When northern Minnesota is still a snowy, slushy and muddy mess, why not head to south Florida?!

The 70-mile boat trip to Dry Tortugas National Park in Florida is a MUST for birders, bird lovers, snorkelers, photographers and anybody who loves history and nature. Tickets on the Yankee Freedom cost $240 (as of 2026) and must be made months in advance. The boat trip is about 2 1/2 hours each way, which gives you 4 1/2 hours on the island.

There are big breeding colonies of birds that are not found anywhere else in the Lower 48 including Brown Noddy, Masked Booby, Magnificent Frigatebird and Sooty Tern (only a couple other nesting locations in U.S.). And the shear number of birds nesting on Bush Key is overwhelming. Up to 100,000 birds!

But Dry Tortugas Garden Key (where the boat lands) is also a resting and recovery spot for tired migrants heading north in spring. On this trip we find dozens of Palm Warblers, several Northern Parulas, Prairie Warblers, Merlin, Yellow-billed Cuckoo and more.

Sparky’s lifers were “Caribbean” Osprey (subspecies from Cuba, Bahamas), Bridled Tern (ABA lifer #679), and Uber-rare Cuban Pewee! (only a dozen North American records and Sparky ABA Lifer #680).

And since this area has amazingly clear water and healthy coral reefs, Sparky tries snorkeling. He finds colorful fish including Cocoa Damselfish, Sergeant Major, Yellow Jacks, Blue-striped & French Grunts and even swims with a Great Barracuda!

Other aquatic highlights include a Loggerhead Turtle and some type of shark.

Dry Tortugas is one of the smallest National Parks from a land surface area, but does encompass a huge area of ocean. Fort Jefferson on Garden Key is the largest brick structure in the western hemisphere. It was built for U.S. defense in the mid 1800s but is most famous for jailing Dr. Mudd, a conspirator in the Abraham Lincoln assassination and the person who set John Wilkes Booth’s broken leg.

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!

After dropping Birk off at the Minneapolis airport for his senior trip to Washington DC, I decide to take a detour on my way home to northern Minnesota. This is my favorite “long cut” to Wrenshall, and avoids a couple hours of freeway driving.

Crex Meadows is one of Wisconsin’s premiere State Wildlife Areas, and is most famous for being a major staging area for Sandhill Cranes in late fall.

It was too early for returning cranes since the marshy lakes were still frozen, but that doesn’t deter Trumpeter Swans! They return crazy early just to get the best nesting spots.

And that is what stopped me along a dirt road in the refuge. A pair of Trumpeters on a snowy point surrounded by slushy blue ice in perfect light. And as I was photographing them, an adult Bald Eagle flew right at me and landed a hundred feet away. That doesn’t happen every day!

The Eagle “caught” (really plucked) a couple dead winter-kill Bullheads from the slush. Interestingly, it seemed to prefer the skin of the fish, and stripped that first. That is one of the fattier and more nutrient-rich parts of any fish.

Other bird highlights included a small flock of Redpolls, American Tree Sparrow, Ring-necked Pheasant and Wild Turkeys.

A near-miss possible lowlight was almost getting stuck in the mucky, muddy roads THREE times! But I barely made it out.

A Serendipitous day of birding and bird photography!

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

Yowza! What a difference a year makes. Last winter I did this same route and had the opposite results. In “Sucky to Super 2025” I had ZERO luck in northwest Minnesota’s Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge, but amazing success in the Big Bog: Pine Marten, White-winged Crossbills, Snowshoe Hare.

But this winter it was the complete opposite. ZERO birds or critters along the Big Bog boardwalk, but Glacial Ridge and prairie/aspen parkland surroundings really came through!

FORTY-SIX Gray Partridge in seven coveys was unbelievable! And I was able to photograph one group up close by hiding behind my van.

Other highlights included multiple Rough-legged Hawks, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Greater Prairie-Chickens, American Goshawk, Great Horned Owl, and a Northern Shrike retrieving a cache of food!

February 1-2, 2026

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.

