Let's see.... My favorite birding location is the BWCAW, where I learned the songs of many of our breeding warblers. Sitting in a canoe in the early AM with mist on the water, listening and looking for birds when the fishing gets slow, watching the sun play in sparkles on the water, is my idea of relaxation. Whenever I hear a Black-throated Green, Parula, or a Pine Warbler, I immediately begin to relax and just take in sound.
Another favorite spot is the Frontenac area in the spring, when the migrants are moving through. Before kids, we used to go to Point Pelee just E of Detroit (in Canada) each May, but now I go to Frontenac. It's closer to home, more accessible, fewer crowds of the 2-legged kind, and the birds are just as good but a little more spread out! For a nice short trip with nothing more than seeing what's there in mind, Carlos Avery is very nice. For a nice LONG trip with thoughts of coastal species in mind, I like the Texas coast in the late winter/early spring, but have never been there for a fall-out. I like Laguna Atascosa, Santa Ana, Sabal Palm, and used to like Bentsen St. Park..., all of which are within a day's drive (and birding time) of S. Padre Is. where we used to stay, which BTW has some great boardwalks to help in your search for rails... I also like birding in Colorado where we spend a couple of weeks every year visiting reli's. Sometimes we're able to get out to Pawnee Nat'l Grasslands to look for Mt. Plovers, Longspurs, and Pipits, sometimes we go up to Trail Ridge Rd in Rocky Mtn NP for some tundra species. Wherever we go, the binoculars are with us... How's that for diversity!! Holly Peirson Forest Lake area, Anoka Co. (listening distance from Carlos, where I hear Sandhills most AM's from March to Oct.)
