A return to the previous week’s Wood Duck hotspot provided even better close photos, but only males were close enough to focus on. This Wood Duck performed a head-throw display and called as it was swimming closer to another male. Seeing Bald Eagles during 4 consecutive birding drives last week produced a number of opportunities to take photographs. White-fronted Geese continue to be the dominant species in the region, although more Snow Geese are arriving. A surprise sighting of 6 Bonaparte’s Gulls provided a chance to photograph them foraging on a lake’s surface and in flight. A big breakthrough at the feeding station Tuesday included the first visits by Blue Jays, along with Purple Finches, Pine Siskins, American Goldfinches, a Harris’s Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, and a Dark-eyed Junco.

Minnesota birds have been quite an attraction for me during October, so although I only had 90 minutes available for a return to the little marsh that was filled with attractive waterfowl the week before, owing to driving time and a scheduled family visit in Fargo. Would Trumpeter Swans and Wood Ducks still be on hand, or would the quiet pond be empty? My first view from the road showed the pond was still populated with big white birds, and after an initial view, I counted 26 swans, 9 Wood Ducks, 48 Mallards, 12 Canada Geese, and a lone female Green-winged Teal – Hooray!

The birds were there and continued to be quite trusting, but didn’t yield many photos initially, so after a quarter-hour I decided to break away to see if some Wood Ducks would reposition closer to the south side of the marsh during my absence. I took a short drive a mile west where hidden on the other side of a wooded area was a large sunflower field. Once filled with bright yellow sunflowers stretching for a quarter-mile, the heavy seed heads were now dried brown and hanging low, but a pair of Blue Jays caught my attention as they appeared to be feeding on the black oil sunflower seeds.

Ah, the biggest bird feeding station in the state! Indeed, there were a variety of eastern “feeder birds” making forays to the edges of the field – Black-capped Chickadees, American Goldfinches, a White-breasted Nuthatch, a Common Grackle, Hairy Woodpeckers, Downy Woodpeckers, and the Blue Jays. Individual birds were landing on the oversized sunflower heads and feeding there, or taking a seed to another location to shell and eat the seed, or cache it before returning. It was a rather unique opportunity to photograph these familiar feeder visitors feeding directly on black oil sunflower seeds in the field where the sunflowers grew, so I spent some time positioning and repositioning my mobile blind a few feet forward and back on the unused dirt road (unused while I was there). You can see photos and read more about this experience in the Backyard Birding article in this issue.

Back at the small marsh’s south side, a drake Wood Duck was feeding close to shore in the company of a pair of Trumpeter Swans, which permitted me to get some nice photos of one of the most colorful ducks, a favorite among birders that is usually extra-wary and often hard to find. I enjoyed the opportunity as my time was running low, and wished I could have photographed a female Woodie too, but the hens didn’t offer any opportunities during this visit. I did get a photo of a pair of Mallards displaying, bowing their heads up and down while facing one another. You can see more photos from the Wood Duck marsh and read more in the Bird Photography feature in this issue of The Birding Wire.

Friday Foto Drive

With beautiful sunshine fueling my birding interests, I headed toward Napolean Lake, located about 60 miles northwest of home to see if geese increased in numbers significantly, and they did! There were about a thousand Snows on hand 5 days after my previous visit, and White-fronted Geese probably rivaled Snow Goose numbers. There were still 2 Tundra Swans on hand, with many more ducks – Lesser Scaup, Mallards, and others. Raptors were almost absent from the landscape along the drive, numbering only 1 Northern Harrier and 1 Red-tailed Hawk, but as I was leaving Napolean Lake I spied a Bald Eagle flying in my direction. I slowed and stopped, ready to photograph as it turned before my car, then angled downward in a bit of a glide – that’s when I took the image that illustrates this article.

About halfway home, I counted 135 Tundra Swans at Cindy’s Lake, along with the first geese I’ve seen there this fall – about 200 Snow Geese. A Cattle Egret was also present a few miles to the southwest, and there were flocks of 20 and 26 Tundra Swans at other lakes between Cindy’s and Napolean Lake. A huge mixed flock of White-fronted and Snow Geese were flying above and around a large lake a few miles north of Cindy’s Lake, and overall the Friday afternoon birding drive provided some interesting insights into the state of migration to the west during the last weekend of October.

Although my Saturday birding was subdued compared to most of last week’s day trips, I spent some time parked a mile northwest of my office near the long lake where White-fronted Geese were flying from the water to a nearby field to feed. There were 9 Ring-billed Gulls along the shore, but suddenly my attention was drawn to the open water where 6 smaller gulls were dipping low in flight – Bonaparte’s Gulls. Now in basic plumage, their leading white primaries provided a positive ID. In the distance I saw a large, slow-flying bird headed my way – an eagle? Indeed, an adult Bald Eagle flew directly toward me, passing by close before flushing a feeding flock of White-fronts.

That afternoon, Tundra Swans numbered 11 at Dean’s Lake, 7 at Charo Marsh, and 17 at Swan Marsh; and there were 31 American Avocets at Dean’s. Melody’s Marsh showed a flock of about 40 Canada Geese with many Northern Pintails around them, and at a lake 9 miles south a concentration of about 40 buffleheads caught my attention.

