Photo ABCs

Lake Metigoshe Birds

Lake Metigoshe State Park in North Dakota is one of the prettiest parks I have been to.

If I lived in North Dakota I would certainly spend a lot of time there!

Here a few birds photographed in or around Lake Metigoshe State Park:

Least Flycatcher:

Male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. The male has a red throat.

Chipping Sparrow:

Is there any bird prettier than a Yellow Warbler?

Cedar Waxwing:

A number of shots taken from a canoe on a rainy day at School Section Lake, part of Lake Metigoshe State Park:

Red-necked Grebe, who doesn't mind the rain:

Female Bufflehead:

Common Goldeneyes:

Canada Geese:

 

 

Bald Eagle

A Bald Eagle patrols the skies near Lake Metigoshe State Park, North Dakota. Photographed in June of this year:

Blue-winged Teal

Showing how it got its name!

Photographed at Salyer National Wildlife Refuge, near Minot, North Dakota, in June of this year:

American White Pelicans, Red-necked Grebe

Photographed at Lake Metigoshe State Park, North Dakota, in June of this year:

North Dakota Sparrows

Sparrows seen in North Dakota in June of this year:

A Savannah Sparrow, singing away at Powers Lake Waterfowl Production Area. My hearing is usually not good enough to hear the high-pitched Savannah Sparrow, but I heard this one!

The secretive Le Conte's Sparrow shows itself for just a moment at Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge:

A Vesper Sparrow, sings in the vacant lot next to our hotel in Minot:

A Chipping Sparrow, bringing an insect back to its nest. Photographed at Metigoshe State Park:

A Clay-colored Sparrow, at the Denbigh Experimental Forest near Minot:

Baird's Sparrow. The Baird's Sparrow has a small breeding range, consisting of the Dakotas, Montana, and the adjacent Canadian provinces. Life-bird! (As was the Le Conte's Sparrow)

 

Chestnut-collared Longspur, Bobolink

A Chestnut-collared Longspur, photographed not far from Minot, North Dakota, in June of this year:

A Bobolink, photographed in prairie habitat near Minot. Two life-birds for me!

White-breasted Nuthatch, Brewer's Blackbird

A White-headed Nuthatch perches next to its nest cavity in Oak Park, in Minot, North Dakota. Photographed in June of this year.

A Brewer's Blackbird, photographed next to our hotel in Minot:

 

Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Kingbird, Sedge Wren

An Eastern Phoebe, photographed at the Salyer National Wildlife Reserve, North Dakota, in June of this  year:

An Eastern Kingbird, photographed at Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge the following day:

A Sedge Wren, photographed a few minutes later. The Sedge Wren looks and acts a lot like a Marsh Wren. It has a less prominent supercilium and some other differences, and occupies habitat farther away from the water than a Marsh Wren. Another life-bird on this trip for me!

 

Killdeer

A Killdeer parent is protective of its fledgling.

Photographed in June of this year at Powers Lake, North Dakota.

Veery

Of all of the birds I photographed in one week in North Dakota, this Veery, I think, was my favorite.

First, it was a life-bird for me, and second, it's so cheerful looking!

Photographed in Lake Metigoshe State Park in June of this year.