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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Edward" data-source="post: 1283568" data-attributes="member: 822">Friday 30 MayOur original rough plan had been to drive along the north shore of Lake Superior to Grand Marais and then bird the boreal forests of the hinterland, undoubtedly a fine birding area. But it would have added on a lot of time to our journey and the lure of the prairie was too great and we decided that we'd have one last crack at Great Grey Owl, and then head west, leaving the dense forests behind. We were up again before dawn, and left Duluth shrouded in a very cool fog as we headed back towards McGregor. Our first target was the area known in Eckert's book as Palisade Area, especially around Pietz's Rd, one of the most reliable Great Grey Owl sites in the state. Unfortunately, the owl forgot to turn up, so it will have to wait until a return trip to Sax-Zim or Finland. A slight recompense was a trio of Golden-crowned Kinglets, seen far better than the previous day, and our first Yellow-headed Blackbird at the edge of a swamp further on. An immature Bald Eagle perched by US 169 prompted an emergency stop before we headed back to Rice Lake NWR, which we had rushed through two days earlier. Eastern Bluebirds were very conspicuous near the entrance, clouds of Cliff Swallows swarmed round a road bridge and a solitary Trumpeter Swan drifted across the placid water of a small lake. A new mammal was a Porcupine sleeping in a tree. In the grasslands we came across the first of several Grasshopper Sparrows and our only Pileated Woodpecker stopped briefly in a stand of trees near the lake's edge. At the lake itself we saw perhaps the strangest sight of the trip; in among the hawking Black Terns were about 30 Common Nighthawks catching insects above the lake in the middle of the day. Two Broad-winged Hawks and a fly-by American Bittern were other notable birds seen before we hit the road again. As we still didn't have a map of Minnesota we entrusted ourselves entirely to the car's GPS and it proved a good choice. The GPS seemed to select the shortest mileage rather than necessarily the quickest route which meant the our journey from McGregor west to Rothsay in western Minnesota was entirely on back country roads, traversing Crow Wing, Cass, Wadena and Otter Tail Counties, where the traffic was virtually non-existent and we could stop at will in the subtly changing landscapes of rural Minnesota, its woods and lakes, gigantic fields, and farms with crumbling barns. Notable birds on this leg were several Sandhill Cranes, a host of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks at a feeder, Double-crested Cormorants and Pied-billed Grebes at small roadside pools, Common Loons, American White Pelicans and a Bald Eagle attending a huge nest near Lake Lida. So slow was our progress crossing the state that we didn't reach our goal of Rothsay until rather late in the evening. The area to the west of Rothsay gave us an indication of what was to come further west; it was a largely treeless expanse of fields mixed with remnant prairie stretching as far as the eye could see and was full of birds. Our first stop was for a pair of displaying Marbled Godwits and as we watched, four more noisy birds arrived and gave superb views in the evening light. Our first Wilson's Phalarope didn't stay long at a roadside pool but we soon located the approximate site of the Greater Prairie-Chicken lek that we were going to try in the morning. The fields here were alive with Western Meadowlarks, Bobolinks and Yellow-headed Blackbirds, the three of them making a handsome trio in the same scope view. Savannah Sparrows were also very common here but it was a song I recognised from the day before that caught our attention: somewhere in the grass there was a Le Conte's Sparrow and a quick scan with the scope soon found this superb bird, a much wanted lifer for both of us. It was in fact very cooperative and sang from the same grass stem for about 20 minutes, allowing us to approach quite closely before we left it alone. Overnight at motel in Pelican Rapids, dinner in the only restaurant open, McDonald's.More of Simmi's photos1. Grasshopper Sparrow2. Le Conte's Sparrow3. Yellow-headed Blackbird4. Marbled Godwit5. American White Pelican</blockquote>

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