The Salton Sea is a place I've been to several times, and each time has been in late fall or winter. It is California's largest lake, and is truly an inland sea. As far as inland seas go, it is one of the largest in the world. California called this huge lake an oasis over a hundred years ago, but now it is considered to be the state's biggest natural disaster. For starters, the Salton Sea is a very shallow and toxic lake due to high saline levels. Water sources of three different rivers, drainages, agriculture, and creeks have filled up the Sea over the years and it has increased toxic saline levels. The Alamo River especially carries harmful pesticides, DDT and other harmful chemicals, and fertilizer nitrates into the giant lake, and this build up has occurred for years and years. What it has amounted to has equaled out to have much higher salinity levels than that of the Pacific Ocean. It's not safe to boat or swim at the Salton Sea. Because the Salton Sea is a saline lake, it will dry up in time and it continues to dry up. The toxic waters of the Sea that have been dominated by years and years of pesticides and more in it's waters are dangerous for those who have respiratory problems, and it's also harmful to birds. Speaking of birds, the Salton Sea has hosted more than 400 species. It has one of the highest densities of birds out there, and the numbers of species and the species that have shown up so far are truly remarkable. I've gone there to see incredible numbers of waterfowl, gulls, terns, and shorebirds. Rarities I've successfully chased have included Garganey and Bean Goose. While the Salton Sea is decreasing, it remains to be an incredible location for avian diversity. The Sea is located in southern California in Imperial and Riverside Counties. I'll flat out say that the surroundings of the lake are extremely ugly. If it weren't for an abundance of neat birds, I would never find myself wanting to go to the Salton Sea. It's right down there with Yuma County. As I've gone to the Salton Sea in the cooler months, I've never gone during the summer. The summer hosts hellish temperatures, but the birds are spectacular. It's the one reliable spot to see Yellow-footed Gull in the ABA area, and on top of that, there are many other birds. I needed to see a Yellow-footed Gull again after my one-and-only sighting had been of a bird about a mile away in 2010.
On July 9th, 2020, I joined my buddies Ronnie Reed and Caleb Strand, and we left Phoenix at 2 A.M. to go explore the Salton Sea. Ronnie and Caleb have both been to the Salton Sea much more than I have, Ronnie for fishing and Caleb for birding. As Ronnie had been there before, this would be his first time for birding and he was pumped. Caleb was hoping to find a stint. My main goal was to see and photograph a Yellow-footed Gull up much closer than a mile away. The best thing about the Sea was that we would be seeing an incredible variety of waterbirds. Shorebirds, waterfowl, gulls, terns, and more thrive at the Sea. And for birders, it is a place where they can pull out something incredibly rare at any time of the year.
We got to the north end of the Salton Sea early, and walked for over two miles to a location where we could bird a massive stretch of shoreline. It was hot, nasty, and there were millions of obnoxious flies everywhere. On the flipside, the abundance of birds made up for the abundance of flies.
Gulls became Seagulls and Terns were Turbo-gulls (Ronnie's previous name for terns before he was a birder). We had a good time! It wasn't long before Caleb and Ronnie spotted two Yellow-footed Gulls along the shore. While they looked at an assortment of birds out on the waters, I went to make sure I obtained a few pictures and closer looks at my main target.
And then there was an assortment of other birds that were briefly forgotten by me due to my tunnel vision. That Yellow-footed Seagull. Terns were fun as we had Gull-billed, Forster's, Black, and Caspian, as were all of the waterbirds really. Our first stop yielded nearly 80 species and was close to four hours. The heat and flies would make things challenging as the day went on further.
Black Tern
Brown Pelicans and Black Skimmers
Caspian, Forster's, and Black Terns on the sandbars
Caspian Tern
Snowy Plover
Caleb and Ronnie looking for a Bell' Vireo
One of our other stops was further south along the Sea as we drove along a road called Lack Road. This was one that I really wanted to go to, because it is known to be very good for seeing Yellow-footed Gull up close. It wasn't long on our drive along Lack before we found a nice adult Yellow-footed Gull right along the road.
In comparison to my first Yellow-footed Gull a mile away through a scope back in 2010 at the Salton Sea, the birds on July 9th with Ronnie and Caleb were practically lifers. We had 8 of them in total at the first stop at the north side of the Sea (some were fairly close, others more distant), and this one was the 9th and it gave us what we were hoping for.
