pianoman
duck and diver, bobolink and weaver
At least it stays put - I've had better binocular views of CW from a few days in Maine than of BW from a lifetime in Europe
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Europeans, which American bird would you most like to see? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter hookem2010
- Start date
Whooping crane (ideally in flight, on migration) or prairie grouse (ideally displaying). I'd love to see prairie falcon, American goshawk and Cooper's hawk too.
So many of the birds I did see in the U.S. were really quite fascinating to this British birder - cardinals, Anna's and Allen's hummingbirds, bluebirds, American goldfinches (both species), blue and Steller's jays, even house finches. Why the hell did anyone think of introducing Eurasian sparrows and starlings when America had/has so many brilliant birds!
So many of the birds I did see in the U.S. were really quite fascinating to this British birder - cardinals, Anna's and Allen's hummingbirds, bluebirds, American goldfinches (both species), blue and Steller's jays, even house finches. Why the hell did anyone think of introducing Eurasian sparrows and starlings when America had/has so many brilliant birds!
raymie
Well-known member
You should come to Wisconsin. It's the second easiest state to see Whooping Crane, and Greater Prairie-Chickens can be seen on the leks here. Cooper's Hawk is common, and with a bit of effort one can find the goshawk, too.
Not a particular bird now but a location. I've given it some thought, and the Parkland Region - Wikipedia of Manitoba (biggest city: Dauphin) sounds like a good hit:
22 (out of 26 recorded) regularly breeding warblers, 10 owls species recorded, easy Northern specialties, 8 (out of 9 recorded) regular woodpeckers, American White Pelican, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, 4 (out of 5 recorded) regularly breeding vireos, 15 (out of 19 recorded) regular species of sparrows. Bird species from both East and West, where prairies, lakes and taiga meet. 2,231 mean monthly sunshine hours; average yearly rainfall (not including a bit of snow): 384 mm (15 in); Dfb: Humid continental climate - Wikipedia.
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qwerty5
Controversial opinion generator
I often complain to myself about the boring ecology and scenery of my local area (southwest Ohio). However, after reading this thread, and seeing how much other people value warblers, I think I really can't complain. 35 of the 37 eastern U.S. warblers can be found every year in my area (and the other two are possibilities), with 14 of them breeding. I guess I really am privileged.
Kirk Roth
Rarely to be taken seriously
Assuming you mean five birding days (not three birding days and two flying in and out days), it is possible - but you're banking on some luck with weather.
You would want to book leks in advance, especially for Lesser Prairie Chicken in Kansas (so I hope you're not talking about this year...) and you could theoretically do one lek per morning. With some research and luck, the Sage/Gunnison Grouse might be found outside the leks in the afternoons while foraging in flocks.
Complications might include:
- if rain or a Golden Eagle decide to descend on a lek site, it might be done for the day.
- accessible areas for reliable LPC involve some driving - 4 hours or more from Denver into Kansas
- Gunnison is another 4 hours from Denver, or 7 from Oakley, Kansas.
- both the Gunnison site and LPC sites are on managed schedules, so depending on the week the lek may be closed or booked.
- if you're not doing morning leks, you're basically hoping to stumble across feeding flocks in the afternoons and evenings. I'm under the impression this is not so difficult for Sage Grouse in the Walden/Coalmont area. For the Gunnisons, I'm not sure - though I would expect its fairly doable if you know places they frequent. I know from experience that GPCs take a lot of luck to find in an afternoon because they like to hide in tallgrass prairie. I've failed to find LPCs every time I've tried - one would think they would be easier in the shorter grass habitats they like. But they seem to disagree with me.
kb57
Well-known member
Interesting - how did you home in on this area?
It doesn't seem well-birded, apart from Riding Mountain national park, where someone managed 104 species in just over 11 hours.... https://ebird.org/checklist/S141896954
Impressive habitat diversity here too: Google Maps
At first my focus was hummingbirds, but when I turned to warblers--it's quite funny because, at that moment, I was actually tracking down the census divisions of Canada in which the majority is of Ukrainian ancestry and checking what birds live there, and that's how I landed in Southern Manitoba.
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Larry Sweetland
Formerly 'Larry Wheatland'
Mottled Duck
kb57
Well-known member
I noticed a lot of Ukrainian Orthodox churches on Google Maps, but rather fewer hotels and guest houses - so maybe not quite geared up yet for an influx of European birding tourism!
(Manitoba: ) Nestled within three* migration corridors, over 390 species of birds have been recorded and 287 have been known to rest in the province. It boasts the Canadian and North American birding records for most species seen for every month between May and September. (from Surfbirds: You are being redirected...; just one trip report, from Churchill)
*the article names only two, which seems to be closer to reality, judging by the map
*the article names only two, which seems to be closer to reality, judging by the map
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