June 2006 Archives

Today I saw one of the young ones poking the tip of its bill above the edge of the nest next to my trailer. I have walked around that tree more times than I care to admit looking for a little bit more of an opening in the foliage but it is just not there. It was a challenge using binoculars to what I did see. I climbed on top of my trailer and would actually be at eye level with the nest but from that angle it is all but completely obscured by branches and leaves. These smart parents have tucked it away nicely.

I made this image this afternoon of one of them flying in with a freshly caught insect. But I call "do-over" since the clouds had begun to move in and want this shot with a deep blue sky. I tend to be picky about these things.

This week's quiz bird is widespread thoughout most of North American in wide open spaces and avoids wooded areas. There are an amazing 21 recognized subspecies of this bird (National Geographic Complete Birds of North America) and so this might not look exactly like one in your area.

Last week's tough Empidonax flycatcher was the Least Flycatcher. The other common empid in the northwestern part of North Dakota would be the Willow Flycatcher, slightly larger (though impossible to determine in the field) and with a thin, faint white eyering versus the bold white eyering on the Least being the major fieldmark to look for to determine the species. Habitat is also a consideration with the Least prefering deciduous woodlands with a brushy understory where the Willow prefers brushy areas at the edges of meadows or pastures. For those in the east and in Canada the Alder Flycatcher (among a few others, probably) comes into the fray to help confuse the issue.

(Thanks! to everyone who submitted an answer.)

We left Minot early Saturday (6-24) for an uneventful – other than a portion in driving rain – trip to Dickinson in southwestern North Dakota. After setting up camp came a short ride to the southeast and the small town of Mott. This side trip wasn’t about birding or nature photography but rather to pay a visit to the town where my father had been born. It is still just a little old farm town nestled in among the alfalfa and wheat fields. It probably hasn’t changed that much in the ensuing years; even the old school built in the early 1900’s is still in use.

From Mott it was back north and west to make a first visit to Theodore Roosevelt National Park. This area is North Dakota’s “Badlands” where much of the landscape has been sculpted over time by wind, glacial ice, as well as the waters of the Little Missouri River and its tributaries. I spent most of this visit on the 36 mile loop tour visiting prairie dog towns, looking for Bison, and, for the most part, marveling at the scenery.

Among the main attractions are the prairie dog towns and I could have spent more time with Black-tailed Prairie Dogs and their antics if it were not for the impatience of the white-tailed Black Lab that is my driving companion. There are at least 4 towns along the tour route in the park's South Unit and more along the hiking trails. This particular pose reminded me of someone and it took a while before I decided it was reminiscent of The Fonz (from the TV series Happy Days). They are cute, as I find more in my travels there is one thing they do I didn't capture this time that I am going to have to wait out next time I find a dog town.

On each of my three afternoon trips into the park I saw Wild Horses at various locations around the drive. One heard had about 8 or 9 in it, this colt was grazing just off the tour route with two adults. They are a bit rough looking for the most part, some look dirty and all have shaggy manes. It says in the park brochure that there were wild horses on this land when Roosevelt lived here - you have to wonder if they are descended from old Indian ponies, cavalry horses, or, maybe, both.

Then there are, of course, Bison (the Lakota Sioux name is Tatanka). These animals were nearly wiped out in the late 1800's and were reintroduced to this area (along with elk)in 1956. The National Park Service keeps the total number at around 300 head - which is about all the area can support (the park adjoins range lands and is, from what I could see, completely fenced. These are truly big animals and apparently don't care what you are driving, if they want to cross the road or just stand in it, they will. The first one I encountered was a huge lone bull and I didn't like the way he was looking at me. Then he started in with the grunting and I was thinking "Please, please don't poke holes in the side of my truck".

At least two large herds roam the South Unit, I believe I saw in excess of 125 head and there were a number of younger Bison in each herd. They are, as you can see, already grazing but will seek out mom for a little milk, too. That is when mom will let them - sometimes the mother would push them away when they tried, other times they would let them suckle. Among their favorite grazing areas are the prairie dog towns - a fact that the prairie dogs don't seem to like as they bark constantly. It's rather comical, really.

