A surprise new arrival about a dozen miles southeast of the office, a Red-necked Grebe displayed to its potential mate, even adding a series of calls to the still wetland air. Birders in southern states rarely get to see some birds in their full alternate colors in response to the coming nesting season, such as this Marbled Godwit and White Pelican.

Long Lake National Wildlife Refuge is always a hub for birds, on site and throughout the area for many miles, so with the advent of open water, I opted to make the refuge a focal point as I drove to Bismarck last Thursday. Indeed, it was a center for ducks and grebes, including many still concentrated in migrating flocks. Most obvious was a large flock of about 180 Western Grebes, with 9 Horned Grebes and 5 Eared Grebes in small scattered groups. White Pelicans were the other obvious waterbirds, along with American Coots.

Most populous among the abundant ducks were flocks of Blue-winged Teal, some Green-wings too, Lesser Scaup, and Northern Shovelers. Swainson’s Hawk sightings that eventually numbered 8 mostly began a few miles before the refuge and continued thereafter. The only unfortunate aspect of this birding destination was that I was visiting during cloudy, sprinkling weather that persisted throughout the day and into the night. Seeing all these birds so close made me want to photograph, but I needed sunlight – another day.

Franklin’s Gulls began showing not long before the refuge and increased in numbers in flight at my next stop, McKenzie Slough, where similar birds were present, but in far different numbers. There, Eared Grebes were most common, present in 4 tight swimming flocks numbering 15 to 35 and totaling more than 100, with a distant flock of about 25 Western Grebes in the same area of water. McKenzie is usually a big shorebird stopover site, but water levels are high now in the usual floodplain areas. Of course, there were plenty of ducks, including many Northern Pintails and Northern Shovelers, with Gadwalls, Mallards, and Lesser Scaup in abundance, along with scattered pairs of Giant Canada Geese

On my way to Dogtown Marsh, I passed by Menoken Lake, which was apparently the state center for Franklin’s Gulls, which numbered in the hundreds standing on the ice, and covering the shallows of an adjacent open water pond. The black-headed gulls were packed together wing to wing, and when facing in my direction, they collectively gave off a pink glow. Pink? Yes, during spring the normally white underside plumage of Franklin’s Gulls has a pink coloration that really sets them off. In spite of the sunless sprinkling, I took a few documentary photos and reveled at the stereo sounds of so many gulls on both sides of my car.

Dogtown Marsh was covered by scattered Lesser Scaup, with a lone Eared Grebe and some scattered coots; but at the west side there were 5 Eared Grebes on one side of the road and a nice flock of about a dozen Canvasbacks on the other. Between Dogtown and Long Lake, I observed 3 dark morph Swainson’s Hawks, which was equal to the 3 normal-colored Swainson’s along that route. As stated above, I saw 8 Swainson’s Hawks along the way, and other raptors sighted between home and the capitol city were 6 American Kestrels, 9 Northern Harriers, 2 solo immature Bald Eagles, and 6 Red-tailed Hawks (31 raptors).

Home Range

Friday I started my outing with a new spring observation, a pair of Common Terns on the hunt just 1½ miles north, along with the first Western Grebe in the area. There was a pair of Hooded Mergansers fishing, 2 groups of 3 American Avocets were active along with a mix of Lesser Scaup, Canvasbacks, a few drake Ruddy Ducks, and a pair of Giant Canada Geese. Within a mile south of home, a Marbled Godwit stood out along with a fivesome of Greater Yellowlegs, more Lesser Scaup, about 10 Canvasbacks, 7 Northern Shovelers, a drake Bufflehead, and 2 female Hooded Mergansers.

Farther south, I found a flock of maybe 25 Bonaparte’s Gulls, a sprinkling of Ring-billed Gulls, a Willet, a pair of Marbled Godwits, a resting flock of a dozen American Avocets that must have recently landed for a migration stopover, along with a nearby small flock of Northern Pintails. Lesser Scaup continue to be a theme throughout area marshes and the edges of melting lakes.

I observed a Swainson’s Hawk too, but what really caught my attention was a large white-tailed hawk, which made me think of a Krider’s Red-tail, then a Ferruginous Hawk. But with binoculars I could see it was a dark-headed Red-tail with a mostly white tail feathers that showed some light-orange coloration on the terminal end. It was also carrying a small rodent as it flew toward an annual Red-tail nest in a nearby stand of tall cottonwoods.

In the extensive shallow marsh 3 miles south of home, among a variety of ducks and scattered coots, there were many Eared Grebes, the first in the area. They will likely nest there again as they have in recent years. Speaking of nesting at this marsh, the female Giant Canada Goose is incubating now.

In my yard, all traces of migrant songbirds were absent last Tuesday, but Wednesday a new group was evident, including at least 8 White-throated Sparrows with a Lincoln’s Sparrow among them – even bathing in a little meltwater at one point. And a Ruby-crowned Kinglet showed later in the low branches near my feeding station. Thursday before heading for Bismarck, a few White-throated Sparrows were feeding, and a few male Yellow-rumped Warblers were moving through the trees outside my bay windows.

Three Wind Days

While experiencing 3 days of extra-strong north winds Saturday thru Monday, bird migration essentially stopped. I ventured out short distances north and south, but didn’t do a true birding drive until Monday afternoon, when I found widely scattered small flocks of American Avocets and Bonaparte’s Gulls, along with a very large flock of about 100 Bonaparte’s Gulls on one lake. I also observed a Marbled Godwit, a pair of Willets, a pair of Lesser Yellowlegs, 2 lone Franklin’s Gulls, a few widely scattered White Pelicans and Double-crested Cormorants, a pair of Hooded Grebes, and a pair of Eared Grebes.

Eventually I ventured into a remote area where road conditions kept me from visiting since last fall, which yielded a look at a pair of Red-tailed Hawks soaring together in between 2 annual Red-tail nesting territories. They reacted to the approach of a young Bald Eagle by approaching it, which is all it took to reroute the big raptor that was already fighting the strong wind. As I approached one of the Red-tailed Hawk nests, a nest that usually hosts the earliest nesting pair in the area each year, I checked the nest with binoculars, only to see the eyes and ‘horned’ feather tufts of an adult Great Horned Owl looking back at me in an incubating or brooding position on the nest – the first I’ve seen in the area.

Overall, I noticed a change in many ducks; although most Mallards, Northern Pintails, Northern Shovelers, and Gadwalls have been paired and on territories recently, now I’m seeing the first lone drake Mallards and Northern Pintails, the earliest nesting species, which indicates the females are laying eggs or incubating.

A few White-throated Sparrows persisted during the wind storm, and Monday a Brown Creeper foraged along the bark of a couple of my ash trees, but the intense north winds all but stopped migration until yesterday (Tuesday). That’s when I noted the flocks of Bonaparte’s Gulls had departed the area, along with many flocks of Lesser Scaup. But adding new interest to the area were at least 4 Red-necked Grebes to the southeast, and a flock of 10 Western Grebes to the north.

I’ve been on the lookout for the pair of Swainson’s Hawks that nests 6 miles to the south, especially watching for the rufous morph female, but no sign yet. However, Tuesday afternoon I did see a normal-colored Swainson’s soaring over that territory, although it was impossible to tell if it was a migrant, the male of the pair, or another option.

One thing is for certain though: This coming week should produce some good influxes of migrating birds in my area, as well as regionally, and frankly, from the Gulf Coast to the boreal forest region. Enjoy the action as new birds and more birds flow into your area as spring migration ramps up!

Article and photos by Paul Konrad

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