Blue Goose ~ Day 18

June 18, 2014 ~ Minot, ND to Kenmare, ND

There are four refuges north of Minot near the Canadian border, and these were my destinations for the next couple of days. 

The first Starbucks I was directed to via my Store Locator was not visible. I ended up near a hospital in Minot, so perhaps it was inside. The second one was on the other end of town, but only a few minutes away, and after two petite vanilla scones and coffee, I headed to Best Buy and bought a new camera. Which I had no intention of doing and which will skew my budget, but the Nikon Coolpix has given me fits from the get-go. I bought it at Costco about 6 months ago and should have returned it promptly but inertia overcame that plan. The most annoying problem is that it intermittently will not turn on until I would reseat the battery. And yesterday, no matter what I tried, it wouldn’t turn on period. So I went into Best Buy to try a new battery, but the more I thought about it, the less I liked that idea, since it would be the third battery I would have, one of which always gets”exhausted” after about 100 photos. Anyway, this all is boring, but now I have a Canon. 

I drove north to Upper Souris NWR, past the large Airforce base. The Souris River is often called the Mouse River in the US since “souris" means “mouse” in French. The refuge is situated at a dam site and the resultant reservoir is called Lake Darling after Jay “Ding” Darling, winner of two Pulitzer Prizes. 

WIKIPEDIA

Darling penned some conservation cartoons and he was an important figure in the conservation movement otherwise. He initiated the Federal Duck Stamp program and designed the first stamp.[2] Despite his inexperience, he was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as head of the U.S. Biological Survey, forerunner of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island in southwest Florida is named for him, as is the Lake Darling State Park in Iowa that was dedicated on September 17, 1950. Lake Darling, a 9,600-acre lake at the Upper Souris National Wildlife Refuge is also named his in honor.[3] 

I walked the half mile Oxbow Trail getting good looks at Least Flycatchers. A young dad was fishing along the bank with presumably his daughter, a little barefoot girl in a bright pink dress. She looked about three years old and was running in the grass. He was definitely multitasking, fishing and watching her as she moved about like 3 years old do. I was surprised at the habitat variety on this little trail with wetlands, hardwoods and open fields. I talked with a few people in the office. The total staff was only five or six, including a biologist, the refuge manager, a maintenance person and a law enforcement officer who told me Upper Souris was a “consumptive refuge” and that I, as a birder was a non-consumptive user, the consumptive activities being hunting and fishing. Walleye, yellow perch and northern pike are the most common catches. 

Upper Souris NWR - ND

I drove an auto route and met a woman from Virginia driving around, also looking for birds, in a car with Idaho license plates. She had been at the Prairie and Potholes Festival last weekend and “highly recommended" it. I didn’t tell her I was also there as a stalker. These auto routes are easy ways to explore parts of the refuges, and I appreciate the work that is done to maintain them. There are usually periodic, small interpretive stations along the way. I also checked out some boat-landing areas just upriver from the dam, seeing pelicans, herons, ducks and grebes and a few middle-aged, portly fishermen along these routes, quietly watching their poles. 

Next was J. Clark Salyer (usually called just J. Clark) NWR, north and east of Upper Souris. (For some reason, everyone pronounces the final “s’” in Souris, which is incorrect; it should be silent. I kept hoping I would run into someone who pronounced it correctly. 

I managed to get to J. Clark shortly before the Visitor Center was closed and picked up a few brochures from the couple dozen that are always available, and was told the auto route was now open. It had been closed due to water over the road in several spots. It went through extensive wetlands for the most part with thousands of the birds I’ve been seeing for days. The sky turned cloudy; it was windy and just on the verge of being uncomfortable temperature-wise.

J. Clark Salyer NWR - ND

The avantage, of course, was the wind made mosquito annoyance almost non-existent. One spot on the road was marked as being good for LeConte’s Sparrow which I so want to see. I spent an hour there, in and out of the car with binoculars and spotting scope listening and scanning for this pretty, very secretive bird. I am learning so much about the importance of specific habitat and how recognizing bird songs enhances the chance of seeing a particularly hard-to-find bird, but my search was fruitless. I did see a White-faced Ibis and several Black-crowned Night-herons, relatively large chunky herons who spooked easily and flew off. Two of them were in their brownish first- or second-year plumage which puzzled me at first until I checked the field guide. I felt as if I were getting deeper and deeper into the wild and went over several places where the gravel road had cement stretches in obvious low water sections with matted reeds on either side. There were several signs with historical notes relating how and where the Indians lived, along with the exploits of the first white settlers in the area, including the military. Occasional cars passed but mostly it was wetlands until the last few miles. While not unduly concerned, the combination of fading daylight and relative remoteness began to work on my mind, so I was ready for the pavement and the search for a place to spend the night. 

I went west again to Kenmare. It was not only dark but also rainy, and I drove up and down the streets of this small town trying to figure out where to go, ending up at a gas station / sort of truck stop on the edge ot town. This was the first night I questioned my lack of planning, but then each day  I work out an itinerary as events unfold so will have to expect times when I have fewer choices, especially away from larger cities or a major highway. There are often small camping / RV parks in these little towns but not places to tent camp or a park a minivan. But, it all worked out again and I felt cozy in the van in the rain which helped obscure me from any curious peering eyes, not that I have experienced any of that so far.