Day five: Big sky, big day!

I'll be honest, if I ever do this over again, it will be very different.  I will probably skip Minot entirely.  Gasp!  Of course, I cannot blame the bad weather of the past two days on Minot, North Dakota.  But, I am enjoying Montana so much more.  It is the difference between night and day.

I got off around 5:30 am this morning and happy to leave Minot behind.  I was enroute to ...

... just north of Culbertson.  My friend, Steve, really plugged this place and I am so happy he did.  The weather was still cool, but not raining and every so often the sun would peak through.  And, the birds were great.  Here I was reminded (I had forgotten this and have been trying to get it back) that birding is fun.  

  

I didn't count, but it is possible that I saw at least two dozen Chestnut-collared Longspurs (Calcarius ornatus) here in just about every pose. What a fun bird!

Marbled Godwits (Limosa fedoa) were pretty common.  They announce their presence with a very distinctive vocalization that I don't think I have heard before now.

While photographing the Chestnut-collared Longspur, I came across this nest of large light green eggs.  It was clearly not predated, but the eggs were all tidily clumped together.  I asked the refuge staff what bird these belonged to.  One of the guys guessed Northern Pintail (Anas acuta), but there is no down in the nest amongst the eggs.  Another guy offered, quite definitively, that the nest belonged to Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus).

There were plenty of Ring-necked Pheasants around, so his guess is very likely correct.  I've seen many pheasants in Detroit, but these guys were so ornate and appeared to be much larger than our Detroit pheasants. 

Common, common bird out here - seen and heard everywhere.  But, no matter how common, when I get a good photo, I have to include it - Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta).

Here's a bird and photo I am proud of.  Steve had suggested that I would get good views of Baird's here.  This Baird's Sparrow (Ammodramus bairdii) was a singing beauty.  How did I get this photo?  I crawled on my hands and knees and kept shooting as I got closer and closer. Finally, he flew into the grass, but he had already given me a huge treat. 

Terrible photo of a vocalizing Yellow-headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) and there is no excuse for it.  I was very close to this bird.  I include it here because they were everywhere and because it reminds me of another bird seen.  As I was taking these photos, my car fan went off and flushed an American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus) from the nearby reeds and I watched if fly across the lake.

Other good birds on the lake were Wilson's Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor) above and Eared Grebe (Podiceps nigicollis) below were amongst all of the other waterfowl that I have been seeing all along my trip.  I also saw one Western/Clark's Grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis/clarkii) but it was too far away to tell which one it was.

The next bird was completely fun and so cooperative.  I probably took twenty-five photos of this bird as he flew from fence post to fence post.  I just moved my car up along with him and kept shooting.  Every so often he gave his airy vocalization which I love - qui-di-di-do - and when standing on the post he would make his chattering sound.

Chattering away.

Taking off.  From here he flew into the grass and that was the end of my photo shot.  What a fun bird!

I've been seeing American White Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) since arriving in North Dakota. Medicine Lake NWR even has an area called Pelican Point.  Earlier I had seen a large flock circling in the distance.  This bird was all by itself just circling and circling.  

Finally, I came to the end of the Medicine Lake NWR.  What a great place!  I made my way back to Highway 2 West - my route this whole trip.  I decided to aim for Havre.  I had hoped to make it to Shelby, but given the length of time I remained at the refuge that would have made just too much driving for today.  Instead I just drove along and stopped to take photos along the way.  I found the Pronghorn Antelope below in a roadside prairie field.  I was standing in the grass alongside the fence to take this photo.  A couple of Native American guys pulled up to ask if I was okay.  I asked what the deer were, just to make sure.  I told them that I was from Michigan and we don't have Pronghorn in Michigan.  

There were four Pronghorn Antelope, but this photo of only two turned out best.

Along the route west I saw two different Black-billed Magpies (Pica hudsonia) life bird for me, one just east of Glasgow and the other as I was getting closer to Havre.  I also saw one breeding plumage Lark Bunting (Calamospiza melanocorys).  

I finally arrived in Havre around 6:00 pm and selected to stay at the Siesta Motel on Highway 2 (called First St. in town) because the sign said Rooms with Wireless Internet.  That was all I needed.  At $55 this is the best place that I have stayed, especially with my love for staying at family-owned motels.  Montana towns are very interesting.  They all have huge grain elevators.  I really liked this view from my motel balcony.

On the recommendation of the motel owner, I had dinner at Uncle Joe's.  I sat at the bar and noticed that they had my friend Steve's favorite Montana beer on tap.  I tipped two Moose Drools for Steve in appreciation of his recommendation to stop at Medicine Lake NWR.  

