A hovering Rough-legged Hawk sighting was a highlight last week. Notice the difference in the shades of plumage color in 2 of the Red-breasted Nuthatches that are visiting Paul’s feeding station. The above bird is a male; a female or first-winter bird is illustrated below. It’s interesting to see how the eyes are hidden within the black eye stripe of these enjoyable little birds.

I consider myself to be an adventurer, livin’ on the edge, traveling to the remote corners, hyper aware of my surroundings, sleeping bag will travel, camera ‘n binoculars within reach. But Saturday, I questioned myself several times about taking a road trip. From the time I took a shower to the time I left home – about an hour – the temperature had dropped below zero, never to return through the week! “Are you risking your life on the road,” I asked myself time and time again.

What if a water pump goes out on the road, like it did in December? Or another key piece of the engine’s anatomy? Even a flat tire would be dicey, considering the killer wind chill. But the temperature and the wind chills weren’t going rise above zero (Fahrenheit) for the next 8 days! It’s not like I’m just going birding; there’s shopping for groceries and stuff in the plan too. I have plenty of food to get by the rest of the winter, yet a favorite Chinese dinner was beckoning me 150 miles down the road – now that’s cause for adventure.

Saturday was a big surprise; my past 2 trips to Fargo yielded only a flock of about 15 Snow Buntings east of Jamestown. Snow Buntings are a favorite winter species, but even they have been sparse this winter. Considering the almost nonexistent bird sightings in the region, and after the extreme week of weather, I really didn’t have much hope for bird sightings along the way. So I was especially surprised by my reaction with a level of elation when I spied a raptor flying along the ridge above the James River. As I grabbed my binoculars, the hawk began hovering – most probably a Rough-legged Hawk judging by its hunting behavior – and my binocular view showed a classic Rough-leg in action, which was a big breakthrough, birding-wise.

I hadn’t seen a raptor in the north of Dakota for way too long, and with no Rough-leg sightings since January 3rd, I had a renewed impression that other Arctic birds may have blown in on the week’s intense northwest wind. Perhaps a Snowy Owl, or a Golden Eagle; possibly Lapland Longspurs – what’s next on this beautiful sunny day, I thought, as the temperature continued to dive below zero.

That day, 2 of the few rivers in the area, small as they are – the James and the Sheyenne – provided both the sightings. The second was an adult Bald Eagle above the Sheyenne River treeline, flying toward my position initially, but as I grabbed my camera on the seat next to me, I lost sight of it until I repositioned and re-sighted the eagle, which had circled high above the frozen Sheyenne. Hey, bird number 2 nonetheless.

Yard Hotspot

Most of the birds I observed last week were limited to my feeders, due to 3 weather elements – the cold, intense wind, and thick fog that created very thick hoarfrost that covered everything in a blanket of white. Although my feeder birds have been pretty static this winter, Wednesday I was excited by some new feeder action with the first Dark-eyed Junco of the year, a young one, appearing on the ground near the feeders.

There was also at least one new Red-breasted Nuthatch, although it’s interesting to note that throughout the rest of the week, the Red-breasted Nuthatches usually traveled in tandem, 2 at a time. They were easy to tell apart too, with one much darker colored and a little smaller than the other it seemed. The 2 Pine Siskins that appeared earlier seem to have remained too, judging by the aggressive behavior of one of them. All of these newbies returned throughout the week, so maybe the wind will blow some more new birds my way.

Friday Larks

In spite of frigid temps, Friday I took a 70-mile circle drive that included some territory that I hadn’t checked for about 8 months. It was a good drive with lots of potential and beautiful sunshine, but I only found a flock of a dozen Horned Larks. There has been no snow cover in the region this winter, but last week an especially thick frost accumulated and now covers all ground, plants, trees, and anything else with a thick white frosting, creating a unique visual landscape that I can’t remember ever seeing before. It was so cold out that rainbow-like “sun dogs” were prominent on each side of the sun – reflections from ice crystals in the atmosphere on the coldest days.

Like my Fargo drive Saturday, this birding drive was questionable safety-wise; but hey, I grew up in this stuff, and when the birding lust overtakes you, ya gotta hit the road, if only until you find the next bird. That’s the way it hits me anyway. I had my super-safety kit in the back of my vehicle – ready for the Arctic or mountains, overheating in the desert, or for that matter the tropical jungles, although maybe I should add a big fan to the mix too (see my safety list in the Birding Lifestyles article in the December 12, 2020 issue in the archives at https://www.birdingwire.com/archives/2020-12-09). So what happens looking at the super-frigid deep-subfreezing days ahead? I’ll be careful – you too! Keep your feeders filled, and enjoy the Great Backyard Bird Count – at home and in the field.

Article and photos by Paul Konrad

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