Sparky kayaks around Stone Lake in northern Minnesota’s Sax-Zim Bog looking for birdlife. Highlights include Sedge Wren, Belted Kingfisher, Common Loon and an unexpected River Otter.

Late summer wildflowers are peak in late July/early August in the Bog and we take a look at a few finds. 

Sparky gives updates on upcoming events including the Artist-in-Residence program and author/photographer Paul Bannick’s Welcome Center talk on Saturday September 27. Paul will speak on his new book, Woodpecker: A Year in the Life of North America’s Woodpeckers.

We end the video with highights of the Friends of Sax-Zim Bog BioBlitz XIII.

This is Virtually Live Episode 56 (Season 6, Episode 1)

Southeast Arizona Birding—August 10-16, 2025

In early August I brought Bjorn down to spend a week at his grandma’s farm in Illinois. But instead of making the 18-hour round trip drive twice in seven days, I instead flew from Peoria to Tucson for some monsoon season desert birding.

It was a bizarre pre-dawn drive on the rough Ruby Road to get to the remote Sycamore Canyon. The only cars that I saw were 7(!) Border Patrol trucks. Obviously this is a commonly used route for migrants. 

Connor and Alex, grad students at Texas A&M had arrived just before me, along with a couple Border Patrol agents on foot. They took off at a quick pace while I took my time along the trail…or maybe I should write “trail,” since it was often barely perceptible which way one should go. It is a fairly flat trail but the heat, lack of signage and uneven substrate make it a challenging journey.

Alex and Connor gave me a GPS location and a good habitat description on their way out, but Google Earth was not connecting in this remote valley and I overshot the spot. I knew it was like 1.75 miles int the canyon but I “overthunk” it and ended up doing some risky boulder scrambling to get around a steep dry waterfall slope and rock cliff.

Then suddenly a Border Patrol helicopter popped over the cliffs above and buzzed down the canyon and over my head. I know they are used to occasional birders so ignored me. Odd feeling to be in such a remote place all alone and have a helicopter check you out.

But I get it…this must be a well-used crossing point. I saw much sign of folks traveling through this canyon: abandoned canteen with home-sewn bluejean cover, tuna packets, random clothes, Red Cross blanket. 

Finally I turned around. It just didn’t feel like this was the spot Alex and Connor had described. They also said it was singing so I was listening for the song and its call chip note, which to me sounds like that of a Junco. After another sketchy rock scramble and a half mile hike back up down the canyon I heard the call note.

There it was! A male in all his glory…lemon yellow with a stout bill and namesake rufous cap. I got to spend a grand total of 37 seconds with him before he flitted off through the wash-side brush. ABA area lifer number 658! (or so…I need to redo my checklist).

Rufous-capped Warbler is a Mexican species that only rarely shows up in the U.S. and when it does, almost always in SE Arizona.

I plopped down on a rock on the hillside and just waited and watched for another 45 minutes or so, but the Rufous-capped did not show again. The Border Patrol agents did pass by but evidently did not see me only 20 yards away.

It was now getting quite hot. I met a few other die hards on their way in to find the warbler. I helped one young guy who had gotten off the trail and was a bit turned around (easy to do here!).

Other highlights: Rock Wrens, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, singing and close-up Canyon Wrens, Clark’s Spiny Lizard, Elegant Earless Lizard, and a very unexpected Black Vulture(!), an eastern species that I learned has a tiny outpost in SE Arizona including Sycamore Canyon. Also a sad but interesting find…Road-kill Hognosed Skunk.

**I am working on my YouTube videos about this Arizona trip, so stay tuned!

In this episode of Shooting with Sparky, he goes out to the Minnesota-South Dakota border to try and photograph shorebirds, grebes and ducks by kayak. Salt Lake Wildlife Management Area is Minnesota’s ONLY alkaline (salty) lake. Due to the alkaline nature, it breeds millions of brine flies and brine shrimp, which the grebes, phalaropes and other shorebirds love to feast on.

But first Sparky birds Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge where TWO Say’s Phoebes had been reported, a western bird that is rarely seen in Minnesota. Sparky finds both and has some great photo opportunites.

He also enjoys a patch of Prickly Pear Cactus (Did you know Minnesota has cactus? THREE species!). Other Big Stone highlights include the aerial flight of Common Nighthawks, singing (croaking?) Yellow-headed Blackbirds, Clay-colored Sparrow, and a acrobatic pair of Painted Turtles! [Sparky also gets a lifer jumping spider! (Marpissa pikei…Pike’s Slender Jumper) but it didn’t make it into the final cut :(]

On to Salt Lake! And the major revelation of this trip was that shorebirds don’t recognize a human in a kayak! Sparky was able to float right up to foraging Dunlin, Semipalmated Plovers, Semipalmated Sandpipers, Pectoral Sandpipers, and Sanderlings. But the best photo opportunities were with the foraging Wilson’s and Red-necked Phalaropes, two stunning species that are shorebirds but don’t feed like them. They swim like a duck, plucking brine shrimp or brine fly larvae from the lake.

And in another interesting turn, they suddenly all started going into hyper courtship mode. In phalaropes the female is more colorful than the male, and she initiates courtship, battling with other females for the more drab male as a mate. After she lays eggs in a nest, she flies off and the male is left to incubate the eggs and take care of the young. Fascinating!

Warbler Wednesdays in Sax-Zim Bog are a many-year tradition. These field trips often yield fantastic looks at some of northern Minnesota’s 25+ species of breeding and migrant warblers.

