Brief trip to Minnesota and Wisconsin produces three new warbler species for the year (and lots of other stuff)

Kirtland's Warbler, Marinette County, WI, Jul 10, 2026

Kirtland's Warbler, Marinette County, WI, Jul 10, 2026

Kirtland's Warbler with leg bands, Marinette County, WI, Jul 10, 2026

Kirtland's Warbler, Marinette County, WI, Jul 10, 2026

Jack Pine habitat, Marinette County, WI, Jul 10, 2026

Golden winged Warbler, Marinette County, WI, Jul 10, 2026

Golden winged Warbler, Marinette County, WI, Jul 10, 2026

Nashville Warbler, Marinette County, WI, Jul 10, 2026

Mourning Warbler, Marinette County, WI, Jul 10, 2026

Brewster's Warbler, Marinette County, WI, Jul 10, 2026

American Redstart, Marinette County, WI, Jul 10, 2026

Northern Waterthrush, Marinette County, WI, Jul 10, 2026

I flew out of Hartford late morning on Thursday the 9th into Minneapolis to begin a roughly two week vacation away with multiple stops before heading back home. The main part of the trip would be Alaska (covered in a later post) with the bookends being Minnesota/Wisconsin at the beginning and Oregon at the end (also covered in a later post). The first part of the trip I would be on my own with the goal being to track down at least two and possibly three species of warblers I had not yet seen for the year in the continental US (Kirtland’s Warbler, Golden winged Warbler and Connecticut Warbler)…much more on that at the following post: Minnesota and Wisconsin warblers.  I arrived in the early afternoon and after a little snafu with picking up the rental car I started the long (about 5 1/2 hour) drive to my Airbnb in northeast Wisconsin near the Michigan border. I eventually made it to the lodging around 7:30, had a quick dinner, a shower and went off to bed to try to get some sleep. However the place I rented was a basement location and the noise from above was super annoying and sleep was in short supply. 

With little sleep I headed out before dawn to drive to a spot to the south about 40 minutes away to try to find my first target…the Kirtland’s Warbler. I would have a much better chance to catch up with a Kirtland’s Warbler in their core breeding range in the lower peninsula of Michigan but I really didn’t want another three plus hour drive each way to get there. After lots of messages with a few people ‘in the know’ as far as possible locations for the species I had what I hoped would be a productive plan to find one. The species came close to extinction just a few decades ago and after lots of effort to provide suitable habitat (they need Jack Pines at a height of five to fifteen or so for breeding locations) and control of Brown headed Cowbirds the species has rebounded and has now been taken off the endangered species list. Wisconsin is at the periphery of the range and the area I would be checking has just a few nesting pairs and the locations are kept secret to protect the species. I arrived in one spot before sunrise and was immediately entertained by some Common Nighthawks calling and diving and making the unique booming sound as they drop from height and pull up just before hitting the ground. As I was enjoying the nighthawks I heard a Kirtland’s Warbler singing…target one down for the day. I then spent the next hour or so trying to get looks, photos and recordings. I had at least two males and a female present in a roughly 60 acre pine lot with the perfect height trees present. One of the males had color bands and I’ll see what I can find out about the history of the individual. I also had a number of other warbler species present with Nashville Warblers being the most prevalent (a theme that continued all day). I moved around the area a bit over the next few hours and found another pair of a Kirtland’s Warblers as well as great selection of other species (warblers and others). With the Kirtland’s Warbler in the bag my next target was Golden winged Warbler. I checked a few good looking spots before eventually seeing one and by end of the morning I had seen several including adults carrying food and fledglings being fed. I even had a Brewster’s Warbler hybrid feeding typical looking Golden winged Warbler fledglings. Besides warblers I had a bunch of other species I was able to add for the day and I had a total of 75 species. 

