Each year I take an extended birding
vacation somewhere to work on my various statelists, and hopefully move a step
closer to my lifelong goal of reaching the old ABA reportable goals in each of
the lower 48 states and DC (“lower 49”).
This year it was to the Great Plains in North Dakota, Montana and South
Dakota. This entry to my blog summarizes
the results of the ND part of the trip; other posts discuss MT and SD.
ND was one of 2 last states where I had
very small lists – with just 78 I would have lots of statebirding
potential. So I started to put a plan
together to bird as many habitats as possible in central and western ND. I spent quite a bit of time reviewing a
relatively recent birdfinding guide for ND, got some excellent input from local
birders, and also gathered some information from e-bird. I eventually set up an itinerary with 4 days
in western and central ND, with an optimistic goal of adding at least 100
statebirds, especially concentrating on those birds most likely to be in the
western part of the state. Since the old
ABA reporting threshold is 199, I would likely come up a bit short of threshold
(or so I thought). So I would eventually
need to come back to ND, likely to look for the species more typical of the
eastern US. As for target species, I
didn’t have any likely lifebird targets.
But I was hoping to see Baird’s Sparrow, which is on my lifelist but
based on just one sighting in January 1994 in AZ, which I’m now unsure of.
Day 1 – Fly to Bismarck and Drive to
Bottineau
After a long day of flying, and miserable
connecting times, I finally landed in Bismarck just before dinner. Because I needed to make a long 3 ½ hour
drive to Bottineau which was my starting point for the next day, I was planning
to make only one brief birding stop that day at the Minot sewage lagoon. As I drove through Bismarck I realized the
foliage on the trees was typical of mid-May back home when migrant passerines
were at their peak. So I was hopeful
that I had timed the trip to coincide with some good migration. I felt even better about my timing when I
heard a singing Tennessee Warbler as I drove through a suburban part of
Bismarck. But just a few miles north of
Bismarck I realized that there were now few leaves on the trees. And within an hour north of Bismarck there
were almost no leaves visible on any bush or tree. Was I too early? Would I miss many of my hoped-for
migrants? As I continued my drive I
started to think that I would never reach my goal of 100 new birds. But maybe I would have a better shot at some
of the late wintering birds, like some waterfowl and sparrows. In any case, it was pretty disappointing as I
realized the vegetation looked more like early April than mid-May.
When I arrived in Minot I made the short
10-minute side trip to the Minot sewage lagoons which had had some pretty good
birds recently. But there were only a
few Lesser Scaup, Eared Grebes, and some dabblers on the water, and almost no
shorebirds along the edges. I did pick
up Spotted Sandpiper there – notable only because ND was my last of the lower
49 for this species. I also had a couple
Wilson’s Phalaropes and a Least Sandpiper, but otherwise it was really
slow.
The trip finally started to pick up north
of Minot when I realized that many of the flooded fields along the highway had
at least a few shorebirds. At one stop
while looking at several peep species, a breeding plumaged American Golden
Plover passed through my binocular field.
Striking bird! There were 6 birds
in this small flock, which were the only ones for my trip. A little farther along while on SR5 I passed
through Clark Salyer NWR and I noticed some white geese on the shoreline. With a quick stop I found a flock of 15 Snow
Geese, along with 1 White-fronted Goose.
I’ve found quite a number of out-of-season summering White-fronted Geese
across the country, and I’ve now seen this species in quite a number of states.
About half of these birds had broken wings,
likely injured during the past hunting season and destined to spend the rest of
their lives at the refuge. By the time I
rolled into my hotel in Bottineau I realized that there were no leaves anywhere
– ugh. I ended the day with 12 new
statebirds which was a pretty nice start all things considered.
Day 2 – Passerine and Shorebird Fallout in
North-Central ND, And a Visit to Manitoba
I planned to spend much of this day in the
Turtle Mountains just a few miles south of the US-Canada border in
north-central ND. This area has nice
woodlands, and I was hoping for some good passerine migrants, especially
eastern ones. But not only did the
Turtle Mountains look like April, but it felt like April – it was 45 degrees,
low overcast, breezy, and drizzly. En
route to my first stop at Wakopa WMA I had a couple good birds – a pair of
Ravens were nice, as was a flyby Peregrine Falcon (my only one of the trip).
When I arrived at Wakopa just after dawn my
expectations for migrants were low. But
as soon as I opened my car door at my first stop I heard numerous warbler chips
– mostly Yellow-rumps. I was on the
western edge of a large lake, and there was a constant stream of birds moving
south down the western edge of the lake.
