All good thinks must come to an end, including my 3 day trip to the Fort Pierre National Grasslands, but I will return!!! This post has 3 “bird lifers”, amazing bird song, and even antelope! After all … the range … where the deer & antelope play! Listen to Roy Rodgers sing Home on the Range via Youtube!

Normally I do not repost a video, but my sunrise drive to a Prairie Dog Town with Meadow Larks singing every inch of the way needs to be combined with my Western Meadowlarks photos and video. Enjoy.

Sunrise Drive with Meadowlark Song (video link for email subscribers)

Western Meadowlark Singing its Heart Out (video link for email subscribers)

Western Meadowlark & Prairie Dog Images (same bird as in video)

Remember … find a Prairie Dog Town and you will likely also find Burrowing Owls. While a few owls may be perched outside their burrows throughout the day, in the evening all the Burrowing Owls will appear as the day creeps towards sunset.

Given my featuring Roy Rodgers and the song, Home on the Range, here are the Antelope … at sunrise and sunset.

And now some birding lifers for me! The most dramatic was the Lark Bunting (Cornell link) I saw the bunting my first evening while birding in the Grasslands, and thought it was both beautiful and dramatic, but I could not get in place for a photograph. Later that evening I googled the phrases “black grosbeak” and “black bunting”, and I struck gold with “black bunting”. Eventually I learned the Lark Buntings were most likely to come out of the grasses and sing by the roadside during the early evening. I was waiting!

Lark Bunting

Prairie Chicken (a kind of grouse)

Western Cowbird (I had just never before chosen to photograph a Cowbird. This bird has a well known trait of always laying its eggs in the nest of other species and relying upon that bird to raise its young.)

I’ll end this post with two birds … the Marbled Godwit and Dickcissels singing out at sunset. I had considered myself very lucky when two Marbled Godwits flew over from a distant wetlands and landed on the road right in front of me. Through research later I learned that Godwits nest in grasses distant from the wetlands where they feed, and apparently I had inadvertently started birding near their hidden nest. The godwits were most definitely not pleased with me. I exited the scene. Sorry.

And many Dickcissels were singing out at the side of the last dirt road as I finished my evening birding Wednesday. This was a great way to end a fantastic trip.

Monday evening while watching various grassland birds, particularly Meadowlarks, Dickcissels and Upland Sandpipers, a lone Burrowing Owl couple horned in on my experience. Normally one finds Burrowing Owls at Prairie Dog towns within the Fort Pierre National Grasslands, but this love couple wanted to be different. For the next two evenings I would check up on my Burrowing Owls and say hello. I really enjoyed that these owls had a couple of dead shrub branches that they utilized for perches. This got the birds off the ground above their burrow entrance and made them easier to see.

Momma Owl’s role at this time of year (middle of June) is to sit still, conserve energy … let Poppa Owl feed her, and then lay eggs (learn more about Burrowing Owls via the Cornell School of Ornithology). Wednesday evening I was provided a fantastic treat. Poppa Owl flew in and provided a yummy meal for the female. Enjoy!!! I know I did! According to my camera image timestamps the visit lasted 12 minutes, but most of the dramatic action took place within a matter of seconds … followed by sitting and perching.

A final explanation … it is normal for raptors including owls for the female to perch near the planned nest and await the male to feed her. Creating eggs is hard, calorie intensive work. Thus, nature has many bird species prepare for nesting in this manner.

Awaiting Godot … Preening.

Poppa Owl Fly By!

Where Did He Go?

Food Delivery … Door Dash?!

That’s All She (actual he) Wrote!

Awaiting The Next Scrumptious Bug …

And a short video of Momma Burrowing Owl awaiting her next meal (video link for email subscribers)

It’s 3:45 am, and I can’t sleep … however not because I am lying awake trying to solve the problems of the world. Rather my B&B (appropriately titled Eagle’s View) is located atop a hill and I am enjoying watching the flash of lighting across the sky as thunder storms march across the prairie from tens of miles away.

One might also ask if it is really 2:45 am, not 3:45 am. You see I am located in Fort Pierre, South Dakota which is on the western bank of the Missouri River and officially in the Mountain Time Zone (the river is the dividing line). Its partner town is Pierre, South Dakota … located on the eastern banks of the Missouri River, but in the Central Time Zone. The folks in Fort Pierre choose to run their lives by the Central Time Zone. Makes sense! Officially they are wrong, but I like their approach.  This is what Google says if you ask what time time Fort Pierre is located within: “Although Fort Pierre is located in the Mountain Time Zone, most residents of the city use Central Time because of close social and economic ties with Pierre, which is located in the Central Time Zone”.

Now how does this affect my birding? The answer is in a great way. From Duluth I have moved quite a bit south and west, and by local agreement sunrise is at 6 am this time of year, not 5 am. Thus, I can leave shortly before 6 am … get in some great sunrise birding, but be back to my B&B by 9:00 am for breakfast.

Golden Eagle Sunrise

For years I have wanted to see a Golden Eagle (not an immature Bald Eagle) close-up. Tuesday morning I found this Golden Eagle using the only trees around for miles and miles for its domicile and hunting platforms. Its breakfast platform was the wooden poles / entryway to a local ranch. (observe on the close-ups of the Golden Eagle how its feathers go all the way down to its talons … unlike a Bald Eagle which does not have feathers all the way down its legs)

Now more of the sunrise. Just before I found the Golden Eagle I drove across the grasslands as the sun was coming up. Make certain you “listen” to my short video. The Western Meadowlarks were greeting the dawn. (video link for email subscribers)

There will be a lot more posts from the Fort Pierre National Grasslands. I am waaayyy behind in processing my images and experiences.