I explore the prairie uplands and discover new shorebirds and ducks most of the summer. Now, I am restless about finding something new and discovering new birds for my life list. What is nearby? The Missouri River! The banks of a major river could offer up a different terrain and corresponding new birds. This is…
Sunday: time to go camping. I received an invitation to camp on someone’s farm land, near a small lake. Don’t have to ask me twice! Around noon I gathered up all garden produce that needing picking, washed it, and stashed in the frig. I also packaged up two days worth of veggies for the trip.…
The words Queen Bee conjure in my brain a single-minded bee, buzzing around more sedate bees, going here and there, owning the hive. That’s me. I buzz around endlessly, exploring, hiking, camping, paddling, bird-watching. The hive that I own is the mosaic of ecosystems called North America. The honey I seek is simply knowing, seeing,…
I like camping in the Turtle Mountains. Seriously. However, there is some weird stuff around here. The first weirdness presents itself as I hook up Half Moon to the electric box at my campsite.I splurge on electricity because I do not expect enough open sky to run the solar panel. As I reached over to…
The minister meeting in Minot, ND is over and I head east in my van, pulling Half Moon, my popup camper. I am off to the Turtle Mountains up on the border between Canada and ND. I have been forewarned not to expect real mountains—nothing like the Rocky Mountains, where I lived for 14…
My first big camping trip in North Dakota starts in a few days. I head up to Minot, ND for minister meetings, then along the border to Lake Metigoshi and the Peace Gardens. I hope to get in some good blogs! Minot is about 4 hours north of me and is even colder than southern North…
Well, I have to finish my story about the first camping trip before I can share all the wonderful birding adventures I have had since then. This place is unreal, and the bird peak is not really here. But first, a week ago, on my second night camping, I experienced 25-degree temps. I have a…
The northern migration along the central fly way is proceeding con gusto. I downloaded lists of which birds are in the area, which are moving on, and which are about to arrive. But, more fun than the lists: driving around Kidder County for a “look see”! Kidder County is a top ten North American birding…
Well, it is late fall and freezing temps are expected. Tango and I slept peacefully, with the camper heater on only a few times. It is sunny and beautiful today, so the solar panel is recharging the battery, which the heater fan runs it down. I am getting ahead of the story. I left Wheatland…
Last night, while camping, I awoke at 1 AM. I decided to get up, go outside, and stretch. Zowie! The dark, clear sky allowed me to view billions of stars. It was one of those nights where other parts of the Milky Way are visible. This morning I woke up in the camper just as…