Category Archives: Humor

Adventures in Ekalaka: Our 2024 Eastern Montana Odyssey Continues

We are pleased to present our sixth installment of our 2024 Eastern Montana Odyssey. Here, we leave the “interstate less traveled” and push into the brand new birding territory of southeastern Montana. We experience delightful new towns and vistas, and a wealth of surprising birds. We also keep knocking off new counties, drawing closer to completing our Montana eBird map. If you are enjoying these episodes, please share them with your birding friends and consider supporting our efforts by buying a *NEW* copy or two of one of Sneed’s books on the right.

Leaving Glendive, Braden and I had our work cut out for us. Not only would we be birding the southeast corner of the state for the very first time, this might be our only chance to nail down the last six Montana counties we needed to complete our eBird birding map! We had started the trip needing seven counties, and picked up one a few days before (see our post “Big Surprise on the Way to Plentywood”). Today, we planned to conquer Prairie, Wibaux, Fallon, and Carter Counties—and it would take some effort.

**Fallon Bridge allowed us to bird the first of six Montana counties we planned to pick up in the next 48 hours.**

First up? Prairie County which, unfortunately, didn’t sit anywhere on our way to or from someplace else we wanted to go. Before heading down to the southeast corner of Montana, therefore, we zoomed about twenty miles west down Interstate 94. Entering Prairie County, we spotted Western Meadowlark, Mourning Dove, and Cliff Swallow along the highway and we could have technically just turned around at that point. Braden and I decided, however, that to make our county map more meaningful we had to find at least ten, count ‘em, TEN species in each of our last seven counties. In Prairie County, we accomplished this with a stop at Fallon Bridge. Apparently, this also is a place to see Least Terns (see our last post), but we didn’t know that. Instead, we just got out and spent a few minutes enjoying what was there, including American White Pelican, more than fifty Cliff Swallows, a Lark Sparrow, and our County Bird of Prairie County, Brown Thrasher.

We raced back east on the interstate, past Glendive, to our main Wibaux County destination, the Wibaux Fish Pond. Here, we saw a satisfying 17 species including our County Bird of Wibaux County, Orchard Oriole. By this time our stomachs were complaining loudly about how we prioritized birding over eating. Fortunately, Wibaux is home to a wonderful little diner, the Palace Café. We stuffed ourselves on a scrumptious fat-and-protein-filled breakfast and emerged prepared to continue our vigorous Montana counties campaign.

**A good small-town diner is one of a birder’s greatest pleasures. Don’t miss the Palace Hotel & Cafe in Wibaux!**

Next stop: Lake Baker in the town of Baker, Fallon County. We were both somewhat surprised to find a giant lake in the middle of the town. True, it was pretty developed, but we spotted nice surprises here including Eared Grebes, Western Grebes, and the star of our Fallon County lists, a Common Loon!

**This Common Loon was a major surprise at Lake Baker.**

From Baker, it was on to Carter County, and here we settled into some more serious birding with a hike through the spectacular Medicine Rocks State Park. The fantastic, hoodoo-style rocks at Medicine Rocks were sculpted by wind and rain from soft inland sea sandstone. Not surprisingly, when humans came along the rocks assumed important sacred and cultural significance for native peoples and a fair share of interest from early white settlers.

**Medicine Rocks State Park is plenty dramatic—especially with Red-headed Woodpeckers lurking nearby.**

It was at Medicine Rocks that we spotted one of the birds we had most wanted to see on the entire trip. After walking a mile or so through the rocks, we connected with the pine tree-lined dirt road back to our car. As we walked, we caught a glimpse of a medium-sized bird that flashed white as it was flying away. “Red-headed Woodpecker!” Braden shouted. We didn’t get great looks, but never fear. This would not be the last RHWO we would see.

**This fuzzy flight photo shows the dramatic color contrasts Red-headed Woodpeckers present, making them easy to identify from a distance.**

From Medicine Rocks, we made our way to our camping destination for the night, Ekalaka Park Campground. It was barely noon as we turned off on the dirt road into the higher hills south of Ekalaka, and we took our time, stopping to look at whatever cool birds we happened to encounter. Sure enough, we glimpsed two more RHWOs as they fled up and over a little hill. “Let’s follow them,” I said, steering up a little two-track up along a fence line. As we crested the rise, one of the woodpeckers was sitting on a fence post. It fled as I got out to try to photograph it, but meanwhile, Braden had sighted a surprise Montana life bird for us—Eastern Bluebird! Though almost identical to their Western counterparts, Easterns are easily distinguished by their red throats compared to the blue throats of WEBLs.

