Continuing along Upper Des Lacs Lake, you should see all of the grebes, pelicans, cormorants, ducks, gulls, terns, swallows, and blackbirds seen on the preceding tour, but this route is not as good for shorebirds or marsh species. The road is bordered for some way by a wooded area (primarily second-growth) with all of the normal nesting and migrant passerines.
After 4.0 miles you will see a boating and picnic area to the right. Just beyond this, turn left. Turn right at the yield sign (0.8 mile), and then turn right again on Highway 52 (5.0 miles). After 0.9 mile turn left on a gravel road and immediately pull off to the right at a dirt road by a gate. (There should be a small refuge sign on it.) By walking past the gate and following the trail, you will come to a photo blind overlooking a Sharp-tailed Grouse dancing ground. During spring as many as 40-60 birds may be seen displaying. The blind may be used for photography or simple observation. However, you are required to check with refuge personnel before entering.
To return to Kenmare, continue past the turn-off to the blind for 11.0 miles to Highways 52 and 2.
The bird which brings more birders to Kenmare (and to North Dakota for that matter) than any other has to be the Baird’s Sparrow. While it can be found in appropriate habitat over most of the state, there is one place where it is probably easier to find than in any other—Longspur Pasture, a privately owned area of mixed-grass prairie encompassing several acres. To reach it, start at Highway 52 in Kenmare. Turn west on Highway 2, go 1.0 mile, and turn right (northwest) on Ward County Road #2. After about 6.0 miles go straight west on Ward County Road #2A for 3.0 miles to an old country school-house on your right. Go another 1.5 miles and pull over just beyond two small tree rows. Longspur Pasture is the fenced, grassy field on the left (south) (west of the tree rows). Cross the fence to bird, but remember that this is private land and should be respected as such. Cattle are sometimes encountered in the pasture.
This quarter-section of relatively unspoiled prairie may not look like much, but it is one of the most productive spots around for finding the prairie specialties. Sprague’s Pipit, Baird’s Sparrow, and Chestnut-collared Longspur are almost a sure thing between mid-May and mid-August (the longspurs may leave by early August). Other species which may be encountered are Gray Partridge, Marbled Godwit, Burrowing Owl, Horned Lark, Western Meadowlark, and Savannah and Grasshopper Sparrows. Pronghorn Antelope sometimes come to the small waterhole to drink.
You may have to walk south into the field where the grass gets a little taller to find the Baird’s Sparrow. It likes to sing from the patches of wolfberry and silverberry. During the early stages of the nesting season, it is quite conspicuous. Later in summer singing diminishes, and the bird becomes a little harder to find. At this time it also seems to stick closer to the ground. However, you can still get good views by herding it toward a patch of wolfberry or silverberry. After being flushed a couple of times, the sparrow will often fly to the shrub and perch in plain view nervously repeating its call note, which is quite like that of the Savannah Sparrow (a sharp “chik”).
The Sprague’s Pipit may be slightly harder to see well. It prefers to stay on the ground where it is difficult to spot because of the grass. When flushed, it usually flies a short way and drops back into the grass. Unlike the Baird’s Sparrow, the pipit may be hardest to see when singing because it sings while on the wing (like a Horned Lark) and sometimes at amazingly high altitudes. At Longspur Pasture you will often hear its “swishing” song from overhead without being able to see the bird. Do not be discouraged by all of this. You may still get a good look at the Sprague’s Pipit. In spring and early summer it often perches on fence posts or sits around the muddy edges of the stock pond, where the grass does not obscure the view.
Longspur Pasture
Still one more large refuge in the northwest sector is Upper Souris National Wildlife Refuge. Although generally not as productive as Lostwood or Des Lacs, it is a good spring-through-fall birding location. The starting point is Foxholm (northwest of Minot on Highway 52). From the center of town (Miller’s Bar) go 0.7 mile north on U.S. Highway 52 and turn right on Ward County Road #11 at the flying goose sign. Go 5.6 miles, turn right, and after 0.8 mile turn left to the headquarters.