Varied Thrush

 Varied Thrush observed 10/1/2014 in a creek bottom 6 miles south and 1 3/4 miles west of the intersection of Hwy. 68 and Hwy 16 in McKenzie County, western North Dakota.  Strong west winds all day with off/on showers may have contributed to this stray.

Late Field Sparrow observed at the same date/location as above.

Late Savannah Sparrow also observed at the same date/location as above.

After a quick storm cell moved over the winds died down and miniature tornadoes of midges quickly grew along Odland's Dam in western North Dakota (6/4/2014).

 

"Midge" is a word I first learned when I got into fly fishing in Western Montana.  A "hatch" to a fly fisherman was similar to a high school student hearing "substitute teacher."  It means, for at least a day, things will be easier.  Trout are often rising to the surface to eat hatching or dying midges, and they're easily fooled by imitation flies.  Odland's Dam does not have trout, but the splash of an occasional bluegill could be seen slurping a midge off the surface of the water.  Perhaps more notably were the Common Nighthawks and swallows (Cliff, Tree, and Barn Swallows) that were swooping very close to fill their mouths with the insects.  At times it's difficult to imagine how a bird the size of a nighthawk can meet their daily caloric needs simply by flying around with their mouth open catching insects, however, the evening this photo was taken, it seemed like an easy occupation!

West Winds 15-25mph 5/11/2014

Here begins my humble attempt to keep a Naturalist's Notebook.  This was inspired mainly by my need for a web space to store and share photos of rare birds to be used as corroborating evidence for correct ID (i.e. for Ebird and state records).

Lewis's Woodpecker photographed 5/11/2014 just north

of the railroad tracks, 3/4 mile east of the town of

 Sentinel Butte, ND.