I got up about 5:30, and grabbed a cup of coffee and a
package of oatmeal at the Two Rivers Inn, then left for a wetland south of
Dawson, N.D., about an hour west of Jamestown.
There had been some LeConte’s Sparrows reported here recently, so I
drove onto 44th Street and saw some decent grassland habitat and drove slowly
along, stopping every quarter mile and scoping the meadows.
 |
| North Dakota is flat in this direction . . . |
Then I came to a T in the road and got out and walked
along. I took one arm of the T and returned toward the car,
taking the other arm.
 |
| . . . and flat in that direction. |
It was good birding, but I didn’t see or hear the target
bird.
 |
| Lake Etta had lots of Western Grebes in the far distance |
Back at the car, I decided to walk
back toward the east, and hadn’t gone far before I heard the thin call of a
LeConte’s Sparrow, saw it teed-up on a tuft of grass, and got the scope on it before
it dropped back into the grass cover.
Woo-Hoo! ABA Life Bird No. 618.
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| Buffy supercilium, broad buff stripes on back. Oh, yeah! |
There were a lot of other birds in the marsh:
 |
| Upland Sandpiper (I learned it as "Upland Plover") |
 |
| White-faced Ibis |
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| Wilson's Snipe |
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| Savannah Sparrow |
One of my favorites has always been the
Wilson’s Phalarope.
This is a
“shorebird”, but is more likely to be seen in Prairie Potholes and Great Basin
wetlands. The female is the more
brightly-colored gender, and pursues her chosen males, competes for nesting
territory, and aggressively defends her nest and mates. After she lays her four eggs on the ground
near the water, she abandons the male and leaves the labor of incubating and
rearing to devolve upon the male. Upon
hatching, the male keeps watch over the kids as the young feed themselves.
 |
| Just like in humans, the male Phalarope is dull and boring . . . |
I continued on south to the Beaver Creek Recreation Area
along Oahe Reservoir, where there’d been a Bell’s Vireo reported in the last
week or so. I’d never seen the Eastern
subspecies, and wanted to pick this one up for my 2019 Year List anyway. I stopped along the gravel road, where there
were campers, dogs, kids, trail bikes and jet skis making a fair amount of
noise, and immediately heard the vireo calling.
I walked down the road and heard and saw a second bird, so was happy to
add that one to my year list.
I drove as far as Forsyth, Montana and checked into the
Sundowner Inn for $101.65. The price
seems a bit high for a mediocre bread and cereal “Continental Breakfast” served
at 7 a.m. The room was clean enough, but
the WiFi connection was poor. Just
sayin’
 |
| Random shot of cool butterflies along Dewald Slough Road |
I’d pulled into town just as a pretty good thunderstorm
was brewing, and as I finished showering, the lights flickered once, twice, and
the third time, which must have flipped a switch somewhere. The power was out in town. It was getting dark, so no photos of the event.
I went across the street to FitzGerald’s where the power
outage did not stop the staff from pouring me a beer. The kitchen help were whining about this,
that and the other not working, but the waitress (who used to run the place)
went back and pointed out to the cook that even if the broiler wasn’t working,
he could still cook me a 6-oz sirloin on the flat-iron grill. They did a fine job, and I paid (and tipped
well) in cash - since the registers wouldn’t work without electricity.
Dewald Slough Road eBird Checklist is Here
Dewald Slough outbound eBird Checklist is Here
Dewald Slough return eBird
Checklist is Here
Beaver Creek Recreation Area eBird Checklist is Here
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