Friday, July 20, 2018

Arrowwood National Wildlife Refuge – Pingree, North Dakota


July 17 
We had a great day here and the weather was perfect. We drove the 5.5 mile long auto-drive route that winds through both prairie grassland and wetland habitats of the James River Valley on the lower portion. 

 the tall prairie was full of wrens which didn't cooperate by showing themselves
 we did see a couple of deer run up the hill
 Sedge Wren
 Sedge Wren
 unknown
 Blue-winged Teal


 Swainson's Hawk
Common Yellowthroat 

 Redhead Ducks - once again the ducks were too far away to get great photos

 Redhead Duck
 unknown
 Yellow Warbler

 unknown


An elevated observation deck along the route provided a view of the James River and several managed wetlands.

 American Coot

 White Pelicans





 Blue-winged Teal



We then passed into another area with cattle and soybean fields.



 Vesper Sparrow in a soybean field

 we didn't get a photo of the Grouse that flew out of the field
 Eastern Kingbirdd


 Bob-O-link male

 Bob-O-link female

 Clay-colored Sparrow

 Clay-colored Sparrow
 Pied-billed Grebe - immature
Swainson's Hawk
 Redhead Duck
 Redhead Ducks taking flight
 Western Grebe

 Redheads
 we took a break to eat at the only restaurant we found in Pingree
 sloppy joe & mac & cheese - it was all home-made

 Horned Lark
  Horned Lark
 unknown
 young Eastern Kingbird waiting for mom to feed it
 Eastern Kingbird just fed her baby - the insect was gone very quickly

 Ruddy Ducks



 Northern Shoveler
unknown - maybe Blue-winged Teal
 American Avocet

 American Avocet in flight

 American Avocet
American Avocet - juvenile
 Stilt Sandpiper
Stilt Sandpipers
 Wilson's Phalarope juvenile

 Lesser Yellowlegs
 Lesser Yellowlegs
 unknown
 Killdeer
unknown

We did hear and see a lot of birds today. We had hoped to see the Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs, but none were seen. (we even circled back a second time to their area) We should see Prairie Dog Towns at our next stop. We also have a few that we haven't figured out yet. 

We saw several of the birds we hadn’t found yet in other areas where we could have seen them. The Horned Lark, Bob-O-Link and a Sharp-tailed Grouse.

Tomorrow, we are off to find more birds in a different area.

No comments:

Post a Comment