**The red throat of this Eastern Bluebird easily distinguishes it from its Western Bluebird counterpart. Montana Lifer!**

We continued to pick up great birds along the road: Yellow-breasted Chat, Lark Sparrow, Field Sparrows, and more Red-headed Woodpeckers. My favorite was our first ever really good look at a Plumbeous Vireo. We spent several minutes watching this handsome, “spectacled” bird. Alas, my camera was back in the car so we failed to get a photo of it. Some photos you just have to store in your brain!

**Although abundant, the Red-headed Woodpeckers in Ekalaka were on the shy side. I never managed to get closer than fifty yards or so to one.**

We spent a delightful evening in Ekalaka Park Campground—the only campers there. The campground sits in a little bowl surrounded by dramatic cliffs and an older burned forest, making it the perfect habitat for Red-headed Woodpeckers. Sitting at our picnic table, we could hear and see woodpeckers all around us. Every once in a while, one would fly right through our camp. I made bean and cheese tacos and we settled in for our best camping experience of the trip.

**Ekalaka Park Campground offered perhaps our best-ever experience with Red-eyed Vireos, which serenaded us the whole time we were there.**

The woodpeckers weren’t the only show offs in camp. That evening, Common Poorwills lulled us to sleep. We also had some of our best experiences ever with Red-eyed Vireos. In fact, when I woke the next morning, it was to a REVI’s delightful song. After working my way out of my sleeping bag, I climbed a nearby hill into the burned forest and picked a log to perch on. The air was cool and fresh, and woodpeckers flew from one snag to another. Sitting there, I felt very grateful for life, and that Braden and I could share the wonders of Montana birdlife together.

**Taco Time in Ekalaka Park Campground.**

Least Terns and Black-and-White Warblers: Birding Medicine Lake to Makoshika

4 Replies

Welcome to the fifth installment of Braden’s and my remarkable 2024 Eastern Montana Odyssey. With this episode, and more than 1,000 miles under our belts, we round the halfway mark of our trip, approaching brand-new birding territory for us. Before that, however, we had some truly remarkable birding at past favorite birding sites. If you are enjoying these episodes, please share them with your birding friends and consider supporting our efforts by buying a *NEW* copy or two of one of Sneed’s books on the right.

After two fascinating, fulfilling days in Westby (see our last post), Braden and I were primed to tackle the next stage of our Eastern Montana safari. We’d already had some amazingly packed grassland birding experiences, so I have to admit I wasn’t as excited about Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge as I should have been. Part of that may be because last year, my pal Scott and I were turned back from the refuge by thick, slippery mud (aka “gumbo”). In any case, my bad attitude proved to be way off the mark, as Medicine Lake delivered one of our best grassland birding days ever.

**At Medicine Lake, Braden counted 67, say it loud, SIXTY-SEVEN Grasshopper Sparrows!**

Our visit began promisingly when Braden IDed an Alder Flycatcher by its distinctive “free beer” call right near the (closed) visitor’s center. What unfolded afterward was nothing less than a full-on showcase of grassland birds. Over the next nine miles, Braden recorded approximately 75 Chestnut-collared Longspurs, 67 Grasshopper Sparrows, 9 Clay-colored Sparrows, 6 Baird’s Sparrows and much, much more. He detected many of these by song, of course, but longspurs and sparrows were literally flying up everywhere around our car in some sections. As Braden noted in our eBird list: “Ridiculous.”

**One of our better looks at Sharp-tailed Grouse in recent years was one of many delights at Medicine Lake NWR.**

Not to be outdone, impressive numbers of waterfowl and game birds, including three Sharp-tailed Grouse, clamored to get on our eBird list. Surprisingly, so did a number of shorebirds. Where the road threaded two ponds, four White-rumped Sandpipers landed, giving us our closest looks of the entire trip. Here, we also saw eleven birds we desperately wanted to find—Red-necked Phalaropes. It’s lucky we did, too, since they would be the only RNPHs of our expedition.