Canada Jay, Sax Zim Bog, MN, Jul 11, 2026

Blackburnian Warbler, Sax Zim Bog, MN, Jul 11, 2026

Ruffed Grouse, Sax Zim Bog, MN, Jul 11, 2026

Mourning Warbler, Sax Zim Bog, MN, Jul 11, 2026

Magnolia Warbler, Sax Zim Bog, MN, Jul 11, 2026

Boreal forest, Sax Zim Bog, MN, Jul 11, 2026

Without knowing how I would fare on Friday I kept my options open for Saturday. If I had failed to find a Kirtland’s Warbler I planned to perhaps make a trip into Michigan but thankfully I did not have to do that. Instead I decided to get up even earlier on Saturday and make the long drive back to Minnesota with the destination being the famous Sax Zim bog area a few hours north of Minneapolis. The area is very well known as a destination in the winter for those looking for owls and other northern birds but the summer also holds the chance of finding some interesting species with the chief among those being Connecticut Warblers. The downside of heading there is it is another long drive and to get there early enough to have a chance of getting birds while they are still singing meant another very early morning. Even getting up early I still did not get there until around 7AM (it’s a nearly five hour drive so tough to get there at first light!). The area had the feel and sound of the boreal north with both Red Crossbills and White winged Crossbills, Pine Siskins and Canada Jays. Not long after I arrived I heard a Connecticut Warbler sing in the distance and despite lots of effort on my part I never got eyes on the bird and I only heard it sing one more time and it was even more distant. Although I would have loved to have gotten a look I was very happy to finally hear this warbler sing on its breeding grounds. I have actually never heard the song in real life until that morning as the fall birds that come through are not singing and only call. I then tried a few other areas to try to find another Connecticut Warbler before I returned to the original area before heading toward the airport just after noon. I had no luck with finding any others or seeing or hearing the original one again. Nonetheless the warbler became warbler species #51 And was the last one I needed to find for the year in the continental US. This was also one of two warbler species this year that was heard only although I hope to track down some this fall at home.  I hit another milestone by topping my best ever year total for species in the US with White winged Crossbill breaking my previous best total of 449 set way back in 2011. This is all thanks to multiple trips to various parts of the US at various seasons.  It was a great morning in the area with multiple new species for the year with sunny weather every day with progressively warmer temps that topped off in the low 90’s.  I finished the day with 82 species, including 13 species of warblers.

During my short time in the area I found a total of 110 species and added two new states to my travel list.  In Minnesota I had 79 species and in Wisconsin I had 84 species (obviously some overall of species).

Full eBird trip report here:  Minnesota and Wisconsin trip report

Mid May with some good migration conditions coming up with a warm up

Blue winged Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 15, 2026

Brewster's Warbler, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 15, 2026

Cerulean Warbler, Skinner SP, Hadley, MA, May 15, 2026

Yellow throated Vireo, Skinner SP, Hadley, MA, May 15, 2026

Hooded Merganser with young, Belchertown Land Trust Trail, Belchertown, MA, May 15, 2026

Today would conclude our three days of overcast conditions, cooler temps with on and off rain (at least it was not as rainy as yesterday!).  Today actually started off with some early sun but the clouds quickly built in and there was some sporadic light rain later in the day.  We have now reached mid May which is usually the peak of migration and despite some less than stellar migration conditions the diversity of species is approaching their highest point for the spring.  Most days exceed a hundred species now without a ton of effort.  I spent lots of time outside today covering areas from Hadley to Amherst and then eventually back to Quabbin Park (sadly the roads are closed into the park for a least a week due to roadwork so lots of walking is involved to get to different spots).  I was mainly after warblers and had a total of 24 species.  The forecast shows warming temps over the next several days with some likely great migration conditions on at least a few nights.  I will be out as much as possible tracking down everything I can.  

Wilson's Warbler, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 14, 2026

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, May 14, 2026

Yesterday was mainly a rain out.  Although with some south winds I had hopes of finding some grounded migrants I had no luck.  I got a little walking in before the rain really moved in and had birds around in typical numbers.  I made multiple checks of Winsor Dam during the morning without anything unusual noted.  No rarities showed up in the county although a flock (nearly fifty individuals) of Brant in nearby Franklin County showed some unusual stuff did get forced down.  Despite my birding being curtailed by the weather I did add my 19th warbler species in the yard with a Wilson's Warbler as the rain poured down.

Veery, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, May 13, 2026

Spotted Sandpiper, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, May 13, 2026

Yellow bellied Flycatcher, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, May 13, 2026

Brewster's Warbler, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 13, 2026

Blue winged Warbler with black forehead, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 13, 2026

On Monday I headed out before dawn after what had been the biggest night of migration for the spring.  It was overcast and cool and some light rain started as the morning wore on.  The amount of bird song was certainly less than I expected and a fair number of species I had for the day were silent and were only picked up as they moved through the still not quite leafed out trees.  I started at Mitch's Way where I met up with Jack.  We had some good stuff including an odd singing Blue winged Warbler, at least half a dozen Tennessee Warblers and a Canada Warbler singing at the tops of the trees.  I then moved on to Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River as the intermittent rain continued.  Again there was not as much song as I would expect after a great night of migration but there were birds around including an early Yellow bellied Flycatcher.  My last stop before heading home was to the rail trail in Amherst where I had a number of species with the notables including an early Willow Flycatcher (getting me to 200 species in the county for the year), the Brewster's Warbler and the continued Blue winged Warbler with a black forehead.  The rain continued to pick up and I had to wait it out a bit before taking Wilson for a wet walk.  Once back home the rain had stopped and the sun even tried to poke through and when this happened the activity increased a lot and I had 51 species in the yard in just over ten minutes...not too bad...list here.

