Traveling to other regions is obviously a good way to see new birds. I have just returned from a week in Minnesota. Though non-birders would think the idea of traveling from southern California to a winter in Minnesota is nuts (I would not disagree with them!) it affords an opportunity to see a great many species never seen in California. Although the number of species found in Minnesota in the winter is relatively small, many of these species are special and difficult to see elsewhere, and birders from around the country flock (so to speak) to Minnesota in the winter, sort of a reverse Snowbird migration.
After arriving at the Minneapolis airport, I had two hours of daylight left, and discovered there was an abundance of nature centers in the Twin Cities area. I chose one close to the airport. The ground was covered in snow, but it was 35 degrees and raining. I quickly found my first life bird, the American Tree Sparrow. This bird spends its summers in the far north of our continent, and its winters in the northern 2/3 of the United States, but not in California.
(tap or click to enlarge)
