Welcome to Kenmare

Feature Stories (Vol. 109 No. 24--6/13/2007)

Kenmare is a featured stop of the Burke County Birding Festival

By Caroline Downs

Kenmare will be a featured stop during the Second Annual Burke County Birding Festival, June 22nd and 23rd.

The waterfowl and shorebirds of the Des Lacs National Wildlife Refuge will be the attraction late Friday afternoon, with guided birding tours available starting about 4 pm.

For festival coordinator and Burke County Job Development Authority director Pat Tinjum, expanding the events across the Burke County border seemed like a perfect fit. "I’m so pleased Lostwood [National Wildlife Refuge] wanted to continue and I’m really happy we can come to the Des Lacs refuge this year," she said.

Last year, 114 birdwatchers and volunteers from eight states and across North Dakota, participated in the two-day event. This year, 45 people from eight states, including Massachusetts and California, have already pre-registered, and Tinjum expects to hear from more in the next week.

"The birders I know are so interested in the sparrows we have, where you can hear them as well as see them," she said. "This is a big event for our area. People are catching on to what’s happening with birding."

Tinjum referred to last year’s successful early morning tour, where birders logged LeConte’s sparrows, grasshopper sparrows, savannah sparrows, clay-colored sparrows, and an elusive Baird’s sparrow, along with a piping plover and Sprague’s pipit sighting, during one three-hour span. The Lostwood refuge is one of the few places in the United States where the Baird’s sparrow and Sprague’s pipit can be seen, which attracts serious birders from across the continent.

Festival events begin at the Lostwood NWR literally at the crack of dawn on June 22nd, with guided birding tours of the native prairie beginning at 6 am. Small groups will travel with knowledgeable guides across the refuge to see the birds and listen to their calls.

Following the early morning tour, at about 10 am, Karen Smith will lead a prairie walk. This activity will feature wildflower identification and a closer view of the native grasses and forbs that provide habitat for the grassland bird species.

Also at 10 am, Jackie Jacobson of the Audubon NWR will share a presentation with kids about building feeders for birds. Participants will learn more about feeders and the birds that use them, and will create their own bird feeders to take home.

Refreshments will be available throughout the morning, and lunch will be served to everyone at a site near the Lostwood headquarters building at noon. Several educational displays and publications will be set up for viewing, along with tables and chairs for informal discussions among the festival-goers.

At 1 pm, Greg Gullickson, outreach biologist with the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, will talk about "Becoming a Birder." His presentation is geared for all ages and experience levels, and will include another trip onto the refuge to view birds.

The festival will move over to the Des Lacs refuge next for guided tours. Local birders Darrel Rytter and Russ Rytter will lead the groups, traveling by buses from Tasker’s Coulee at 4 pm.

The Kenmare Association of Commerce and GooseFest Committee will join the fun as members prepare and serve a complimentary supper at the Tasker’s Coulee shelter starting at 6 pm. An art exhibit by the Lakeview Art Club will be displayed, as well as humorous "birdy" crafts made by 5th and 6th grade students at Kenmare Elementary School.

Events continue Saturday morning back at the Lostwood NWR with more refreshments and another early guided tour beginning at 6 am.

Floramay Miller, NDSU Extension Agent from Kidder County, will present "Birding Your Backyard" at 10 am Saturday. Miller draws from her 40 years of birding experience to talk about birds that visit city and residential properties and ways to keep them happy.

The official festival will close with one final walk Saturday morning to focus on common birds. Guides will give an understanding of the unique natural history of many common birds.

"Times [for festival events] are subject to change, but the general schedule will remain the same," said Tinjum. "We will also have plans for inclement weather."

All Burke County Birding Festival events, and the meals, are free of charge. The festival itself is sponsored by the Burke County JDA, Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge, and many community partners.

"There’s no way this festival can happen without all the wonderful donations and cooperation we’ve received from so many wonderful people," Tinjum said. "I am grateful for all the donations of time, talent and dollars. Without community support, we wouldn’t be able to produce the wonderful events we have planned."

After the Birding Festival closes for another year, the public is invited to Powers Lake for an area Beef Producers Luncheon at Lake Park from noon to 2 pm. More family activities are scheduled for the afternoon, along with a craft show and demonstration at the Legion Hall.

In order to plan for guides and food, Tinjum would appreciate pre-registration as soon as possible. The form can be downloaded from the birding festival page on the Burke County website at www.burkecountynd.com. Interested persons can also call the JDA office at 701-377-5627.

Tinjum said the Burke County Birding Festival had been advertised online at the Birdwatchers Digest and Audubon sites, as well as through birding groups in the state, the convention and visitors bureaus in Williston and Minot, and birding festivals held in May and early June.

The North Dakota Department of Commerce Tourism Division provided a grant for the event and listed it on their website, with a link to request a hard copy of the festival brochure.

The supply of brochures didn’t last long. "Our brochures disappeared from the website within seven days!" Tinjum said. "There was interest from all over the United States." In fact, one birder new to the festival registered earlier this spring from Tennessee.

As much as she enjoys hearing from bird enthusiasts around the country, Tinjum encourages local residents to attend all or some of the sessions. "This is an area-wide festival," she said. "We hope people know they can come to the festival and they don’t have to be an expert birder."

She describes herself as someone newly interested in birdwatching. "I just enjoy learning about where I live," she said. "We hope to get more people locally interested in birds and birding."

She is also planning a third annual festival, with the help of area communities. "I’d like to see the cooperation continue," she said. "People keep coming back. Last year, we had so many comments about our wonderful hospitality!"

Tinjum again invited area residents of all ages to any of the festival events that fit their schedules, especially the Friday afternoon and evening activities at the Des Lacs refuge. "We have the birds that people want to see," she said. "That’s what is so awesome. The refuges and the birds make it. Nature is the star!"