November 10, 2008 [LINK / comment]
Fall birding on the Great Plains
During my recent visit to the Great Plains of South Dakota, Iowa, and Nebraska, I took advantage of the intermittent nice weather and went for a few birding treks through the countryside. Over the course of my trip, I was fortunate to spot two life birds: a Harris's Sparrow (several of them, actually) and a LeConte's Sparrow. I also saw quite a few winter birds that arrive in that region a couple weeks earlier than they typically arrive here in Virginia. The summary report below is roughly organized according to geographical location.
Harris's Sparrow (immature, lacking black face) on the left, and an all-too-common House Sparrow (female) on the right.
New York, Oct. 3
At Yankee Stadium, I saw a fast-flying raptor that was probably a Peregrine falcon. Late in the afternoon, as our train headed up the Hudson Valley, I saw:
- Ring-billed gulls
- Great Blue Herons
- Great Egrets (FOS)
- Double-crested Cormorants (FOS)
- Pied-billed Grebes (FOS)
South Dakota, Oct. 8-27
One thing that astonished me was the enormous number of Robins that were seen in various places in and around Vermillion. During some evenings I saw flocks passing overhead numbering well over 500, possibly more than a thousand. They seem to spend their days in the woods along the bluff that marks the north edge of the Missouri River valley, and then roost in wooded areas in town during the evening. I was amazed by the virtual absence of crows. Most of the birds listed below were seen in or near Vermillion. (Because so many unique birds were seen at Spirit Mound, which is in South Dakota, I put them in a separate list.)
- Robins (hundreds!)
- Blue Jays
- Cardinal (only one!)
- Goldfinches
- House sparrows (many)
- House Finches
- Yellow-rumped Warblers (FOS, Oct. 8)
- Dark-eyed Juncos (FOS, Oct. 10)
- Red-tailed Hawks
- Cedar Waxwings
- American Tree Sparrow (FOS, Oct. 10)
- Phoebe
- Bald Eagles (imm.)
- Flickers
- Starlings
- Red-winged Blackbirds
- Grackles
- Harris's Sparrow (X) (LIFE BIRD!, Oct. 17)
- Sharp-shinned Hawks
- Mallards
- Canada Geese
- Ring-billed Gulls
- Double-crested Cormorants
- Pied-billed Grebes
- American Coots (FOS, Oct. 27)
- Lesser Scaups (FOS, Oct. 27)
- Common Merganser (FOS, Oct. 27)
- Gadwalls (FOS, Oct. 27)
Spirit Mound, Oct. 18
- LeConte's Sparrow (X) (LIFE BIRD!)
- Harris's Sparrow (X)
- Swamp Sparrow (FOS)
- Pine Siskins (FOS)
- Downy Woodpecker
- Barn Swallows
- Western Meadowlark (X)
- Ring-necked Pheasant (X)
Ponca State Park, Nebraska, Oct. 25
- Red-bellied Woodpeckers
- White-breasted Nuthatches
- Blue Jays
- American Crows (few)
- Black-capped Chickadees
- Sharp-shinned Hawk
- Song Sparrow
- American Tree Sparrow
Iowa, Oct. 30
- American White Pelicans (X) -- 80+ on the Mississippi River at Burlington, Iowa.
(FOS) = first of season
(X) = not seen in Eastern U.S.A.