[cobirds] NWR WY & MT

Hi All-

We just returned from 2 weeks on the road birding in WY, MT, S & N Dakota. I thought I'd share some info on the NWR's where we stopped. I just mention anything unusual we saw at each one. We had to pick & choose which NWR to stop at for there are so many. We chose some for they were on the way to where we needed to go. A couple we would not ever return to but it was still fun going to them.

We also birded 4 National Parks, 2 State Parks, pull outs, small lakes & rivers & creeks & city parks in every town where we stayed. 

If you need any tips on road trips during CV send me an email for we are experts now!

More experienced birders may get more species at each stop than we did but each stop was unique & some a real adventure finding. 

*Hutton Lake-East of Laramie, WY. Google took us to a ranch & thank goodness a cowboy came along before we drove down the long drive to the ranch house & he knew exactly how we should get to the NWR. He said yes google sends birders to them all the time. He was very nice about it. This lake is close to home so you can make it a day trip if you just want to stay close. I do not remember the road names but you want the road that looks like it goes into the cement plant.  38 species.

*Pathfinder-Outside of Casper, WY-2 parts to this WR. We somehow found the lake with no signs, dirt track, out in the middle of nowhere next to another huge ranch. You can drive right onto the beach. Trust me there is no one else around! This ranch at one time was 140,000 acres & now is 638 acres. 18 species at this lake.

The main sign is off of HWY 287 & that is Steamboat Lake which had 100's of avocets. 

11 species.

*Ninepipe-North of Missoula, MT-MT is cedar waxwing country!  Also yellow warblers! Lots everywhere! 36 species.

*Pablo-North of Missoula, MT-Lots of Canvasbacks & Eastern Kingbirds.  27 species.

Thibadeau Lake-North of Havre, MT-We discovered we went to the wrong lake so we really have not been to this NWR. We birded a different lake about 2 miles from the real NWR. Never trust google! 15 species.

Creedman Coulee-North of Havre, MT-This is the NWR where you get the text welcoming you to Canada! You can even see into Canada! We finally got to the refugee after talking to a Border Patrol Officer who just happened to be at the side of the dirt road we were on & going through 3 of the barbed wire/pole fence gates. We are convinced ranchers in this area remove signs & make it as difficult as possible to get to the WRs. We even found a bent NWR boundary sign & an extra nail put in a post at a gate just to make it more difficult to go through. Anyone else experience this? Thibadeau & this refuge are way out in the middle of nowhere again. We were happy to see the BP Officer. 19 species.

Bowdoin-Outside of Malta, MT-The Grand Daddy of them all. We estimated 50,000 birds here & that's probably a conservative number!! This is the only refuge we birded in the evening. There are so many birds here it's overwhelming. It's a very cool place! If there is one you should go to this is it if ever in the area. It's about 14 miles to drive around the lake. Our 1st female sharp- tailed grouse ever here.  52 species.

UL Bend-South of Malta-Hubby thought it would be a good idea to go on the back roads to this place. 20 miles & 2 hours later on bad dirt roads & almost getting stuck in mud we finally turned around. We never even made it to any water! Do not go to this place unless you have plenty of time, gas, food & water. There is no one around to help you if anything happens.

The good news was we saw the most amazing things on the dirt roads going to this place. First we saw 19 hawks each perched on it's own big round hay bale in one big field. That's something you just don't get to see. Then we saw an upland sandpiper on the road with 2 female sharp-tails. Also a long-billed curlew. So it wasn't really a waste of time going to UL Bend but again it was a lot of time spent on bad roads.

Charles M. Russel-South of Malta-Go here instead of UL Bend. Nice 2 mile civilized drive which we only did a small part for we did not have time or interest after our adventure in UL Bend.

Total species for the 2 weeks-still working on that.

Have mask, will bird!

Lisa Carp & Emil Yappert

Superior, CO

 

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