A common trend this year has been my anticipation for some of the states that most people might consider to be “lower tier” states for birding, either in general or because of the time of year. My experience so far this year has been that these states, such as Kentucky and West Virginia, have yielded some of my favorite birding of my entire adventure. As I entered Iowa on July 28th, I knew this would once again be the case – and right from the jump my expectation was shown to be reality.
I got started on my birding in the Hawkeye state in the town of Davenport just across the Mississippi River from Illinois, where a quick stop at Credit Island Park produced a variety of birds, most notably including Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, and the first of the bird that would define my time in the state: Red-headed Woodpecker. A short walk at Nahant Marsh added Ring-billed Gull and American White Pelican to my notable pickups, and from there I hit the road headed south. Wildcat Den State Park was a great next stop, where my couple hours birding yielded a solid array Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Acadian Flycatcher, Yellow-throated Vireo, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Wood Thrush, Baltimore Oriole, and American Redstart. As I was driving away from the state park I spotted something that is always a bizarre sight: an Upland Sandpiper sitting on a utility wire. Port Louisa National Wildlife Refuge didn’t hold much, but I still had a good time there and Orchard Oriole, Sedge Wren, Dickcissel, and Great Crested Flycatcher were all nice additions.
Cone Marsh Wildlife Management Area was probably the highlight of the day, hosting Northern Bobwhite, Ring-necked Pheasant, Great Egret, Willow Flycatcher, Bell’s Vireo, Horned Lark, Marsh Wren, Grasshopper Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, Western Meadowlark, and Blue Grosbeak. I closed out the day in the southeast corner of the state at the Shimek State Forest, where the Lick Creek Unit produced Hairy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, White-eyed Vireo, Carolina Wren, Ovenbird, Louisiana Waterthrush, Kentucky Warbler, Northern Parula, Scarlet Tanager, and Summer Tanager and the Farmington Unit added Yellow-throated Warbler to the haul.
Days two and three of Iowa were a bit slower as the weather turned a bit south while I headed north, but on the 29th the Hawkeye Wildlife Management Area Gunclub Ponds added some shorebirds to my state list in Semipalmated Plover, Spotted Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs, Greater Yellowlegs, Stilt Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, and Pectoral Sandpiper and the nearby Greencastle Avenue causeway had a pair of singing Field Sparrow. I spent the 30th in the far northeast corner of the state, with my birding for the day being restricted to a couple hours in the morning spent at Yellow River State Forest Paint Rock Unit, the bounty of which included Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Eastern Towhee, Prothonotary Warbler, and Cerulean Warbler.
I got back into the swing of things on Thursday the 31st as I worked my way west across the state. Stops at the Cardinal Marsh Wildlife Management Area, Lake Hendricks, and Mallard Marsh were all nice but didn’t yield much in the way of new birds, but the Smith Waterfowl Production Unit had an excellent haul, with Blue-winged Teal, Sora, Clay-colored Sparrow, Henslow’s Sparrow, and Eastern Meadowlark all being new.
Crystal Hills Wildlife Management Area hosted Black Tern, Pied-billed Grebe, Vesper Sparrow, and Yellow-headed Blackbird, and Union Slough National Wildlife Refuge looked like it could have been incredible if it weren’t mostly closed for breeding season. I ended the day at East and West Swan Lake Wildlife Management Area, the latter of which held a tremendous variety of ducks including Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, Mallard, Northern Pintail, and Ruddy Duck. The day ended with a Common Nighthawk flying over the Walmart parking lot where I spent the night, leaving Thursday as one of my favorite days I’ve had in months.
Friday morning would see the end of my time in Iowa, but before I bid the state farewell I made a few more stops. The morning of August 1st began at Dewey’s Pasture Wildlife Management Area, where stops at Trumbell Lake, Smith’s Slough, and Mud Lake all contained a decent array of new birds but nothing new, same as my next and last stop, Lost Island Lake State Park. After that bit of birding in Iowa I headed north across the state line into Minnesota, starting my birding in the Land of 10,000 Lakes at the Minnesota Slough Wildlife Management Area, where Trumpeter Swan, American Wigeon, and 25 other species made for a great start.
As I continued to gradually work my way north I made stops at the Little Sioux Waterfowl Production Area and Sioux Forks Waterfowl Production Area, snagging some Bank Swallow at the latter of the two spots. Continuing northward I swung by Anderson Park, Four Corners Wildlife Management Area, and Seymour Lake Wildlife Management Area, Rooney Run Wildlife Management Area, and a series of flooded farm fields, picking up a solid array of shorebirds and others along the way including Henslow’s Sparrow, Sora, Sedge Wren, Upland Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper, Solitary Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs, Greater Yellowlegs, Stilt Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, and Pectoral Sandpiper. The highlight of the day with short visit to the Primrose Waterfowl Production Area, which at first seemed like it wasn’t going to produce anything but as I prepared to head out I was greeted by a covey of Gray Partridge running along the side of the road, darting in-and-out of the foliage. I am sure I will have plenty more opportunities at this species in the coming month or so but it was great to tick off this bird almost as soon as I entered its range, Lifer #606! I finally ended Friday with a stop at the Joseph A. Tauer Prairie State Natural Area, where Clay-colored Sparrow was the highlight addition.
