Even though we roam the country, I still have a day-job, so there is a limited amount of time available for birding. I walk an hour every day. I take my binoculars with me and pay attention to the birds I see. Once in a while we make a birding excursion, but mostly, our monthly bird lists are the result of 30 hours of walking. The bird list for August. Six states: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Nebraska, and Colorado. 107 birds. 2 lifers: White-winged Scoter and Purple Finch.
| Canada Goose |
| Wood Duck |
| Mallard |
| Blue-winged Teal |
| Ring-necked Duck |
| White-winged Scoter |
| Common Merganser |
| Ruffed Grouse |
| Wild Turkey |
| Common Loon |
| Pied-billed Grebe |
| American White Pelican |
| Double-crested Cormorant |
| Great Blue Heron |
| Great Egret |
| Snowy Egret |
| Green Heron |
| Black-crowned Night-Heron |
| Turkey Vulture |
| Osprey |
| Bald Eagle |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk |
| Cooper’s Hawk |
| Broad-winged Hawk |
| Swainson’s Hawk |
| Red-tailed Hawk |
| American Kestrel |
| Merlin |
| Peregrine Falcon |
| American Coot |
| Sandhill Crane |
| Killdeer |
| Spotted Sandpiper |
| Franklin’s Gull |
| Ring-billed Gull |
| Herring Gull |
| Black Tern |
| Rock Pigeon |
| Eurasian Collared-Dove |
| Mourning Dove |
| Common Nighthawk |
| Chimney Swift |
| Ruby-throated Hummingbird |
| Black-chinned Hummingbird |
| Broad-tailed Hummingbird |
| Belted Kingfisher |
| Red-headed Woodpecker |
| Yellow-bellied Sapsucker |
| Downy Woodpecker |
| Hairy Woodpecker |
| Northern Flicker |
| Pileated Woodpecker |
| Western Wood-Pewee |
| Eastern Wood-Pewee |
| Eastern Phoebe |
| Say’s Phoebe |
| Western Kingbird |
| Eastern Kingbird |
| Warbling Vireo |
| Red-eyed Vireo |
| Blue Jay |
| Black-billed Magpie |
| American Crow |
| Common Raven |
| Tree Swallow |
| Barn Swallow |
| Black-capped Chickadee |
| Red-breasted Nuthatch |
| White-breasted Nuthatch |
| Marsh Wren |
| Blue-gray Gnatcatcher |
| Eastern Bluebird |
| American Robin |
| Gray Catbird |
| European Starling |
| Cedar Waxwing |
| Golden-winged Warbler |
| Tennessee Warbler |
| Nashville Warbler |
| Yellow Warbler |
| Chestnut-sided Warbler |
| Magnolia Warbler |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler |
| Black-throated Green Warbler |
| Yellow-throated Warbler |
| Black-and-white Warbler |
| American Redstart |
| Common Yellowthroat |
| Chipping Sparrow |
| Vesper Sparrow |
| Lark Sparrow |
| Savannah Sparrow |
| Grasshopper Sparrow |
| Song Sparrow |
| White-throated Sparrow |
| Dark-eyed Junco |
| Northern Cardinal |
| Red-winged Blackbird |
| Western Meadowlark |
| Common Grackle |
| Brown-headed Cowbird |
| Orchard Oriole |
| Baltimore Oriole |
| Purple Finch |
| House Finch |
| American Goldfinch |
| House Sparrow |
So far we’ve gotten at least one life-bird in every month this year, except June.