Well, finally we found ourselves out on the famous Bentonite Road shortly after sunrise. Our list of targets was small to be honest and we quickly nailed Ferruginous Hawk, which despite numerous reports all along our route, was the only confirmed sighting of the entire trip. Phew! A couple of Brown Thrashers were a surprise here and a new addition to our list but it wasn’t until we were driving back towards the motel that Graham spotted our other main target along here, with a pair of Greater Sage Grouse skulking about 200m away. Scope views followed and another ‘chicken’ safely tucked under the belt.
Headed out on yet another long driver, stopping to look for a reported Wood Duck without any luck. And then we headed further east towards Jamestown, calling in to the wonderful landscape of Theodore Roosevelt National park where American Bison stole the show. Or maybe the stunning Red-headed Woodpecker that was continually flycatching high in the air above us. Amazing!
 |
| American Bison |
 |
| Red-headed Woodpecker |
We walked a little bit and saw an Alder Flycatcher, Orchard Oriole and heard a Great Horned Owl calling. So we left and drove to Jamestown, calling into great prairie habitat where our main target was Baird’s Sparrow. We tried a few places and had a number of false starts you might say but when it was just about time to leave as we still had 3 hours left of the journey, a superb little Baird’s Sparrow decided to sing from a low fence wire and I screeched to a halt when I heard the song, half expecting it to be a Savannah Sparrow but no! There it was. Almost a Holy Grail bird in the breeding season. We had chased a few without luck but here managed to find our own. Result! We were very tired but exceedingly happy when our motel was finally reached I can assure you…!
No comments:
Post a Comment