We have now moved on and are in Harding, Montana which is about 15 miles from the Little Big Horn Battlefield. The plan for the next view days is to concentrate on grassland birds and, with luck, I hope to stumble upon a herd of Pronghorn (antelope. (I have not had a chance to investigate fully but it appears I may have landed in my third - or is it fourth? - campground with nesting Western Kingbirds.)

Update: A pair of Western Kingbirds are bringing insects regularly to the Cottonwood tree about 8 feet from my trailer. I can see the nest but cannot see any little heads begging for food. This is not the same tree I saw activity around earlier so there may be more than one . . .

The reason I was so determined to get to Minot was to visit the “Upper Souris Loop”, three refuges just to the north of the city. Thanks to the trailer problems I didn’t get to spend as much time as I would have liked – I have standing reservations for the July Fourth weekend that meant I had to keep moving. While I visited all three – Des Lacs, J. Clark Salyer, and Upper Souris – I spent the most time at Upper Souris due to its proximity to Minot. I also felt, after visiting the others, that as a venue for photography it was the better location. My visit was limited to the area around Lake Darling (named after “Ding” Darling, namesake of the Florida wildlife refuge and designer of the USFWS blue goose logo) and the auto tour, though there is much more to explore.

In addition to the flycatcher featured in the quiz, one of the highlights was this very cooperative Barn Swallow. It wasn’t on a real great perch (sign) so I thought I would take my chances and see how close I could get. Guess this bird found the whole concept of posing for photos a bit too tedious and boring. Or maybe it was just that chasing insects all day to feed a nest full of kids is hard work.Either way, shortly after I took this photo it flew off toward the lake, presumably for more tasty insects. A few minutes later a Barn swallow flew in and landed in the same spot - must like the place.

The shores of Lake Darling are also home to a colony of nesting Western Grebes not far from one of the boat ramps. The afternoon that I was out there I parked on the dike next to the marshy area that contains the colony and, after taking a couple of shots of her sitting on the eggs, there was a little commotion and most of the grebes vacated their nests. All were staring in the same direction and it wasn’t difficult to see what had been the object of their attention: a beaver was swimming in one corner of the pond. After the beaver cleared the area they began to return to their nests one by one.

I do have a correction to make: in this entry I mentioned that I only needed Horned Grebes to complete the sweep – my bad. I completely forgot about the Least Grebe, a Texas specialty that will have to wait until the winter. Thanks to Mike at I and the Bird for pointing out that little oversight.

I’m currently in Medora, ND where I will be visiting Theodore Roosevelt National Park and the Little Missouri National Grassland before moving into Montana and Wyoming later this week.

Just for fun I’d like to revive an old email tradition by posting a bird ID quiz every Friday (unless I’m somewhere without Internet access). You can answer just for yourself, email it to me, or post a comment with the answer, no matter how you do it I’ll include the answer in the following week’s quiz.

And, just because I’m a cruel individual, what better way than to start off with an Empidonax flycatcher. For those readers who are not avid birders, “Empids” are members of a genus of 12 flycatchers that are very similar to each other and, quite often, can only be identified by voice. Region, however, plays a big part in narrowing the field and, given that this photo was taken this morning at Upper Souris National Wildlife Refuge in the western half of North Dakota, the field in this case is pretty much narrowed down to two (though a third could possibly be argued, I suppose). For this quiz I’ve included a second image (below the fold) to help - though most of the time you only get one.

(Notes from the Road #3)

My best guess is there must have been some sort of an anomaly or warp in the space-time continuum which caused a spur from The Devil’s Triangle to pass through those coordinates because it took me two days and three attempts to successfully get from Bismarck to Minot. Things were going great Tuesday then, when we were about 27 miles north of Bismarck, I felt a little shudder or wobble in the truck’s handling followed by a loud noise, almost as if I had run over something. A quick glance in the right-hand mirror revealed what appeared to be a tire bounding its way across the prairie. My brain processed that little bit of data rather rapidly and I decided it would probably be best to pull over and check things out just to be safe. What I found was that the right rear tire on the trailer was what I had seen in the mirror – gone with no sign of a stud where, just moments before, it had been attached to the trailer. And a trail of destruction from where the tire had been all the way to the rear bumper. What followed at that point were a few randomly chosen tidbits of profanity which came spewing forth before I gathered my wits and decided it would be best to make a phone call.

