IN RUGGED TERRAIN

Upper part of the Pine Creek Unit in the Driftless Area National Wildlife Refuge.

It was a perfect fall day with sunshine and warm temperatures yesterday and as mentioned in my last blog post the leaves suddenly got the colors of autumn. I went out west to revisit a couple areas with unique features that make the Driftless Area standing out from most parts of the Midwest. First I hiked into the Pine Creek Unit of the Driftless Area National Wildlife Refuge near Colesburg, Iowa. I had scouted this location already in early June and wrote about it here in the blog. It was recommended as a good birding location and here is a link to my earlier post: https://exnerimages.net/blog/2025/6/1/scouted-a-new-location

White-crowned Sparrow

Most birds have migrated south already but I found a few White-crowned Sparrows feeding on berries and seeds in the brushes at the edge of the woods. Nothing says more about the season than having the bird perched next to some ripe berries in a bush almost bare of its leaves.

Rugged slope in the Pine Creek Valley

This time I wanted to get a little deeper into the area. The slope down to the pine creek valley is very rugged and there are no trails at all. Be forewarned, thick and thorny underbrush make it a challenge to hike with photo equipment! However, with the turning leaves and a little bit of sunshine you will see some beauty, hardly found in any other part of Iowa.

SCOUTED A NEW LOCATION

Dickcissel, Driftless Area National Wildlife Refuge, Pine Creek Unit

I got this tip from Mike, a gentleman I met last week at Mud Lake below the two nesting towers that are provided for Purple Martins. It turned out that he monitors not just these two towers, but some more at other locations in the area. Pretty soon we had a very good conversation about birds and nature habitats. Mike told me about the Pine Creek Unit of the Driftless Area National Wildlife Refuge and mentioned it as a good birding location. This area is located near Colesburg, Iowa, actually not very far from here, but I didn’t know about it. Thank you again Mike!

Orchard Oriole, male in its 1st summer

Well, yesterday I checked part of it out and although I spent only an hour and a half in this habitat with grassland, brush thicket, and forest, I had quite a few bird encounters and came back even with some photos. Be forewarned, there are not really any trails or roads in this area and I would recommend hiking boots and a good look at the map by the kiosk in the small parking lot at the end of the road.

American Tree Sparrow, this was a surprise for me since I have never seen them here except during winter time. Their breeding grounds are in Alaska and northern Canada.