Red-winged Blackbird and Black Hawthorn

It was delightful to discover the Minot Outdoor Recreation Area and to spend 2 1/2 hours there almost completely by myself at 6am. It’s in the rolling hills surrounding Minot (that itself is in a ravine). But today is probably like most days, I suspect, this area is used by only a very few. 
There are 5 miles of trails, lots of gulleys, small sloughs, and a million birds - most of which I only heard, and of the many I saw, I only identified a few. But, my trusty Merlin app was having a hay day id’ing well over 30 birds by their calls. And a million plants, too. See a Silverleaf scurfpea in the Extras.It was blissful.
In the afternoon, we went to a memorial for our cousin Mary Ann who died in May. It was at the home of her oldest son, and turned out to be a stones throw from the bird spot. It was really good to see her sons and a few folk from Upham, the small town where we and our cousin grew up. I hadn’t met her youngest son and hadn't seen the others for years. They all had such Kongslie-ness, I loved it. In the pic are myself and my sister and behind is the daughter of another cousin, and Mary Ann’s sons.