**After spending days poring through flocks of Wilson’s Phalaropes, we finally located a group of 11 Red-necked Phalaropes at Medicine Lake.** **Even better, they were in their uber-handsome breeding plumages.**

Our Medicine Lake checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S180177051

On our way down to Glendive, we stopped at Culbertson Bridge for a modest 21 species, and then turned right down a dirt road. “What are we doing here?” I asked Braden. “There are supposed to be Least Terns nesting on sandbars in the Missouri River,” he told me. Okay, I admit it, Least Terns were totally off my radar and, honestly, I’m not sure I realized they even nested in Montana. Sure enough, they do. There are five subspecies of Least Terns, and Montana’s belong to the “Interior” group. Unfortunately, this group is federally endangered due to its small population, habitat loss, and disturbance by recreational activities. Only about fifty are thought to live in Montana.

Several miles down the road, I pulled over at a spot overlooking several large sand islands in the river. We scanned them with our binoculars. Zippo. At that point, I was ready to move on, but Braden decided to put in the extra effort of setting up our spotting scope, even though he also thought we were out of luck.

“I see them!” he suddenly shouted.

**A distant view of some of Montana’s rarest birds, Least Terns. In the nation’s interior, these birds nest on sand islands in the middle of large rivers.**

Indeed, almost impossible to see with the naked eye or through binoculars, two were sitting there blending in perfectly with the sand. As we watched, we saw two more for a total of four—probably the rarest birds we would see on the entire trip! More excitement was yet to come.

**We were still squinting when we took this photo—after squinting at the sand island in the background to see four of Montana’s handful of Least Terns. Squint and you might be able to see them, too!**

After a great late breakfast-for-lunch at Sunny’s diner in Sidney, we made it to Glendive, where we checked into a motel. After resting up a bit, we embarked on our final bird outing of this already-packed day—to Makoshika State Park.

Scott and I had a great time in Makoshika last year watching Field Sparrows and Rock Wrens, and as we entered the park, Braden and I also picked up both species. We had another agenda, however: finding Black-and-White Warblers. Predominantly an Eastern species, these handsome little birds are known to breed in Montana, but the only other one we’d ever seen was right here in Makoshika on a trip with Nick Ramsey in 2017. Dutifully, Braden and I hiked the same trail to see if we could find another one.

**Even without birds, the badlands scenery at Makoshika State Park is some of Montana’s most dramatic.**

Nope. Worse, the hike wore me out after our extremely long day. Still, we had one more place to check—a campground way up on top of the hills with spectacular views of the surrounding badlands. We parked, got out, and began looking around. As usual, I was fairly skeptical of finding one, but then Braden’s ears perked up: “I think I hear one.”

We scrambled down a fairly steep slope until Braden stopped and looked up into a tree. “There it is!”

Elated, we both quickly got our binoculars on it, and I even took some crummy photos. After that, we just slowly followed this amazing, improbable little bird as it searched for insects on one tree, then another. By this time, the sun had started to sink low in the West, and standing there watching this bird created a sublime experience—one of those memorable moments that makes birding the best activity on earth.

Finding this Black-and-White Warbler at Makoshika was a powerful testament to perseverance in searching for uncommon birds. Much like nuthatches, these birds often hang upside down or point downward as they rapidly search tree trunks and branches for unsuspecting insects.

Eastern Montana Odyssey 2024: Big Surprise on the way to Plentywood

6 Replies

Welcome to Part 3 of our 2024 Eastern Montana Odyssey! In this installment, we recount our adventures traveling from Fort Peck to Plentywood, including a wonderful grassland birding site and a big raptor surprise as we start trying to knock off our last seven birding counties in Montana. Enjoy, and don’t be shy about sharing!

After breaking camp at Fort Peck (see our last post), Braden and I continued onto the next stage of our epic eastern Montana safari. We had several goals for the day, including birding one of the remaining seven counties we had yet to fill in on our eBird maps. Unfortunately, gusty 20-40 mph winds continued, so we knew we needed to stay flexible. After grabbing breakfast at the French restaurant Le McDaniels in Glasgow, we headed north to our first stop, Kerr Road, south of Opheim, Montana. Last spring, FWP biologist Heather Harris (see my brand new Montana Outdoors article “12 Little Brown Grassland Birds Every Montanan Should (Kinda) Know” in the July/August 2024 issue) took me and my buddy Scott Callow on a delightful visit to Kerr in search of grassland birds, and I was eager to show Braden the area as well.

