Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Home Sweet Home and a Super Cool Reptile!





Hello Friends,

My wife Magdalena and I are now back home in sunny Costa Rica, more like rainy Costa Rica! We had a wonderful visit to the USA! It was great to be with our parents. We both had a blast seeing the spectacular birds and wildlife in the states. It was also nice to spend some time with our friends from the state of North Dakota. It would be hard to find nicer people than the folks there. The state is just full of Genuine, Friendly, Kind, Honest and Hard Working People! We are looking forward to returning and visiting some different areas sometime soon. Thanks so much to everyone for making our trip so enjoyable!


I'm sure some people were beginning to think that this blog was just dedicated to the birds and wildlife of North Dakota. But we are actually covering our personal travels and experiences. It just so happened that I started this blogging thing before our vacation to the states. That is the reason why all of our stories and photos thus far have been from those areas. The next couple of months, we will be focusing on the tropical paradise - which is Costa Rica!


In the evening of June 18, Magdalena called me out to the back porch of our house. She had found a tiny gecko species crawling around in our garden. I was thrilled to see my first ever species of Banded Gecko! The official name of this reptile is the Central American Banded Gecko (Coleonyx mitratus). It is apparently an uncommon species from the drier Guanacaste region of the country. We photographed this little dude for about 15 minutes and came up with these shots!

That's all for now!

Good Birding or should I say Reptiling,

STEVEN EASLEY





Cross Ranch where East meets West






Hello to everyone,
On the morning of June 8, we visited the Cross Ranch State Park about 45 minutes north of Bismark, North Dakota along the Missouri River. This pleasant drive is certainly worthwhile, wonderful scenery and lots of wildlife.
Once inside the park you get the real feeling that east meets west, especially when you are talking about bird life. White-breasted Nuthatch and Hairy Woodpeckers climbing the talls trees, Black-headed Grosbeak singing from a high perch, Eastern Wood-Pewees doing their classic peeee-weeee song and a male Spotted Towhee digging around in the undergrowth. All of this activity was taking place just in the parking area.
While birding in front of the visitor center, we saw a very unusual bird. A strange hybrid of a Lazuli Bunting and an Indigo Bunting. It had the brilliant blue color of an Indigo Bunting, but nice white-winged bars like the Lazuli Bunting. There wasn't even the slightest smudge of orange-rust on the chest and it had a white belly. Quite interesting to see, a new hybird for both of us, whooooo-hoooooo!
Later Magdalena and I hiked a beautiful trail along the Missouri River hoping to catch a glimpse of the diminutive Least Tern. We searched for about 30 minutes or so without any luck. However, there were many nice things that caught our attention. A huge adult Ferruginous Hawk flew gently over head and we watched a Yellow Warbler sitting on it's nest.
We decided to head back to the car and try another site for the Least Tern, when I happened to see the tiny Least Tern flying in the distance. The views were poor and we decided to wait some more and see if it would turn up again. About 20 minutes later it showed off very well and Magda was as happy as a singing Athi Short-toed Lark on the short-grass plains of East Africa!
I'm sure everyone knows what I'm talking about, yeah right!
While in route back to Harvey, we made several roadside stops and were able to photograph several more birds not yet posted on the blog. Sedge Wren and White-rumped Sandpiper being the most notable.
We hope everyone is enjoying the photographs and stories that we have been working on. Feel free to write us a comment after the blog stories, or send me an e-mail at stvneasley@yahoo.com
Thanks so much to everyone for all the support given thus far!
Good Birding, STEVEN EASLEY

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

The Majestic Bighorn Mountains!






On June 7, 2008 before we began our journey through the Bighorn Mountains my wife was able to add Sage Thrasher to her life list. As we left the vast sage brush country behind, we were able to get our first views of the picturesque Bighorn Mountains in northern Wyoming.
These mountains originally got their name from the Lewis and Clark expeditions that passed through this area years and years ago. The explorers just could not believe the numbers of Bighorn Sheep that were living in this mountanous terrain. Nowadays, the numbers of sheep have declined, but we still managed to find a small herd of these impressive animals.
Moose, Mule Deer, Yellow-bellied Marmot and the miniscule Least Chipmunk were all seen on our morning drive. Birds seemed to be few and far between but several Golden Eagles soaring over the high peaks were certainly nice to look at.
A few other birds noted in the Bighorn Mountains were Bald Eagle, American Magpie, Mountain Bluebird, White-throated Swift, Violet-green Swallow, Western Tanager and lots of Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's race).
After leaving this wonderful area, we drove east all the way back to Bismark, North Dakota. What a heck of a drive that is!
The next morning we visited the Cross Ranch State Park along the Missouri River.
Will Magdalena be able to see the sought after Least Tern? Due stay tuned...
Good Birding, STEVEN EASLEY

Monday, June 16, 2008

Our Frozen Yellowstone Adventure!






