of territorial behavior when she took flight first and circled in my direction. Was this a potential mate" for the light-colored Krider's male? It's all very intriguing to have the opportunity to observe and monitor the hawks' behavior, and I'll keep you updated as the season progresses.
It was another remarkably exciting week among birds for me, as it should be during the peak of songbird and shorebird migration! During the coming week there should be a big migration fallout of songbirds that will include some of the most exciting warblers and some rarer warblers with lots of others among them. And the most exciting shorebirds have just begun to arrive. But wait, as I was publishing this issue, a new yard bird and the third state sighting for me landed at my window! A Yellow-breasted Chat was hunting insects and perching one of my bay window's sills outside – was I surprised! I took a couple documentary photos of the Chat as it lifted its head to pear inside my window, and it was gone. Talk about unexpected! This is a time of year that I truly relish and I hope you can devote a little extra time to enjoy outdoor activities, especially birding while enjoying the upcoming Memorial Weekend!
Article and Photos by Paul Konrad
Share your bird sightings and photographs at editorstbw2@gmail.com