Fall Road trip, days 1 and 2

Alex arrived in Rapid City on Friday, November 20.  From the airport, we went to Canyon Lake Park, where we found all the same birds I had been seeing during the previous week.  Here is Alex scoping out the lake.

The next day, we left Rapid City and drove to Mt. Rushmore.  Here is Alex and I at Mt. Rushmore

We found this brown creeper on a nature trail at Mt. Rushmore

brown creeper

Next, we headed for Custer State Park.  Here, we saw many pronghorns and bison, including this herd of pronghorn crossing the road.

In our travels through the Black Hills, we came across 6 gray jays foraging in the road.  I finally got some good pictures of them.

We also saw a prairie falcon and two golden eagles.

Our next stop was Wind Cave National Park.  There was a herd of 105 pronghorn in one area, and also two bald eagles in a prairie dog colony.

bald eagle and pronghorn

prairie dog gathering nesting material

We then headed to the park headquarters and did a one hour tour of part of the wind caves.  Currently there are 133 miles of caves known, and more are discovered with every expedition trip.

"cave popcorn" in Wind Cave

"boxwork" formation in Wind Cave

american crow, Wind Cave National Park

After spending the night in Hot Springs, South Dakota, we headed for Laramie, with a few stops along the way.  Here are the highlights.

ferruginous hawk (rufous morph) in WY

(same bird as above)

Throughout the day we saw 9 golden eagles.  This one was near Pathfinder NWR, where we saw most of

them on HWY 220.

black-billed magpie

golden eagle

We ended the day in Laramie, which seems to be covered in snow.  Hopefully there isn't too much snow.  Tomorrow we will head towards Estes Park, with an ultimate destination of Rocky Mountain National Park, before checking out a few wildilfe refuges on the way.

Rapid City, SD and Black Hills National Forest

Before Alex arrived, I spent my last few days in South Dakota near Rapid City.  I checked out the famous dinosaur park, and found these cute dino statues.

T-rex: very realistic...

Black Hills National Forest

In Black Hills National Forest, I found a gray jay, but my camera batteries died, so I didn't get a photo.  I also spent a lot of time at Canyon Lake Park in Rapid City.  Here are a few highlights of the park.

common merganser

     

male bufflehead

    

hooded merganser

   

potential cackling goose? (notice small beak)

    

tundra swans

bighorn sheep near Canyon Lake Park

       

dark-eyed junco at another city park

Updated Trip List: 113

This is my trip list from leaving PA on October 3.

1. house sparrow
2. american crow
3. european starling
4. turkey vulture
5. blue jay
6. red-tailed hawk
7. northern cardinal
8. white-breasted nuthatch
9. tufted titmouse
10. eastern phoebe
11. wild turkey
12. common grackle
13. eastern bluebird
14. roadrunner
15. scissor-tailed flycatcher
16. red-shouldered hawk
17. yellow-rumped warbler
18. american kestrel
19. brown thrasher
20. eastern meadowlark
21. western meadowlark
22. northern flicker
23. red-bellied woodpecker
24. american-white pelican
25. cooper's hawk
26. cattle egret
27. chipping sparrow
28. american robin
29. great-tailed grackle
30. killdeer
31. mallard
32. great-blue heron
33. belted kingfisher
34. osprey
35. great-horned owl
36. canada goose
37. american goldfinch
38. double crested cormorant
39. morning dove
40. rock dove
41. brown headed cowbird
42. savannah sparrow
43. american avocet
44. great egret
45. pied-billed grebe
46. northern mockingbird
47. northern bobwhite
48. wilson's snipe
49. sharp-shinned hawk
50. chimney swift
51. ring-necked pheasant
52. northern shoveler
53. ring-necked duck
54. greater scaup
55. american coot
56. long-billed dowitcher
57. black-billed magpie
58. blue-winged teal
59. franklins gull
60. peregrine falcon
61. barn swallow
62. tree swallow
63. common nighthawk
64. redhead
65. canvasback
66. merlin
67. wood duck
68. snow goose
69. greater white-fronted goose
70. short-billed dowitcher
71. american wigeon
72. greater yellowlegs
73. lesser yellowlegs
74. downy woodpecker
75. ring-billed gull
76. northern pintail
77. pectoral sandpiper
78. least sandpiper
79. semi-palmated plover
80. gadwall
81. green-winged teal
82. ruddy duck
83. eared grebe
84. white pelican
85. american bittern
86. little-blue heron
87. great egret
88. sandhill crane
89. buff-breasted sandpiper
90. stilt sandpiper
91. yellow-headed black bird
92. bald eagle
93. cedar waxwing
94. horned lark
95. white-crowned sparrow
96. greater prairie chicken
97. grasshopper sparrow
98. prairie falcon
99. dark-eyed junco
100. eurasion collared dove
101. house finch
102. mountain bluebird
103. golden eagle
104. tundra swan
105. bufflehead
106. hooded merganser
107. cackling goose
108. northern shrike
109. loggerhead shrike
110. trumpeter swan
111. rough-legged hawk
112. ferruginous hawk
113. red-headed woodpecker

South Dakota: Badlands National Park and Buffalo Gap National Grasslands

I finished all of my work for the Playa Lakes Joint Venture Habitat Survey three days ago.  On my last day of work, I saw this bald eagle:

immature bald eagle: Cherry County, NE

And this great horned owl:

great horned owl: Cherry County, Nebraska

And these two trumpeter swans:

trumpete swans: Cherry County, Nebraska

I said goodbye to Nebraska and headed north to South Dakota, only about a 2.5 hour drive.  My first stop was Badlands National Park.  The weather has been excellent here, and it was a gorgeous day in the park.  There really weren't too many birds around; in the park, I only saw a kestrel, some bluebirds, starlings, and a golden eagle.  But there was plenty of other wildlife to keep my busy.  At the entrance to the park was a few mule deer, including this huge buck!!!

As soon as you enter the park, you see just why this area was designated a national park.  If you haven't been there, you need to go!!!

About a mile or so down the road I came across this bighorn sheep, just walking down the middle of the road.  He barely looked at me as I snapped a ton of photos.  I let him walk by, then drove around again, just so he could walk by again.  At one point he walked right next to my car.  Later, when I drove back through this area, he was standing on the side of the road eating grass.

A little farther down was this mule deer, that had climbed to the top of an outcrop, and was following his buddy down the steep slope.

At another overlook, this little rabbit ran right towards me.  I later found out he was a desert cottontail.  There were more throughout the park as well, in addition to a few large colonies of prairie dogs. 

Over one colony of prairie dogs was this golden eagle.

And a little further down the road was a herd of bison.

As I was watching the bison, I noticed a coyote in the field.  I drove to get closer, and as another car drove by, the coyote got even closer to me, allowing me to get really good photos.  I have not been hiking alone ever since I heard of the story of a 19 year old in Canada getting attacked by two coyotes.  She later died in the hospital. 

The badlands are surrounded by various tracts of National grasslands.  I drove through the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands on my way to Rapid City.  Before I got there, I came across this herd of pronghorn antelope, the first I have seen on this trip.

Within the grasslands, I found this rough legged hawk sitting on this sand dune.  There are not many trees here, so raptors make due by using these natural perches.

So now I am in Rapid City, waiting for Alex.  In the last two days, I got an oil change and cleaned my car, and did some laundry.  Today I went to just about every city park, looking for birds.  I didn't find anything spectacular yet, but I will keep looking.