Birding for Life

In 1912, Jesse Stantz packed up his young family and left Indiana for Saskatchewan, where he would manage a wheat farm 12 miles west of Swift Current.  The family stayed in Canada only five years, but my mother, age three at the time of the move, started school and formed her earliest memories there.  It was enough that I have always felt a connection and, like my grandfather, the Canadian prairie called to me.

Arrival at the Swift Current train station in 1912. The little girl in the green dress is my mother and the boy is her brother.

My mother and I first returned to the place of her childhood in 1988 with my dad and husband.  The four of us flew to Winnipeg together, where we rented a car and then spent ten days driving across the plains to Calgary.  We were able to find the house where Mom had lived, thanks to her sharp memory and a little land research at the courthouse in Regina.  The current owner graciously invited us in to see the house.  She said that we missed the one-room school house my mother had attended by only ten years.  Our trip ended at the world’s biggest rodeo, the Calgary Stampede, a life-long dream of my mother’s and a lot more fun than I expected.  We all loved Canada and had a wonderful time on the trip.

Baltimore Oriole at a Wisconsin rest stop

Since becoming a birder, I have dreamed of repeating our 1988 trip while stopping to bird along the way.  Five years ago I started making inquiries of birders in Canada and playing with various routes and plans.  This year I got serious and committed to making the trip happen.  As I focused on the life birds that I might find, the route shifted, but the spirit of the trip remained.  I would spend a week in Saskatchewan, a couple of days in Alberta, and loop south through Montana on my way home.

Common Grackle

I left home yesterday morning, May 16, and after two full days of driving over 1300 miles I am in Grand Rapids, Minnesota tonight.  So far my only birding has been at rest stops and last night’s motel, but I find it interesting to see the changes in common bird species as I drive from state to state.  Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles where numerous in the farm states of Indiana and Illinois.  In Wisconsin, I found Baltimore Orioles at every rest stop.  I also found a cute little chipmunk in Wisconsin.  If anyone can identify it, please leave a comment on this post.

Update: Identified by Cynthia as a Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel

Tomorrow will be a little easier as I will drive the two-lane US-2 through Minnesota and North Dakota.  The following day I will get to Montana and begin the search for my first target bird, Mountain Plover.  Will I find the plover and other birds my heart desires?  Stay tuned.