The tiny blue dot shows where we were the morning of June 18th. There is grass as far as you can see until the foothills appear.
This is almost lush compared to the short, dry grass we saw yesterday. The difference in habitat means we’ll find different birds. Our first sighting of the Sprague’s Pipit came soon after we got here. This description from the Montana Government website describes what we witnessed. “The bird is most easily detected by its unique flight song given high overhead (as high as 75 meters); a high-pitched, thin “jingling” sound that can continue for as long as an hour (Peterson 2002, King 1981). Johnsgard (1992) notes that the species’ spectacular circular song-flight display around its territory, during which its white outer tail feathers are conspicuously spread, compensates for its particularly inconspicuous plumage.” No photos of this bird since it was high in the sky when we saw it. Another lifer was the Chestnut-collared Longspur (left). This is a sparrow-like bird with a black breast, a golden face and a bright chestnut-colored collar.
We drove to another spot nearby, with the same type of habitat, and we heard another Sprague’s Pipit. We heard Western Meadowlarks, Savannah Sparrows and Thick-billed Longspurs and finally- Baird’s Sparrow, Singing his heart out.
Our next stop was to look for the owl that makes its home underground. He was easy to find-just look for Prairie Dog! The Burrowing Owl nests in abandoned Prairie Dog burrows. The dogs and the owls seem to get along just fine.
We continued to travel east and south, stopping here and there for roadside birds, Josh keeping his window cracked, listening for any bird singing. We stopped at Pictograph Cave State Park where we saw the Rock Wren, Lazuli Bunting and a few other species. No Canyon Wren which was too bad because it has a beautiful song.
We drove on to Beartooth Pass. We hiked to an area with huge red boulders. Flitting around were some small very dark birds that showed some pink as they flew. These were Black Rosy-Finches, only seen at high elevations. Also seen were Mountain Bluebirds!
Wow! This is amazing!