I went back to Tappen Slough (south central ND) this morning with the kayak hoping for some shots of "babies on backs" but I think the grebes must still be incubating for the most part. There seems to be a lot of traffic around the one cattail "island" out in the middle of the slough. As on Saturday there was only one pair of Westerns swimming around with young ones that I could see. One odd thing isthat last time there I shot Clark's and Eared while totally missing the Westerns; this time I got Western and Eared but no Clark's. New bird on the day for me was some shots of couple of drake Ruddy Ducks.

I finally got the American Goldfinches where I wanted them today after 3 days of no luck. When I set up the thistle feeder here at the campground I purposely placed it near on of the few branches on the tree that was in the open and uncluttered. The male had landed on it a few times but never long enough to get off a shot. They both paused there several times this afternoon before jumping off to the feeder.

I only saw them irregularly during winter back at the old homestead in Florida and they always seemed to come in groups. There is no such cooperation now - the females chase off other females and the males will chase off either (except, apparently, the mate). Feisty little things and very quick (as are most little birds).

This Northern Flicker showed up while I was waiting for the goldfinches to return and was chattering rather noisily about something. Its perched on the electrical box for the campsite next to mine - another new bird for this campground. (Must have flinched just as I shot because I can see a little bit of head movement . . . )

Today I also discovered a second nesting pair of Western Kingbirds in a tree near the office. The pair closest to my trailer are quite intolerant of other birds coming to "their" tree - yesterday a Hairy Woopecker had no sooner landed on it when the kingbird dropped down out of the nest and chased the Hairy away, scolding loudly all the while.

This was our last day in Bismarck, tomorow we move almost due north to Minot and the Upper Souris refuges. See ya there!

Update: This morning (Tuesday) I was sitting outside pondering whether or not I could use the roof of the trailer as a platform to get a shot of the Western Kingbird on her nest when an unidentified little bird - probably a Yellow Warbler- landed in the upper part of the tree. I don't think it was 3 or 4 seconds before the Kingbird chased it off. She simply won't tolerate anybody using her tree.

(At about 6:00 pm the winds at the Bismarck Airport were 22 mph with gusts to 36.)

The wind has been blowing since early morning and, just for fun, I decided to take a ride out to McKenzie Slough to see what the birds were doing. The answer: "not much." This is a pic of the middle of the slough shot with the 500mm and a 1.4X converter and it looks like pretty big waves out on the ocean - and this is water that a Marbled Godwit or American Avocet can easliy stand in and forage, not much more than ankle deep for a human.

There were a few birds foraging here and there behind stands of cattails, as I was leaving I found out where the avocets were: all huddled together on a little island. Birds I had not seen at this site before included Franklin's Gulls and Eared Grebes who, along with some Ring-billed Gulls, were at the north end in an area that had less open water and more vegetation.

It didn't stop the American Goldfinches - they were back and forth to the sock feeder I put up here at the campground. Both male and female House Finches were popping by every once in a while, too. Other birds around the campground include American Robins, Yellow Warblers, Mourning Doves (they eat the thistle that falls from the sock feeder), Northern (Baltimore) Orioles, the nesting Western Kingbirds, and each evening a Common Nighthawk prowls the skies overhead.

Tomorrow's forecast looks much better.

I spent a good part of the morning yesterday trying to find a road to a location I’d also been trying to get to earlier in the week – again without luck. One of the roads just didn’t look too friendly without 4-wheel drive while the other (which was only slightly better) has a “no trespassing” sign and, most likely around these parts, an owner with a big gun. I had another place to check out which presented similar obstacles. The good news out of all this is that right off the (paved!) county road I was traveling to try and reach site #2 was a place called Tappen Slough Wildlife Management Area and {woohoo!) it just happened to be full of birds.

The downside is that only the western third of the sky was without clouds while the sun was totally obscured by clouds to the east. It seemed as though the line was moving eastward and, if I remained patient, the light would finally come through. While I was waiting for the sun I was watching a family of Western Grebes moving ever so slowly in my general direction, all the while hoping that they would be within range at about the time the light began to hit the slough. I thought there were 3 chicks in the group until I saw the fourth one being fed – it had been riding on mom’s back while the others (who were a little larger) swam along. The bad news was the sun never made it to the slough; a bank of clouds moving in from the southwest took care of that. Still, it was great watching a little nature unfold; quiet other than the begging chicks and the occasional car or truck passing by.

