Do you bird, or take the other highway in life? Sometimes it’s better to not be in a rush and take the “other road/option”. Once again I find myself at South Dakota’s National Grasslands, but how did I get here? Like most folks these days I loaded my origin and destination into Google Maps, and my route was fixed. But wait!!!  There are always options. While Google tends to push the shortest route in terms of time on the road, this option almost always puts you on our national interstate highway system. Boring!

I created a route which specifically avoided I-90. It is very easy to do within Google Maps. The user need only add an intermediate stop which forces Google to avoid the interstate highways. I do this all the time to try out routes that I want to investigate. I never really stop at the “Google intermediate locations”

Having written all of this … my birding route in South Dakota started near Watertown where I had overnighted. This allowed me to begin my morning drive as the sun popped over the horizon, and the sun was directly behind me as I drove west. ALL the photographs accompanying this post were taken along my route … a secondary South Dakota highway most of the way. The birds were not at eBird hotspots or known birding spots … just located directly along my path.

My route also took my through “the other Gettysburg”. I love small towns!

Swainson’s Hawk

White Pelican Sunrise Reflections

American Avocets in a Farm Field

Yellow-Headed Blackbirds (roadside wetlands … final pic is a juvenile)