It made it's way over to us to join us for the snacks that we were having. Perhaps our snacks were considered healthy compared to the crappy snacks it was getting out at the Sea. Literally.
Yellow-footed Gulls are native to Mexico, and they can be seen at the Salton Sea in good numbers after they breed. They are a large gull, and are very similar to Western Gull. The Yellow-footed Gull does have a considerably larger bill, and of course, yellow legs rather than pink legs. It is a well-named bird! It eats fish, crustaceans, eggs of other birds, carrion, and more. Because of it's snack leaching behavior, we found out it also likes Flaming Hot Cheeto Fries and Cheez-its. It was great to see the target bird at such a close, epic range!
When snack time was up, a Black Skimmer joined a flock of peeps along the shore.
And a Gull-billed Tern flew by too.
Ronnie and I got a much closer view of the Black Skimmer!
On the way out of the Salton Sea, we had excellent looks at this Gull-billed Tern at someone's farm pond.
We had 85 species in total at the Salton Sea, not bad for a scorching day in July. Thanks Ronnie and Caleb for a good time. Thanks to the Yellow-footed Seagull too!
The time of late P.M. of May 27th had finally come. I was driving from the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to Gretchen's cabin in Spooner, Wisconsin. The anticipated trip was underway! Despite the excitement, I had to figure out the tank of a truck that had been issued to me for my rental. It was easy to drive, was awesome, was huge, but it also had a lot to it. It took me awhile, but I finally got to the cabin after midnight. Gretchen was very kind and stayed up back at her house in South Dakota to make sure that I got to the cabin. For those who don't know about driving at night in Wisconsin and Minnesota, the roads are populated with an abundance of deer. While I saw many deer on my drive in the dark, I was fortunate that none of them crossed the road directly in front of me. I got some dinner before getting to the cabin, and once I got to the cabin, I was reminded yet again of how great it is. The popular Yellow River flows along the side of the cabin, and Gretchen and Larry have a well designed dock that goes down to the water. Gretchen would head up to the cabin later in the day on the 28th to join me for some of my trip. When I got to the cabin, it was about 12:15 P.M. Wisconsin time. They are two hours ahead of Arizona, and to me, I was still used to Arizona's schedule. The day of May 28th would be a day to get used to the different time zones, and it would be the day that I would try and start my trip off strong by landing the highly-prized and sought-after Connecticut Warbler.
What most birders know about Connecticut Warblers are that they are hard to see, elusive, and prefer dense habitats that are hard to get into. The main habitat choice of these skulkers are within spruce bogs of the north in the very north-central US and within the southern half of Canada. In some parts of their range, they like denser understories of deciduous forests, and on a more local note, stands of mixed conifers and pines such as taller Jack pines. Birders have a few hopes with seeing this warbler. One is to find a migrant in the second half of May as they head north to their breeding grounds. They often prefer weedy edges of denser habitat during migration, and if one is detected, they might be a little easier to observe. Second, the song of the male Connecticut is loud and distinctive when coming from the spruce bogs as he defends territory from intruders. If the song is close by to the road, birders have a chance. If it a distance from the road, there isn't much of a chance at getting an observation other than noting down "heard only". Unless the birder wants to do the unimaginable and enter a bog, most Connecticut Warbler observations will have to come after a few attempts and a lot of patience. And then there was me, who had in mind that I would just by a pair of rubber boots and simply walk into a bog after a singing Connecticut Warbler. 'Why not', I asked myself, 'It'll be fun'. Instead of bushwhacking, I could go "bogwhacking". At the time, I didn't realize how clueless I was about my approach to entering a bog. I'll explain later on in Northerly Treks how hard bogs are to penetrate through, but to simply put it, you can't just "walk through" a freaking bog. While Connecticut Warblers do like swampy spruce bogs most, their habitat range does expand a little further. Some habitats include dense woodlands that resemble the bogs they thrive in, but aren't swampy and aren't a bog at all for that matter. Luckily, there is a spot that is good for them a little over an hour from Gretchen's cabin. And it seemed like a good spot to not only hear a Connecticut Warbler, but to see one too.
