A Slice of Heaven in Farm Country!

Trip Participants - Steven & Magdalena Easley and Wayne & Wanda Easley

May 20 in the afternoon, we visited the Lonetree WMA as well as the lovely farm house of Larry & Jan Jones near Bowdon, ND. The birding was slow at first, but then a male Cape May Warbler (Photo above) popped out of the thick brush and gave nice views. This is a very uncommon bird in North Dakota and it was my Magdalena's only lifer of the day.

Next we made our way south towards Bowdon, ND to visit our friends Larry & Jan Jones. They have a lovely farm house with loads of birds attending their many feeders. My wife and I spent about an hour or so photographing as many of the avian visitors as we could. Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Blue Jay, Downy Woodpecker, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Orchard Oriole, Baltimore Oriole (photo above), Pine Siskin, American Goldfinch, Clay-colored, Chipping, Song, Harris's (photo above) and White-crowned Sparrows were all seen in their wonderful backyard.

With our digital cameras loaded with photos we said our good-byes and headed back home. However, in route we encountered a gorgeous pair of nesting Burrowing Owls (photos above). The nest is just off the edge of the road in an old Badger hole. We were able to snap a few shots of both the male and female in the soft afternoon light. What a great way to finish!

Good Birding, STEVEN EASLEY

PS - Thanks Larry & Jan for a wonderful visit to your amazing home!

Dancing with the Stars!

Trip Participants - Steven & Magdalena Easley and Wayne & Wanda Easley

It was an early start on the morning of May 20. Around 5 am, but it was just too early to check the clock. In about 20 minutes we were up to our eye-balls in displaying Sharp-tailed Grouse. About 30 individuals arrived at their lek site just as the sun began to rise over the stunning landscape. This is truly one of the most impressive spectacles on the American Prairie.

The males danced around for a couple of hours trying to atract mates. It is almost like they are in a trance as they do their thing. We watched 2 males just a mere 15 feet from our car, completely oblivious to our presence. The only words to describe these dancing stars is -AWESOME!

Excellent Birding, STEVEN EASLEY

Why Not Minot - Magdalena Scores Big

Hello All - This afternoon we visited several birding hot spots near Minot, ND. We were able to locate several Red-necked Phalaropes (Photo Above), one of Magdalena's most wanted birds in the Big North D. She also managed to get her first ever views of a male Hooded Merganser (photo above), what a stunner!

Other new birds not metioned on previous postings were: Wild Turkey, Wood Duck (photo above), Sanderling, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Red-eyed Vireo and Lark Sparrow.

My mom found us a Pronghorn Antelope, that is quite a nice find for this part of the state!

We are off early tomorrow morning to see the Sharp-tailed Grouse doing their thing. Hopefully I'll have some nice pics for my next posting!

Great Birding, STEVEN

PS - Hey Bart, Thanks for checking out my blog!!!

Lonetree North Dakota - Priceless!

Trip Participants - Steven & Magdalena Easley and Wayne & Wanda Easley

On the afternoon of May 18 we all visited the Lonetree Wildlife Management Area near the small town of Harvey, ND. The weather was absolutely wonderful and we were able to find several very nice birds. My stunning wife Magda added 2 lifers on the afternoon, which were American Wigeon and a single adult Horned Grebe (photo above).

Some of the other nice species located were: Red-necked Grebe, Wood Duck, Green-winged Teal, Red-tailed Hawk (Krider's subspecies), Gray Partridge, 50+ Sharp-tailed Grouse, Dunlin, White-rumped Sandpiper, Wilson's Snipe, Upland Sandpiper (photo above), Forster's Tern, Northern Flicker, Warbling Vireo, Gray-cheeked Thrush (photo above), Brown Thrasher, Yellow Warbler (photo above), several stunning Blackpoll Warblers (photo above), Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Vesper Sparrow and several small flocks of Pine Siskins.

We also enjoyed one of my mothers awesome picnic lunches, WOW!

Great Food and Great Birds, that's a tough combination to beat.

Good Birding, STEVEN EASLEY

Birding in the North Dakota Wind

Trip Participants - Steven & Magdalena Easley, Wayne & Wanda Easley, Larry & Jan Jones and their Grandson Alex

On May 17 all of the gang headed out to birdwatch around Harvey, ND. The wind was unrelenting, yet we still managed to find some really interesting things. My wife Magda got her very first views of the stunning Blackpoll Warbler, a bird she had really wanted to see.

Larry Jones was able to add several to his fast growing list, including several White-rumped Sandpipers.

A few of the better birds seen included: Western & Eared Grebes, Great Egret, Canvasback (photo above), Ring-necked & Ruddy Ducks, Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Turkey Vulture, Prairie Falcon, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Ring-necked Pheasant, Sora, Semipalmated Plover, Dunlin, White-rumped, Baird's, Least, Semipalmated and Pectoral Sandpipers, Short-billed Dowitcher, Amercian Avocet, Wilson's Phalarope (photo above), Great Horned Owl, Least Flycatcher (photo above), Northern Rough-winged, Bank, Tree, Barn and Cliff Swallows, Purple Martin, Swainson's Thrush, Gray Catbird, Cedar Waxwing, Yellow-rumped, Black-and-White, Yellow and Blackpoll Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Marsh Wren, Clay-colored, Chipping, Harris's, White-throated and Song Sparrows, Rose-breasted Grosbeak and several brilliantly colored Baltimore Orioles.