**If this shot of me posing near the beginning of Kerr Road doesn’t get me a modeling contract, I don’t know what will. Can you shout, “ROCKIN’ IT!”?**

Thanks to progressive grazing and conservation policies, much of the land alongside the road has been kept in grass, making it great habitat for grassland birds. Despite the wind, we spotted Upland Sandpipers, Willets, and at a spot called Ward’s Dam, Wilson’s Phalaropes. We also saw or heard a full complement of smaller grassland birds including 17 Chestnut-collared Longspurs, Lark Buntings, a Baird’s Sparrow, and what would turn out to be our only Thick-billed Longspurs of the entire trip! All told, we saw forty species, but our total would have undoubtedly been higher without the howling gusts from up north.

Kerr Road offered great looks at what would be our only Thick-billed (formerly McCown’s) Longspurs of the trip. Braden and I just love the interesting colorations on these birds. In Montana they are much less common than the equally impressive Chestnut-collared Longspurs.

Our Kerr Road Checklist.

**The grass along Kerr Road offers wonderful habitat for Upland Sandpipers and, sure enough, we saw three of them on our relatively brief excursion.**

Our next destination? Daniels County, the first of the final seven counties Braden and I needed to bird to fill in our lifetime Montana county birding map profiles. Humorously, we first stopped to bird in the small town of Richland—only to discover that it sat not in Daniels County, but in Valley County, a county in which we already had a long history of birding! Our blunder turned out to be a good thing, though, because it forced us to stop for a picnic in Roseland Park in Scobey—yielding one of the biggest surprises of the trip. As soon as we parked on the street next to the park, Braden said, “Look over there!” I trained my binoculars on a large raptor sitting in a tree—a raptor that turned out to be a Broad-winged Hawk!

**Our second Montana Broad-winged Hawk in three days couldn’t have been more cooperative, perched only yards from where we had chosen to picnic.**

A few BWHAs come through Montana every year, but you usually see them hundreds of feet high as they migrate across the state. In fact, Braden and I had collected our first Montana Broad-winged only three days before while birding Camp Creek Campground near Zortman. And yet, here was another, sitting right in front of us! We were both totally astonished and it put us in great moods to eat our turkey-and-cheese sandwiches and do a little birding on nearby streets. We ended up with 14 species for our first Daniels County list, including Swainson’s Thrush, Warbling Vireo, and three Yellow Warblers. Not bad for a (sort of) accidental stop!

**Canvasbacks put on a show in several places on our trip, including Ward’s Dam. Can you spot the Blue-winged Teal and American Wigeon flying among them?**

From Scobey, we bee-lined for Plentywood, a known hotspot for rare migratory birds that clip Montana’s northeastern corner on their way north. Alas, for various reasons we were missing the peak migration opportunity to find rare eastern warblers, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, and other songbirds. Not only that, but warm, howling winds continued, squashing our plans to camp that night. Instead, we checked into a local motel and birded two local hotspots, Harry de Silva Park and Bolster Dam Campground.

**A tiny roadside marsh along Kerr Road afforded us the trip’s best opportunity to observe a Blue-winged Teal.**

Not unexpectedly, results were disappointing. The highlights were spotting several Purple Martins and a nice kettle of Turkey Vultures. To make matters worse, downed power lines had knocked out electricity to most of the town’s restaurants, forcing us to eat at Dairy Queen. It had been several decades since I’d eaten at a DQ, and I have to admit it wasn’t the worst meal in the world. Unfortunately, our food situation was destined to worsen as, the next day, we prepared to head to Montana’s Birding Mecca, Westby.

Make sure you don’t miss the next installment of our epic eastern Montana adventure by subscribing to FSB now. Simply scroll down on the right and fill out the “Subscribe Now” box that you find there!

Eastern Montana Odyssey 2024: Bowdoin NWR & Fort Peck

6 Replies

Here is Part 2 of Braden’s and my eastern Montana trip report, which began with a wonderful time at the Wings Across the Big Sky birding festival in Helena (see our last post by clicking here). Today’s installment details this year’s visit to one of our favorite birding destinations, Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge, and then our evening birding and camping at Fort Peck. Enjoy and please feel free to share this post!

