Tuesday, June 27, 2000

We traveled 80 miles today from Rugby ND to Devils Lake ND. It was a pleasant ride with a tail wind most of the day. We saw and heard all sorts of birds. The route took us through an area of lakes. In addition, every low spot between hills was marshland that was teaming with birds of all kinds. I recognized mallard and wood ducks and red winged black birds. I watched some type of hawk soaring across the sky and suddenly fold its wings tight to its body and plunge 20 feet into the grass. A minute later it appeared to fly away with some sort of pray in its claws. As we would go past these marshes, many of the birds would fly away. A car could pass and they would not move but a slow bicycle would cause them to take flight. It looked as though some of the birds were some type of tern, one looked like a swan, and there were many other birds.