Today’s forecast was better except that the winds were supposed to be increasing from 6-8 mph in the morning up to 18-20 in the afternoon. Any shooting was going to have to come early. I also decided that a little kayak photography would be the best option so I set out early with hopes of getting some work in before the breezes kicked in to high gear. A couple of the Eared Grebes were cooperative and swam fairly close to the kayak thus adding my second species of grebe for the week and third since leaving Florida.

The big surprise came a few minutes later when I turned my camera toward what I thought was a Western Grebe. After it swam away I began thinking about it – Western’s have black surrounding the eye and this one had been white. I double checked the preview to be sure I saw what I thought I saw and knew then that it had to be a Clark’s Grebe. Of course the first thing I did after coming back to shore was check the field guide to be certain and I had been right. The Horned Grebe (which with luck I will find in Montana) is left to complete the family since I have Pied-billeds from Florida.

The slough is pretty large with cattail marshes on the outer shoreline as well as a couple of “islands” of cattails in the middle. Apparently these islands are where the nests are located; if I got within about 50 feet there would be an exodus of grebes from within – probably trying to lure any potential danger away from the nests. Because of this I decided it would be best to stay away and found a lone White Pelican swimming in between the islands. In addition to the grebes, there are also American Coots, Black Terns, Yellow-headed Blackbirds, and Ruddy Ducks in the slough. The winds are supposed to persist through Sunday with Monday looking very good weather-wise. I may go back – I could use a few images of the Ruddy’s. This afternoon may be good to just lay low and see if we can get a couple of shots of the American Goldfinches and House Finches coming to the thistle feeder I have hanging outside the trailer.

Upland Sandpiper in a familiar pose near McKenzie, ND.

In addition to plumages sometimes there are, as expert birders will tell you, behavioral clues that will help to identify certain species. Small sandpipers can be extremely tough, especially in winter (aka basic or non-breeding) plumage. This little bird - along with its 2 siblings - at just a few days old was already exhibiting the diagnostic behavior that make it easy to determine (when looking at a winter adult) that the bird in question is a Spotted Sandpiper. When walking the three of them were constantly bobbing their tails - just like mom and dad do!

I had been parked along the roadside at McKenzie Marsh WMA east of Bismarck photographing American Avocets and noticed that an adult bird was regularly flying in and out of the area. Looking around, I finally spotted some movement in the marsh grasses below and found the 3 of them walking around. It was tough hard to get a clean image with all the plant growth around; finally this one walked into the open if only briefly . . .

Since the day began in a rather nasty fashion and, by the time it stopped and the sun came out, there was no hope of doing anything photographically, I decided to do something different: go birding. I stopped by the Bismarck-Mandan area visitor center and picked up a copy of the Bismarck-Mandan Birding Drives booklet to guide me on my way. The guidebook offers three options for the area: Missouri River Route, the McKenzie Route, and the Little Heart Route. I chose the first of these and set out from the visitor center to look for a few North Dakota birds.

The first leg of the drive is on River Road with croplands on one side and cliffs (or bluffs, I suppose) on the other. Along the way are occasional stands of trees with birds singing but, unfortunately, no place to pull over and investigate. Driving with the window down I recognized the songs of Yellow Warblers and Song Sparrows coming from the trees while in the fields and along the roadsides American Robins and Red-winged Blackbirds were common sights. Turning north on Hwy. 1804 I chose to have a quick look at the Double Ditch State Historic Site and saw about a dozen Cliff Swallows swarming around a mud puddle before heading a little farther up the road to the official first stop, the Double Ditch scenic turnoff. Just before entering the parking area a pair of American Goldfinches swept across the highway in front of my truck and, as I was turning 3 Ring-billed Gulls flew over in the direction of the Missouri River to the west. Western Meadowlarks provided the music as I drove down to the small parking area while I Killdeer flushed noisily from along the side of the road and a male Bobolink perched atop a fencepost. From the overlook I could see swallows flying in and out of nests built in the bluff, then there was a fleeting glimpse of what might have been a Brown Thrasher before it disappeared into a tree (I won’t count this one, though). I scanned the Missouri for ducks or geese but none were to be found on the whitecaps below, just as we were getting back in the truck a Mourning Dove flew by.