After our two days enjoying scintillating field trips and lectures at this year’s Wings Across the Big Sky birding festival in Helena, Braden and I spent two nights at American Prairie’s Antelope Creek Campground. I’d tell you what we were doing there, but for now at least, our lips are sealed. On Tuesday morning, however, we rose early, packed the car and headed toward what has become an annual favorite father-son destination: 15,551-acre Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge.

**You know you’ve reached eastern Montana when you start seeing Franklin’s Gulls. These gulls were made famous by ZZ Top’s classic hit, “Sharp-Dressed Gulls!”**

It had actually been a couple of years since Braden and I visited Bowdoin together, so we especially relished this year’s opportunity. Bowdoin offers a wonderful mix of wetlands and prairie habitat where you can find a terrific diversity of birds. Even better, this year’s water levels showed a significant improvement over last year, when it looked as though the main lake might dry up altogether.

Unfortunately, today, windy conditions proved a challenge, especially in the grassland sections. While usually we can just drive with the windows open, listening for various songs, this year we generally had to keep the windows rolled up to keep from being sand-blasted by wind and dust. The wind also forced the smaller sparrows that we especially sought to sit down in the grass where they were difficult if not impossible to see. Only the intrepid meadowlarks braved the tops of sage plants, being blown back and forth as if they were on a carnival ride.

**We saw at least 18 Willets while driving the Bowdoin loop—a record for us there. These birds, like several other shorebirds, breed in the grasslands around the main lake.**

Nonetheless, thanks to diligence and Braden’s great ears, we managed to locate at least a few Chestnut-collared Longspurs, Lark Buntings, and Grasshopper, Lark, Clay-colored, Savannah, and Song Sparrows.

We also got great looks at White-faced Ibises, Willets, American Avocets, and other “usual suspects” in the aquatic realm. It’s always reassuring to see the hundreds of white pelicans nesting out on the main island.

**We never get tired of seeing Wilson’s Phalaropes, which breed at Bowdoin NWR in good numbers.**

One bird we especially missed was a Baltimore Oriole, which we usually see by stopping at the refuge visitor center before driving the big loop. After we finished the loop, however, we decided to give the BAORs one more shot and sat in our car munching our turkey-and-cheese sandwiches. Sure enough, after ten minutes, a bright orange bird with a black head flew across our vision! Sometimes, you just gotta be patient. All told, we observed 76 species at Bowdoin. But our day had not yet finished.

Our Bowdoin Bird List.

I’ve always felt captivated by these giant Art Deco power station towers at Fort Peck Dam. By camping here, we discovered that the towers are brilliantly lit up at night—a strange effect so far from “civilization.”

After Bowdoin, we drove to Fort Peck to spend the night camping below the dam. I’ve always been fascinated with the story of the Fort Peck dam and how, out in the middle of nowhere, a medium-sized city sprang up to build what, at the time, was by far the largest dam in the world. Today, it is still impressive, stretching more than four miles long, and “looked over” by two large (and to me beautiful) Art Deco power plant towers.

**Who said Fort Peck doesn’t have fine dining?**

Braden and I found a cozy campsite, set up our tents, and set out to explore the extensive campground. Our top target here were Field Sparrows. We didn’t see any. But we did get an unexpected triple shot of orioles: Baltimore, Bullock’s, and Orchard, all of which dropped by our campsite at least once.

**Fort Peck gave us by far our most cooperative experience ever with Baltimore Orioles. This male was part of at least two breeding pairs we found in the campground.**

We also got great looks at another Montana favorite, Brown Thrashers, the first of quite a few we would see on our trip.

**One of our favorite Montana birds, Brown Thrashers would put in several appearances on our trip, including right in our Fort Peck campsite!**

We generally try to avoid staying at large campgrounds, which can be noisy and sterile, but I was glad we gave Fort Peck a try. Even though my sleeping pad kept deflating through the night, the campground was a bit out of the wind, and offered up birds aplenty! Besides, how could I dislike a place that featured my book Beaver & Otter Get Along . . . Sort Of on its summer reading program? Tomorrow, we would try more prairie birding and hope that the wind would die down . . . but would it? Stay tuned for our next report!

