Seven inches of “Easter snow” motivates Sparky to get out to western parts of his home county…Carlton County, Minnesota…to find out how the migrant birds are handling this cold spring day.

Loads of Rough-legged Hawks are migrating back north to nest on the Canadian tundra. They winter in open areas of northern U.S and southern Canada where snow cover allows them to see voles. Snows are usually too deep in northern Minnesota for them to spend the whole winter. Mostly males are found today.

Early migrants like American Kestrels, Hooded Mergansers, Mallards and Canada Geese are used to dealing with spring snows, but a surprise group of 3 Killdeer are less equipped to handle it. But they seem in good spirits as they forage along snow-covered roads.

Multiple Ring-necked Pheasants are a surprise at Firebird WMA. Are they being stocked? This was formerly a stronghold of Sharp-tailed Grouse.

The most fascinating find of the day was an industrious pair of Sandhill Cranes using their beaks to “shovel” snow and probe in the softer spots of ground under a grove of oaks to find acorns! Omnivorous and opportunistic, cranes aren’t too bothered by a little snow.

The two-hour excursion ends with a stop at TJ’s in Mahtowa for a bratwurst….Their brats are de “wurst”!

Sparky sleeps in a bit but spends this late March day wandering around Northeast Minnesota in search of birds, and he finds some good ones! The day starts off with a noisy mixed flock of Trumpeter Swans and Canada Geese at the open water on the St. Louis River only minutes from his home. The cacophony of sound is in itself worth the trip. It is only 13º F but the birds don’t care.

Moving north to the Superior National Forest, Sparky seeks out Spruce Grouse and Canada Lynx…but neither can be found. One of his favorite forest roads is still clogged with snow so inaccessible. But he finds a migrating meadowlark feeding along the paved road (the only snow-free spot around). After examining some still photos he believes it is a Western Meadowlark. The only other migrant (or bird of any kind) is a newly-arrived Red-tailed Hawk.

Then Sparky remembers that he has not yet gone to find the Black-backed Woodpecker “party” in the burn from the previous spring’s big Camp House forest fire near Brimson, Minnesota. Two of his birding friends tallied 49(!!) Black-backeds in the massive burn a couple months ago, then another friend found 10 only the week before.

On the third stop in burned pines, both a male and female are found. They are so busy searching out beetle grubs that they allow close approach. A few miles on near the intersection of Hyppo Creek Rd and Indian Creek Road there are FOUR more Black-backeds! Three males and one female. A below-eye-level male obligingly pulls out several huge juicy longhorned beetle grubs from the burned pines. You can see the extraction process in all its glory in 4x slow motion.

Both a Ruffed Grouse and American Woodcock are flushed from the snowy woods.

Last stop is Agate Bay in Two Harbors on Lake Superior where there has been reports of a White-winged Scoter. And after only a few minutes of scanning the female duck is found. The scoter is not a super-rarity but not a common bird either. I see one maybe every third year in northern Minnesota.

Lastly a River Otter makes a brief appearance as it swims to shore off of Lake Superior.

And, most importantly, Sparky makes it home for dinner!

In August 2025 Sparky and his friend Paul joined birding legend Paul Lehman and the Buena Vista Audubon group on a pelagic birding trip out of San Diego. It was a beautiful day out on the Pacific with many cool birds and a few sea mammals.

Sparky avoids seasickness again with the pre-trip use of Dramamine and the day-of ingestion of ginger pills and ginger ale. He also uses pressure-point wrist straps. Who really knows if any of this works since he’s never actually been seasick.

Highlights included Flesh-footed Shearwater, Townsend’s Storm-Petrel, Long-tailed Jaeger, Cocos Booby, Sabine’s Gull, Arctic Tern, Marbled Godwit, Leach’s Storm-Petrel, Black-vented Shearwater and much more.

In between birds, Sparky meets many interesting fellow birders and photographers. A great day on the high seas!

January 17, 2026

Birding Newfoundland Canada in midwinter is not a picnic. High winds, driving rain, below freezing temps and even colder windchills should be expected. But the birds are amazing! After getting EIGHT Lifers in three days, I decided to do a little more leisurely “sightseeing” by driving the 187-mile Irish Loop.

Newfoundland’s Irish Loop winds around the rugged tundra of the massive Avalon Wilderness Reserve. It starts and ends in St. John’s but in between it goes through about every coastal town. I saw far more birds than people or cars on this January day.

The scenery along the coast was spectacular with massive 15-foot waves pounding the beaches. Not great for birding, but made for a memorable experience.

Bird highlights included a very confiding Long-tailed Duck, a large flock of Redpolls (with a few “Hoarys” mixed in), a very close Black Guillemot, Great Black-backed Gulls, adult Glaucous Gull, Northern Harrier, and my first ever winter-plumaged Willow Ptarmigan(!) (which I first thought was yet another patch of lingering snow).

As far as mammals, I finally found a small band of Woodland Caribou, but they were far off on the tundra. I stumbled a quarter mile in the half frozen hummocks of moss and Caribou Lichen against a 35-45mph headwind, but my wet feet and frozen face sent me back to the shelter of the car.

All in all, a great way to end my four days of “Birding the Rock”!

***If you need a guide, or a custom birding itinerary, I highly recommend Jared Clarke of birdtherock.com

In Part 3 of Sparky’s birding and bird photography trip to Newfoundland he and guide Jared seek out North America’s rarest raptor, the long-standing Steller’s Sea-Eagle. This raptor is native to eastern Russia, and normally winters in Japan, but this individual showed up in Alaska in 2020 and has made itself quite comfortable in Newfoundland for the last FOUR YEARS! Will Sparky and Jared find it?