There are a lot of American White Pelicans in North Dakota and Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge boasts the largest breeding colony with some 20,000 birds. When I first arrived in the area I was a little confused by the dark feathers on top of their heads which is something that is not shown in the five field guides* I brought along. When I was making some inquiries yesterday afternoon I finally got around to asking about it while at Long Lake NWR. As the staff member explained it to me, the birds drop the appendages that grow on their bills before breeding (which he said can be found all over the ground at the colony and are like extra thick potato chips!) and said it is believed that successful breeders molt when they begin feeding chicks. Had I thought to check the two "desktop" references sitting on the little bookshelf in the trailer I would have found it shown in both and a good description in the National Geographic Complete Birds of North America. I just needed to dig a little more to find the answer to my question.

* For the non-birders following along one can never have too many field guides since there are plumage variations that aren't always described (as we see in this example) and, in some cases, artists have slightly different interpretations of a bird's appearance or, in the guides that use them, photos that are not printed accurately.

I’ve accumulated quite a laundry list of stuff since the “Random Thoughts” entry a couple of weeks ago and I’m not sure if I shouldn’t do this in a couple of shots. For now think I will call it “Notes from the Road” and, so you won’t think you’ve missed anything, this one will be volume #2 and if you go looking you won’t find one titled #1. These will always be catalogued under the “Other Stuff” category and may, from time to time, have samples of my opinion about certain possibly touchy matters - but don’t take it personally, okay?

One thing that caught my attention way back (what, 10 days ago?) when I was in Grand Rapids (MN) was seeing a teenaged male on a skateboard. Not so unusual except that he was being pulled with a rope tied to a car near downtown. Maybe this behavior is not that unusual its just that I had never seen it before.

I need to get on the road for South Dakota and, since I don't think I will have a connection (and I know you are all wondering - not!), the morning went well with good light for about 2.5 hours before some clouds began to roll in. The Western Grebes were mostly cooperative though I wasn't fortunate enough to have any of the courtship "dances" nearby (they were all way out in the middle of the lake. My next couple of stops have them too, so I'm pretty certain I will get another chance. I thought I had one coming until the otter showed up - and all the grebes fled to the middle of the lake. When I'm back online I'll try to remember to post an image of the otter sticking its head up out of the water - must have been checking me out since it looked like it was staring right at me.

See ya in Bismarck in a few days . . .

As forecast, Sunday was another totally dreary day: no rain other than a few light sprinkles late, and the wind finally began to lay down a little in the afternoon. However the sunshine did come forth in the form of this beautiful Yellow Warbler I found in the "Warbler Woods" at Arrowwood. Other birds in the woods would respond to my "pishing" by singing but would stay up high in the trees. This guy was quite the poser and I ended up with several frames from which to chose the best images. The other cool thing about yesterday was I discovered a pair of Western Kingbirds building a nest in a tree about 60 feet from the front door of my trailer at the park here in Jamestown. It would be kind of fun to be here in a few weeks when they have nestlings but . . .

I was wide awake very early this morning in anticipation of a great day and so far it is looking very good. There seems to be a light ground fog but I could see stars when I first got up and there was no wind (though that may change to a little breeze once the sun begins to heat things up). I'll be starting the day by driving out to Pearl Lake a little to the northwest in hopes of finding courting Western Grebes then seek out the Northern Shoveler hen with her ducklings. I'll need to be back at the campground sometime late morning to get packed up to move on out. While I was watching the Western Kingbirds a nice lady inquired if I was a birder since I had a pair of binoculars in my hand. This opening got us involved in a long conversation about places and, as a result of that conversation, have decided to travel about 100 miles south into the other Dakota. They'd just been at Sand Lake NWR and she said there were a lot of shorebirds and ducks there so I have decided that it will be worth a side trip to South Dakota before I continue my trek through North Dakota. I'll let you know in a couple of days when I have access to the 'Net again.

