The Stalker of Prairie Wetlands

Common to Western Minnesota and North Dakota

A driving adventure through the pothole wetlands of Western Minnesota and North Dakota will produce many species water birds. Ducks of many species, Redheads, Canvasbacks, Ruddy Ducks, Pintails and Grebes (Western, Eared, Red Necked and Pie Billed). On this trip I was after shorebirds. Avocets being the target to go along with other shorebirds sure to be present where Avocets roam.

The area I chose was north of Cleveland, North Dakota and northwest toward the tiny town of Robinson. This area features the Chase Lake WPA and many other waterfowl production areas. For birders this area is a must visit. There are endless potholes, lakes and grasslands to view  birds. For bird list folks you can stack up the species easily. Twenty Five plus bird varieties is a given including some elusive species like Wilsons Phalarope and Prairie Falcon. For photographers the area offers up boundless opportunities to click the shutter to your hearts consent.

My visit was in early May and it took me a bit to find avocets. Passing numerous likely spots I finally landed on a pothole that I believe only exists in spring and it dries up as summer goes on. I saw 2 avocets in this pond along with a few willets, blue wing teal, killdeer and a bunch of Wilson’s Phalarope.

In full camo I entered this wetland armed with a tripod and my camera plus my ever present butt seat. The birds scattered a bit but over the next few hours they settled in and began to go about their business of feeding and courting. I always wish for perfect conditions on the North Dakota prairie but windless days with filtered light are hard to come by. Below is sampling of the imagery I captured on this fine spring day.

Avocets of the North Dakota Potholes

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Twin Cities Wood Ducks in Spring

Wood Ducks in the Minneapolis St Paul Metro

Wood Ducks. Beautifully tough to photograph.

Wood ducks, we see them everywhere. I, like most love to see wood ducks. Woodies are some of the most colorful ducks. When the light hits the drake just right you can see a plethora of colors and irredecence beyond compare. But captuuring this color isn’t as easy as watching them.

First of all these ducks are skittish. They don’t often stick around to get a full frame image of them. It’s typical to approach a wood duck and watch it swim away or fly off. I haven’t spent the needed time to scout them and photograph them because they are so common and so difficult to get close to. I make the mistake to avoid common birds. Last week I made the decision to scout for wood ducks in the north metro. Many ponds had wood ducks and a pond in Roseville City park was the standout with numerous woodies in it. 

I had observed the wood ducks continually swimming back to the same shoreline for an hour or so. I set up on the ground in a position to gather the right light with the anticipation the wood ducks would return to this area. The ducks made attempts to revisit this windless well lit area but there was just to much foot traffic to bring them close. So I did my best and took a few hundred shots at long distance. I gave up after 30 minutes or so and walked towards the softball fields where there were other ponds around. A single drake was posted up on a log. I worked my way like a ninja into an area where I could photograph this drake wood duck. Luckily for me I was disguised well in a camo jacket and behind a fallen log. I snapped the images of the wood duck drake on the log for another 30 minutes.

To an extent I was both lucky and unlucky. On this photography trip I believe I created my own luck by learning this area for more than an hour before I gave my photography skills a shot.

Roseville Wood Ducks

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Twin Cities American Wigeon Drake in Fall

American Wigeons in the Minneapolis St Paul Metro

During fall I know of many places to view and photograph the American Wigeon

American Wigeons are common ducks during fall in the Twin Cites metro area. You just need to know where to look. Wigeons were my first fascination with waterfowl photography. It’s good to have a fascination and a spot or two to work on the photography game. I came upon my first wigeon spot in a suburban pond. This pond had homes around it with the exception of an area about 50 yards long that was accessible to the public. Luckily for me this area was on the east side of the pond making ideal for morning photography.

This pond had wigeons in it and a good bunch of them both drakes and hems to go along with Canadian geese and mallards. My challenge was to photograph the wigeons on the calmest water with no duck weeds floating in the frame. This proved to be a challenge to go along with my beginner photography skills.

So, I brought in the expert Master Po to join me for a morning of wigeon photography. What I learned is you have to set up where you want the ducks to be. Being a newbie at the time I was always restless and excited to see and photograph birds I had little experience with. I’m under the belief that Po got some keeper shots and I did too but not the kind of images I desired. So I kept trying. Trying for years at this pond. You see wigeons return to this pond each year and every October I’d go to the wigeon pond to improve my images. Over those years I took 1000’s of pictures of wigeons. I got better images each year. I might just go back again this year.

