Day 21, Tuesday June 28, 2022, at Malta MT

 Day 21, Tuesday June 28, 2022, at Malta  MT

Today was the day to see Bowdoin NWR again.We had done this once before but always felt it was worth the time to do again. The Refuge and Lake B0wdoin is a :left0over: from the Missouri River after the glaciers left and isolated it from the River.Beaver Creek is it's main source of water as well as rainfall.

White tailed deer were abundant.

One of the many Western Meadowlarks we saw.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The auto tour around the lakes is 18 miles, and after starting at 9;30 Am we finished about 2:30 PM, stopping where ever we wanted or needed to to see the birds, wildlife and topography.

Baby Burrowing Owl near the Adult.

The adult Burrowing Owl that was a first for the Refuge.

The Great Northern RR or BNFSF now, which I rode to Kalispell MT in 1948.

 

A highlight of the day was a new bird. When we stopped at the Refuge Hq., we asked if there were any highlights today. "Yes", Janelle  answered, "We have a first time bird in the Refuge, a Burrowing Owl AND its young fledgling.". That was exciting news as we did not have that bird on our "life list". She explained where it was on the road so we wouldn't miss it. (We did, but back tracked to find it.)

The NWR is in the midst of a huge drought as is much of the west at this time, and the Refuge is suffering because of it.  The main lake is less than half the size of normal. and the main lake is reduced also by more than 50%. That meant that we did a lot of birding on the grassland until we got to the areas on the SW side that had more water. We did see more Western Meadowlarks that we had ever seen before. More than one hundred that we saw, and many more that were there. Lark Buntings were plentiful, as were Lark Sparrows.

 We did get to the marker that Janelle mentioned but did not see the bird or burrow.  I drove backward (one lane road) about 1/4 mile, and we spotted it on the opposite side that Ruth was sitting (back seat) , and settled in for some photo sessions. Not only was the adult there standing on a set of rocks (put thereby the Refuge) but one fledgling was perched a few feet behind the adult. We watched for fully 40 minutes.   It stayed ,only to move a few feet into the grass, and the young moved back to a second mound. It was a glorious time.

The Refuge HQ. from the end of the auto tour

Looking across the Refuge toward the Missouri River high banks.

YOUR TURN! You tell me what this is?

 

The rest of the ride was to see some water birds on the SW part of the Refuge. There were Phalaropes, Willets, Black Necked Stilts, Lesser Dowitchers and others with some ducks "sprinkled in". We did get our "Big Gun"the telescope ,out a few times for a better look.

The 77 F heat and full sun did wear us out some, but we had a  great tour around. We were disappointed that there was less water spots, but the 45 birds we identified, helped raise the spirits.

We returned to town, to celebrate at a DQ with Ruth's usual 'small Heath Bar Flurry' and I had a 'Moolatte'.

A stop at Hanks Hardware store to pick up another bolt for those hangers in the bathroom and we were back at the trailer.--Supper was hamburgs on the grill (Ruth of course). 

That was pretty  much the day.  Tomorrow we plan to go back to the refuge but do the last part first where the water is and hopefully see the birds in the AM.

Thanks for reading. Make a comment if you feel  like it.