A break in the weather would certainly be a welcome change but at least I have some flexibility in my travel schedule and can try to work around it. On friday I hardly left the trailer other than for my scouting trip out to Arrowwood NWR; yesterday I went out but it was more of an exercise in futility than anything else. The difference between the two days was rain on Friday and heavy overcast with unmerciful winds (25-30 mph) yestereday. For today the winds are supposed to lay down some to the 8-12 mph range but with more rain (though it rained most of the night so hopefully that part is over). What's particularly frustrating is that there is so much potential here, the prairies and potholes are alive with birds.

Out at Arrowwood in the morning I went to an area they call "Warbler Woods" and found this wildflower tucked back out of the wind with a little buddy hanging on. I searched and searched thinking it might be some kind of moth to no avail on a site that had hundreds of images/descriptions of ND moths. Nor have I had any luck figuring out what the flower is either - I'd ask at the refuge because I'm sure they would know but, unlike some of the southern refuges, these guys shut down for the weekends. I'm sure there are perfectly good monetary reasons for this - I didn't see any other vehicles out on Arrowwood in either trip I've made out there. In contrast Merritt Island can have a parade of cars out on the wildlife drive and I'm sure at least a few of those will stop at the Visitor Center to spend a little money.

In the afternoon I went exploring knowing full well that there would not be much I could shoot but at least might find some interesting places to go when things get better. I did find one pothole with a number of ducks (there are many of these "prairie potholes", actually) that had a Northern Shoveler hen being followed around by a brood of about 8 ducklings. I marked the location in the GPS Navigator so I can return when the weather breaks. Another spot I marked was a place called Pearl Lake where I found about 50 or 60 Western Grebes. My best guess is that they are pairing off right now so I will definitely go back there if the sun comes out to hopefully shoot their elaborate courtship ritual. This particular bird was with a larger group that had congregated in a small portion of the northwest corner of the lake that was somewhat protected by the road (which had been built up with rocks and dirt directly through it). You can kind of see in the image that the waves are only about 4-5 inches high but can also see the textured look caused by the wind whipping over the water. This was calm in comparison to the other side of the road where there were whitecaps and swells of about 1 foot hitting the banks. I've seen less wave action on Daytona Beach.

One of the other things I learned yesterday is that directions provided by my navigator may not be too reliable when you get out on these rural roads (which is about 90% of the roads in ND). I was trying to use backroads to make my way out to Chase Lake NWR which is home to the largest breeding colony of White Pelicans in North America. On at least 2 occasions the thing instructed me to turn in places where there was no longer a road. A couple of other times the road it asked me to take was little more that a couple of grown over wheel ruts (they may have been wagon wheel ruts for all I know he says with a big smile). I spent a lot of time driving in circles it seems trying to find a better road. I have to admit that the worst moment came not because of the navigator but my failure to look closely at my map book. I missed the fact that a road I thought would take me directly to Chase Lake had a break in it and very nearly got stuck in the mud trying to make a 3-point turn. It would have been a very long walk because I was miles from anywhere and when I checked the cell phone the signal bars were non-existent. The rest of the afternoon I looked to make sure that every road I wanted to take went somewhere. What the hell, I enjoy an interesting adventure once in a while.

Following the short drive north from Detroit Lakes (which provided some commentary fodder for another day) I arrived in Thief River Falls which was the closest place to Agassiz (apparently the "z" is silent) National Wildlife Refuge I could find with a campground that could handle my rig. I made this image of another Red-necked Grebe on its nest late in the afternoon Wednesday on a brief scouting trip. Thursday morning I would find a couple more but not as near to the road as this one happened to be.

While I was working on the above grebe I spotted this furry critter swimming in the background. I am still undecided what it is exactly: Beaver or Muskrat? I just don't know them well enough, lean towards Beaver, but still have doubts. The following day I got a good look at a Muskrat and, besides the fact I could clearly see its round tail, with some new knowledge about size (after doing some research back "home") I could make a positive ID. With the animal in the photo I have used the following logic(?): Knowing that a grebe is about 18", considering we don't see the mammal's tail (which accounts for about 1/3 of the overall length of a Beaver), and given that the mammal is more distant - by about 50% - and occupies a similar proportion of the frame, I can't come to any other conclusion than "Beaver". I'm just not 100% certain. Is there a mammal expert in the house?

