This is a summary of my annual June sojourn away from Arizona. You can find day to day details of the trip (in my journal); see the the overall trip list that includes species seen by state; and view the bird photos that I took by using the links above. Comments and questions welcome.

This year my route was a little more ambitious than previous trips. Not so much in terms of objectives or total miles traveled, but because I traveled further east than I normally go (Michigan was my main destination). I also visited a few southern states before heading north to enjoy a more comfortable climate than can be found in southern Arizona in June. I was on the road for a total of 26 days, 16 of which were spent on a personal objectives in addition to expanding my knowledge of familiar places and exploring new places. I worked with clients for 10 days at the back end of the trip. The tables and map at the bottom of the page outline my itinerary.

From June 3 to June 28, I drove 8000 miles as I traveled through (in order) Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and back again through New Mexico and Arizona. My birding time was mostly in Michigan (6 full and 2 partial days), North Dakota (3 full and 2 partial days), Wyoming (2 full and 2 partial days), Colorado (2 full and 2 partial days) and Missouri (1 full and 2 partial days). I also spent a little over a day each in Arkansas, Montana and Wisconsin. The remaining states were "travel only" with opportunistic birding. I recorded a total of 277 species (door to door from home) and managed to obtain photographs of 35 species with varying quality, 9 of which were new increasing my U.S. photo list to 552. I didn't see any life birds (missed that bloody Black-billed Cuckoo again) but I did add to my state lists for all states except Arizona.

My main objectives in the early part of the trip were to find and photograph a few species that I only seen once before, namely Kirtland's Warbler, Connecticut Warbler, Henslow's Sparrow and Eurasian Tree Sparrow. I was successful with all four species although the photos of Connecticut Warbler leave a lot to be desired. My nemesis Black-billed Cuckoo is always a possibility on my travels. I didn't put in a special effort for the bird and I didn't come across one (perhaps there's a correlation). I started with a brief stop in Oklahoma to check out Red Slough WMA that I had heard so much about. This turned out to be disappointing because of time of day. I then spent some time in Arkansas, a state that I had previously only traveled through. I enjoyed the birding during my short visit here and wished that I could have stayed longer. Next up was the St. Louis area in Missouri for target sparrows and general birding and photography. Further north in Michigan I worked on the target warblers and spent a week in the state just enjoying whatever I could find without any specific objectives. From Michigan I worked my way west with an overnight stop in Wisconsin (where I again found Connecticut Warbler) then drove through a very wet Minnesota to Fargo, ND to start the client segment of the trip.

On June 17 I spent a day with Jay and Sandy Zahner birding mostly in Sheyenne National Grassland in ND. From June 18-26 I worked with Jim Geisler from Hammond, LA, our 5th time birding together (go to journal). The objectives on this trip were to look for a fair sized list of lifers and "want to see again species" while looking for photo opportunities. Jim rented a 500mm lens that I was able to use during the early part of my trip. We were able to work around the adverse conditions in North Dakota and didn't miss any of the grassland species, although we only saw Sprague's Pipit from a distance. We didn't fare as well in Wyoming and dipped on Black Rosy-Finch on the Beartooth Highway due to heavy snow and Mountain Plover on Laramie Plains (not weather related). We dipped on Ptarmigan in Colorado but I had success the day after Jim traveled home. Murphy is always on the job. Overall we had good success with 50+ targets seen and many photographed.

As usual, the highlights for me were my visits to the high country, particularly the Beartooth Highway (despite missing Black Rosy-Finch) and the Snowy Range, both in Wyoming; and Mt. Evans in Colorado. I also enjoyed the grassland birding in North Dakota and Montana and the Turtle Mountains of North Dakota. My week in Michigan (only my second visit to the state) was interesting and productive. Arkansas was a pleasant surprise. In terms of birds, I certainly enjoyed my previously mentioned personal target successes as well as Gray Partridge in Fargo (found at the fifth attempt) and White-tailed Ptarmigan in Rocky Mountain National Park. Biggest disappointments were missing Black Rosy-Finch in WY and Black Swift in Ouray, CO. Both should have been no-brainers.

Weather
A tale of two weathers. Taking the entire trip into account, I enjoyed generally good weather with only a few wet days and a couple of warm days at the end. It was occasionally windy but most days were sunny with calm winds and pleasant temperatures. However, the target birding segment of the trip was significantly impacted by the conditions. Ironically, in a year that Arizona was closed due to fire in June, North Dakota suffered significant flooding and refuge closures were a problem. More of the same In Wyoming, this time due to a heavy snow pack in high country locations.

Itinerary (blue route June 18-26 with Jim Geisler)

Itinerary Overnight locations (25 nights) Lubbock, TX Jamestown, ND Waldron, AR Bottineau, ND St. Louis, MO (2 nights) Culbertson, MT Paw Paw, MI Billings, MT Grayling, MI Jackson, WY St. Ignace, MI Rawlins, WY Paradise, MI (2 nights) Laramie, WY Newberry, MI Georgetown, CO Marquette, MI Denver, CO Solon Springs, WI Rifle, CO Fargo, ND (3 nights)   Species seen in each state (total 277) Location Species Seen Unique Species Birding Days Arizona 34 6 1 Arkansas 66 3 2 Colorado 79 12 4 Illinois 32 2 1 Indiana 3 0 1 Michigan 117 18 8 Minnesota 30 0 2 Missouri 65 4 3 Montana 103 1 3 New Mexico 43 4 2 North Dakota   123 9 5 Oklahoma 21 1 1 Texas 37 3 2 Wisconsin 32 0 2 Wyoming 122 22 4