A quick trip out east!

the Rocky Mountain Front as viewed from east of Browning

 
     This year has been the best year I've had in a while, and it's only half over!  I've found my groove again, and have been birding every chance I get, along with just about every other outdoor activity one can do in this great state!
     With all the birding and trips I've taken so far, I have amassed a personal Montana bird list larger than any other year!  Being on such a role, I decided to try and keep it going by running out to the NE of Montana and looking for the prairie specialists I have not seen this year.

     I set out Wednesday the 13th for Malta.  The plan is to camp in Malta Wed. night and bird Bowdoin first thing in the morning, moving to the surrounding area in the late morning/early afternoon before driving home (a 6 hour drive!).

     On the way to Malta, once I got to the east side, I saw several Ferruginous and Swainson's Hawks!  I have seen these species earlier this year, but no one can get tired of seeing a Ferruginous Hawk!
     Somewhere east of the small town of Inverness, I happened to spot a Swainson's Hawk nest along the highway!  I stopped to snap some pictures and left in a timely manner as to not disturb the birds.  The parents were not happy that I stopped to check them out!

Swainson's Hawk nest with 2 young

     In this cropped in photo, you can see 2 young hawks, and a ripped-apart ground squirrel hanging from one of the branches! 

     Just east of Chinook, I turned north onto Bagan Road.  This is a good, known spot to find Sprague's Pipit, Baird's Sparrows and other prairie specialists.  I decided to check it out on my way east, just in case I miss Sprague's or Baird's elswhere, I can at least try for them on Bagan Rd.

     The first half mile goes through some lush fields and crosses a river with thick riparian habitat around it.  After that, the road climbs a hill and plateaus on the native shortgrass prairie.  Almost immediately after I stopped and stepped out of the car, I heard a singing Sprague's Pipit!  The first year bird of the trip!  There were a few Lark Buntings and Loggerhead Shrikes along the road, and Vesper and Grasshopper Sparrows singing in the field, but I did not hear a Baird's Sparrow.  I could have spent hours here but I was running out of time if I wanted to make camp in Malta before the sun went down!
     Driving back to the highway, just after the river, I spotted a female oriole on the fence.  I hit the brakes and skidded to a stop and craned out the window with my binoculars.  Here, it could be a Baltimore Oriole or a Bullock's.  Sure enough, it was a female Baltimore Oriole! Second year bird of the trip!  She flew to a shrub, and I got out and walked closer to get a better look.  I discovered 4 more orioles, including an adult male!  It was a family group with 3 juveniles! I managed a few poor shots to record this sighting!

adult male Baltimore Oriole

juvenile Baltimore Oriole

     After snapping a few shots of the orioles, I was back on the highway, with another hour to go before I reached Malta.

     Making it to Tafton Park around 8:30pm, I found a good spot and set up camp. It was quickly getting dark as I took a quick walk around camp after the tent was up.  Gray Catbirds, American Robins, Western Kingbirds, and Common Nighthawks were the abundant birds as it got dark.  Sometime in the middle of the night, I awoke to an Eastern Screech-Owl calling in a tree fairly close to my tent!  I laid in tent, half away, wondering if I should get up and try to see the owl as it would be a lifer if I saw it.  Unfortunately, my half awake/half asleep brain prioritizes more sleep above all else, and I fell back asleep.  In the morning, and throughout the day, I kicked myself for not getting up! I could have seen a screech-owl, and a lifer at that!  Maybe next time...

      I got out of town, and made it to Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge (7 miles east of Malta) around 5:50am.  It was a beautiful and calm morning, lots of birds about, and no shortage of mosquitoes!
     One of my main target birds, the Nelson's Sparrow, has been seen on the south end of the driving route, which I found out was CLOSED! Yeah, the auto tour route was closed at the railroad crossings, effectively blocking access to the area the Nelson's Sparrow is.  I drove down the sw portion of the route to see just how much area I can access before the RR tracks.  Also, this section is the area the Sedge Wrens have been found, which was my other top target bird.  They inhabit dense and tall wet Timothy grass fields, and once I reached the first patch of good habitat, I stopped the car and got out to see what I could find.  Almost immediately, I heard a singing Sedge Wren, and saw an additional bird foraging fairly close to the road!  I grabbed my camera and spished the bird to a higher perch and snapped some record shots!

Sedge Wren

Sedge Wren

     I have only seen the Sedge Wren 2 other times; once in Florida (Feb. 2008), and once in North Dakota (Jun. 2008).  This means it's a new Montana state bird for me, bringing my personal state list to 291!

     Continuing east on the auto tour route to 'Patrol Pond', I counted 11 total Sedge Wrens!  That's huge! These habitat specialists are fairly uncommon in eastern MT and to find a local breeding population with this many birds is great! Records from earlier in the season at Bowdoin have only counted 2 to 3 birds.  I believe the early morning with calm weather allowed me to locate more birds that would have been possible later in the day and/or with stronger winds.