One of the highlights of the drive was a pair of nesting Burrowing Owls (photo above). This species has declined considerably in central North Dakota over the last 50 years, but seems to be making somewhat of a comeback. This is the 2nd nesting record thus far in 2008 in the Well's County alone.

Several mammals were noted as well, these were: White-tailed Deer, Northern Racoon, 13-lined Ground-Squirrel and a curious Fox Squirrel.

Not too shabby for a short, windy afternoon outing!

Good Birding, STEVEN EASLEY

Spring Migrants in Fargo, North Dakota

May 16, 2008
Fargo, North Dakota

Early on the morning of May 16, Magdalena and I spent several hours birdwatching in Fargo, North Dakota. My parents Wayne & Wanda Easley have lived in North Dakota for the last 7 years and recently we decided to pay them a visit. Both of my parents are quite keen birders and they know all the local hotspots to find great birds in the state. They also joined us on this short outing as we made our way from Minneapolis, MN to the famous small town of Harvey, ND where they live. I guess it's only famous if you live there, ha!
We only spent a couple of hours birding in two of Fargos small town parks, Trefoil and Oak Grove Parks. Magda was able to add several lifers to her growing list. Orange-crowned Warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, White-crowned, White-throated (photo above), Lincoln's and Harris's Sparrows were the new ones she was able to pick up.
Spring migrants were in full force and several of the other interesting birds seen were:
Sora, Double-crested Cormorant, Cooper's Hawk, Chimney Swift, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Least Flycatcher, Purple Martin, Cliff & Bank Swallows, Black-capped Chickadee, White-breasted Nuthatch, American Robin, Gray-cheeked & Swainson's Thrushes, Gray Catbird, Magnolia, Yellow, Palm (photo above), Nashville, Yellow-rumped, Black & White, Wilson's and Black-throated Green Warblers, Ovenbird, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Chipping & Clay-colored Sparrows, Common Grackle, Red-winged & Yellow-headed Blackbirds, Brown-headed Cowbird, Western Meadowlark and Baltimore Orioles.
We also were able to find a spectacular Great Horned Owl adult setting next to it's adorable young chick. We had smashing views and both were photographed at fairly close range (photos above).
A few miles down the road, after leaving the Fargo area, we came across a large flock of Lapland Longspurs. This was my wifes 7th new bird for the day, certainly an excellent find.
We then made our way safely home to Harvey, ND where we will be based for the next few weeks.
I will be sure and keep you all posted on all of our adventures in the Big North D!
Good Birding, STEVEN EASLEY

Muñeco - Hidden Treasure in the Clouds!

Hello Friends,
This is my first attempt at this blogging thing, so bear with me. I hope the information posted will be informative and fun to read.

Muñeco May 6 & 7, 2008
Tour Partipants - Bart Brown, Magdalena Easley and Steven Easley

On the afternoon of the 6th we visited a birding site called Muneco. It is located near the Tapanti National Park in Costa Rica. This wonderful cloud forest reserve is open to the public and there are no charges to enter. It can only be reached by 4x4, and even after the tough road a lot of hiking is still needed.
The purpose of our visit was to locate as many new species as possible for Bart and my wife as they are working on building up their Costa Rican bird lists. Both have seen more than 700 species in the country, so as you can imagine it is much more difficult to find new birds.
We arrived late in the afternoon and barely had enough time to get in some birding. The only star bird noted on the late afternoon outing was Streaked Xenops.
We started early the next morning and quickly the birds started piling up. Some of the many highlights on the day were: Highland Tinamou, Black-breasted Wood-Quail, Barred Hawk, Short-tailed Hawk (dark morph), Chiriqui Quail-Dove, Black-bellied Hummingbird, Purple-throated Mountain-Gem, Scintillant Hummingbird, Resplendent Quetzal, Golden-olive Woodpecker, Buffy Tuftedcheek, Scaly-throated Foliage-Gleaner, Olivaceous Woodcreeper, Three-wattled Bellbird, White-winged Tanager, Elegant Euphonia and Yellow-bellied Siskin.
However, the highlight of the day was finding a large Army Ant swarm on the edge of the trail. We were treated with close range views of the rare Black-banded Woodcreeper as well as stunning views of Emerald (Blue-throated) Toucanet, Prong-billed Barbet, Spotted Barbtail, Hairy Woodpecker, Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrush, Three-striped Warbler and a tail-bobbing Immaculate Antbird.
We are all looking forward to our next visit to this magical pristine enviroment.
Bart finished with 5 additions and Magdalena added 2 more to her list.
Hope you enjoyed this brief report, I'll post as much as possible in the future!
Good Birding, STEVEN EASLEY