A highlight of a birding trip to Bismarck was a surprise photo encounter with a young Merlin. The first ice of the season provided a solid base for an immature Bald Eagle just a couple miles to the north. Punctuated by beautiful fall weather, last week was filled with the sights and sounds of thousands of geese that provided a variety of photo opportunities of Snow and Ross’s Geese.

It’s official as of Thursday, my house is now surrounded by huge flocks of geese – to the north, south, east, and west, and farther north. Did I mention overhead? Night and day! Thousands and thousands of geese – 5 different species of geese, 4 of which are in transit from their Arctic nesting sites to wintering areas along inland and coastal wetlands along the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana. Snow Geese, Ross’s Geese, White-fronts, Cackling Geese, and northern Canadas (true Canada Geese). I love this time of goose magic and goose music!

Last Wednesday, I was especially excited about taking a different route to Bismarck, especially to check on other goose concentrations and to see what kinds of birds of prey were present now. Instead of driving west to the Missouri River, then north, I drove 20 miles north, then west to Highway 83, and north to Long Lake National Wildlife Refuge, located about 25 miles southeast of Bismarck. The potential was great, but the bar was set high in my home range on this beautiful sunny windless afternoon.

Overnight, the number of geese in area lakes had doubled from about 5,000 to more than 10,000, divided into 3 huge flocks – one 2 miles south of home, one less than 2 miles north, and another new one less than 5 miles north. Also overnight, the temperature dipped deep enough below freezing to create a thin layer of ice across considerable areas of shallow wetlands, mostly along the perimeters and shallow bays.

Between the 2 northern flocks of geese, as I reached the peak of a hill, the first thrill of the day was standing on the newly formed ice near the edge of a shallow marsh. An immature “white-belly” Bald Eagle was bent over a Snow Goose carcass surrounded by a circle of white feathers – Woo! I tried to stop short, but the eagle reacted nonetheless, but only by hopping a few feet away from the goose remains and presenting a nice photo opportunity as it stood upright on the ice. The big female eagle didn’t want to leave its meal and did little more than turn its head left, then right; but that provided some nice portraits, and I left the big raptor to carry on.

Hoping to see flock after flock of geese for many miles after the third flock, birds were mostly absent from the region until mile 24 when I could see a hawk perched near the road. I was a little surprised to see it was a late Red-tailed Hawk, but just a couple more miles west I found the first of the more-expected species, like the geese, another transfer from the Arctic – a Rough-legged Hawk. I watched as it glided over a beautiful hilly expanse of prairie, pulling up to hover periodically, then resuming its search for mice and voles after leaving the realm of Arctic lemmings.

A few miles west, another Rough-leg provided a quick view from a distance, but it was another 20 miles before another bird caught my attention – well, thousands of birds actually! More Snow Geese, and Ross’s Geese – thousands of them; and hundreds of Mallards with 8 White-fronted Geese and a very few Northern Shovelers.

Another 20 miles down the road I spied a group of Ring-necked Pheasants in the sunlight – a hen and 5 colorful cocks to be exact. The males provided a couple nice portraits, and I was on my way again, headed north to the refuge. About half-way up the highway I sighted another Rough-legged Hawk, but this one was a dark morph, showing vibrant black in the afternoon sun. I watched it hunting a bit, but decided any chance of a photo would be distant at best.

At Long Lake National Wildlife Refuge the scene was similar to my neighborhood, with a huge concentration of 5 species of geese. Deeper into the refuge, small flocks and pairs of Mallards were most common, but I was surprised by similar groups of Gadwalls and Northern Shovelers. Even more surprising was a very late Western Grebe that I photographed as it preened on the gorgeously colored water. Between the geese and the ducks, 3 immature Bald Eagles were present, 2 perched and 1 in flight. This time of year eagles often shadow large concentrations of geese.

Merlin Magic

Not long after leaving the refuge, about a mile after turning onto a familiar gravel road about 20 miles from Bismarck, I could see a small falcon figure silhouetted on a post. All afternoon I was thinking about Merlins, but figured it was a bit on the late side of the season – yet they can appear any day of fall or winter. In order to really identify it I needed to pass by it, a chancy move at best with the bird perched so close to the road. As I approached it, I thought it might be a kestrel but as I passed the bird and saw it was a light-tan Merlin – woo! After a short distance I reversed course to get the sunlight at my back, hoping the little falcon was as trusting as before while I ambled toward it again. But while still quite a distance away little Merlin took flight, and I lost sight of it against the low vegetation.