In Part 1 from Churchill on Hudson Bay…

My wife Bridget gave me some money for Father’s Day a few years ago to finally go see a Polar Bear. I think she was sick of my whining that I’d never seen one on my June trips to photograph birds up in Churchill.

But it wasn’t enough money.

So I saved up and went in mid September 2025. 

I went just on my own, rented a truck and drove around the limited road network outside of Churchill Manitoba on Hudson Bay.

You see the Polar Bears congregate here to wait for the sea ice to freeze so they can get on with doing what they love…Hunt seals from the ice! 

Well, it wasn’t as easy as I’d thought. But soon after foolishly getting stuck in the sand right in the middle of a known Polar Bear area, I did actually spot a speck of white that was NOT a pale-colored rock or old mattress,  It actually had fur!

This was the first of four Polar Bear sightings…one each day. And I think they were all the same bear! I named him Larry. Larry the Polar Bear.

One encounter stood out above the rest; mainly because he came to me! And quite close!

With binoculars and camera, Sparky heads off to beautiful Box Canyon in southeast Arizona. Only a few miles from the world-famous Madera Canyon, Box Canyon hosts some dry hillside species that are rare in most of this area. In fact, a cooperative and bold Five-striped Sparrow perches nicely for Sparky right off the rugged road that traverses Box Canyon.

Sparky also finds a nest of a pair of animated Thick-billed Kingbirds, but one of the babies is not quite ready to fledge.

Walking a random wash in the canyon leads to a close-up encounter with a Varied Bunting. Multiple evenings were spent with new friends listening for the CODE 3 Buff-collared Nightjar. This would be a Lifer…but did Sparky hear it? You’ll have to watch to see.

One stormy night yields a friendly Tarantula, and a 3-foot Black-tailed Rattlesnake sporting its lovely green scales.

In this third episode of Birding & Bird Photography from southeast Arizona, I head 2 miles into a remote canyon to find a rare warbler from Mexico.

Sycamore Canyon off the rugged Ruby Road is an out-of-the-way birding location just a few miles from the Mexican border. It is a common immigrant route for those fleeing Mexico, and signs were everywhere. A Border Patrol helicopter suddenly appeared over the canyon wall and zipped right overhead. I guess the fact that I was carrying a camera, and was headed in the “wrong” direction signaled that I was just a crazy birder and not an illegal migrant.

I meet Connor and Alex on the way in. A day earlier they had helped me with info about the Berylline Hummingbird at Santa Rita Lodge, and once again they provide me with valuable info on finding another rare bird.

This time it was the Rufous-capped Warbler, a “code 3” rarity from Mexico. It is seen nearly every year somewhere in SE Arizona or Texas but usually only one or two birds. In fact, between 1993 and 2025 it was only not found in the U.S. in 1997.

After getting turned around and backtracking, I eventually find the warbler. It is a real stunner, and looks more like a Chat than a wood warbler. I enjoy some brief looks as it forages in the shrubs and small trees in the canyon.

Other highlights include a Black Vulture (small SE AZ population), Rock Wren, several Canyon Wrens (nice! I rarely have seen), singing Rufous-crowned Sparrows, Hepatic Tanager, and Western Tanager.

Herps included a brief look at a Black-necked Garter Snake, and photos of Clark’s Spiny Lizards, and Elegant Earless Lizard.

I find a DOR (dead-on-road) lifer Hog-nosed Skunk on Ruby Road.

Sycamore is a very remote canyon, and there a few things every visitor should know:

–The road in is rugged but drivable by a rental car

–The “trail” in the canyon is undeveloped at best, and it is very easy to lose the route.

–Must bring plenty of water, sunscreen, hat, etc.

–No cell service! So make sure you have a compass or other ways to navigate.

–Trail is rocky but flat. Easy in places, but tough in others.

–After about 1.8 miles the route is blocked by a cliff and a small waterfall and ledge. It takes some real scrambling to make it around this point (I did it but I was a bit turned around and had already gone past the warbler location)