Say's

It wasn't too hard of a decision to make. Drive 3 hours for 3 state birds? Not bad odds, right? Well, the main bird I was after was a SAY'S PHOEBE... and it didn't take more than 10 minutes to spot it:

Taking even less time though was another target species of mine; BLUE GROSBEAK. I saw this guy driving in:

The last target species was the easiest to find. CLAY-COLORED SPARROWS were fairly common during my short stay. I even saw a couple carrying food! Here is one that perched on a fence for me:

BBA work & Missouri

We finally were able to sneak away for some Breeding Bird Atlas work here in Iowa several days ago. We actually started by birding at Shimek State Forest and camping there before working some atlas blocks in the morning. Many of the usual suspects were around including:

White-eyed Vireo

Summer Tanager

Whip-poor-will (7+)

Worm-eating Warbler

Hooded Warbler

Northern Parula

Yellow-breasted Chat

Louisiana Waterthrush

Kentucky Warbler:

On the atlas blocks, we were pleased to find multiple fields with HENSLOW'S SPARROWS. Where I grew up in SW Michigan, HESP's weren't exactly common. Here in SE Iowa though, it looks like they really aren't that hard.

We also stumbled on NORTHERN BOBWHITE several times. This bird decided to walk around on the street in front of us:

While in northeastern Missouri, I snapped a couple shots of some insects including this female EASTERN PONDHAWK:

This Pipevine Swallowtail was obliging:

Banded Hairstreak

Just after complaining about not seeing many hairstreaks, I stumbled on this BANDED HAIRSTREAK. To rub it in... I found it right here in my urban neighborhood! Oh well.

Back in IA

Since we've been back in Iowa, most of our time has been spent unpacking and trying to acclimate ourselves to the humidity of the midwest! Although most of my time will be spent indoors writing and doing analyses, I've managed to sneak outside a time or two. Target? Butterflies.

Recently at Doolittle Prairie in Story County, we came across a few things to snap pictures of. That includes this GORGONE CHECKERSPOT:

Also, this COMMON CHECKERED-SKIPPER:

Perhaps our "best find" was this lone GRAY COPPER:

On the other side of the spectrum, there were no shortages of PEARL CRESCENTS:

Even some woodland species, like this QUESTION MARK, were out in the open, perching on the road:

WCSP etc.

I'm not sure how reportable it is, but I was surprised to kick up a WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW north of the refuge yesterday. As I understand it, summer records aren't too easy to come by in Nebraska:

About a mile down the road from the sparrow was a CASSIN'S KINGBIRD! This was my first for the county. Both of these birds were just north of Crescent Lake NWR along Rd. 181.

I have continued to find CASSIN'S SPARROWS lately as well. At the latest, I've heard at least 4 singing south of Crescent Lake NWR. Keep your ears peeled, a couple of them can be heard from "the" public road.

Lastly, I've seen many more DICKCISSELS here in Garden County this year compared to the last two. Is this an artifact of the wetter season we've been having?