Being a bird guy I have since found wigeons during fall all over the Twin Cities. From the Bass Ponds in Bloomington to ponds near the city lakes. If you are after wigeons give the following spots a try. Bass Ponds, Vadnais Lake, Lake of the Isles and Cedar Lake in Minneapolis, Bush Lake, Wood Lake Nature Center and any pond near the Minnesota or Mississippi River. I’ll let you know when I find some this fall.

Twin Cities Wigeons

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Twin Cities Drake Canvasback in Fall

Canvasback Ducks can be Found in the Minneapolis St Paul Metro

During fall they are not as hard to find as you may think.

To me Canvasbacks are ducks of Western Minnesota and west. But they can be found  in the Twin Cities metro during Fall. The canvasback just may be my favorite duck! Canvasbacks are beautiful, they’re active and they will come within photography range. There’s no real trick to finding them nor is there a trick to get them to come close to shore. Canvasback Ducks are diving ducks and they love to eat aquatic beasts with snails being a favorite. Cans, as I refer to them, search for food most of the day. As divers they do just that, dive down to catch food. I find them locally during fall in lakes that have a good population of snails. Canvasbacks offer action, diving and popping up, flapping and interacting with one another. This is enjoyable to watch and photograph.

I’ve witnessed canvasbacks resting on or hunting local waters in pairs and in large groups. They are easy to scan for with your eyes and glass because of their size and head shape. Places to find them include the Minneapolis City Lakes, Lake Phalen in St Paul, Vadnais Lake, Owasso Lake, Rice Lake, the Minnesota River and of course the Mississippi River. If you travel west of the Twin Cities there are all kinds of lakes that have canvasback ducks in them during fall. I’ve seen them in smaller ponds while driving too. One last thing, I see canvasbacks in large groups of other ducks, especially ringbills and goldeneye.

Now the get close enough to photograph them comes part. I find it easier to get closer to canvasbacks locally for a few reasons. Hunting. In the metro area these birds are not as wary of hunters and for many of these ducks they stick around for a few weeks. I find the longer they have been around the metro the less likely to be afraid of the shoreline.  Just by watching them dive you can be assured there’s food in the area and many times that food is close to  shore. If you are walking an area you see canvasbacks hunting near shore find a spot to lay on the ground near that area. Nevermind that they move out from the area, they will most likely return, all you have to do is wait them out. It helps to wear camo or natural colors. You may need to wear raingear which luckily comes in greens and darker colors that allow you to be more discreet. As I mentioned in an earlier article something to rest your camera on helps you protect your gear.

These are the basics if you want to add canvasbacks to your collection of bird images or sightings list. Now go out and find them.

Twin Cities Canvasbacks

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Do Western Grebes Run on Water? Yes They do!

Run on water! Yes western grebes run on the water! Many grebes have elaborate courting rituals, weed dances, face to face smootches and chasing each other but no other grebe that I have witnessed runs on the water or what is termed “rushing”.

This behavior can be watched in April in May with my personal best experiences being late April into early May. These birds gather in groups near nesting territory…floating patches of weeds and weed bogs in large lakes of Western Minnesota on north and west for the most part. According to The Cornell lab they will also nest in Iowa and Wisconsin.

If you are a birder you need to see this behavior. You won’t forget it! Though most easily seen from a boat you can spy them from shore as well. Small groups of them 2,3,4 will appear rather agitated right before they start to run on the water. If you see odd behaviors in small groups get ready because it’s about to happen.

The westerns will run more than 100 feet at times giving those with a camera a lifetime opportunity to capture the moment as I have in the images below.

In Minnesota Lake Osakis is famous for westerns and many lakes in North Dakota within driving distance of Fargo also harbor large populations of western grebes.

Now go!

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Horned Grebes in the Twin Cities

Horned Grebes Visit Spring and Fall

Grebes are a diving bird and they prefer to eat fish and other aquatic beasts. Each spring and fall Horned Grebes visit local area lakes and larger ponds. Good places to view Horned Grebes in Spring are the Minneapolis and St Paul City lakes, the Mississippi River and most any lake in the Twin Cities metro area.

During fall they don’t often appear in the city lakes but prefer to be close to the Mississippi, Minnesota and St Croix Rivers and lakes very close to these rivers are favored by Horned Grebes in fall.

Local Horned Grebes

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