This morning I took off from Fargo very early. I went south down Hwy. 75, and in southern Wilkin County, the fields were flooded completely in some areas on both sides of the road, and it was in one of those spots(1/4 mile south of 440th St. on Hwy. 75) that I flushed a Snowy Owl from the roadside. It was about 4 A.M., so it was pitch black. I turned around, and luckily, because there was no dry land for a long way, the owl returned to the roadside and I got great looks at it in my headlights. I ended up at Salt Lake at dawn, and was greeted to a lake teeming with waterfowl. Unfortunately no geese other than Canada. 17 species were present, no rare ones. After scanning the ducks, I walked the cedars about 1/2 mile north of the Lake. I heard a YR Warbler and started to follow the sound when I flushed a Long-eared Owl. I eventually found two YR Warblers, and just the one Long-eared Owl. Then I headed back north to Fargo, and birded my way back. GWF Geese were found in small numbers around Mud Lake in Traverse County, along with a Greater Yellowlegs. 200 GWF Geese and 10 Cackling Geese were found in Wilkin County along Hwy. 75, a couple miles south of the Snowy Owl spot. Tundra Swans were everywhere in Traverse, Wilkin, and Clay counties. Also had a Vesper Sparrow near Big Stone NWR in northern Lac Qui Parle County. No white geese the entire day!!
Ben Fritchman Fargo, ND NDSU