Sparky highlights some of the finds on two Warbler Wednesdays including Canada, Black-throated Green, Blackburnian, Pine, Magnolia, Mourning and Golden-winged warblers to name a few.

We also check in on spring highlights of our Friends of Sax-Zim Bog trail camera project, “A Year in the Life at a Sax-Zim Beaver Pond.” Meet Hank and Ginger the Timber Wolf pair that make this part of the Bog their home. Also a surprise cameo by a mom Black Bear with THREE bundles of joy.

Sparky encounters Larry and Patty from Maine along Taiga Boardwalk, and we hear about their exciting Sax-Zim Bog trip.

Then as Sparky is wrapping up the day, a TRIO of MOOSE (!) wander across his path.

April 4-5. 2025

In part 2 of my “Grouse to Goose” birding and bird photography trip in western Minnesota, I head south to the west central part of the state to find at least ONE Greater White-fronted Goose. But along the way, and despite the spring snow, I encounter multiple cool birds—Lapland Longspurs in near breeding plumage, dancing Sandhill Cranes, a “Gray Ghost,” and the World’s Largest Greater Prairie-Chicken!

Excited to finally get to one of Minnesota’s best birding sites, North Ottawa Impoundment in Grant County, my day is nearly ruined as I get mired in mud while pursuing a daytime-hunting Short-eared Owl.

But then a massive flock of Greater White-fronted Geese arises in the distance…3,000?, 5,000? Quite a sight, and success in my search!

Sparky heads to northwest Minnesota after an early April snowstorm. He has reserved a Sharp-tailed Grouse blind and is excited to photograph them dancing on top of the snow. But, alas, disappointment. The sounds of the courtship displays are amazing as usual, but he can’t really see them dance!

Sandhill Cranes and a bobbin of Robins in a ghost town save the day.

Daunted (is that a word?), Sparky sets a goal for the rest of the trip. See if he achieves it in Part 2.

Mid-Trip Pivot to BIRDING Minnesota’s Big Bog Wildlife PHOTOGRAPHY

February 7-8

The prairies of northwest Minnesota’s Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge is a vast prairie restoration project…and in midwinter it can be a bit bleak. 

Sparky encounters a few cool species including Sharp-tailed Grouse and Northern Shrike but decides to do a MID-TRIP pivot and go to Big Bog Boardwalk even farther north. The mile-long boardwalk in Big Bog State Recreation Area is the longest of its kind. 

Sparky has to snowshoe to get there but finds MANY White-winged Crossbills feasting on Black Spruce cones, a Canada Jay gathering nesting material and he plays hide-and-seek with a Snowshoe Hare. 

But the fun doesn’t stop there as he finds a couple “Hoary” Redpolls and a very focused Pine Marten allows Sparky to join in in his hunt!

Then as a BONUS, Sparky stumbles upon a Great Gray Owl hunting in interesting backlight.

Side trips include birding a GHOST TOWN, finding a historic French Canadian settlement and cemetery, and “relaxing” in Key West.

In this Part 3 of Rio Grande Valley Texas birding, Sparky visits San Benito Wetlands, National Butterfly Center, Frontera Audubon, and Hugh Ramsey Park. He tries to fit this all in while still manning his Friends of Sax-Zim Bog table for the Rio Grande Valley Festival in Harlingen.

An unexpected McCall’s Eastern Screech-Owl is a “back-pocket” bird….One that is now only a subspecies but may be a full species (and a Lifer) someday. Other highlights include Clay-colored Thrush, bathing(?) Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, Anhinga in slow motion, Vermilion Flycatcher, Gray Hawk, Olive Sparrow, Green Jays, Plain Chachalacas and Altamira Oriole.

A surprising trio of Groove-billed Anis makes Sparky happy since he hasn’t seen this species in decades!

The butterflying was fantastic too, as Sparky gets many Lifers including Blomfild’s Beauty, Gray Cracker, Soldier and Florida White, but also enjoys stellar view of stunners like Red-bordered Pixie and more Mexican Bluewings than ever before.

Sparky went down to the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival to represent Friends of Sax-Zim Bog…but of course he couldn’t go to one of the best birding spots in the country and just sit behind a table! 

He had to get out birding and photographing some of the “Valley specialists” such as the parrots and parakeets.

He went on the Festival’s “Parrot Palooza” and connected with Green Parakeet (photo lifer), Red-crowned Amazon (Parrot), Yellow-headed Amazon, and Red-lored Amazon.

A few days later he discovered that Old Hidalgo, TX has a breeding population of Monk Parakeet. Sparky survived a Chihuahua-pack attack, and soon after discovered a flock of 43 “Monks.” 

Sparky shares some photography tips for shooting busy birds in low-light conditions.

After dropping my youngest son off at his aunt & uncles in Madison, WI in early June, I spend two partial days at Necedah NWR,  one of my favorite National Wildlife Refuges. And it does not disappoint!

I capture the mechanism for Common Nighthawk booming in slow motion video. Crazy stuff!

A pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers entertain me with their bold antics. I share my early memories of this species at my grandparents farm in South Dakota (including the world’s best photo of this species that I took at age 14:)

I stumble across a couple species that I never see in the North Woods including a Willow Flycatcher (“FITZ-bew”) and a cooperative and beautiful Blue-winged Warbler.

And I can’t forget the rare butterfly that makes Necedah its home….the “Karner” Melissa Blue butterfly. I spend some quality time with this beauty amongst the native Wild Lupine (Lupinus perennis).

An evening atop the Observation Tower is always peaceful, and this time I spot a pair of Whooping Cranes feeding on the far side.

Finally, I stop in to the very well done Nature Center. A great place in a great refuge!