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...
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