Hi tweeters,

Thursday morning (3:00 am) we got back from Minot, ND where we visited
our daughter and her family.

First we would like to thank all those who offered suggestions on
places to look for some birds. We really appreciate it.

We managed to get in about 8 hours of birding and added 10 more lifers
to our list. Earlier this year Jerry said "maybe we could get 400
before the end of our 2nd year of birding"........well we did
it......404 and we still have 2 1/2 months to go. :-)

Our birding time was limited to the granddaughters school hours. The
areas we birded were Upper Souris (3 hours), Minot sewage ponds (3
hours) and Oak Park (2 hours one evening).

Birding from the train is fun. We did ID a few common birds, but at 79
MPH you don't have much time to see them. The fall foliage in Glacier
National Park is beautiful.

On our way to Souris NWR, we saw a BROAD-WINGED HAWK. It was in a tree
along side the road. Our son-in-law was very good at spotting birds.
Maybe we will have to send him a "bird book" for Christmas. We also
saw CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPURS and a BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER.

The sewage ponds had a good variety of birds. The FRANKLIN'S GULLS
hang out there, we think we also saw a SABINE'S GULL but are not sure.
There were AMERICAN AVOCETS galore. The grass and marsh land around
the ponds produced sparrows, a SEDGE WREN and a SPRAGUE'S PIPIT.

Our evening walk in Oak Park (in Minot) was very enjoyable. On the way
there we saw a "real" KRIDERS RED-TAILED HAWK. A local birder (Ron
Martin) said there were nesting pairs in the area. The park has
several pair of WOOD DUCKS. More Wood Ducks than we have ever seen in
one place at a time. We also saw our first YELLOW-SHAFTED NORTHERN
FLICKER.

We hope to make it back to Minot sometime. There are several other
birding spots we would like visit.

Pied-billed Grebe
Eared Grebe
Western Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Tundra Swan
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Northern Shoveler
Canvasback
Redhead
Lesser Scaup
Great Blue Heron
American Bittern
Northern Harrier
Cooper's Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk (lifer)
Swainson's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk ( Krider's)
American Coot
Common Snipe
American Avocet
Franklin's Gull (lifer) #400
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Northern Flicker (Yellow shafted) First one we have seen.
Black-billed Magpie
American Crow
Common Raven
American Robin
European Starling
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Sedge Wren (lifer)
House Wren
Black-capped Chickadee
House Sparrow
Sprague's Pipit (lifer)
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler (lifer)
Palm Warbler (lifer)
Mourning Warbler (lifer)
Chestnut-collared Longspur (lifer)
Song Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Savannah Sparrow
Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow (lifer)
Baird's Sparrow (lifer)
Lark Sparrow
Western Meadowlark
Brewer's Blackbird

Sandy and Jerry Converse
Grand Coulee, WA
mailto:sanjer at televar.com

http://members.tripod.com/nature_scenic_photos/

Never be afraid to try something new.
Remember, amateurs built the Ark and
Professionals built the Titanic.