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”!

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!

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

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.

Six days below zero and the birds of Sax-Zim are doing just fine! We visit Mary Lou’s feeders and find over 40 Evening Grosbeaks! Sparky shares his BRRRRdathon: World’s Coldest Birdathon experience as he birds northern Minnesota’s Superior National Forest and Grand Marais. Highlights include multiple flocks of Bohemian Waxwings eating Mountain-Ash fruits.

Temperatures during the Polar Vortex of late January 2026 hit as low as Minus-37ºF but the Northern Hawk Owl along CR47 is doing just fine!

We also walk the Bob Russell Boardwalk and install a plaque for one of our Bog Buddies. Then we are off to Yellow-bellied Bog for a walk on the snowshoe loop to look for Snowshoe Hares.

The Welcome Center feeders host plumpfy Canada Jays, Pine Grosbeaks and Redpolls.

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.

Virtually Live 57 S6E2

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.

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!