South Dakota August 2017

Found five American kestrel siblings practicing flying, etc.  They had
such power my Dad and I thought they were merlins!

Headed out to South Dakota last week.  Found some pretty great birds! Some other things, too.

Molting male Bobolink

Snoozing Common Nighthawk

Coyote!

Snoozing great horned owl.  Yeah, that was weird
to see it out during the day like that.

Young Grasshopper Sparrow

Young Eastern Kingbird

Common Nighthawk waking up

Common Nighthawk on the wing

You can see the mouth open!

Northern Harrier hunting the field

Female Orchard Oriole

Red-headed Woodpecker

Young Red-headed Woodpecker

 Young Red-tailed Hawk

Another Red-tailed Hawk

Red-headed Woodpeckers.  You can see the
Common Nighthawk in the front foreground!

Western Kingbird

White-tailed fawn

Mule deer

This mule deer doe had twins

Swainson's Hawk

Swainson's Hawk in flight

Some Nebraska Images

Just got back from Nebraska.  Few images now.  More later.  Lots of cranes.  Seriously.  Lots and lots of cranes.

This is on a foggy morning.  Birds are in the Platte River.

This is after sundown.  Bad light, but you get the idea.

Young Harris' Sparrow.  Cuz he's awesome.

American kestrel.  She might end up in MN!

Morning sky.

Night sky.

Western meadowlark!  Whoo-hoo!

Common Goldeneye

Nice looks at groups of Common Goldeneye. 

Male and female.

Winter Bald Eagles

Can you tell size difference?  Female on left!

 It's that time of year when either eagles will congregate around open water, carrion, or other resources without territorial battles.  It is also not unheard of for the birds to either start to establish pair bonds, or become re-acquainted. 

There are three birds in this photo.  Can you spot all three?

Red-winged Blackbird

Red-winged blackbird, October 2015.  See the incredible, fine detail on the edges of the new feathers.  These buffy fringe-y edges will wear in the course of the bird's activities, and will look much different this coming spring. 

Juncos!

These shots were from some very amenable slate-colored juncos earlier in the fall 2015.  Normally they are on the ground, so the backgrounds are not ideal.  But pine trees make fabulous backgrounds!  Thanks, guys!