Submitted Photo Western Grebe and chicks at McKenzie Slough. Photo by Doug Wurtz.

To loosely translate from Norwegian to English:

fri = free, lufts = air’s, liv = life

The English equivalent= Outdoor Life

North Dakota is rich in the variety of birds that spend the entire year here, visit on a seasonal basis, or just use the state as a flyway on their way to other places.

In an earlier column, I noted that the North Dakota Game and Fish Department has compiled a list “that includes 376 species of birds that are possible to see in North Dakota.” That list can be viewed at: http://gf.nd.gov/node/840.

One of my favorite sites for spring and summer birding is the McKenzie Slough Wildlife Management Area just south of McKenzie and about 15 miles east of Bismarck. An internet image of the slough labels it as three separate waterfowl production areas: The McKenzie Slough Waterfowl Production Area (WPA), the Slovarp WPA, and the Clizbe WPA.

Birding at McKenzie Slough is very easy. A 2.5 mile stretch of gravel road runs through the area with cattails and slough on both sides of the road. There is a fair amount of traffic on the road so the birds are pretty well acclimated to vehicles passing by. Photographers can get their best images by just staying in their vehicles and taking photos from both sides of their car.

I have spent three seasons visiting the site, taking photographs, and noting the arrival date of the individual species that spend the spring and summer at McKenzie.

One of my favorite species of birds at the McKenzie Slough is the Grebe family. There are six migratory species of grebes in North America: Eared, Horned, Least, Pie-billed, Red-Necked and Western.

I have seen and photographed four of the species at McKenzie: Eared, Horned, Pie-billed and Western. The Western Grebe is the largest of the family and, for me, the most photogenic. This long-necked bird is mostly black with a white chin, yellow beak and with striking red eyes. My earliest recorded arrival of this bird at McKenzie Slough is April 25th. One of its distinctive activities is known as “rushing” where, side by side, mates will dance across the water’s surface in their breeding routine and then dive under water at the end of the dance. I have witnessed the activity but have never gotten a satisfactory photo because the dance is so spontaneous and fast.

The real fun of photographing the Western Grebe is after the young have been born. Soon after hatching, the young grebes climb onto the backs of the adults and ride around waiting for the adult to catch some food and turn and feed the first available mouth. This gets really comical when more than one chick is on the adult’s back. I have seen four chicks at a time cruising around on Mom or Dad’s back waiting for a minnow or other food . When the adult gets tired of the activity, it will dive and wash the chicks off into the water. A mad scramble ensues to see who can get back aboard first.

Many species spend their spring and summer at McKenzie Slough. It is certainly worth the time just cruising up and down the gravel road witnessing and photographing their antics. The Western Grebe’s will always put on a show for you.

Doug Wurtz grew up near Ryder and graduated from Minot State University. His retirement activities include nature photography as well as serving as a Certified Interpretive Guide for the State Historical Society of North Dakota. He is past president of the North Dakota Archaeological Association. Doug and his wife, Linda, live in Bismarck.