     After reaching the end of the line, where the road meets the railroad tracks, I turned around and headed back to the other end of the auto-tour route.  after about the first half mile or so, the route opens up to grasslands and great views of the main lake.  I heard singing Sprague's Pipits, Grasshopper Sparrows, and a few Baird's Sparrows!  The Baird's Sparrows, although they never showed themselves, were my next yearbird!  Slowly, I'm getting the prairie specialties I set out to find.   

The natural prairie that surrounds the lake

A passable photo of one of the many Grasshopper Sparrows I encountered

A photogenic female Lark Bunting along the auto tour route

    Where the route gets closer to the road, I had good views of the resident birds that breed on or near the water.  Franklin's Gulls, American Avocets, Black-necked Stilts, White-faced Ibis, and Willets were plentiful.

White-faced Ibis

Franklin's Gull

American Avocet

     On this stretch of the route, I spotted a small group of shorebirds on the close shore.  Looking through them, I spotted one that was larger than the Semipalmated Sandpipers near by.  A Sanderling!  A great unexpected find!  Until that moment, I have not seen a Sanderling in the state, making that my state bird #292!

     Working my way back along the route after turning around at the train tracks again, I spotted a Short-eared Owl in a shrub!  It's always a good day when you see an owl, especially close enough for a photo!

Short-eared Owl

     Finishing my time at Bowdoin NWR, I set off for Bentonite Road southwest of Glasgow, MT.  There I hoped to find the resident Mountain Plovers.
I started down the road at about 2pm after the hour drive from Malta.  It was sunny but there were rain clouds on the horizon.  The road starts out in agricultural fields and then moves to all native short-grass prairie.  In the first stretch, I was lucky enough to snap a photo of one of the most striking sparrow species we have in Montana; the Lark Sparrow.

Lark Sparrow

     Moving down the road, I encountered several Lark Buntings, Vesper Sparrows and a small herd of Pronghorn.

Vesper Sparrow with a meal

3 of the 15 or so Pronghorn along Bentonite Road.

     Unfortunately, a rainstorm was fast approaching, and a local stopped me to warn me that the road because impassable in the rain.  I turned around and abandoned the search for the Mountain Plovers, but not before get a shot of the storm that stopped my search.

The big and beautiful storm that halted my quest for Mountain Plover

     I returned to Glasgow, joined Montana Highway 2, and headed home.  On the 6 nearly 7.5 hour drive home, I saw several Ferruginous Hawks, Loggerhead Shrikes, and Western Kingbirds.  The beauty of the northeast Montana prairie always amazes me.  I will be back; I don't know how soon, but I will be back.

Sunset on the Montana praires (taken just east of Browning)

Work Benefits...

Monday the 26th I woke up bright and early. Time to do some birdin'

I took a drive down Riverside Rd in Creston to visit the "Bobolink" spot off of O'Bryan Rd. Unfortunately, its just late enough in the season that the males aren't singing very much, but I did find 2 bird!!! I love seeing BOBOs

Right near there, along the stream, there was about 40 Bank and Cliff Swallows! I found a juvenile Bank Swallow that must of gotten clipped by a car; it couldn't fly and was sitting on the road.

I moved the poor bird off the road and wished him/her a good life, not knowing how much longer he/she will live.

That is one benefit of working in Bigfork. I have to drive past great birding spots to and from work!

Now after a great day at work (Kehoe's Agate Shop) I was told that there was a lot more shorebirds at the Farm Rd pond than last time I was there. On my way home, I went by, and behold! Shorebirds!!!

There was a lot!! About 30 or so!

15 Long-billed Dowitchers (above)

3 Greater Yellowlegs

8 Lesser Yellowlegs

3 Semipalmated Sandpipers

5 Killdeer

2 Least Sandpipers

and one Spotted Sandpiper

The first 4 listed were yearbirds!! Woohoo that makes 195

I walked up closer to the pond all stealthy like a ninja and attempted to get some good Shorebird photos :)

3 Long-billed Dowitchers and a Least Sandpiper pictured.

What a great day! I really do miss birding, and I am really really really glad I am getting back into the swing of things!!

And It Has Begun, The Birds that wander the Shore

I have been hearing news of it, but I was unsure if it was true. Could it be? It seems too early for it to start, or at least for here.



I was optimistic and had to go see for myself.



Sad part is that I needed an excuse to go out birding this time. I had to go pick up something in Bigfork, and made a birding trip out of it!





Many Brewer's Blackbirds along the various back roads out here. Also, a few geese just hanging around in the fields.

Montford Road pond (above) is getting more and more .... gross, but the water level is going down. That is good for August birding adventures. On the other section of the pond not pictured above, a very odd bird was hiding and I didn't see it until it flew up. A single AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN!! What the .....? That is a weird and good find for the valley!!! WOOHOO!

First pelican of the year! 190th ABA bird for 2010

Cinnamon Teal, a large family of Ruddy Ducks, many American Coots, Marsh Wrens and a single Great Blue Heron also were making a living here on the pond.