I began the morning of Saturday the 2nd at Flandrau State Park, a worthwhile stop as during my walk there I heard a calling Yellow-billed Cuckoo and spotted Hairy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Baltimore Oriole, American Redstart, Scarlet Tanager, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak. After my morning walk to start the day I headed over to the Gaylord Wastewater Treatment Ponds, where I quickly tracked down the lingering Red-necked Phalarope – a first-of-year bird for me – as well as Eared Grebe, Forster’s Tern, Black Tern, Gadwall, and Blue-winged Teal, all of which were new for Minnesota!
After the sewage facility I continued north, making a few more stops at non-eBird Hotspots and adding Green Heron, Great Egret, Horned Lark, Semipalmated Plover, and Chimney Swift – bringing me to 100 for Minnesota without having even arrived at the biggest draw for my time in the state! With those birds in hand I hit the road with the plan to book it towards said biggest draw, the legendary Sax-Zim Bog. Most of the rest of Saturday was spent driving but I did make one detour at the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge Wildlife Drive, where I added Chestnut-sided Warbler, Mourning Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Orchard Oriole, Eastern Towhee, Grasshopper Sparrow, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Alder Flycatcher, Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, and Sandhill Crane to my state list!
On Sunday the 3rd I finally arrived at one of they keystone locations of American birding. Other than endemic species I can’t think of any birds that are more directly correlated on a national level than Great Gray Owl and Sax-Zim Bog. The Bog’s reputation for its winter birding is so renowned that in much of the birding world, with little-to-no context, referring to it simply as “The Bog” would be enough for most birders to know what you’re talking about. Unfortunately, while this past winter was an incredible year for nearly every one of The Bog’s boreal specialty birds, I wouldn’t be seeing any Great Gray Owls, Boreal Owls, and Northern Hawk Owls on my mid-summer visit – though my season of visit came with a tradeoff in a different target bird, as Sax-Zim (along with northern Minnesota in general) serves as one of the United States’ few spots where the holy grail of eastern ABA warblers breeds.
As I worked my way down McDavvit Road I quickly started to pick up a great diversity of birds including Broad-winged Hawk, Merlin, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Winter Wren, Veery, Hermit Thrush, White-throated Sparrow, Lincoln’s Sparrow, Brewer’s Blackbird, Nashville Warbler, and Magnolia Warbler. With a bit more extensive effort I eventually managed to track down my main target for my time in The Bog, the previously eluded to Holy Grail of warblers: Connecticut Warbler. I had only ever previously seen one Connecticut in my life during a successful chase back during my 2022 Michigan Big Year, and with the rest of my year being spent in the west this was my last opportunity for this equally elusive and highly-desired species.
The rest of my time in Sax-Zim was spent driving a series of roads through the massive area including Kolu Road, Admiral Road, County Road 7, Sax Road, Stickney Road, Arkola Road, and Owl Avenue. During those few hours I added Least Flycatcher, Blackburnian Warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Black-billed Magpie, Blue-headed Vireo, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Black-backed Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Eastern Bluebird, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Palm Warbler, and Canada Jay to my Minnesota list. After a quick stop at the Visitor’s Center I called it a day and left The Bog, very satisfied with the time I spent there and even more excited by the prospect of someday returning in the winter to hopefully find some of the owls for which the spot is primarily known.
Before the week came to a close I picked up one more bird, Minnesota’s state bird – Common Loon – at Tioga Beach. This was not yet the end of my time in Minnesota though, as during Week Thirty-two I will wrap up The Land of 10,000 Lakes and continue westwards into North Dakota. Hopefully I won’t face as many issued in getting that post out in a few days as I did with this one, and also now that I have gotten a couple working batteries for my camera I will hopefully have a few more pictures for next week’s blog than I did for this week’s, as I was without my camera from the time I was in Illinois until my last day in Minnesota, and was forced to rely on taking photos with my phone through my binoculars and spotting scope (not that I am much of a photographer normally, though).
Happy Birding!
eBird Trip Summary:
First and foremost - thank you to anyone who chooses to support me in this insane adventure of mine. When I initially had this idea and began planning I didn't even consider the possibility that others would want to support me, but I am extremely grateful to those who have reached out to do so. For those who are interested in supporting me, I have set up a Patreon, which can be accessed by clicking the logo to the left (or you can send me a message via the contact page). Again, thank you for your incredibly generous support!
All Patrons will receive my "Daily Notes" 12-36 hours after the end of each day, and Patrons subscribed to the "Sponsor" tier will receive monthly postcards, mailed out between the 25th and end of each month.
For anyone who wishes to support me without using Patreon, clicking the "$" Icon will link you to my Venmo as well. There is also an option on Patreon to purchase my Daily Notes Collection for a one-time $10 payment without becoming a paid member, which will give you access to the Daily Notes without having to subscribe to a monthly subscription. For those who it requests the last four of my number for, it's 1403.
Following recent suggestions I went ahead and created a GoFundMe in order to help ensure I can keep this adventure going and afford the costs of gas, vehicle maintenance, and food (including, with enough support, some more diversity in my diet). The GoFundMe can be accessed by clicking the image link with the coin going into the donation box. (If anyone knows how to add a custom icon on Elemetor to make the Venmo and GoFundMe Links their respective logos, I'd love to hear how to do it!)
Thank you again to those of you who have supported me so far, it's tremendously generous and greatly appreciated.
Follow me on my journey to see 100 species in every Lower-48 State during 2025, experience some of the incredible places and events in American birding, and meet and bird with as many local birders as possible along the way.
Posts will be made every Wednesday (I will try to have them out by 5pm, but situationally they might be a bit later) and will cover the previous Monday through Sunday. Additional posts will be made periodically with no set schedule.