I also spent some time that afternoon talking with a staff member at Refuge HQ about what I could expect to find and where. I do this a lot and this was the first time that I have been offered a "Special Use Permit" which would allow me to access closed areas of the refuge (I've since come to find out that all I have to do is ask for one) and on Thursday morning took advantage of the offer. I ultimately spent about 4 hours getting twisted and turned around on various refuge back roads and found a lot of great backlit birds. I saved a couple of the spots on the GPS system so that I could find them again in the afternoon when I returned and the light would be in my favor. This Red-winged Blackbird is one of a series which were the only images I kept (besides a few more of the grebe and a couple of scenics). I had shot a few more but the 20-25 mph winds left me unmoved by the results and those ended up in the trash.

My plans to return to the refuge that afternoon (and again this morning) changed once I got back to town and checked the weather. The forecast was anything but good for today (Friday) and, not wanting to hook-up and drive in the coming storm, I decided to cut short my visit to Agassiz and move on to North Dakota. Considering the condition of some stretches of I-94 it was a very good move - there were a few long stretches with one narrow lane and a speed limit of 40 and a couple more short ones with a speed of 25. It was far better to do that last night with the wind and dry than today with a wind of 25 mph and driving rain. I do know that when I return to Minnesota again Agassiz will be high on my list of places to visit.

This trailer gets real small when you are cooped up in it for the better part of the day and I'm looking forward to maybe a little sun and lighter winds tomorrow. I did ride out to Arrowwood NWR for a short look around and things look very promising here. There is a Birding Festival taking place in Jamestown (my base of operations for the next few days) and I stopped by to chat with a few of the folks there to get some tips. I'm excited. Let's get going!

(Don't let me forget to charge that camera battery . . . )

Things got off to a rocky start when I arrived in the Detroit Lakes, Minnesota area and didn't get much better. As I was driving into town I ran into a wicked little thunderstorm whose winds were rocking the trailer back and forth as I was putting down the highway. Then when I got to the campground my Bluetoooth headset somehow ended up on the ground when I went to register. I found it when I went looking for it later but, alas, she didn't work so well after being subjected to the pressures of a tire. Took a lickin' but didn't keep on tickin'.

The next morning I went exploring Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge in search of photo ops, concentrating on the Blackbird Wildlife Drive initially but finding that most of the birds of interest (Trumpeter Swans, Common Loons, White Pelicans) were way too far out on the lakes for even a 500mm lens with teleconverters. (For my non-photographer readers that lens - even though it looks big - only provides about 10X magnification, 20X with my 2X telconverter or about equal to a good pair of binoculars up to about the minimum magnification of a good spotting scope. It won't cut it for a swan 1/4 of a mile away.)

About the time I was finishing up the wildlife drive I could see the clouds building to the west and knew the forecast wasn't good for the afternoon. So I decided I could explore a couple of the side roads before heading back to town. The rain was starting just before I got back and, while it was a little a couple of hours before it got ugly, I spent a good portion of the afternoon listening to NOAA weather radio. With a good Internet connection I was also able to frequently update the radar images from their website - the tornado was about 30 miles to the south. The wind gusts here were still moving the trailer quite a bit even with the stabilizer jacks firmly planted. Fun afternoon.

Yesterday morning I stopped by the refuge's Visitor Center in hopes of some tips but, after 3 hours roaming the refuge kept coming up with the same - the birds were simply too far away. From my perspective as a photographer Tamarac isn't a very friendly place; from a birder's POV it is great. There are quite a few Canada Geese with goslings around this time of year, even had a pair of adults honking and flapping their wings in front of my truck after they'd just crossed a county highway with their brood. In my travels yesterday I found the group at the top swimming on a small pond next to the roadway and, later, some Blue Flag Iris with butterflies and dragonflies hanging around. I think the first is an Arctic Skipper (though would appreciate a correction from any butterfly experts out there), the second the first nearly motionless Eastern Tiger Swallowtail I've seen in MN (out of literally hundreds if not thousands), and, well, I still don't have a handle on the states dragonfiles but may have found the right book to purchase.