**As we were lining up our campsite, Braden suddenly exclaimed, “Oh my god! It’s your book!” Helped make my day!** **Thank you Fort Peck!**

One-of-a-Kind Birds—and a One-of-a-Kind Book to Go With Them

4 Replies

Thank you for sharing this post :)!

This week’s blog focuses on one-of-a-kind birds—and a book to go along with them. For those of you who have been following FatherSonBirding for the past couple of years, you may remember a February, 2022 post about monotypic animals. These are animals that have no other species in the scientific genus to which they belong. At the time of the post, I had begun researching a new children’s picture book about animals that were not only monotypical to genus, but to the family or order taxonomic level. In other words, these animals are really alone in their taxonomic world. What’s more, they often possess wonderful adaptations and behaviors found nowhere else in the animal kingdom. They include both animals you are undoubtedly familiar with such as the platypus, leatherback sea turtle, whale shark, and pronghorn. They also include lesser-known critters such as India’s purple frog and the South American monito del monte.

**Often called an “antelope,” the Pronghorn is actually a unique survivor of our Ice Ages, whose closest living relatives are giraffes and okapis.**

The good news is that Like No Other: Earth’s Coolest One-of-a-Kind Creatures is now a reality, exploring 13 of earth’s most remarkable creatures! But since this is (mostly) a birding blogsite, let me focus on the one-of-a-kind birds in the book.

Like No Other’s very first animal is Africa’s Secretarybird. I first learned about this bird 25 years ago when I was researching a book called Birds of Prey: A Look at Daytime Raptors. That book is now out of print, but while researching it, I came upon this bizarre-looking, long-legged raptor that often kicks and stomps its prey to death—when it’s not carrying them up into the air and dropping them from great heights. This grassland- and savanna-dwelling bird originally lived throughout much of Africa, but has declined sharply in much of its range. Culprits include habitat loss and degradation, collisions with fences and powerlines, and poisoning from pesticides. It is a dream of mine to see these birds in the wild before I croak (or hit a powerline myself).

**Though a bird of prey, the Secretarybird’s appearance, behavior, and ancestry is unlike any other raptor.**

The second bird in Like No Other is a bird I’m not sure I’d even heard of before writing the book: South America’s Oilbird. These squat, kind of chubby-looking birds are reminiscent of nightjars such as the Common Nighthawk or Common Pauraque, but similarities stop there. Oilbirds roost in colonies of up to 10,000 birds in caves of forested areas of northern South America and along the spine of the Andes. Like bats, they use echolocation and an excellent sense of smell to locate fruits of forest trees. Birds of the World lists them as of “Least Concern,” but they contain so much fat that in the past they have been boiled down for oil lamp fuel. No one has any idea how long they live.

**Oilbirds live in caves in South America and hunt using echolocation, good night vision, and a great sense of smell.**

You know me. I would have packed a lot more birds into Like No Other but felt obligated to include a fair number of other vertebrate groups (those darned vertebrates!). I did manage to wedge one more monotypic bird into the pages, however—New Zealand’s enigmatic Kakapo. For those of you who haven’t heard of it, the Kakapo is the world’s heaviest parrot. Even more amazing, it doesn’t fly! I first learned about the birds 35 years ago when I was on a four-month bicycle trip through New Zealand. At the time, fewer than 50 Kakapo were thought to exist, and as is so often the case on Pacific islands, invasive mammalian predators were largely to blame. Thanks to an intensive conservation program that included captive breeding and eradication of introduced species from offshore islands, however, the Kakapo’s future now looks much rosier. Kakapo are by no means out of the woods, but their population is up to about 250 birds, and they are being closely monitored. It’s another wonderful example of what humans can accomplish when we put our minds to it.

**The Kakapo provides an inspirational story of what we can do to save species if we try.**

Humans are the very last one-of-a-kind creatures in Like No Other. Nothing like us has ever existed on the planet before, and the jury’s still out whether we can figure out what to do with our big brains and ambitions without destroying ourselves. Stories of protecting the Kakapo and other species in Like No Other, though, give me hope we’ll come up with solutions.

Like No Other is available now from your local independent bookstore, online stores, and other outlets.