- Red-tailed Hawks are very common in the valley.

The next pond didn't really have much new at all, but did have a good amount of Clay-colored Sparrows in the bushes!! Sweet birds! I really like Clay-coloreds.

LOWER VALLEY: On to SPLIT POND. In the past, it has been the best pond to view shorebird in August. On the 22nd of July...not so much.

There was, however, Yellow-headed Blackbirds as usual. Red-winged Blackbirds, Redheads, Common Goldeneye, Mallards, Bank and Tree Swallows were also just hangin' round.

Next was the pond along Farm Rd. FINALLY! some mudflats along the edge of the pond! 4 or 5 Killdeer, 2 actual Deer in the background and a Turkey Vulture flying around....and wait...PEEPS! (birder slang for Sandpipers) After a long study of them, far away and in the wind, I came to the conclusion I need to read up on my shorebirds. I'm a bit rusty.

Least Sandpipers, 3 of them, along with a Spotted Sandpiper! Great stuff! The Least Sandpiper is my 191st yearbird.

It was true. Still a bit early, but it has begun, the birds that wander the shore have begun to fly. Fly south on there twice-yearly journey - migration.

Back in the Big Sky Country

Being back in Montana is bittersweet, as I had to say good bye to the wonders of the Eastern Seaboard, but in return I get to see familiar faces, and birds.

My first serious birding outing wasn't much but my next two where seriously amazing.

SATURDAY:
Dan Casey and I scouted around for shorebird stops for the nest days local Audubon fieldtrip he is leading. August is shorebird time in Montana, and we hoped to see at least 15 species scouting.
First stop was the landfill, or Flathead Gullery, not for shorebirds obviously but just to see was gulls we could find. There weren't many.

Next stop was a couple of ponds in the "west valley" portion of the Flathead Valley. Not many shorebirds, but a few Least Sandpipers, and a few Baird's Sandpipers. We did find about 75 Sandhill Cranes in the plowed fields.

On our way to the "Lower Valley" I saw a driveway in the west valley lined with MANY Thistles and with many birds eating the thistles. The birds there were mostly Yellow-headed Blackbirds, but we did have one Lincoln's Sparrow and 3 Rufous Hummingbirds.

Also, now is the time the "berry"ing bushes should start to be gathering some major attention from the migrant songbirds. Along this one Chokecherry hedge in the lower valley we had both Chipping and Clay-colored Sparrows, Gray Catbird, MacGillivray's and Yellow Warbler. Not many, but its a start. As we were looking at these birds, I noticed a large, black storm-petrel sized bird in the sky. OH MIGOSH! AHH A SWACK BLIFT........ a BLACK SWIFT!!!! Turns out there was at least 5 birds! WOO HOO!! first yearbird of the day! These birds gave a great show!

At Split pond there weren't many shorebirds, only new ones were a few Long-billed Dowitchers, Red-necked Phalaropes and a pair of Pectoral Sandpipers

Goose meadows pond had a few more birds. A group of Least's, Semipalmated and Baird's Sandpipers, as well as one Semipalmated Plover. Also got my first-of-year Western Sandpiper there.

The park-n-Ride near Somers had the greatest number of birds. This area has two separate ponds, but one has dried up in the center to make 3 ponds.

Birds:
Least Sandpiper
Semipalmated
Baird's
Western
Spotted
Solitary
Stilt

Killdeer
Semipalmated Plover

Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs

Wilson's Snipe

To view one area of the ponds, it requires a little stroll on a bike path through some really nice songbird habitat.
Spotted Towhee, Western Tanager, Black-headed Grosbeak, Willow Flycatcher, and Bullock's Oriole were the good songbirds seen.


SUNDAY:
Dan lead the shorebird field trip, and we saw some good birds.
We didn't do any of the west valley, just the lower valley.

We started at the Park-n-Ride, and saw all the same, but missed Snipe and Stilt Sandpiper.

At the berry shrub covered area, we ran into a small flock of moving migrants.
Yellow, Orange-crowned, Townsend's and Wilson's Warbler were the main birds we got to see. Western Tanager, Western Wood-Pewee, Willow Flycatcher, and Calliope Hummingbird were the other highlights.

Shorebirds still the same, if not a little lesser from the day before, but the other birds put on a show. At Splitpond there were as many as 10 Eurasian Collared-Doves in the nearby trees, and a juvenile Sora made a brief but leisurely appearance.

At Willey Dike, another pond worth checking, we had a pair of Wood Ducks, and believe it or not, a LEWIS'S WOODPECKER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WWOOOWW!!!! That was my first Lewis's Woodpecker in years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OHMIGOSH! It posed for wonderful looks in the scope atop a dead limb of a tree.

So all in all, a wonderful trip. great looks at great birds, shorebird or no.

I am hoping to make a road trip to Elliston for the well photographed BAND-TAILED PIGEON!!!!