Blue Goose ~ Day 15

June 15, 2014 ~ Carrington, North Dakota to Jamestown, North Dakota

I heard the slamming of bus and car doors as the birders all departed on their day trips at 0600, and I left soon after, going to the gas station across the street to brush my teeth in the unisex bathroom, my first experience in doing so next to a male urinal. So it goes…

I got half a cup of coffee and some water. Even though it was early on a Sunday morning, there was a table of locals discussing politics, one gentleman loudly ranting about politicians in general and how he loses “all respect” for anyone announcing they are going to run for office and that his dad told him the solution to our country’s problems would be solved by bombing Washington and that he “never forgot” that bit of wisdom. A long silence followed his egregiously stupid remark, which was gratifying. The woman at the counter didn’t charge me for the coffee as it wasn’t a full cup. I respect the women I briefly meet most mornings, who work at these places and who are generally pleasant and efficient. They are usually vaguely middle-aged. 

I got to the turn off for Arrowwood NWR and counted about 20 species even before the refuge. And then birded the whole day there, driving a total of 80+ miles. By late afternoon, I didn’t care if I never saw another bird. There was only one busload (probably from the festival) and one family group walking on the auto route, but no one else. I saw 47 species, none lifers, but a few FOY (first of year). The topography was varied and quite hilly with lakes, marshes, meadows and some small areas of hardwoods. I came upon a lone, mean-looking, huge bull buffalo just off the road, munching grasses, but left quickly as he started coming closer, wanting to cross the road. 

Buffalo at Arrowwood NWR

I saw three Snow Geese, lots of White Pelicans and Clay-colored Sparrows who make a buzzy insect-like sound. I heard and saw bird activity as soon as I began the auto tour so stopped, waited and watched for an hour and got a brief glimpse of a bird almost immediately thinking “wren” but had on my mind the elusive grassland sparrows which are the reason birders come to North Dakota. There are about four sparrows I hope to see somewhere in this state. The thing is, they hide in the grasses and seldom are seen. The word “patience” is usually mentioned when  talking about how to see them. Well, an hour of being in one place is patience. I kept hearing its song over and over and it would pop up for two seconds or fly from one hiding place to another. I saw it several times but barely. It kept singing intermittently and I got the song down so that when I had to pull ahead to let the school bus past, I played Marsh and Sedge Wren songs on my iPhone. (I don’t like to call in the birds in this way. There is controversy about such a practice and many birders use it, but I have an elitist attitude, I guess. I personally think it confuses and disturbs birds and is just counterintuitive to the idea of giving the birds an even playing field, so I seldom play the vocalizations while in the field. But, if I am removed from the area, I will check to see if what I heard corresponded to what I thought I saw. And discovered, before going back to my selected spot, that it was a Sedge Wren. 

My favorite writer on birds is Pete Dunne, so I checked what he had to say about Sedge Wren. Basically, he said, they are phobic about being seen and at the end of his comments, he concluded with, “They are not hard to identify; they are just hard to see.”  So I drove on and in the next mile, stopped again to check a sparrow on a grass stalk and saw another bird on a stalk - what was probably  a wren singing heartily in full view. So I muttered to myself, “I wonder if there is any chance it will stay there until I get my scope out…” thinking, “No way…absolutely no way…” it probably being a Sedge Wren. My scope was tucked into a canvas bag, partially disassembled, and it takes a few minutes to get it set up. I was positive the bird would be gone, but focused and there it was, still singing away. I got amazing looks though the scope at this very difficult to see wren. Really, it was amazing! and when it disappeared into the grasses, it popped up again to sing some more. I felt blessed.

At one point I had to cross water flowing from one lake into another, but there was a concrete roadway built to control erosion and the water was only an inch or so.

The van is so big and feels unwieldy to me compared to a Subaru. Near the very impressive (closed on Sunday) Vistor Center, I had to turn around on a road with deep rain gullies that I would have easily been able to go around in my Subaru. 

As the day went on, the sky both cleared and filled with huge masses of clouds, a mix of dark grey and white. This is big sky country to rival Montana. 

Arrowwood NWR

I finsihed the birding drive with the help of a lovely little map/guide I had picked up last year and then went to Jamestown where I checked out a coffee shop but it closed at 1800, so I plan to go there in the morning. I wandered about trying to find an acceptable place to sleep. Both truck stops did not meet criteria I am defining as I go. The local Walmart supposedly didn’t allow overnight parking anymore as neighbors had complained about vagrants hanging about. I asked anyway and was told it would be fine. “Just go to either end, or if there isn’t anyone there already, go around the side of the Garden Center; that’s a nice place.” So I did and just now watched the sun set over the fields at 2120 CST. Very nice…and now will seek out something for dinner. I finally bought a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc at a liquor store. North Dakota has strict rules about where alcohol can be sold and grocery stores or travel centers or places like Target may not sell it. It has to be sold in a separate building. Which is probably a good idea.