I didn't set an alarm on my first night of sleep, because I was tired. When I woke up, there was plenty of light outside, and it was about 6:30 A.M., Wisconsin time. The surroundings of the cabin were great to wake up to. I looked out the window, and there was the peaceful Yellow River beside the cabin. After slowly getting ready to bird, I made my way into the town of Spooner before heading up north to where Connecticut Warblers have been found on a reliable scale. In Spooner, I figured out how to use the truck the rest of the way. I couldn't figure out how to open the gas tank, and once I figured that out, it was easy. I also mis-read and thought it said the gas tank took diesel gas. The manual of the truck really confused me. Thankfully, these newer model cars are made to be idiot proof, and the diesel nozzle didn't fit into tank correctly, and diesel fluid couldn't be put into the tank too far and shot straight back out. Thankfully, a guy quickly came up, stopped me, and told me the truck took gasoline. And did I sure feel a dumb. Heck, call me dumb! The gasoline nozzle fit in perfectly, and after I put a tad of diesel in the tank, the rest and over 95% was consisted of gasoline after I filled the tank up with the right fuel. It was pretty much pure gasoline. If I actually filled that thing up and ruined the truck, I think I probably would've had a heart attack. I will say now, that from that moment on, my operation of the truck was perfect and spot on the rest of the trip. It takes a dumb man to become a smart man ;)
My ride for two weeks. It was a great truck.
The drive further north into Wisconsin took me north of Washburn County and into an area near to where Douglas and Bayfield Counties meet. I turned onto a road called Motts Ravine Road, and that is base spot near other spots where birders have located Connecticut Warblers over the years. When reading about the spot, I noted that birders did say that the lack of spruce bogs nearby surprised them for the location being as productive as it was for Connecticut Warbler. Reading in field guides and other sources, it does say that Connecticut Warblers are locally found in stands of dense mixed coniferous forest and Jack pine stands that have dense understory and cover. The habitat along the first stretch of Motts Road that I walked was birdy, but it did not come close to striking me as habitat where Connecticut Warbler would be found. There were shorter pine trees all over. Nashville Warblers, Field Sparrows, and Clay-colored Sparrows were nearby and singing. After walking for close to a mile, there were still no Connecticut Warblers. However, I did come across an area where Motts met a road called County Line Road, which was the border of Douglas and Bayfield Counties. This stretch looked better and had taller conifers. I walked south of Motts first, along County Line Road. Things got fun as I heard a bird that I wanted to see more of on the trip and get some decent photographs of, and that was Blue-headed Vireo. The song of the vireo came from a stand of red pines. After getting a few quick glimpses of them as a life bird last year in Texas during migration, Blue-headed Vireos on their breeding grounds were a welcome sight to me. And this particular male ended up being cooperative as I watched him for about ten minutes as he foraged and fed.
As I still didn't see the potential for Connecticut Warbler as any better along County Line Road, south of Motts Road, I started to walk along County Line north of Motts. On the east side of the road, I knew I was in a good spot. The vegetation changed, there were different coniferous trees, the forest was lush and thick, and the understory had some scattered and tall grasses in places. Although it wasn't a spruce bog, the habitat struck me as being "bog-like". I quietly listened as I walked due north, and just like that, and right ahead of me, came the loud and rather positive-sounding song of a Connecticut Warbler! The bird was singing just to the north of me, and I could tell that it was close to the road. To describe the song of this bird, it sounds like a loud and chirping, "beetcher beetcher beetcher beetcher" with a distinctive jerking quality to it. If it's song could be compared to another warbler, Northern Waterthrush is often described in field guides as a good fit. When I got to the singing spot, I got lucky and it didn't take me very long to get my first ever look at a Connecticut Warbler. My first look was great, a binocular look, as it walked out onto a limb and then dropped to the ground. I attempted this photograph as I had a brief glimpse of it walking on the ground. Can you see it in there?
The pine branch is in focus, and the warbler is not! But what I just described is what happens a lot when birders observe this species. As it started walking on the ground like an Ovenbird in dense cover, I stood there patiently waiting for it to come out or pop up for a better view. It seemed to take forever as I stood on the side of the road. After a minute or two, I heard something on the ground not far away from me. It was the Connecticut Warbler, and it popped out and before I could think, it flew back across the street, giving me the bird in two Wisconsin counties. I was floored, and the bird must have walked about twenty feet through the cover on the ground, where it ended up much closer to me. During that time, I watched the ground and my surroundings carefully without seeing it. In a book published in 1984 by Hal H. Harrison, called Wood Warblers World, I read his descriptions of Connecticut Warbler behavior. Of course, Hal says how elusive they are, but he also included information on how hard these warblers are to nest study, due to that elusive behavior. He wrote, "Compounding an observer's problems in hunting for a nest is the female Connecticut's habit of landing thirty to forty feet away from it and walking quietly through the underbrush to the spot. The male is no help either; his singing has little to do with nest location". After reading this, gosh, I love Connecticut Warblers even more and their mysterious, elusive nature makes them more fun to bird for. Speaking of that book, Wood Warblers World, it is awesome and even though it was published over 30 years ago, I highly recommend it. And speaking of the Connecticut Warbler that I had just observed, I went right back to trying to get better looks and photographs of it. The bird stayed close by and continued to sing, and luckily, it came back into view while singing from the branches of coniferous trees.