Day four: searching for Chestnut-collared Longspur

I woke this morning in my fancy Minot Best Western bed while it was still dark out.  Fortunately, the motel room window opens and I walked to the window to feel cold air and to see rain falling hard.  I went back to bed and woke again by my alarm - still raining.  A review of the weather does not look promising.

In fact, the weather never did get better.  It rained all day!  Not only that, the temperature never did rise above 50 degrees.  Good grief.  I'll just say up front that my day of birding was not entirely unsuccessful, but I did have my hopes set much higher.

In addition to the rain, which I had no control over; my first tactical mistake was to come here.  A complete waste of time and it took my whole morning. 

On the way to J.Clark Saylor NWR, I at least got to confirm my Franklin's Gulls when I found a whole field full.  They were a common bird throughout the day.  From J. Clark Saylor, I went to Lostwood NWR and this was moderately more successful.  This NWR is true prairie and it was beautiful.  

The dull photo above taken from under the gray sky does not really do the area justice.  In real life, the vibrant colors of the prairie are really striking and visually appealing.

These cute little guys were around.  I guess they are some kind of prairie dog, but it also looks marmoset-like.  Where is Beatrix Potter when you need her?

I heard Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow and LeConte's Sparrow nearly straightaway.  I never did see either.  I guess this is a bad omen for adding Nelson's Sharp-tailed to my life list.  On the car drive, I saw many Vesper, Clay-colored and Savannah sparrows.  Grasshopper Sparrows were not as numerous, but they were around.  I heard one more LeConte's and heard and saw two more Baird's Sparrows.  The Baird's did not show as nicely as the one I found on day 3, but still very nice to confirm. 

At one point I heard Willets, but could not locate them until, by accident, I came too close to their nest  Both birds flushed up and flew around quite vociferously, like we expect of Killdeer.  This Willet landed on the road for this shot.  Willets are quite drab when standing still, but in flight they are significantly more attractive and very distinctive.

 Upset and letting me know it.

And settling back near its nest.

Somewhere before seeing the Willets, I was able to scope out one Piping Plover on the lake shore.  That's right, just one; but it was well seen and unmistakable.  My fourth life bird of the trip.  

After the plover and the willets, I was coming to the end of the NWR and was looking at a Baird's Sparrow when another car came up from the opposite direction.  Birders.  Question:  "What are you seeing?" Response: "Well, what are you interested in."  Turns out that the two birders were from Maryland!  Ed Boyd and Jim Staz were in North Dakota and we ran into each other.  Ed and Jim were having much better luck than I was.  They told me about an area that had Spague's Pipits and Chestnut-colored Longspurs, both of which they saw well. They showed me the location on their DeLorme map.  We chatted a bit more and then I went off to their location.  I've already forgotten the name of the lake, Sim ... Lake just beyond Powers Lake, was quite birdy. From here I went to the pipit and longspur location.  I was shocked that I could actually find it.  Ed and Jim gave some good landmarks.

   

This is the longspur field.  That little dark spot on the top of the fence is a Grasshopper Sparrow.  I could hear the Chestnut-colored Longspurs, but I was not going to see them from this spot.  I walked up along a two-track that was outside of the fence.

From here I saw three birds flying - (perhaps they were all the same bird, but it sounded like more than one bird).  Two perched very briefly and one flew quite close and then disappeared into the grass.  I would have liked to see a perched bird, but I'm not sure that this would be easy to do even on perfect birding day.  I never did see or hear Spague's Pipit. The longspurs were my fifth life bird on this trip.  I'm going to try for both again tomorrow.

On the long drive back to Minot (I did too much driving today thereby wasting too much time) I debated with myself about going to Minot Sewage Lagoons for the Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow.  It continued to rain, I was tired and, in the end, lazy.  I did not go.  I'll either need to come back for this bird or find it in Michigan in autumn.

Other good birds seen today were Marbled Godwit, Wilson's Phalarope, White-rumped Sandpiper and the waterfowl continue on all the prairie potholes and other bodies of water.  On eastbound highway 2, returning to the motel and nearly to Minot, I saw a Short-eared Owl in the grass alongside the road.  I turned around and went back, but could not refind the bird again.  A nice surprice to the end a very long day of so-so birding.

Continuing on, tomorrow morning early I am on my way to Medicine Lake NWR in northeast Montana.  Hopefully, I'll be able to see Spague's Pipit and Chestnut-collared Longspurs here.  