And with no leaves anywhere, they sure were easy to see. I spent at least 3 hours at Wakopa and was
amazed at not only the number of passerines, but also the diversity. And I got most of my key eastern
targets. The numerous Yellow-rumps were
joined by Black-and-whites, Palms, Orange-crowns, Yellows, Blackpolls,
Redstarts, and Ovenbirds, along with a Nashville, a Chestnut-sided, and
numerous Northern Waterthrushes likely on territory. There were many Swainson’s Thushes – at least
50 - and several Veerys. Vireos included
several Warbling’s and Philadelphia’s, and a couple Blue-headeds. Flycatchers were mostly Leasts, with one
Yellow-bellied and one Eastern Pewee. Larger
migrants included several Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and Baltimore Orioles. A sole Ruby-throated Hummingbird and a couple
Broad-winged Hawks were cooperative key targets near the western edge of their
US breeding range. Sparrows included
several late White-throats and Lincoln’s.
It was quite a show! Though I
felt sorry for these passerines who couldn’t be finding many insects to
eat. As the morning progressed most were
feeding on or near the ground which likely was a bit warmer and had a few more insects. As for waterfowl, most lakes had singing
Common Loons, and each lake had exactly one pair of Red-necked Grebes. I left the area feeling very good about my
results.
Next stop was at the International Peace
Gardens, which is another wooded area, half in ND and half in Manitoba. One of my key areas of interest there was a
grove of planted conifers. A quick walk
around the firs yielded one male Cape May and one male Bay-breasted, along with
an immature male Purple Finch – exactly the kinds of birds I was hoping for
there. Other new birds were Magpies, and
my only Eastern Phoebe and Merlin of the trip.
I’ve now seen Eastern Phoebe in most all states where it is a regular
nester.
Since it was only around noon and I was
running ahead of schedule, I decided to make a short foray into Manitoba. Since that was my first time ever in that
province, every bird was new. I spent
just an hour in the Manitoba portion of the International Peace Gardens and
picked up 40 species. At one point I was
just 100 yards north of the border when I watched a flock of Franklin’s Gull
fly overhead to the south – adding them both to my Manitoba and ND lists. Most MB species were similar to the ones I
had earlier, except for the Gray-cheeked Thrush which was my only one for the
trip.
After coming back through the US
immigration checkpoint, I worked my way to the west to Willow Lake for some
water and marsh birds. But as I arrived
at a marsh which was supposed to have Nelson’s and LeConte’s Sparrows, I noticed
numerous small passerines feeding low right along the edge of the marsh. They turned out to be warblers – I estimated
100 Yellows and 50 Yellow-rumps. Most
were oblivious to me as I walked up to within 10 feet of the activity. These birds too must have been having
troubles finding insects in the cold weather, so this slightly warmer perimeter
of the marsh must have had a few more insects.
As I stood there watching the activity a different species popped into
the open – it was an Oporornis with white arcs above and below the eye. A MacGillivray’s Warbler – a good bird for
ND! I’ve seen MacGillivray’s in most
states in its regular range, and now also in ND and MA as a rarity.
And the marsh was full of marshbirds too –
Soras were calling constantly greatly outnumbering the pair or Virginia Rails,
and Sedge Wrens everywhere in the wet grasses.
But no Nelson’s or LeConte’s.
A bit farther along I got to a place with a
distant view of the island way out in the lake with a number of nesting
species. I picked out both Forster’s and
Common Terns, my first California Gulls and Avocets, along with many Cormorant
nests. I also had a small flock of
Bonaparte’s Gulls which were the only ones for my trip. And the lake had my first Horned Grebes in
with the numerous Eared and Western Grebes.
Another nice stop!
It was now late afternoon and time to make
my 2+ hour drive west to Kenmare, ND to prepare for the next day. Soon after I started the drive I realized
that not only was there a big passerine fallout occurring in the area, but
there was a big fallout of shorebirds as well.
Every flooded farmer’s field (and there were many of them) had at least
a few shorebirds, and there were numerous shorebirds in the air. I made many stops along the way picking up
good numbers of the regular species like White-rumps, Baird’s, and Stilt Sands,
and Avocets, along with a few Pectorals, Dunlin, and Long-billed
Dowitchers. I also had a flock of 11
Hudsonian Godwits and a flyover flock of 4 Long-billed Curlews. Although curlews are regular in all western
states, I still need this species in a number of different states.
A bit farther along I got to the Clark
Salyer NWR where I had had the Snow and White-fronted Geese yesterday. There were now close to 100 white geese, so I
decided to check for a late Ross’. And
sure enough, there was one in with the Snows.
Another of my targets was Eurasian Collared Doves, and as I continued to
drive west I was surprised that I hadn’t seen any yet. So as I drove through the net ND town I made
a small detour and instantly saw several ECDs – my 38th state for this
species. And as I finally pulled into
Kenmare it was almost dark, but I had some Purple Martins at a box right next
to the motel. A very nice way to end the
day. I ended up with 139 species and an
amazing 72 new birds for my ND statelist.