Sunday & Sand Lake Refuge

With another beautiful windless sunny day on hand for Sunday, I was interested in getting a better idea of the numbers of geese and swans in the region to the southeast. But first, I checked on the large concentration of geese that has been building in numbers less than a mile northwest of my office, made up of about 2/3 White-fronts and 1/3 Snows with very few Ross’s Geese, and the first of fall Cackling Goose mixed in. It was clear there was a considerable increase in the number of geese over the 24 hours from noon Saturday to Sunday, which I would suggest jumped from about 2,000 to at least 3,000.

It’s exciting to have geese arriving on a daily basis, but these numbers will be overshadowed by 100 times and more in coming weeks. November will prove to be the month of Arctic-nesting geese in this area. Tundra Swans were building Sunday too, with 16 at Dean’s Lake, 5 at Charo Marsh, and 38 at Swan Marsh. There were also 16 American Avocets at Dean’s Lake, and a late Great Blue Heron and a Red-tailed Hawk just south of home.

The one location that gets bigger numbers of geese along the border region of the Dakotas is Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge, located 70 miles southeast of home. Along the way, birding was pretty dull, but I did count 4 Red-tailed Hawks, 1 Northern Harrier, and small flocks of a variety of ducks, especially Northern Shovelers, Green-winged Teal, and Northern Pintails. At the refuge, there were 7 Great Egrets in a little bay, 27 American Avocets in a tight feeding group, a Great Blue Heron, and 3 late Western Grebes.

Finally, I saw a large flock of several hundred White-fronted Geese take flight over the north side of the refuge, with a smaller flock of about 100 Snow Geese flying nearby. But it wasn’t until I made it to the south side of the refuge that the big concentration of ducks, geese, and swans showed – many thousands of geese and ducks, primarily the species already mentioned, plus some Gadwalls, Mallards, and Ruddy Ducks. I could only discern 16 Tundra Swans mixed in the mass of waterfowl, and there were some White Pelicans to add to the tally of big white birds, with a few cormorants still present. All birds seemed a bit reserved, not very active during my short visit. I expected to see a number of Bald Eagles along the James River refuge, but was surprised not to see any, which broke my 4 day series of Bald Eagle sightings – but I did find my first of fall Rough-legged Hawk – always exciting. And as I approached my home zone a swift Merlin was streaking low toward a large flock of Red-winged Blackbirds – on the hunt.

Feeding Station Action

Thursday was exciting because the first female Purple Finch joined House Finches at my feeder, and it was interesting to see a male Hairy Woodpecker chose suet over shelled black oil sunflower seeds. Dark-eyed Juncos were on hand at ground level – an immature followed by an adult. Saturday a second northern finch was attracted to my feeders – a Pine Siskin! There is definitely the beginning of a changing of the guard with the finches and geese arriving, and more first fall sightings soon to come. A few juncos swing by each day, and there was no hint of Blue Jays last week until I heard at least one Sunday afternoon.

As I replenished my almost empty sunflower seed feeder Monday morning, I heard a couple Blue Jay calls nearby and wondered if they were reacting to me at the feeder. Thereafter, my feeding station blew up, beginning with a visit by up to 3 Pine Siskins at a time, and at least 1 American Goldfinch, the first of the fall season. And then it happened, the first Blue Jay of the year flew in to perch at several positions around the seed and suet feeders, but the jay was obviously very wary and didn’t try to feed at the large tube feeder. It left and returned, and then there were 2 and 3 jays! But they were very wary and didn’t try to feed.

When they left, I went into action and positioned a clay dish on a stand and filled it with the usual black-oil sunflower seeds with a mix of shelled peanut halves. The peanuts were the most likely to entice the Blue Jays, but the platform feeder was probably the most necessary change to accommodate the Blue Jays. Moments after I returned indoors, a Blue Jay landed on the clay dish and began collecting peanut halves in its mouth, and others followed! Hoooray! That’s when the floodgates opened, and the jays, siskins, goldfinches, House Finches, and White-breasted Nuthatches fed at a rather frenzied pace at times. Later, these birds were joined by a male Purple Finch at the feeders, and a single Harris’s Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, and Dark-eyed Junco foraged on the ground. The native sparrows were young birds, and the Harris’s was the first to feed under my feeders this fall.

While putting the finishing touches on this issue Tuesday, finch numbers increased a bunch, with a minimum of 9 American Goldfinches and 5 Pine Siskins at a time, plus several House Finches. I don’t see many off-season American Goldfinches at my feeding station during fall and winter, so Tuesday’s action was a treat. I heard a Blue Jay early, and jays called periodically close and farther away without showing at my feeders. But finally a jay flew in to feed on the ground, and soon afterward a jay landed on the platform feeder to grab a peanut half and take off – wary jays.

The variety of birds in my yard and in the surrounding area continues to change almost daily, and with November just moments away, it’s about to get really exciting! Enjoy seeing new birds in your yard, neighborhood, and the surrounding area whenever you can – it’s exciting, it’s interesting, and it’s part of the fun of birding. In the meantime, enjoy Halloween, and please vote next Tuesday or before to elect local, state, and national officials across America. As if to underline the upcoming vote, I was lucky enough to cross paths with 7 Bald Eagles in 4 consecutive days in 2 states. What are the chances of finding Bald Eagles next week? Pretty good I bet, and the chances will probably build through the days of November. Enjoy your birding opportunities, and plan ahead for a significant birding day when you can.

Article and Photos by Paul Konrad

Share your bird sightings and photographs at editorstbw2@gmail.com