Day three: Prairie potholes

I departed my Duluth, Minnesota Motel 6 in gray, rainy and cold weather which stayed with me all day and gave me an incentive to push on all the way to Minot.  Almost as soon as I crossed the border into North Dakota and once getting out of Grand Forks, I was immediately in the midst of prairie potholes.  I haven't made my list today, but I must have at least ten species of waterfowl viewed in hundreds of prairie potholes.  These pools of water, some small, some medium and some large, can be viewed from alongside Highway 2.  I certainly could not stop at each!

This prairie pothool hosted a Black-crowned Night-heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) and a male Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola).

All of the following photos were taken on a road lined with prairie fields and potholes on my way to finding the Buffalo Lodge Lake Area just east of Granville.  As it turned out the road to this birding spot was closed - it appeared permanently - but the birding was very good all along the roads and fields to this area.  In addition to the birds shown below, I also saw one Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda).  Franklin Gulls (Larus pipixcan) were seen while driving, but I did not get the nice up close looks that I still hope for.

I'm not good at differentiating Common and Forster's terns, but I have finally decided that this is a Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) found flying over another prairie pothole.

Now that's a "stiff" tail (Oxyura jamaicensis), found with his mate in the same prairie pothole that the tern was fishing in.

I kept hearing a different chip note.  It came from here, it came from there and so I finally decided to get out of the car in the rain to find the source.  My friend, Steve, had told me that I could expect to hear Western Meadowlarks (Sturnella neglecta) everywhere and he was right. This bird has both a nice chip note and song.  This bird was definitely not eating this juicy meal. I'm sure there was a nest nearby.

A few Western Kingbirds (Tyrannus verticalis) were around.

A singing Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum) was a real treat singing his long bubbly song.  What is it about ammodramus sparrows that makes them so darn cute?

Grasshopper Sparrow.

This singing Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) launched into his display pose while perched on the fence.

Finally, the bird of the day for me.  I was still trying to figure out what it was when it began singing.  What a minute ... that's not a Grasshopper Sparrow as I was trying to make it out to be.  It's a Baird's Sparrow (Ammodramus bairdii)!  He stayed perched on the fence long enough for me to take a dozen photos - none of which turned out any better than this.  Tomorrow is another day.  I have my fingers crossed.    

Day two: LeConte's Sparrow

Day two:  my first full day of vacation, I saw my life LeConte's Sparrow (Ammodramus leconteii) this morning on Teets Road in Chippewa County just where my friend, Tex Wells, told me I would find them. Completely charming sparrow and well worth it.

All of my photos are bad; arguably, this is the best of the bad.

I also had very nice looks at this singing Mourning Warbler (Oporornis philadelphia).  I heard Connecticut Warblers (Oporornis agilis) singing; never did see one.  

Lake Superior is stunningly beautiful, and so large it seems to be everywhere.  As I'm writing this from my evening stop in Duluth, Minnesota and considering where I have been today, Lake Superior is everywhere.

These beautiful lupines were growing along Highway 2 in Wisconsin.  Apparently, there is a Wisconsin effort to increase these as they, in addition to being roadside beauties, are also good for butterflies. 

Isn't this against the law?  I saw this unfortunate guy outside Maple, Wisconsin.  I did consider if it would be possible to release him.  How would I have got that red collar off?

Saw many good birds today, arguably the best of which were a Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis), and a Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) was a surprise this far north.  Also saw my first of the season Alder Flycatchers (Empidonax alnorum).

Day one: Nighthawk booming

I've been hearing Common Nighthawks (Chordeiles minor) in my neighborhood, but this evening I saw my first flying Common Nighthawk of the year.  It was flying and diving over Kirtland's Warbler habitat near Mio. 

This bird flew directly overhead several times, but this is the best photo I could get.  It was windy and he was fast.  On the right wing, you can see the white bar.  After many minutes of flying and diving, the bird perched.

Last month I saw my first ever perched nighthawk at Crane Creek, so I was surprised when this guy fluttered down and gently landed on this branch in the typical nighthawk horizontal pose.

With some sun on the back of the bird, the nighthawk moved from its horizonal pose to a more typical passerine pose.  

It was windy this evening and I did not see a perched Kirtland's Warbler (Dendroica kirtlandii).  I only heard one, down low, on Hardy Grade Rd.  Actually, it was not very birdy, but I did see and hear my first Brown Trasher (Toxostoma rufum) of the season.  All of the other birds were those I have already seen elsewhere this year.