Some birds for the first three days of May despite poor migration conditions

Brewster's Warbler, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 3, 2026

Orchard Oriole, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, May 3, 2026

Red winged Blackbird, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 3, 2026

Chestnut sided Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 2, 2026

Northern Yellow Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 2, 2026

Pine Warbler collecting nest material, Quabbin Park, MA, May 2, 2026

Eastern Towhee, Quabbin Park, MA, May 2, 2026

Gray Catbird, Quabbin Park, MA, May 2, 2026

Merlin, Quabbin Park, MA, May 2, 2026

Blue winged Warbler, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 1, 2026

Blue Jay, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 1, 2026

Chipping Sparrow, Skinner SP, Hadley, MA, May 1, 2026

Cerulean Warbler, Skinner SP, Hadley, MA, May 1, 2026

Worm eating Warbler, Skinner SP, Hadley, MA, May 1, 2026

Wild Columbine, Skinner SP, Hadley, MA, May 1, 2026

The first three days of May have overall been slower than usual for species with the weather being poor for migration with less than ideal winds, some bouts of rain and cool temps.  Nonetheless birds continue to push in as the desire to move north to breed can overcome some less than ideal conditions for migration.  To start off the month I headed out mainly looking for warblers and found some including my first Cerulean Warblers and Worm eating Warblers for the year.  I stayed mainly in the Hadley/Amherst area for morning and then spent the afternoon doing stuff around the yard.  Tuesday the 2nd started off rainy and I got as much birding in around Quabbin Park as the bouts of rain would allow.  Although birding conditions were tough at times, I did add one new warbler for my big warbler year in the US with a Chestnut sided Warbler that became warbler species #41 for the year.  With more north winds overnight I didn't expect to find too much this morning and was pleasantly surprised to have a number of good sightings including a Glossy Ibis I flushed out of a small pond at Silvio Conte NWR at Fort River, a Northern Harrier doing a courtship flight (also at Conte) and a Brewster's Warbler that showed up in the same spot in Amherst for a third year in a row and possibly a fourth year.  By mid morning it was getting too windy to see much and I headed home to take Wilson for a walk.  Overall not a terrible start to the month with 117 species so far for the county.

The next few nights look to feature some good migration conditions with strong southerly winds and some warm temps.  I expect a big influx of birds during the period before the weather turns less conducive for migration for multiple nights. 

The start of May

Red tailed Hawk, Ware, MA, May 1, 2025

Black capped Chickadee, Quabbin Park, MA, May 1, 2025

 Pine Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 1, 2025

Brewster's Warbler, Amherst, MA, May 2, 2025

Solitary Sandpiper, Amherst, MA, May 2, 2025

May is off to a good start with a continued influx of birds with decent migration conditions.  The first day of the month produced over a hundred species despite me not be able to stay out as long due to some commitments at home.  Today started off with some thunderstorms that moved through starting around 3:20AM which woke me up and had me worried Wilson would be a mess (which is typically the case).  After lots of flashes and rumbles and me waiting for Wilson to lose it he finally woke up and wandered a little around 4:30 and seemed totally unfazed...a positive aspect of him becoming nearly deaf I guess.  Still surprised the rumbling didn't make him nervous.  After waiting around a bit to see if he remained calm (which he did) I headed out to a few areas to check on arriving migrants before I headed back home.  I almost stayed around the Quabbin area to see if any migrants got put down by the weather but was afraid the fog would make seeing anything at the dam impossible so I headed to Amherst and Hadley instead (there were a number of unusual waterfowl put down in Franklin County at Barton's Cove so perhaps I should have stayed at Quabbin...always the problem of spring...too many places to be at the same time to try to catch something interesting.  I decided to concentrate on warblers and had some good luck with the highlight being a Brewster's Warbler.  Even without a lot of time I managed a hundred species today and 104 yesterday...gotta love May!  The weather now looks to take a rainy turn as a cut off low in the Ohio valley will continue to pinwheel in rain from time to time until at least Wednesday.  At least it will not be rainy all the time and the rain could even result in some species being put down by the weather.