Day 88, Friday June 29, 2018 . Ruth's Birthday... a short ride, but fruitful.

Today was Ruth's birthday and she did get some phone "singing messages" early this AM. Her only request was for a nice big juicy steak. (Later)

The morning was spent inside as it did rain a bit  (very light) until about noon.  We wrote letters, made phone calls, did updates on the house in Grand Rapids,  and picked up a piece of mail at the office in the Park. Keeping a meds. supply handy is a chore when traveling for long times. (90 day limit will get you !)

Then we took  a 3 hour drive north of town to find the "field" birds. These are the  difficult ones to get sitting still. They often are in the road , but when you get close enough, they fly up and away, or into the grass. (Sparrows, Longspurs, Larks, etc.)

So it was a challenge as we knew it would be. Some of our strategies include watching the fence wires if there are any, and any poles and wires along side of the road. The middle of the road is a good spot as they like to get warm, I believe and pick up dead insects. Trees of course are good as well if there are any. Not many trees here in wheat growing Montana. You can see for 60 miles (That's the curvature of the earth limit for human eyes.) as the land is as level at some times as ice on a pond.

A good view of the Northern Plains in Montana.

Maybe a storm , maybe not. The clouds are often low.

If you can see it, this is one of many Horned Larks seen today.

A first for us was this Gray Partridge.

 We did "nail" a few more birds and two  that we had not seen*. Some were ;  *LARK BUNTING, HORNED LARK, *GRAY PARTRIDGE, MARBLED GODWIT, SAVANNAH SPARROW, CHESTNUT COLLARED LONGSPUR, WIDGEON, CEDAR WAXWING and a  GREAT BLUE HERON.  A good assortment along with others brought the 1/2 day total to 26.








The surprises of the day centered around the mammals we saw . Mule deer. So I'll show a few of these shots as it was a very exciting tine to see them close to the road.

On the last road to home we spotted these by the side of the road.

These are Mule deer. This one in mid leap.

A few minutes later we surprised these Mule deer Bucks.

We ended the day with a good dinner at "Stoughie's in the nearby town (27 miles away) of Hinsdale (pop. 300). Their excellent food was recommended by Ruth's Chiropractor here in Glasgow. She was not kidding.

Ruth's Rib steak and baked Potato.

Jim's Walleye fish and Potato.One huge fish (fresh)

The dining area. Yes, Jim had a beer.

The bar area of "Stoughie's in Hinsdale, Mt

Stoughie's from the front. Looks do not always reveal what is behind the doors.

Tomorrow we will journey a few miles to Fort Peck Dam and reservoir. Many sights besides the birds  and some Elk, Buffalo, and Pronghorns are guaranteed.