Connecticut Warbler is big for a warbler and is thrushlike with a short tail and long wings. It walks on the ground and across tree branches like an Ovenbird, as opposed to dominant hopping like it's closer relatives in Mourning and MacGillivray's Warblers. Connecticut will occasionally hop, but will more often prefer to get steps in. Although this first picture is rather poor, it does show a Connecticut Warbler. The wings are long, and the tail is short. The bird has yellow underparts, a gray hood that contrasts with the yellow that goes from the breast area up to the birds head. While it's closer relatives in Mourning and MacGillivray's Warblers have no white to limited white around the eye (Mourning) to eye-arcs above and below the eye (MacGillivray's), the Connecticut Warbler has a bold eye ring that either circles the entire eye or tapers off slightly at the rear of the eye. In this case, this adult male had a slight break-off at the rear of his eye. Adult female and first year Connecticuts are duller in coloration than adult males, but still have close resemblances otherwise. As he continued to sing, I moved in closer to attempt better views.
As I enjoyed the sight of my lifer, I made sure to also record it's distinctive song. Here's a short video clip.
When I watched this bird and moved a little closer, I sensed a ton of victory by getting this bird on the first morning of my trip. When I started planning, I thought I might a very hard time seeing a Connecticut Warbler. I bought rubber boots to walk through dense habitat if I needed to, and I loved getting to say, "nevermind-so much for bog boots". As I got closer to my target, I had an epic look at the bird with my naked eye, and then these pictures.
After the close observation, the warbler moved up and back a little further, and sang for awhile while sitting still on a tree limb. I watched it through binoculars more with this view and enjoyed this view a lot as well!
After my observation of this bird concluded, I took some pictures of the habitat. While Connecticut Warblers in this region do favor thick spruce bogs, this is an example of where they are found more locally and in smaller numbers. I am thankful this location exists, where bog boots aren't needed.
I continued up the road a little further to bird a nice stand of tall red pine trees. A Pine Warbler started singing, and I wanted to get some good looks of the bird. And luckily, I did! This was really the first time I had a great look at an adult male Pine Warbler. They have usually stayed much higher up in the pines when I have tried to observe them well. One thing for certain about this bird is that they are very well-named. They love pine trees!
After the Connecticut Warbler search, I got in touch with Gretchen and she told me that she was on her way to Spooner. She would run errands with her sister, my Aunt Tabby, before coming to the cabin, and then the three of us would have dinner together. I was pumped to spend time with them. Before Gretchen came, I had time to go to Crex Meadows Wildlife Area, which is west of Spooner in Burnett County, Wisconsin. Crex Meadows has a lot of awesome birds, and it was a spot that I highly considered starting a day off at and spending a considerable amount of time. When I got there in the afternoon, it was pretty windy. But I did enjoy waterbirds such as Blue-winged Teal, Trumpeter Swans, nesting Black Terns, a Red-necked Grebe, and Sandhill Crane families.
Other than what I've mentioned so far for this first birding day of May 28th, Wisconsin has it's share of great scenery.
It also has plenty of it's famed cheese products. Driving by the Burnett Cheese Factory prompted me to stop and buy some epic cheese sticks.
When I went back to the cabin, Gretchen was there! We enjoyed the dock and the Yellow River, and then Tabby came over. We had a great time, visited, had dinner, and saw some wildlife. Tabby and I helped Gretchen set up a DVD player to her TV in the cabin. For a first day of fourteen full ones to start off my trip, it was awesome. I love spending time with my family.
The Yellow River! Gretchen's dock is on the right side of the river and it goes straight down from the cabin. Five chairs are on the dock.
For the next day, Gretchen and I had plans to go birding and hiking together, and I knew that there would be more awesome birds to see, and this time I would try to show Gretchen some of them. More on that on the next post. As far as this first day went birding wise, getting my first Connecticut Warbler got my trip off to the best start that I could've asked for.
