The 57th Annual Theodore Roosevelt National Park Birdwalk and Chuckwagon Breakfast combines two of my favorite things -- birdwatching and eating. So, we did have some incentive to rise at 5 AM and drive into the park to participate in this year's event. More than 70 birdwatchers of all ages showed up. The group included serious birders who can identify birds by listening to a few call notes, those interested in adding to their bird lists (us), first-timers looking to see what birding is all about, and several who came exclusively for the pancakes, sausage, and cowboy coffee. With all of the flooding along the Little Missouri River in recent weeks, the conditions were perfect for birdwatching. The group identified 53 species of birds, one of the higher totals in the event's history. The locals were excited by the sighting of a red-bellied woodpecker, a rare sighting in North Dakota. We see them all the time at our backyard feeder in Gainesville so it was no big deal for us. We saw a Bullock's Oriole, which is only found in this part of the country. So we were really excited by that but the locals pretty much yawned their way past that tree.
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| More than 70 people showed up at 6 AM for birding and pancakes. |
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| We added the Bullock's Oriole to our bird list. |
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