Day 16, Thursday June 23, 2022, last day in Minot ND

 Day 16, Thursday June 23, 2022, last day in Minot ND

A Dad carrying three chicks (Red Necked Grebe)

                                                                Mom keeping check.  (See below)

Today we DID head for Clark Saylor NWR. It is  about 54 miles from our campsite , and we were on the road at 9:15. Ruth put the chicken in the marinade, we packed a lunch and off we went. No fast food out there in the Refuge! Unless you could catch a fish, maybe? We did see two fishermen in the Refuge!

Th Refuge in North central ND

Jim's turn to take a few photos

The only road through the Refuge (18 miles)

The scraper had gone just ahead of us and turned
 around and met us coming the other way (He gave way)

 The Refuge is NE of us and we took US 83 north 25 miles to Co Rd. 30 east to the Refuge. There were many stops for pot hole birds along the way,  but we realized to get to the Refuge we would have to keep moving.

The Refuge is 58,000 Acres along the Souris River. A stop at the Refuge HQ, was good as we met Liz and Jane the Fish and Wildlife  workers , who gave us good hints about birds and animals, and explained how the units in the Refuge work. There is a north  Unit and a south Unit. The north one has a high road along the Souris River enabling a viewer to look down on the river and wetlands. We took the north one first and after a 10 mile drive to the road through the grassland on a one track road, we met a local rancher, who filled us in on the road, the weather, the grass,  and his calves. (They could not be seen in the tall grass this year which was not like last year when it was brown and short.)

We saw many Red Necked Grebes

The Souris River on the north unit.

The high bank (left) we took through the grassland.

 

We saw only one new bird on this stretch , the Horned Billed Grebe, although  there were many birds along the river and in the fields. This is grassland  and prairie along the wetlands of the River.

We doubled back the same way we came, found the south part of the refuge and followed that gravel road all the way to the end of the Refuge.  That is about 13 miles. This road wound around the River, crossed it, and followed the marshes that surround the river on the east side. There were many water grass areas. and the main grass is 'phragmites' that fill in gradually the wet areas until they become solid.  This is one reason the Refuges control the water flow with small dams so they can move the water through when needed. This part of the river has three (small) dams to do this.

Explaining the Truss bridge structure

The Thompson Well

The steel Truss Bridge they saved .

 

We also stopped to see some history in the way of an old farmhouse (not standing anymore) that had a water pump at "Thompson's Well".  Don't see many of them any more and thys one had very fresh water after a few pumps.

The other part of some history was the truss, pony bridge that was built in the early 1900's to replace the wooden ones that were becoming costly to the Counties to replace. When rivets were invented they replaced the old bolt type bridges. They saved this bridge as a reminder of the past.

It is a huge Refuge (see above) and takes time to get through it. We got back to the campground at 3;30, just in time to take a few camera shots of two barns that Ruth spotted along the way. Traditional barns are not used much here in the plains.I suspect the steel sheds are more useful in both the cold and windy weather that they have out here.

Ruddy Duck, has unique features.

We did get to watch some "crop dusting", both coming and going.

One of two barns and we talked the horse to pose.

This barn is actually on US 2 just outside of Minot

 

After filling up with gasoline (we drove 155 miles), we had a grilled supper of chicken and marmalade sauce. Those marinades worked well.

A brief storm is playing with us and no rain yet, but thunder, wind, sunshine  is all we got. It was a storm that was forming and was still moving east. (No rainbow yet!)... Yes! There was one but it is very "dim". ... (A few minutes later)...Now it is raining very hard and for the last 25 minutes we were in a deluge.

Tomorrow we head further west on US 2 to Williston ND, just a few miles from the border with Montana. It will be a two day stop and perhaps one day into Medicine Lake NWR, nearby.

P.S.Ruth informed me   have passed the 100 bird mark with 103 identified and counting!