Welcome to the Prairies! The tour begins upon pick-up at the Bismarck Municipal Airport (BIS). Be ready for pick-up here at 2:30pm. If arriving by air this day (rather than a day prior), be sure flights arrive by 130pm. We will head out by 2:45pm for some birding nearby and hope to hit a wetland area nearby to get our first taste of the Prairie Potholes. Expected birds could include our first Black Terns, Yellow-headed Blackbirds, American White Pelicans, and a variety of breeding waterfowl including Redhead, Ruddy Duck, Canvasback, Lesser Scaup, Blue-winged and Cinnamon Teal and more. Night in Minot.

“Why not Minot?” Well, some say: “Freezin is the reason”, but we’ll be here at the right time to avoid that. Within a couple hours’ drive of Minot are a whole host of great birding and wildlife areas. From the Lostwood and Des Lacs National Wildlife Refuges where the Clay-colored Sparrows and Upland Sandpipers give voice, to the migrant trap that is the Denbigh Experimental Forest with its incredible density of nesting Least Flycatchers, to the many other grasslands and wetlands in the area which host breeding birds like Chestnut-collared Longspur, Sprague’s Pipit, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Common Nighthawk, American Bittern, Sora, Virginia Rail, and sparrows including Vesper, Lark, Savannah, Grasshopper, Nelson’s and even Baird’s. We’ll have our hands full covering the area as wholly as is ideal, but three nights here will put us in a good position to see much of what it possible in this rich area. Nights in Minot.

Though a travel day, with a good distance to cover between Minot and Malta, we should see a good number of birds along the way as we cover some ground. We will take stock of our wants and needs and aim at seeing a few birds as we head out of North Dakota, switching time zones as we enter Mountain Time when we cross into the Big Sky Country of Montana. Soon the Lark Buntings and Loggerhead Shrikes should pick up, and we’ll find lunch along the way as we head for the small town of Malta, our home for the next three nights. Night in Malta.

With a good array of public roads and BLM land surrounding town, and proximal to the top eBird hotspot in the state at Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge, we will have plenty to do here over our three night stay. A former stop along the Great Northern Railway, apparently this town got a post office in 1890 and a government official allegedly spun a globe for a name for the town here, and his index finger landed on the Mediterranean island of Malta… or so it goes. The town doesn’t have much to offer a normal traveler but of course we are not normal travelers, and for us us this area is a treasure trove of birds and animals with some nice wildflowers mixed in to boot. Amongst the Prairie Smoke, Meadow Deathcamas, and Great Plains Yucca are Black-tailed Prairie Dog towns, a few Black-tailed Jackrabbits, and copious Richardson’s Ground Squirrels, or “Flickertails” as they’re known locally. For birds we won’t be hurting either and the nesting shorebirds often pick up here with Marbled Godwits, Long-billed Curlew and “Western” Willets becoming more a part of the picture, while Eared Grebes, American Avocets, and Cinnamon Teal frige the wetland areas. The Bowdoin (pronounced “BO-Doyn”) Refuge is so full of birds and animals, we’ll be wise to visit one or more times, as the lake there often harbords thousands of waterfowl, especially Gadwall, American Wigeon and various teal, as well as hundreds of nesting Franklin’s, California and Ring-billed Gulls and a colony of American White Pelicans too. We will visit a shortgrass prairie area as well where the distinct Thick-billed Longspur will hopefully accommodate and where a Ferruginous Hawk or Golden Eagle could make a pass by us. Nights in Malta.

Our last full day together we will head west towards Yellowstone. We’ll again take stock of what we and haven’t seen and try a route that nets us something new, different or improved. Maybe we’ll learn of an animal den we can approach at a safe distance or a raptor nest or just a good birding area, such as the Russell National Wildlife Refuge. Likely we’ll enjoy a little getaway birding not too far from Malta, before we endeavor the long drive to Big Timber where we’ll stay for the night, before our final morning together. Night in Big Timber.

About an hour east of the Bozeman/Yellowstone International Airport, we’ll head out from Big Timber this morning and plan to do a little birding around the Livingston area before we drop folks off at the airport at 11am. If you wish to join us for a short tour of Yellowstone, there is an option for that. Otherwise, we’ll hope to see you again soon.