This morning we are packing up to move north and Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge, the last we will visit before moving on to North Dakota at the end of the week. I was about ready to just move on but a conversation with a USFWS officer at Detroit Lakes Wetlands Management convinced me otherwise. He felt that Agassiz was far more photo friendly and that it would be worth my while to go there. So I will. I'll probably be unconnected for the next couple of days - finding a campground up that way was tough enough as it was, an Internet connection will be a luxury.

In my travels around this part of Minnesota (still in the Grand Rapids area) I discovered a canoe launch off of State Highway 38 at Day Lake. When surveying the area I found a loon out on the water and went out early yesterday morning to try my luck. It was another cool, clear morning and when I arrived there was a mist floating on the lake especially in those areas that had not yet seen the morning sun. The launch area was completely shaded and swarming with thousands of very hungry mosquitoes so before getting out of the truck I broke out the 100% DEET to cover the exposed areas of skin (I really do hate using that stuff though it does keep them off). The good thing is they stick close to shore, once you are out on the water 40 or 50 feet they become rare.

While Pughole Lake has houses lining one shore, Day Lake had but one a few hundred feet from the launch, so is all but pristine. The lone loon was a short paddle from the launch area and turned out to be far more wary than the birds at Pughole (which sees far more human traffic). I did manage a few shots, this time using a 2x teleconverter so I wouldn’t have to paddle as close and, if fortunate enough to get tighter shoot a few head shots. This bird was really tough to get close to and I really don’t like pressing my luck too much because I really have a thing about not stressing my subjects.

So I made a few photos of the scenery while just paddling around enjoying the quiet solitude of this place which was only occasionally disturbed by a car or truck traveling the highway. In this image the highway is just beyond the trees though on a Friday morning at 7:30 there is little traffic. Moments after making this image I was paddling toward the northern end of the lake when I saw two heads bobbing from time to time moving to the eastern shore. I had to go that direction to figure out what I was seeing and finally realized it was a pair of River Otters. Apparently very camera shy, they disappeared with no shots taken but, now near the eastern shore, I just sat in the boat enjoying the all but quiet serenity which was disrupted only by birds singing in the woods lining the lake. (Once in a while, of course, I would be reminded that the “real world” was out there with the sound of rubber on pavement.)

A few of my afternoons have been spent on Forest Road 2351(also known as Orange Lake Road) with mixed success. I did locate a tree (Birch?) that had been thoroughly marked by Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers and, while stopped there, both a male and female came to visit. They would make the rounds to several trees nearby before flying off somewhere behind me, presumably to a nest deeper in the woods. These woods are filled with singing birds, including the ubiquitous Red-eyed Vireos, an apparently high concentration of Ovenbirds (they too seem to sing from all directions), and Black-capped Chickadees. One thing I learned while waiting for the sapsuckers to return is that Ruby-throated Hummingbirds call regularly on the tree that was drilled by the larger birds. There were two females coming to this tree and wonder if they are there for the sap or the insects trapped in it or, maybe, both? Something to research down the road.

The forest road is lined with wildflowers and swarms of dragonflies (and mosquitoes, flies, butterflies, and, of course, ticks are everywhere, too). I’ve been shooting the dragonflies when they would light and many of the wildflowers when the wind was not blowing. The one thing that seems strange to me is that the butterflies never seem to stop moving and when they do it is very brief before they move on, just getting the camera pointed at them and they flutter away. Very different from Florida where they stop to sip nectar for extended periods and can be relatively easy to shoot. I’ve seen several species and have yet to photograph even one. At least the dragonflies have been a little more cooperative and I have a few shots of some of them. When I land in a park with Internet access I can try to figure which species I have so far.

I will be in Grand Rapids for a couple of more days before I move back to the west with a couple of stops remaining in Minnesota before heading into North Dakota, land of National Wildlife Refuges - with 63 there are more in ND than any other state –by the end of the week. I don’t intend to visit them all and will be concentrating my efforts in the northern part of the state in an area known as the “Duck Factory”. One refuge in particular, J. Clark Salyer, boasts some 17 different species of nesting ducks.

While I don’t have to concern myself with alligators when paddling in search of loons I was warned - and now have seen for myself - that other equally dark and mysterious creatures may inhabit the cold, clear waters of north central Minnesota . . .

Could these be the first ever photographs of the Loch Pughole Monster!!!!!?????

Nah, just Roxie with her tennis ball . . .