Darn, what happened there, I thought as I coasted past the big post. That’s when I caught sight of the Merlin just a few feet away, speeding low back to the perch. It must have taken an unsuccessful hunting flight and returned to its lookout. Dang, now I was on the wrong side of the mini-falcon again. Would it allow me to back up for a photo? That’s pretty much all I could do, so I crossed my fingers and slowly backed up.

As I passed the post the Merlin was still on board, so I watched its left side to see the little shadow retreat as I reversed into position, then stopped when the shadow wasn’t a factor – hang in their little buddy! I focused the lens and took a couple quick photos, then paused a moment when I saw what a cute young Merlin this was as it turned its head left, then right, while standing on one foot. And that was all it had in its modeling repertoire, but it provided some memorable portraits and exciting moments to be so close to such a trusting young Merlin.

Then, in a flash it was off again, and I waited a bit, then checked the surrounding area within a half-mile a couple times, but no luck – aside from the great luck I already had. After that, I was on high alert for another mini-falcon, but after just a couple miles another raptor beamed black from a treetop in the distance. Luckily, a road passed right by it, and although I approached its blackness, the raptor was totally focused below its perch, with its head facing down for a considerable time, actually making it look headless from a distance. I moved closer, but the first-fall dark-morph Rough-legged Hawk never looked up to give me a nice photo op. I looked away a moment, and it dived almost straight down into the grass making it invisible among the tall plants.

Well, I missed that diving action; maybe I can get a photo when it takes flight, possibly with a vole in its talons. Nope, missed that one too: I musta blinked, ‘cuz the next thing I knew I saw it flying to my left in my periphery vision – missed it again. How did that happen, not once but twice? As a result, I was left with only a photo of what looked like a headless black hawk perched atop the tree. Oh well, that’s a big part of birding that often doesn’t come up much – birds are unpredictable, and we don’t get to photograph every bird we expect to . . . but it sure seemed like I missed a couple of outstanding photo ops. But hey, I salvaged a nice photo of the Merlin, and of the first Bald Eagle standing on the ice.

Weekend Fun

A quick look around the immediate area Friday morning revealed thousands of geese in every direction, plus a Rough-legged Hawk 3 miles north and an adult Bald Eagle 4 miles north. Same story for Saturday and Sunday, minus the raptors. Sunday afternoon I was short-stopped ½ mile south by 5 species of geese lining the shore of Melody’s Marsh, in spite of seeing 2 huge clouds of geese another mile away. It was really the little flock of Cackling Geese that made me do it, but when I saw there were also White-fronts within the same frame as the Snows, Ross’s, and Canadas – how could I resist.

It turned out to be a bit of a bust at first, although the geese hung tight as I pulled into position. But within a minute the clouds of geese turned my way and slowly advanced to the marsh – what luck. In a minute the sky was filled with geese, circling and landing en masse, one cloud followed by the next. With barely a breeze and beautiful fall sunlight the water looked heavenly through my zoom lens – and even better with each goose that entered the frame, some eventually swimming quite close to my mobile blind.

The scene became tranquil for a bit, with family groups swimming by – blue Snows, white Snows, and even a Ross’s pair with a young one between them. A sudden roar marked the explosion of a large segment of the flock as they took flight at the far end of the marsh, creating a roller-coaster effect as neighboring geese took flight like an undulating wave. But the mass stayed low and many geese landed near my side of the wetland. And this was actually the third afternoon in which I was given a front row seat with photo ops, including twice the previous evening – once lakeside and once at the edge of a harvested cornfield – so fun! It’s times like these that make me happy to be a birder!

My friend Peter liked to comment about how lucky we were to be able to appreciate birds the way we do, and sometimes I think he was talking about us, but mostly about every birder. It’s what sets birders apart from everyone else and distinguishes our connection with the natural world. Wouldn’t have it any other way. When I returned home, goose music saturated the air and V-shaped flock after flock passed low directly over my house – hundreds of Snow Geese with Ross’s. What a great time of the year this is, and I never tire of the geese overwhelming the area – spring and fall.

As I add this paragraph Tuesday afternoon, Snow and Ross’s Geese are again flying low in Vs over my house, in transit from a feeding area to one of many area lakes, singing all the while on this beautiful late fall day. It’s a bit ominous though, with rain tomorrow and an Alberta Clipper headed this way Thursday with the first snow of the season, and temperatures that will dip into the teens at night by Saturday. That big change may create a flood of geese into the area, or through the area, or both. It may also bring flocks of Tundra Swans, and perhaps the first Snow Buntings and a Snowy Owl or two. Nonetheless, it will mark a dramatic change. Only time will tell what transpire among the birds, and I’ll be sure to share the play by play with you next week as I wish for a week of birding excitement for you too.

Article and photos by Paul Konrad

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