Welcome to Kenmare

Feature Stories (Vol. 109 No. 27--7/04/2007)

Bird watchers marvel at variety of species found in the area

By Caroline Downs

Birds seen on the Des Lacs and Lostwood National Wildlife Refuges during the summer come to those areas specifically to take advantage of food sources and nesting sites.

The birders who attended the second annual Burke County Birding Festival, held June 22nd and 23rd on the refuges, came for a variety of other reasons.

Bob Neugebauer, the postmaster at Menoken, ND, made his first trip to the Burke County Birding Festival with digital camera in hand, hoping to fill in more of the album pages he has labeled for each bird species seen in North Dakota. He was delighted with his photo of a Baird’s sparrow, a rare bird he’d seen five other times. This sighting, however, could be his last after he crawled through the prairie grasses to position himself at close range.

"Once I’ve got a good picture, I don’t care if I ever see one again," he said, adding he wanted to travel to the Sheyenne National Grasslands to find a greater prairie chicken.

Terese Dudek of Sycamore, Illinois, came because North Dakota was one of two states she had not visited, and whenever she travels, she tries to fit some birding into her itinerary. "I’m surprised by the number of refuges here," she said. "I didn’t expect to see that many prairie potholes."

Dudek described herself as an avid birder, but her friend Anita Almeda, also of Sycamore, was the one who discovered the Burke County festival and sent for the information. "I’m the one who drives everywhere," Almeda said.

While the two women marveled at the variety of bird species in general, they especially noticed the populations of yellow-headed blackbirds and black terns. Both birds are common in this part of the country, but Dudek explained wildlife refuges in their part of Illinois were working to increase the numbers of both species there.

Pat Tinjum, organizer of the Burke County Birding Festival and executive director for the Burke County JDA, was delighted to see all the birders, regardless of their purpose for coming. According to her numbers, between 115 and 120 people, including volunteers, attended events over the two days.

"The most accurate count I have is the 45 participants who came for that first morning tour," she said. "That’s way over last year!"

The number of states represented at the festival also increased, from eight to 14 this year, including Minnesota, California, Nebraska, Wisconsin, New York, Illinois, Wyoming, Florida, Tennessee, Arizona, South Dakota and Washington, along with North Dakota.

Tinjum estimated nearly a third of the birders came from beyond North Dakota’s boundaries. "The people over here [at Lostwood] were amazed at the number of people who came from out-of-state," she said. "One couple from Illinois goes to birding festivals all over the United States, and they told me this is the best birding festival they’ve attended. We know the birds...are spectacular, and this says something about the hospitality we offer and all the volunteers!"

She planned the second annual birding festival with the help of Lostwood NWR Complex project leader Dave Gillund. The two enlisted the aid of local birders Karen Smith, Darrel Rytter and Russ Rytter and Corey Ellingson, Bismarck, as guides.

"We had such wonderful guides again this year!" Tinjum said. "They gave so much of their time and expertise."

Walt Popp, with 30 years of experience, agreed. He discovered the Burke County Birding Festival website and decided to make the drive, his first trip to North Dakota despite living near the Twin Cities. He works for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, so he identified with the perspective of guide Karen Smith.

"She did a nice job, both on the plant walk and the bird walk," he said. "I really appreciate the way she put [the birds and plants] in context with the habitat."

As a guide, Ellingson counted himself among the festival newcomers. He started birding with his backyard feeder about 20 years ago. "I progressed into the neighborhood and went on from there," he said. "I’ve been serious for about 12 years now. I’m one of the obsessed."

In fact, he now keeps a species list for birds he has seen in each of the state’s counties. He occasionally travels to South Dakota or Minnesota for birding excursions and has even gone to a couple of the national birding conventions, but he focuses on North Dakota birds.

Despite being relatively unfamiliar with the Lostwood NWR, Ellingson agreed to serve as a guide. "Being an avid birder in North Dakota, I feel I’d like to help out with these newer festivals," he said.

Ellingson and Russ Rytter agreed the birds were not as visible during the 6 am tours as they had been the previous year. "But we found all four we were looking for," Ellingson said, naming Baird’s sparrow, Sprague’s pipit, LeConte’s sparrow and Nelson’s sharp-tailed sparrow as the target species for the Lostwood refuge. He listed piping plover, upland sandpiper, marbled godwit and grasshopper sparrow as other key species for the morning.

"I always enjoy birding out there," added Russ Rytter. "There could be two people out there [for a tour] and I’d enjoy it."

In addition to the early morning tours, the program included a birding drive on the Des Lacs NWR Friday afternoon and supper at Tasker’s Coulee served by the Kenmare Association of Commerce. Despite high temperatures, three buses of birders watched the grebes, pelicans and wood duck in view at the southern end of the lakes and admired a sedge wren, an irregular species on the refuge, scouted by the Rytters.

The itinerary for the festival also included presentations at the Lostwood refuge by Jackie Jacobson of Audubon NWR, Greg Gullickson of ND Game & Fish, and Floramay Miller, the NDSU extension agent from Kidder County with 40 years of birding experience.

Nancy Bjergaard of Bottineau, who has been birding for five and a half years, participated in all the programs again after coming last year. "They do a nice job," she said. "You’ve gotta do the whole thing!"

Harlan Nelson grew up in Kandiyohi Township but makes his home in Phoenix these days. He comes back to the Kenmare area every summer to spend a few weeks relaxing and taking wildlife photographs. Like Bjergaard, he was a returnee to the festival, but not for the birds.. "Actually, the main reason I’m here is just to visit with people," he said.

Lori Leistritz of Minneapolis came to the festival because her father and stepmother from Fargo invited her. "This is my first official organized bird event," she said, explaining she had done some birding in the St. Croix River valley during the bald eagle migration. "I thought it would be kind of cool to do a North Dakota road trip. I think they’ve done a nice job with this [festival]."

Janell and Bevyn Ross of Carpio didn’t have far to travel, but it was the first time the pair, who make birding trips to the Southwest and Mexico, had the chance to really spend time with guides at the Lostwood refuge. The couple originally moved from Colorado to Kenmare for the birding opportunities. "It’s our passion," said Janell. "It’s what we do with any free time we have."

The Rosses were pleased with the day’s tours. "This morning, we ended up with fifty species," Janell said. "That’s a good day of birding. We just wanted to get some of those North Dakota specialties!"

World War II veteran Ernie Mohaubt and his wife Gloria of Jamestown have been birding together since 1968, but the Burke County Birding Festival was a new experience for them. Ernie read about the festival in North Dakota Outdoors, and the couple decided they’d earned a couple of days off after hosting a 100th birthday celebration for Gloria’s mother.

"We go on our own a lot," Gloria said. "But we’ve never done [a festival]."

The Mohaubts were also intrigued by the event because of a previous drive they had taken through the Kenmare area. "We were on a trip home from Canada," said Gloria. "We came through Kenmare and the Des Lacs refuge, and it was just beautiful!"

To Tinjum, all those reasons for coming to bird in northwest North Dakota are enough to continue making plans and seeking partnerships with area businesses for next year. She and Gillund will meet later to review evaluations of the festival and begin the planning process for 2008.

"We want to keep it fresh and keep the return participants interested," she said, refusing to reveal any of her new program ideas. "However, I can tell you it will definitely be the first Friday and Saturday after summer begins."

Information about the 2008 Burke County Birding Festival, as well as photos from the 2007 event, will be posted as it becomes available on the Web at www.burkecountynd.com.