Road Trip

We were asked if we would like to go to Bismarck to pick up some signs for the refuge, and while we were out, we could stop by two other refuges to visit. I had mentioned to Colleen we would be visiting as many refuges as we could while here, after all, we like to visit and get our book stamped. It's nice to be able to do it on somebody else's dime. She suggested it and we took her up on it. 

The two refuges were located on the way to Bismarck. This is the one we stopped at on our way...Chase Lake. We walked into the headquarters building and were met by someone we worked with at Santa Ana NWR in South Texas. He saw us as we got out of the truck and thought, "there is no way that is them." We heard this deep voice behind us saying, "you are a long way from Texas aren't you?" It was Drew Williams, now assistant manager of that refuge. He introduced us to the project manager, who thought it would be a good idea for Drew to show us around the refuge. No time today, but we will be back for that treat!!! It was so good to see him and catch up with what is going on in his life. You just never know who you might see. We will have a post about that trip later.

The best bird we saw there was this Black Tern. The photo is not the best as he just would not stay still!!!

After Bismarck, we stopped by another refuge on our way back.

These are grebes...I think they are Clark's Grebes...the yellow bill and lighter flanks, but then look at the eye which makes me think they could be Western??? Anyway, I love that red eye!!!

The birding in the area has been fantastic. We have enjoyed watching birds from our dining window...we are up to 56 species of birds in our yard. We have a total of 148 species overall, with two of them being life birds for our list.

Until next time...