May 30, 2008
On May the 28th we spent the afternoon birdwatching in the Devils Lake area. Our first stop was at the lovely Sully's Hill Wildlife Preserve. Here we were able to see several large Bison and our first Black-tailed Prairie Dogs of the trip. Birding was a little slow, but we did manage to find an Eastern Towhee. This bird was completely unexpected and it was a new ND State bird for all of us. While en route to our next birding stop we spotted a Clarke's Grebe and two young Herring Gulls.
Later in the afternoon, we visited the Lake Alice Refuge. White-faced Ibis was the toughest bird noted in this area, but a huge nesting colony of Franklin's Gulls was fun to watch. I was somehow able to snap a flight shot of one of the gulls with its head twisted upside down - Very Strange!
Then on May 29, on our way to pick up some friends at the Bismark Airport, we birded for about an hour in the Long Lake NWR near Moffit. The best bird found in the few minutes we had was an adult Hudsonian Godwit. This has got to be a very late record for North Dakota. Most of these star shorebirds pass through the area much earlier in the year.
Good Birding, STEVEN EASLEY
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