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