Day 4: A Snowy Farewell

Sunday: February 11th

Well it was our last full day in Minnesota, and I felt that we had spent the perfect amount of time on this trip. Today we would try for a few more targets and then make our way back to St. Paul, mostly through Wisconsin.

So we checked out of our hotel and began the day's route. It would be similar to yesterday's in that we'd be birding up 61, but we wanted to make a few different stops. Our first stop was the mouth of the Lester River, where a big group of Mallards had been seen lately. We needed Mallard on the trip, but no birds were present at this small pool of unfrozen water. We did enjoy seeing an adult Bald Eagle show off its prowess in the soft morning light.

Bald Eagle

We hopped back into the car to head up the highway. Waves of Red-breasted Mergansers flew down the coast as we stopped to scan. We passed the Boreal Owl spot, but there wasn't anything quite as impressive to stop for. As we continued to cruise up the road, I saw a smaller Duck come in and land on the water. We unloaded from the car and got on the bird. It was a little too distant to call, so we rode up the road a bit for a better vantage. We were able to relocate the bird, but the trouble was we were looking straight east, and the bird was hanging out directly in the sun's glare on the water. Finally, after much scrutinizing through the patches of rolling steam, we were able to determine the bird was a female Common Goldeneye, a new trip bird.

From here, we headed up to Stoney Point to do a little more scoping and scanning. But the spot was pretty deserted, so we moved on. Finally, our last chance to try for those Waxwings up at West Knife River Road. We cruised around for a bit, retracing our steps. Finally, they appeared! We had great views of this cosmopolitan species as it fed on Sumac.

Bohemian Waxwings

Another lifer in the bag for Jim and me. Just as we were heading out, a faint call caught my ear. It was reminiscent of House Finch so I walked down the road a little to investigate. I looked up to see a Pine Grosbeak staring down at me from a treetop! A cool sighting, we had only seen them once before at Sax-Zim.

Happy to have finally gotten those Waxwings, we headed back down 61 for the last time. As we passed back by the mouth of the Lester River, we pulled off upon sighting the flock of Mallards coming in. Tens of birds streamed by and circulated, obviously perturbed by the Bald Eagle sitting on the ice by their favored pool. Another new trip bird down, we kept on.

Our next stop was Rice's Point, an industrial area under the interstate just before Wisconsin. We were looking for a reported Snowy, but the closest I got was a Cottontail Rabbit. 

So we headed into Wisconsin, why not? We were so close, and we thought it would be cool to take an alternate route back to St. Paul to get some state birds. It was also one of just a handful of states that Jim had yet to visit.

After crossing the border, the only change that we noted was the switch from Vikings to Packers gear.  We rode around a neighborhood in Superior, hoping to turn up anything. Uncle Chris spotted some Common Redpolls up in a tree in someone's yard. Not a bad bird for WI. At the Allouez Bay we saw this massive ship:

Edmund Fitzgerald Vibes

Afterwards, we pulled into a convenience store where we were treated to a Bald Eagle overhead, another nice state bird.

We couldn't leave Wisconsin without an authentic Culver's experience, so we stopped in for lunch.

Then we made our way south. After a run-in with an elusive Accipiter, we passed through an industrial area on  24th Avenue E. Passing by a marsh, I glimpsed some open water, and it was totally covered with ducks!

Packed in like Sardines

We scanned an estimated 200 Mallards. Black Duck was on our minds, but nobody pulled one out. It wasn't until I was going through my photos on the flight home that I realized a male American Black Duck was featured right in the center of my photo!

Upon Closer Inspection

Another soaring Bald Eagle provided a good travel omen.

The rest of our time in Wisconsin was uneventful, and although we wouldn't pick up any trip birds, we got 7 state birds. A brief stop at Pattison State Park yielded no birds, but I did get this telling photo.

Everything is just trying to survive in the North

Eventually we were back into Minnesota, and the only possible bird of interest that we could possibly get was Snowy Owl. It had eluded us, but we still had a chance if we made it to the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport in time. After a long ride with a few Snowy spooks, we were back in the metropolis. Ducks flocked in the distance as we pulled into the "aircraft viewing area" on Cargo Road just before dusk. Several others were there, scanning the runways from snow mounds. After a bit of scanning, I noticed some movement on one of the buildings directly across from us. The Snowy had arrived!

The Last Lifer: Snowy Owl

How about that for a trip concluder! It would be our last checklist in the state; we were heading home the next morning. We celebrated that night with dinner at Outback, perhaps not the most fitting cultural farewell.

End of day tally:

4 species added (Total of 35 on trip)

2 Lifers for me

1 Lifer for Jim