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)