Almost one year ago from today I started off a post in this manner …

Will the real American Golden Plover please stand up?!

Some of us are old enough to remember the TV show, To Tell The Truth! In this show, a panel of celebrities asked three guests questions in an attempt to determine who was the real guest, and who were impostors. Sometimes identifying shorebirds feels a bit like an episode of this game show. Shorebirds have many different plumage patterns, which vary by the season of the year, and whether a bird is a male, female, breeding male, breeding female or an immature bird.

Well … ID’ing shorebirds and specifically the difference between American Golden and Black Bellied Plovers is very, very tough. I did manage to come up with a correct ID for all the birds featured in this post, but I checked my work using both of these two tools:

• Merlin Bird ID (by bird features or your own image)
• This pdf booklet from the Migratory Shorebird Project.

I assume most of my readers have similar problems with Shorebird identification. Hope these two resources help.

Ruddy Turnstones

Sanderlings

American Golden Plovers

And some non shorebirds that wanted in on the post. Images also taken out on Minnesota Point!

Common Crow

Palm Warbler

After my birding hike yesterday morning out to the Superior Entry on Park Point, while driving home and passing the Duluth Rowing Club (DRC), I saw a bright orange rowing shell coming in to the dock. Mom! Yup!

A few years back I donated my single scull to the DRC as with all my cycling and photography it was not getting much use. Apparently the “Janet Hoeg” is well enjoyed, and has even seen some racing success. Well done, Mom!

In addition, here is a video of the White Pelicans from two days ago.

I arrived at the Park Point Recreation Area at 6:35 am this morning … the instant of sunrise. I immediately hiked out onto the beach and at first was disappointed … no birds. Was I ever wrong. Using my binoculars to scan the lake through the steaming water (air temp: 45F) I spotted a flock of a few hundred White Pelicans resting after an all night migration that brought them to our end of Lake Superior.

White Pelicans now come through our area both in the spring and fall due to the cleanup of the St. Louis River. The river was dead and polluted while I was growing up in the 60’s. This is a success story. It is also great to see all the fishermen on the river. Even sturgeon are spawning once again in the river! The White Pelicans understand that this migration route now has food.

Within 20 minutes of sunrise and the warmth provided by the sun, Lake Superior stopped steaming! 

Over the course of the next three hours I walked down to the Superior Entry and back (3+ miles round trip). There were lots of birds. The best spot by far was about 2/3 of a mile down the beach where the dunes give way to pine trees. Warblers were present in large numbers feeding amongst the pines. In addition a large flock of Yellow-Shafted Flickers were warming themselves in the early morning sun. I often find that the best birding spot for non shore birds is the location where the trees give way to the dunes. The birds stop at this point before making flights out into the open down the point where hungry Merlins often wait.

Zoom!

Did you see that?

Time to eat!

My prize of the day was finding an American Kestrel during my return hike. I was able to hide behind some trees and watch this bird hunt. Sparrow Hawks (Kestrels) spook so very easily; thus I was thrilled to watch and take photographs.