Oh my … I may take the other highway / birding road in life, but apparently I forget to include a key image in that story (now updated in the original post). For my loyal subscribers, here’s Gettysburg, South Dakota … via the “other highway“).
Birding (or Taking) the Other Highway
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)
Not Exceptional, but My Birding World!
This video is NOT exceptional, but it is my first drone video using an actual “controller”, not my phone for control. The controller allows many, many more capabilities than a phone controlled video. The controller only arrived in the mail a few hours ago.
At the end of the video you will see me sitting on my deck … next to the forest (my bird feeders are to the right, my left). In fact two nights ago the feeders were pulled down by Mama Bear and her two cubs. In addition, I have a Bobcat that likes to hang out on my deck in the middle of the night. Both the Bobcat and Bears have been visiting since early April! Four days ago I saw the Bobcat in person for the first time, not just via my trailcams. (video link for email subscribers)
And a photo of my house from about three weeks ago.
