Transition

It was a good day for a last day in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. It was the nicest day of the year so far: sunny, a high of 78, a pleasant breeze, and birds singing in the leafy trees. I really don't know what to say. I'm sad to have to leave, but I'm sure I'll forget that when I see the mountains tomorrow. I'm packing the car right now, and the computer is next, so I have to wrap this up. My next message will be from Montana.

Leafing

The trees turned leafy in the past week, making everything seem bright green finally. Some early birds have hatched their young, notably the robins that nest on the light outside our office door. The lark sparrows were mating outside my front porch today while I watched a chipmunk fill its cheek pouches with the seed I had thrown outside for the birds.

I have been pleasantly surprised to see a female blackpoll warbler, a yellow-breasted chat, and three Brewer's blackbirds (two were males; one was displaying and driving the other off).

Rounding Third

Well the trip to and from Madison, WI was a success. It was interesting to watch the terrain and vegetation change along the way. Things are very green and leafy in Wisconsin. The flowers are blooming. As the woodlands gave way to the flat, opening terrain of northwestern Minnesota, where the pelicans, cormorants, and egrets convene for summer, I traveled back in time as the leaves got smaller and smaller. Imperceptibly, as I crossed North Dakota to the west, the grass got shorter and browner and the trees disappeared. Not much time left now to finish all the projects that need doing. I now have a roommate to keep me company and to try not to get my stuff mixed up with.

Departures

Just when I was getting accustomed to my interesting sparrows around the apartment - I even bought new bird seed for them - they all left. That Harris's sparrow that sang outside my window? Gone. The huge flock of white-crowned sparrows? Gone. There are just a few left now. I suppose I expected it, but it was nice to have the variety around for a week. It justified my excitement.

An orange-crowned warbler or two have been very active in the blooming wild plum tree in front of the visitor center, devouring all the insects there to feed on the flowers. I've seen a couple of yellow warblers around, too.

And then came the Rain

Finally, a dose of precipitation. After a winter with little more than a couple inches of snow on the ground and measuring precipitation in the hundredths-of-an-inch, we got a little over .85" of rain last night, mixed with some light snow. Now, for many of you out there reading the blog, eight tenths of an inch of rain doesn't sound like much, but that amounts to a near crisis in a place that doesn't usually get too much rain.

Here is some current hydrologic data on the Little Missouri River in Medora. The blue line is the reading at the gauge and the green line is the forecast for the coming hours.

Medora is conveniently located on a floodplain.

Amazing Every Day

My list of bird sightings continues to grow daily with observations of familiar returnees and exciting new sightings.

I left my window open last night because it was actually warm enough to do that. Little did I know the robins would start singing outside my window at 3:48 AM.

I spent the last two days at Painted Canyon, where the day is long but something interesting usually happens. I have been distracted by the pair of lark sparrows there, which have an interesting song and beautiful streaks of color on their heads. I have never seen that bird before. Today I got a couple pictures of the lark sparrows for the park.

Today was even better where, between the bison bulls in the parking lot and the prairie falcon buzzing by the ridgeline, I saw some interesting things. I saw the first brown thrasher I've ever seen. Maybe I just haven't been looking for them. I was interested how much it just looks like an oversize thrush.

I also spotted a male and female orange-crowned warbler in the bushes.

Later in the day, I got a great look at a male yellow-rumped warbler, a bird that must be in the top 5 most beautiful in my book. I've known that bird very well since watching one hop along the trail in front of me in Yellowstone in the geyser basin, but rarely see them.

What will I see tomorrow?

One last note: the house finches decided to start building a nest in my window-mounted feeder. I can see how it's an appealing little cavity, but why would they put a nest there if they get scared every time I walk by? Foreseeing that there would not be enough time for them to hatch and fledge their young before I have to remove the feeder and go on down the road to Montana, I pre-emptively removed the feeder, spreading the remaining seed on the ground for my migrating white-crowned and white-throated sparrows.

More birding coups

Veery, white-throated sparrow, and Harris's sparrow all observed in the campground, along with mourning doves, northern flickers, cedar waxwings, chipping sparrows, robins, and a kestrel.

That savannah sparrow I saw yesterday and posted the photo of is listed as "suspected" on the birding card - one that has been seen in the area but never documented in the park. I win!

Harris's sparrow. It was kind of far away and it was getting dark, so the picture is a little blurry, but there's no mistaking what it is.

the Smell of Steak

The Rough Rider Hotel finally opened its restaurant for the season. It's a little fancier than the Iron Horse; I had filet mignon and we shared a bottle of Petit Bistro pinot noir, which I really liked. The food was great, but despite the smell wafting into my apartment every night calling me there, I think my wallet would be pretty thin if I go back more than once more this month.

More spring arrivals include savannah sparrows and spotted towhees. I have heard reports of orange-crowned warblers and yellow-rumped warblers, but have not observed them myself.

One of a flock of savannah sparrows in a prairie dog town. This was the only bird that let me get near enough to take a picture of it.

The house finches are starting to fight over my feeder. They will run me out of feed before too long. They put a couple sticks in the feeder, evidently staking their claim if they decided to put a nest there. I tried to discourage that.

Last but not least, we checked out the Dakota Dinosaur Museum in Dickinson. Entrance was $7 for adults for a museum that was generally OK. I still prefer the University of Wisconsin Geology Museum, which is FREE and has most of the same stuff (and a complete Edmontosaur). Really the Dakota Dinosaur Museum should be called the "impressive collection of rocks, oh, and also some dinosaur things." We did, however, punish the rest of their gift shop patrons for the upcoming summer by buying the best set of one-of-a-kind fossil bookends.

New Life

Things are changing by the day here as the leaves start to burst out of the bushes and the temperature gets variable with the shifting winds. Temperatures got up to 83 this week on one day, but then snapped back to the 40s for highs.

Bison are having their calves now, and there are quite a few newborns out in the park. Some visitors were concerned about an "abandoned" bison calf in the picnic area. I told them to just make sure to give it plenty of space so that the mother can feel more at ease to come back to it rather than "Well, it'll probably die." It wasn't there yesterday, so the situation had resolved itself one way or another, either to the benefit of the calf or else the coyotes.

Chipping sparrows arrived on 4/29, a sure sign of spring. On 5/1 there was a large flock of white-crowned sparrows outside the apartment, about 30 all together, though it was hard to get a count with their movement while they fed. I was trying to get a picture of them with the door cracked open when a red squirrel started looking intent on going through the door. It must have smelled the open peanut butter jar in the kitchen.

White-crowned sparrow

The pasque flower is blooming on a couple of the nature trails. I've been told the yellow parsley is also out. Overall, the junipers, sage, and other plants are starting to look more green by the day. Some rain will really help.

I updated my website with last month's pictures.