Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge

My first survey was by the million acre wildlife refuge, north of Winnett. There are 15 larger wildlife refuges in the US, but 14 are in Alaska. In the lower 48, the Charlie Russel is second to the Desert Wildlife Refuge in Nevada.

Go past Tin Can Hill Road.

Western Meadowlark

Good car birding.

Go another 26 miles.

19 more miles.

Western Kingbird

27 more miles.

Montanans think nothing of driving 83 miles from Jordan to Miles City for dinner. Kim drove to the Dakotas for the day. Tom Steele thinks 8 hours and 10 stream crossings is a shortcut.

After three hours, I made it to the refuge.

Requisite Lewis and Clark placard.

I turned right onto a 2-track. Went 5 miles through three gates, one difficult.

Got to camp and realized I had done this survey in 2019. But I got lost that year and walked in from the south (faster than driving around to the north).

It is much drier than I remember. They get 11 inches of rain per year; 2 inches more than desert conditions.

One side of the valley is a burned forest. Birds love it here: Bullock’s Oriole, Orchard Oriole, Red-headed Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Hairy Woodpecker, Eastern Kingbird, Western Kingbird.

On the drive out, a guy and dog overtook me in a 4-wheeler. His great-grandfather homesteaded here. When I complained about how dry it is, he said, “You should have seen it last year. That was terrible.”

Homestead and empty reservoir.