While they search they unexpectedly come upon TWO very exciting mammals in Holyrood Bay: Two Humpback Whales feeding not far offshore, and a BEARDED SEAL! This not-oft-seen Arctic seal is a Lifer for Sparky, and he took enough photos and videos to prove it.

Looking for a guide in Newfoundland? Jared Clarke of birdtherock.com is EXCELLENT!

Part 1 of 3: Newfoundland in winter? Sparky are you crazy? Crazy like a fox! This easternmost land in North America is a birding Mecca in winter. Many European species can be found here, and often not just single individuals, but sometimes many.

I hire local “Super Guide” Jared Clarke of Bird the Rock (birdtherock.com) to help me out on my first two days…and we have a whale of a time (actually that story will be in Part 2). Jared helps get me on multiple ABA Lifers including Purple Sandpiper, Black Guillemot, Great Cormorant, Pink-footed Goose (at a University campus pond!), Eurasian Green-winged Teal and more.

We go to Cape Spear (first spot the sun touches each morning in North America) and find a flock of over 200(!) Purple Sandpipers, plus learn a bit about its WWII history.

An amazing coincidence occurs on Sparky’s first leg of his Newfoundland birding and bird photography trip. A flight delay and rerouting lands him in Quebec overnight. A quick Google of “Montreal Birds” reveals a very recent sighting of Canada’s first (4th(?) North American) sighting of European Robin! Sparky has never taken an Uber before, but he quickly downloads the app and calls for a ride. Will he find it?

Sparky also interviews Sabrina who shares how she discovered this bird.

Owen and Quentin Reiser are a couple of interesting dudes who did a U.S. Big Year of birding via Kia Minivan in 2024. If you haven’t seen their LISTERS movie, you must do it now! Over TWO MILLION people already have! And don’t forget to pick up Quentin’s hilarious book about their Big Year.

They first contacted me in late 2023 to do a Zoom call so they could ask me questions about birding and doing a Big Year. I got a taste of their unique world view when their last question was, “How many Canada Geese could you take in a fight if you only had a jean jacket.” Well, the obvious answer is six or seven!

But we ended up birding together in Minnesota’s Sax-Zim Bog twice, and once in Texas. They helped me find a Groove-billed Ani in San Benito…a bird I hadn’t seen in decades! I helped them find the Black-backed Woodpecker in Sax-Zim Bog.

Their resulting movie on YouTube (LISTERS: A Glimpse into Extreme Birdwatching) has really struck a chord with millions of birders and NON-Birders. Let’s spend some time with these guys now out in the field and find out a little bit more about them.

Madera Canyon in southeast Arizona is a legendary birding location…and the bird photography isn’t bad either! I spend parts of two days in this “sky island” canyon on this mid August trip.

Berylline Hummingbird is a Mexican bird species that occasionally shows up in southeast Arizona. The American Birding Association (ABA) labels it a Code 3 rarity. It would be a Lifer for me. Will I see it? The Santa Rita Lodge feeders are alive with hummers including Rufous, Anna’s, Black-chinned.

During the slower parts of the day, I sit at a water hole along the creek, and watch multiple species come in, including a Warbling Vireo. I get a photo, but what I didn’t realize, was that in just two short days, the American Ornithological Society (AOS) would split this species into two—Western Warbling-Vireo and Eastern Warbling-Vireo. A LIFER!

The crimson-bellied flycatcher known as Painted Redstart comes in for a drink, as well as Acorn Woodpecker, White-winged Dove, Plumbeous Vireo and others. Calling its “squeaky toy” song nearby is a Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher, which I manage to get a few photos of in the canopy.

Other Madera Canyon highlights were Bridled Titmouse, Mexican Jay, and Hutton’s Vireo, a species I’ve never photographed before.

NEXT EPISODE—Arizona #3d 

Lifer on the Mexican Border—”Death march into Sycamore Canyon”

In Part 1 of Sparky’s August trip to southeast Arizona, he concentrates on finding the mountain warblers and magnificent hummers of Tucson’s Mount Lemmon. Only a short drive from the city, but a world away as far as habitats, Mount Lemmon rises to over 9,000 feet where pine forests dominate. It is even high enough to get several feet of snow each winter and sustain a downhill skiing area! The mountain is an example of a “Sky Island,” one of several of these isolated mountains/mountain ranges rising up from the deserts of southeast Arizona. The 27 mile Santa Catalina Highway traverses multiple habitats/biomes and provides dozens of excellent birding locations.

The Palisades Visitor Center at 7,950 feet is a great stop to see hummingbirds up close. On this visit Sparky finds dozens of noisy Rufous Hummingbirds (including one single adult male in stunning coppery plumage), several red-throated “zinging” Black-chinneds and a few rosy-headed Anna’s. A magnificent Rivoli’s Hummer joins the party as well, showing off its iridescent purple and teal feathers.

Sparky shares a couple unique photography techniques to capture the beauty and speed of these unique hummingbirds. Shooting video at 1/5000 of a second frame rate can yield some stunning still images.

Then down at Rose Lake Canyon Sparky stumbles on a nice wave of Mountain Chickadees, Pygmy Nuthatches, and Bushtits. Amongst them are several high elevation “mountain” warblers at eye-level including Grace’s, Black-throated Gray, and a stunning Red-faced Warbler.

At the end of the video, Sparky shares his favorite images of this episode.

In the next episode (SE AZ Part 2) Sparky travels to Madera Canyon. Will he get his Lifer Berryline Hummingbird? And what is that strange mammal coming down the path?