Stuff Seth Sees

07/20/2026

Coyote

Go get lost.

07/16/2026

Willow Ptarmigan - Denali NP - Wild

It’s been about 10 days of temperatures above 90° in ND, with 4 days in a row above 100°. I’m missing the cold humidity of Alaska while sitting in this row-crop hydrated greenhouse outside.

If anybody tells you that the heat is better than the cold, please just tell them they’re wrong.

I can throw on layers until I look like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, but I can only take off so many layers before they tell me I can’t go near a school anymore. And I can’t exactly peel off my skin, try as I might.

The humidity and some timely rains, however, have really made the prairies pop in color. More photos to come from some of my recent adventures soon.

Go get lost.

07/16/2026

See you there! Come join us!

Join the Grand Forks Prairie Partners to improve your public land grasslands on Turtle River WPA!

Woody encroachment from Russian Olive is a huge threat to the remnant grasslands present in the Kelly’s Slough system. Together, with the Grand Forks Prairie Partners, we hope to knock back the invasion and restore the grasslands to their fullest strength, providing habitat for grouse, songbirds, and other grassland wildlife!

Link 🔗 events.pheasantsforever.org/events/hands-on-habitat—kellys-slough-nwr-system—grand-forks-prairie-partners/9d4e318c-4790-44ad-ac35-d245e6683eed 🔗

We will meet at the Kelly’s Slough observation tower at 8 am and shuttle/carpool north to the access point on Turtle River WMA

Feel free to bring your own brush-clearing and tree-felling tools or safety glasses and gloves if you’d prefer!
Please wear boots/sturdy shoes and long pants. Longer sleeves are recommended to reduce scrapes and pokes from Russian Olive trees.


More information on RSVP Link
For any questions, please contact Seth Owens - [email protected]

Lunch and refreshments will be provided on site
If you have any allergy concerns, please contact Seth Owens - [email protected]

07/04/2026

250 Years of our United States.

“Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country”

-President Theodore Roosevelt

Go get lost.

07/02/2026

Lazuli Bunting - Theodore Roosevelt NP, ND - Wild

I can’t think of a bird species that I associate with TRNP than a Lazuli Bunting.

They seem to sing loud and proud from every scorched juniper and clump of white sage. They’re a phenomenal bird with a call that rings through the canyons and draws of ND’s Badlands.

In the background, you’ll also hear a Yellow Breasted Chat. A tougher bird to get on camera, but not a tough one to hear. They’re plentiful and they let you know where they are! This Lazuli Bunting yawns sleepily. Maybe the chat has been keeping him up all night with his grating squawks and bell notes.

I’m very please to have gotten a nice video of a Lazu singing. They were one of the first “chase birds” that I ever travelled specifically to see. And though my lifer wasn’t in the park, I can’t help but smile when I see them adorning the scenery of our National Park.

Go get lost .
#

06/30/2026

Bighorn Sheep - Theodore Roosevelt NP - Wildish

I’ll be spending the week out at the TR Library opening ceremony. Swing by the conservation corner and look for the Pheasants Forever booth!

While I’m out there, I’m not expecting to really see any wildlife at all. This place will be a zoo of tourists and “oofdas”. I do plan on spending some time on some private land prairie trying to capture some western prairie birds and maybe some more pronghorn.

This fall, I plan on spending more time with mammals. I’ve never seen two deer fight, I’ve only heard an elk bugle once, and I’ve never seen and battles between pronghorn on the prairies. This fall, between hunts, I plan on searching for that behavior.

Feathers are great, but they’re drab in the fall. It’s time to focus on Fur.

Go get lost.

06/27/2026

Color on the Prairie - National Grasslands Week.

What’s your favorite color to see on the prairies?

From birds like the White-Faced Ibis or Lazuli Bunting, or flowers like Wild Bergamot and Purple Coneflower, or insects of all shapes and shades. There is an abundance of color on the prairie.

These shades aren’t always as bold as what we see in the jungle or swamps, but they exist for those who slow down and enjoy it. The prairie is a jungle of color for people who get off the pavement, tighten their boots up, and wander into the grasslands.

It’s so much more than a sea of green. And I implore you to get out and enjoy it.

Go get lost.

06/25/2026

Yellow Rail - National Grasslands Week

Grasslands are so so much more than grass. They’re a diverse mosaic of microhabitats stitched together in gradients based by elevation, water, wind, and vegetation.

One of the more forgotten micro-biomes in the grassland is the sedge meadow, and there’s no better mascot for sedges than the Yellow Rail.

I’m one of the few people ever to photograph Yellow Rails in North Dakota. I don’t claim to be an expert at all, but my success with them one time has sent me down a rabbit hole. Specifically on their habitats.

Sedge meadows form in areas with seasonal flooding, usually on the margins of a larger wetland or up a drainage ravine. They’re one step in the gradient between upland to wetland.

Effectively, sedge meadows are grasslands with regular seasonal flooding that prohibits most perennial grasses. In the spring, depending on snowpack and precipitation, sedge meadows are fully flooded by a couple of inches of water, but by late summer they’re typically just slightly spongy areas with dark green rushes and sedges.

Sedge meadows form the in-between step between the well-recognized wetlands and the ever-thought-of uplands. They’re the middle child, and fall under that same curse of being forgotten. (Except my younger sister is way more popular than me)

This habitat is crucial for Yellow Rails, but also highly important for Nelson’s and LeConte’s Sparrows, Sedge Wren (fitting), and countless other habitat specialists. For ducks and gamebirds, these areas are phenomenal for brood rearing as they tend to be loaded with invertebrates that are crucial for growing chicks. We need these spaces more than anybody truly realizes.

Never forget the sedge meadows, and never forget the click-click, click-click, of a Yellow Rail.

Go get lost.

06/24/2026

Western Meadowlark (and sharptails) - National Grasslands Week

The fluting call of the western meadowlark is one that’s very near and dear to me. It was one of the first birdsongs I memorized when I was probably about 5 years old.

Meadowlarks are great, they’re the state bird of 6 prairie states, and if you’ve ever been one of the folks that slow down and listen to their calls, I can understand why they’re so popular. But… maybe they are overused.

In my mind, the sharptail would be an even better state bird for North Dakota. They’re an iconic species of the northern Great Plains, and ND holds about 20% of all sharptail in North America. Our populations are key strongholds for the species.

Another reason why I think they’d be better is that they’re a native gamebird, and we can just have another one-up over Lesser Dakota down south with their non-native Ring-Necked Pheasants.

Go get lost.