Day 3 – Lostwood NWR and Stops in
Northwestern ND – Plus a Stop in Saskatchewan
Lostwood NWR was well-advertised, in fact
famous, for being the spot in ND to see Baird’s Sparrow, Sprague’s
Pipit, Piping Plover, and Nelson’s and LeConte’s. Though I had heard it hadn’t been as good for
Baird’s in recent years. So I planned to
spend much of the day at the refuge for these and lots of other marsh and
grassland targets. I left my hotel
pre-dawn, and as I walked to the car I heard a calling American Bittern – not a
typical bird for the middle of a small town but this was very close to marshes
of Des Lacs NWR. Later that morning I
would have numerous calling Bitterns at Lostwood. This bird hasn’t been as cooperative for me
in many other states as shown by all the gaps in my statebird map below.
The route to Lostwood was in the heart of
heavy fracking activity in the Bakken shale.
As I drove along in the darkness the flares burning off the gases lit up
the area and were visible for a considerable distance on this morning with a
new moon. At one point I counted 8
flares visible just directly ahead of me (who knows how many there would have
been if I had scanned the entire horizon).
Later I came to some road
construction, or should I say de-construction.
The paved road was gone, and the “road” was nothing but loose soil,
undoubtedly a project to replace roads destroyed by all the heavy truck
traffic. In the pitch black I wasn’t
sure where the road ended and the adjacent prairie started. Little did I know that these several miles of
what was supposed to be paved road would turn out to be my worst road
conditions of the trip.
When I finally made it to Lostwood the
skies were getting light, and there was a very heavy fog making viewing
distances extremely limited. Plus the
car thermometer said it was just 30 degrees.
As the sun began to rise I saw this rainbow
caused by the fog – pretty cool.
My first stop was at the Sharp-tailed
Grouse lek which I was told was the best spot in the refuge for Baird’s
Sparrow. The good news was that I
counted 18 grouse still displaying on the lek although this was now late
May. The bad news was that despite over
an hour of trying there were no Baird’s Sparrows. I then doubled back to “the” location in the
refuge for Sprague’s Pipit (the tower seen in the distance in the fog picture
above). But just like the Baird’s
attempt – no luck. At the end of my trip
I talked to one of the refuge employees about missing the Baird’s and Sprague’s
and he told me that the refuge is no longer managing the prairie for these
species. Both require recently grazed or
burned prairie, and throughout the refuge all I saw was lush, tall
vegetation. Makes one wonder how the
refuge is managing the prairie for in the first place. Maybe it’s for all the Clay-colored and
Vesper Sparrows which were abundant throughout the prairie.
There were some positive highlights to this
stop though. First, I saw at least 3 Short-eared
Owls flying over the prairie in the early morning. And I also heard 2 LeConte’s Sparrows in wet
grassy areas accompanied by numerous Sedge Wrens. I also saw 4 Piping Plovers including 2 in
courtship at the alkaline ponds where they nest. The water levels in these ponds were
generally too high for shorebirds, though I did find 2 very distant Red-necked
Phalaropes at one spot. Plus one sparrow
flock along the road that I ran into consisted of 6 White-crowns and 1 Harris’
– all very late. Otherwise the refuge
was pretty quiet.
As I exited the refuge I made a quick tour
around the refuge buildings where there are a number of planted bushes and
trees, hoping for migrants. There were a
few flycatchers and warblers here and there, but not much. That is until I reached the end of my loop
around the buildings when a small bird flew by me and landed just 15 feet away
from me – a male Black-throated Gray Warbler.
Quite a rarity for ND! I’ve now
seen this species as a rarity in MA, GA, and ND, along with all the states in
its regular range.
Since I struck out on Baird’s Sparrow at
Lostwood, I headed west to 3 other locations where Baird’s had been reported in
the past, or were mentioned in birdfinding guides. The first was at Smishek Lake, though I never
found any worthwhile habitat. Next was
Alkali Lake, where again prairie grasses were too tall and lush for
Baird’s. Though a male Cinnamon Teal was
a nice find here. Next was Lake Zahl
where again the prairie grass was tall.
But I decided to walk along a 2-track between the prairie and a farmer’s
field, where I finally found the first Chestnut-collared Longspurs for ND. On a lark I tried playing some Baird’s
Sparrow tape while looking at my map to figure out my next stop. When I looked up there was a Baird’s perched
on a barbed wire fence just 20 feet away providing great views of what turned
out to be the first of many for the trip.
My next planned stop was west into Westby,
MT, but since I was running a bit ahead of schedule I wondered if there was
another stop nearby. Then I looked at
the map to realized not only was I again close to the Canadian border, but this
time it was Saskatchewan – another province I had never been to. So after another 1-hour trip into Canada I
had 48 species as a start to my SK province list.
Just after crossing back into ND I noticed
a bare tree with a nest containing large Great Horned Owl babies. Another target crossed off. I was now starting to realize I was doing
really well toward my goal of 100 new birds in ND. Though I only got 13 new birds on Day 3, I
now had 97 new species for ND, and portions of 4 more days of ND birding to
go. I needed 24 more to get to the
reportable threshold. Could I get enough
to be reportable in ND? I made a list of
my remaining targets, and began to change my strategy from birding general
locations or habitats, to instead focusing on finding specific species.
