Pileated Woodpecker Recapture

On 21 May 2013, I discovered a Pileated Woodpecker in my banding net. Turns out to be a bird that I banded on 3 November 2010. In fact, it is the same bird I blogged about in November 2010. I seldom catch these large woodpeckers, and I wondered if a bird just short of three years might be one of the oldest on record. A search of the Bird Banding Laboratory’s website indicates my record is a far cry from the a record of 12 years 11 months of a bird banded in Maryland.

Variegated Meadowhawk

Last weekend, John Holden and I attended the South Dakota Ornithologists’ Union meeting in Mobridge, South Dakota. We saw lots of birds, but this post is about my first dragonfly of the season—a Variegated Meadowhawk on 19 May 2013! This species was my first Odonate last year too, when I obtained my 2012 Variegated Meadowhawk on 20 April in Rice Co., Minnesota. That this dragonfly was the first of the season two years in a row may not be that coincidental. The species is a long-range migrant, often appearing before local populations emerge. It winters in Florida, the Gulf Coast, and warmer, southern states, south into Mexico and Central America.

The yellow spots on the thorax and the complex pattern on the abdomen make the Variegated Meadowhawk relatively easy to classify. Although odonates can be more difficult to identify, the rewards can be satisfying. In this case, even though Variegated Meadowhawks are found across the United States, southern Canada and northern Mexico, this record is a first from Walworth County, South Dakota.

Harris’s Sparrow

Last week, Erika and I sat on our porch mesmerized by our water feature. An odd bird flew to the stream. “Is that a Harris’s Sparrow?” I asked. “It is!” “Walk up the garden path,” I instructed, “and see if it will fly into the banding net.” And that is exactly what the sparrow proceeded to do.

I have seen a few Harris’s Sparrows in Northfield, and have banded one other, but at our Dundas station. Our Northfield home seems to be unlikely habitat for this prairie species. The bird does have a preference for streams, however, and generally favors brushy, secondary-growth areas (Norment and Shackleton 2008).

Two Vireos

Two vireos, a Red-eyed and a Blue-headed, also foraged with the warbler wave of mid-May 2013. Here are photos and links to previous posts about each species.

Red-eyed Vireo

Blue-headed Vireo

Seed-eaters in the Wave

Among the warblers in our recent wave of migrants, we banded several spectacular seed-eating birds. As in the previous two posts on warblers, the birds’ names are linked to past postings. The goldfinches were most amazing. Very small numbers visited our feeders most of the winter. But our banding station was overrun by goldfinches on 13 May. The woodlot behind our home looked like it was decorated with yellow lights—oddly the vast majority of birds were males. Although they can be found in Minnesota year-round, goldfinches are migratory—so wintering individuals may not be the same birds as those breeding here. Years ago in Aberdeen, South Dakota, I retrapped a goldfinch banded in southeastern Colorado. One of my Minnesota goldfinches was banded near Dundas in April and recovered in July of the same year in far west-central Saskatchewan.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Indigo Bunting

American Goldfinch

Black Phoebe

Black Phoebes are common in California, New Mexico, and elsewhere in the extreme Southwest south through Central and South America. These phoebes are almost always seen near water. This bird hawked insects along the coast at Morro Bay, California. Breeding birds use natural nest cavities, cliff-sides, riverbanks, and hollows in trees. In modern times, most nest in bird boxes. The species is monogamous and often raises two broods per season (Wolf 1997).

Warbler Wave 2

This post is the second of a series from a migrant bird wave from the second week of May 2013. I have linked the names of each bird to previous posts in which each warbler is discussed. In the middle two photos, note the difference in intensity of the Northern Parula’s chestnut breast patch.

Magnolia Warbler

Northern Parula (female)

Northern Parula (male)

Wilson’s Warbler

Warbler Wave 1

The second week of May delighted us with a heavy wave of migrating warblers. I wish to share with you a few of the birds we photographed during our banding operations. This photos will occupy the next several blog posts. I have linked the names of each bird to previous posts in which each warbler is discussed.

I noticed that the numbers of migrants were greatest just prior to the passage of two warm fronts through eastern Minnesota. Just before the fronts, winds were from the north. Afterwards, southerly winds prevailed. Presumably those north winds concentrated the migrants, whereas south winds assisted the migrants on their way north. Being a scientist, however, I have entertained two other hypotheses. Migrants appear to flock to my nets just as Erika is setting dinner and 15 minutes before I have appointments away from the banding station. Could these last two hypotheses be coincidental?

American Redstart

Blackpoll Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

Blue-winged Warbler

Mountain Sheep

I took this photo of Mountain Sheep (also known as Bighorn or Rocky Mountain Bighorn sheep) in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Originally these sheep ranged from the Canadian Rockies south as northern Mexico. The race in the Black Hills, the Audubon’s Bighorn, became extinct by 1910. Reintroductions from Montana and Wyoming occurred in 1922, but these animals succumbed to disease in the early 1960s. In 1964 and 1991, sheep from various western states and Canada were again reintroduced (Higgins et al. 2000).

To the best of my recollection, the pictographs of Mountain Sheep come from the Capitol Reef National Park in Utah. I may be mistaken, however, as most rock art in the park were created between AD 600 and 1300 (Utah.com). The two upper figures are clearly on horseback, arguing for a time frame after 1492. (If any of my readers recognize these pictographs as being from somewhere else, please let me know.)

Palm Warbler

I previously blogged about Palm Warblers last May. On Friday, Erika and I visited the recently burned prairie at the Carpenter Nature Center in nearby Washington Co., Minnesota. I have never seen so many Palm Warblers in one place. The birds actively fed in the burned grass of their managed prairie. Perhaps the ground was warmed by the blackened earth, thereby releasing an insect hatching. Burned prairies do heat up and support elevated plant growth. Prairies are also managed in this was to destroy invasive and non-fired resistant plant species. Unfortunately, frequent burns in relatively small grasslands destroy many rare, prairie-inhabiting butterfly larvae.

Among the Palm Warblers flitted an utterly nondescript bird. What was it? This little gray bird appeared to have few discernible field marks. The presence of a faint wingbar and faint flank and back streaks, along with the slightly brighter crown all add up, for me, to this bird being a female Palm Warbler in basic plumage. Add to that, the fact that this bird was among a large flock of more typically patterned Palm Warblers. Any other suggestions?