Hello Friends,


On June, 5, 2008 my wife and I made our way south from Livingstone, Montana to the famous Yellowstone National Park, the worlds first ever National Park. Most of the park is in Wyoming, but there is a tiny corner which does extend into Montana. The large snow-capped peaks in the distance were certainly a fantastic welcoming scene.


We entered using the Mammoth Hot Springs Gate near the small town of Gardiner, Montana. Soon after entering, we began seeing our first "Yellowstone" wildlife. The cute Uinta Ground-Squirrels were playing around at our feet and our first large herd of Bison was encountered. This powerful beast gores several visitors each year within the park, a good reason to give them ample space.


Yellowstone is not necessarily known for it's abundant birdlife, but we did manage to find several new birds for my wife. Barrow's Goldeneye, Common Merganser, Gray Jay, Townsend's Solitaire and Cassin's Finch are just a few that come to mind. Mammals proved to be more prolific and within a few hours we had found Elk, Pronghorn Antelope, Mule Deer, Bighorn Sheep, Moose, Bison, Yellow-bellied Marmot and Coyote.


Certainly the biggest highlight of our entire trip was an enormous Grizzly Bear. This majestic creature was walking along the slope of a small hill near the Yellowstone River. We watched him ripping into the ground, probably trying to get at some small rodent or even a tasty bite-sized root. We were one of the first cars on the scene and had excellent views of this super huge and somewhat scary animal for about an hour. Magdalena was gobsmacked to say the least!


We returned to our lovely camping area and nearly froze to death in the brutal cold of night. I'm not sure what is worse, seeing a Grizzly before going to bed or not being able to feel your feet anymore! We could only thank God for the extra blankets my mom put in for us, way to go mamasita!


We woke up the next morning and found ice all over our tent. No wonder we were frozen to the bone! The temperature had changed considerably and we began wondering if we could handle another night in these new conditions. However, we still had lots to look for within the park.


Our plan for the day included taking in the interesting and historic Old Faithful Geyser and cruising along near Lake Yellowstone in route back to our campground. But while we were watching Old Faithful blow it's top it began to snow. We decided it might be best to return to the tent and find out how the weather was there. We returned to find our tent under 4-6 inches of snow. The tent poles could no longer hold up under the weight. We began to think of an exit plan.


After consulting some local officials, we decided it would be best to leave Yellowstone sooner than later. So instead of crossing one of the many high-pass exit routes, we back tracked thru the Mammoth Hot Springs Gate once again. After leaving the park and a very long drive, we found ourselves in the small town of Lovell, Wyoming. This small town is located just a few miles west of the Bighorn Mountains. Our next destination...


Good Birding, STEVEN EASLEY

Monday, June 9, 2008

Yellowstone National Park and more...






June 3, 2008


Hello Friends.

Over the last few days my wonderful wife Magdalena and I have been exploring western North Dakota, southern Montana, Yellowstone National Park and the beautiful Bighorn Mountains in northern Wyoming. During our travels we drove more than 1,800 miles and saw some fantastic wildlife, not to mention lots of spectacular scenery. I will break down our short, yet jam packed, journey into 3 short stories.

We started our trip in the northern badlands of North Dakota by camping at a place called the Burning Coal Vein. This lovely picturesque area of the state is certainly worth a visit, even if it is just for the scenery. The 3 birds we were hoping to see in this area were, Common Poorwill, Lazuli Bunting and Rock Wren . All 3 were quite easy to find and Magda was thrilled because they were all lifers for her.

The Common Poorwill was seen just after dark right in our campground. We were able to get to within 2 feet away from it before he decided to fly off. The stunning Lazuli Bunting was seen on the entrance road, as was the somewhat drab Rock Wren.

Golden Eagle, Burrowing Owl, Wild Turkey, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Northern Flicker (red-shafted), Cedar Waxwing, Yellow-breasted Chat, Spotted Towhee, Western Meadowlark, Lark Bunting, Field Sparrow, and numerous Lark Sparrows were all seen around our camping area.

Mammals seen either in route or around the camping area were, Eastern Cottontail, Coyote, Red Fox, White-tailed Deer and Mule Deer.

We were not quite prepared for the very cold temperatures at night but we somehow prevailed to bird another day.

Our next report will be about our snow fill trip to the famous Yellowstone National Park, due stay tuned...