I left that area and headed back to the bog along Road 14. Very few birds were singing, but I did manage to find Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Hairy Woodpecker, Veery, and Yellow Warbler there.
I drove through Palisade to Route 169, headed north and then east onto Road 18. I parked and walked along the Grant and Aid Trail, the only other spot in the area I knew about that possibly held Connecticuts. It was a soggy area with stands of spruce and tamarack. I found Northern Flicker, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Cedar Waxwing, Nashville Warbler, and Swamp and White-throated Sparrow, but still couldn't find a Connecticut.
I returned to Route 169 and went to Grand Rapids. There, I started the 8-hour drive on Route 2 to Minot, North Dakota. Along the way, I stopped in Bemidji, Minnesota where I had lunch and saw the large statues of the mythical Paul Bunyan and his ox, Babe.
As I got closer to North Dakota, the miles of wooded areas began to give way to more treeless, open areas. I saw an Upland Sandpiper on a fence along the road. Just before reaching the border, I stopped at a rest area outside of the town of Fisher. A grove of trees surrounded the welcome center building and a small lake was behind it. While there, I was Blue-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck, Least Flycatcher, Western Kingbird, Tree, Cliff, and Barn Swallow, Gray Catbird, Warbling Vireo, and Northern "Baltimore" Oriole.
I entered North Dakota and passed through Grand Forks. Trees were now restricted to watershed areas and to the yards around people's homes. The farther west I drove, the more numerous the water-filled "prairie potholes" became. The surprising thing to me was that almost every depression that held water also held waterfowl of some kind or another. Frequent stops at these waterholes yielded Pied-billed Grebe, Green-winged and Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Redhead, Canvasback, American Coot, Common Snipe, and Franklin's Gull. Black Terns seemed to be everywhere. Red-winged and Yellow-headed Blackbirds were present among the cattails.
The open field areas produced Swainson's Hawk, American Kestrel, Upland Sandpiper, Eastern and Western Kingbird, and Western Meadowlark.
Just before reaching the town of Granville, I turned north onto 10th Avenue North, the road to Buffalo Lodge Lake, for 1.5 miles and then turned right again onto a dike road that divided a large, wet meadow. I was told that this road passed through excellent Yellow Rail habitat. Unfortunately, a section of the road had been washed out before I reached the prime area. However, birds seen in that area included Northern Shoveler, Swainson's Hawk, American Coot, Wilson's Phalarope, Black Tern, Eastern and Western Kingbird, Marsh Wren, Grasshopper Sparrow, Chestnut-collared Longspur, Bobolink, Western Meadowlark, and Yellow-headed Blackbird.
I decided to go back to Route 2 and try and find my way around to the other side of the washout. After running into two dead-ends, I finally did discover the other half of the road. The beginning of it passed through a slightly higher, drier area where I heard what I was sure was a Baird's Sparrow, but I wasn't able to find it. As I continued along the road, the very gradual downhill slope of the land eventually caused a change from a drier, browner habitat into a wetter, greener area. This wetter, grassy area was the preferred home of the secretive Yellow Rail.
As I got out of the car, I immediately heard a couple Yellow Rails. However, there was a big problem. They were on the south side of the road just beyond an electrified fence. The thought of crossing and electrified fence while standing in ankle-deep water was not a good one. I had visions of the landowner finding my charred body floating in the marsh and shaking his head when he found out that I died while looking for "a little bird".
It was now late afternoon and, since the rails weren't calling incessantly, I marked the spot with a pile of stones so I'd be able to easily find it later that night.
I then headed back to Route 2 and traveled west to Minot where I checked in to the Days Inn Motel. Once again, I was questioned when I told the clerk that I wanted a wake-up call at 8:00 PM, not "AM".
I climbed back into the car and headed back to the spot I marked with the stones. Dusk at this time of the year at this latitude was not until around 10:00 PM. I heard a Yellow Rail calling just beyond the dreaded fence.
I contemplated what the best strategy would be in trying to get a look at this bird. I decided to try and get the bird to come over to my side of the fence. First, I turned the headlights on the area I was standing at; then I played the tape. The bird instantly flew up out of the marsh and crossed the road, landing somewhere behind me. Unfortunately, all I had seen was a dark blur, so I played the tape again. All of a sudden, an extremely loud 'ticking' started right near my feet! I slowly put the tape recorder down in the grass beside the road and turned it on. A few seconds later, the bird popped up through the layers of grass next to the tape player that was only inches from my feet! It remained in full view for about ten seconds before scurrying back into the grass. I couldn't believe I had seen my 'life' Yellow Rail without even leaving the road. Not only was it a fantastic look at a very seldom-seen bird, it was also my 600th A.B.A. area bird. It was then that I realized, regrettably, that had I had my camera, I would have been able to get a picture of it. While there, I also heard other Yellow Rails, an American Bittern, and several Soras and Common Snipe. I headed back to Minot, still amazed that I had seen one of the most sought-after birds in North America.
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