Snow Buntings! This Arctic bird signals the end of the southern songbird migration for another year. While we will still have northern raptors which will migrate into and through NE Minnesota, for songbirds Snow Buntings represent the end.

I LOVE snow buntings. Do you have birds that for no particular reason are favorites? Welcome to the club! Some day I would be thrilled to see a snow bunting in its breeding plumage (almost pure white) up on the Arctic Ocean, but I suspect that day will never arrive. Here is this cute bird’s range map courtesy of Cornell’s All About Birds.

I am lucky to have discovered the leading edge of the Snow Bunting migration. Within a week the buntings will be flying through our area in large flocks, which are impossible to approach. One bird out of a 100+ flock will decide you are a threat, and boom … the entire flock flushes. Thankfully I found just two birds together and was very careful!

Snow Buntings are also one of the most difficult birds to photograph. Their winter plumage with shades of white, brown and black against dull golden brown grasses makes getting a good focus lock extremely difficult. Snow Buntings will also lead the charge back north in early February, long before winter’s end. Thankfully the buntings are a bit easier to photograph against a background of snow … assuming one can find them!