[veagle]

My life birds will be in bold. Just started birding last year, so there will be more than expected. (I hope).

Jan. 1 at home and in Rapid City

1. Townsend's Solitaire
2. Red-Breasted Nuthatch
3. House Finch
4. Downy Woodpecker
5. American Robin
6. American Crow
7. American Goldfinch
8. Canada Goose
9. Eurasian Collared-Dove
10. Black-capped Chickadee
11. Mallard
12. Pine Siskin

Jan. 2 Fort Randall Dam - Central South Dakota

13. Ring-Billed Gull
14. Ring-necked Pheasant
15. Rough-legged Hawk
16. Common Goldeneye
17. Bald Eagle
18. Yellow-billed Loon
19. Red-Tailed Hawk
20. Common Merganser

Jan. 3 - home

21. Common Redpoll
22. House Sparrow
23. Rock Pigeon
24. Dark-eyed Junco

Jan. 3 - patch

25. Horned Lark

Jan. 4

26. Wild Turkey

Jan 10 - Canyon Lake, Rapid City

27. Gadwall
28. Bufflehead
29. Ring-necked Duck
30. Redhead
31. American Wigeon
32. American Coot

Jan. 10 - patch

33. Northern Harrier
34. Golden Eagle
35. American Kestral

Jan. 10 - home

36. Northern Flicker

Jan. 11 - Lawrence County

37. Blue Jay
38. Evening Grosbeak
39. European Starling
40. White-breasted Nuthatch
41. Hairy Woodpecker

Jan. 11 - Canyon Lake

42. Hooded Merganser

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Jan. 16 - White Lake, SD traveling across state

43. Ferruginous Hawk

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Jan. 24 in and around Rapid City

44. Varied Thrush - an unusual vagrant in South Dakota
45. Sharp-Tailed Grouse

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February 1 - McNenny Fish Hatchery, Spearfish, SD

46. Cedar Waxwing
47. Bohemian Waxwing

February 1 - near Sundance, Wyoming

48. Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch (saw a flock of 1000!)

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February 7 along Rapid Creek in Rapid City

49. Belted Kingfisher

February 8 in Black Hills National Forest

50. Black-billed Magpie

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February 22 - my backyard

51. Sharp-shinned Hawk

flew into a tree in our yard, then went after a group of 12 Sharp-tailed grouse - made for great drama. No kill.

[veagle]

A cold morning (single digits F), went on about a 60 mile loop southeast of Rapid City, trying to find a sharp-tailed grouse lek. Couldn't find it, but did find some good hawks (red-tailed, rough-legged, and golden eagle), along with about 600 horned larks that were in a field along with about 75 pronghorn antelope. And got a couple of new birds, including one I hadn't seen before.

March 1 -

52. American Tree Sparrow
53. Northern Shrike

[veagle]

Went looking for Sage Grouse early this morning near Belle Fourche, SD. Didn't find them, but had a good day, including 4 male bald eagles in one tree, and some birds returning for spring.


March 8

54. Mountain Bluebird
55. Red-winged Blackbird
56. Brewer's Blackbird

[veagle]

More signs of spring today; temps in the 60s; drove south toward a large res. about an hour from here; but ironically two of my FOYs today were within a mile of home.

57. Western Meadowlark
58. Green-winged Teal
59. Wood Duck

[veagle]

Stopped for about an hour of birding around the Missouri River in central South Dakota yesterday after a business meeting, and found:

60. Snow Goose

[veagle]

In Central New Jersey for a few days, got in a little birding this morning.

61. Great Blue Heron
62. Common Grackle
63. Killdeer
64. Tufted Titmouse
65. Mourning Dove
66. Chipping Sparrow

[veagle]

This morning, got together with Stephen Barr (Stephennj), and his Dad, Pete, along with my son Matt, and had a great morning + of birding in a number of central and north jersey locations. Many thanks to Stephen for hosting us; had an extremely productive day:

March 21

67. Northern Cardinal
68. Fish Crow
69. Song Sparrow
70. Wilson's Snipe
71. Carolina Chickadee
72. Red-bellied Woodpecker
73. Brown-headed Cowbird
74. Herring Gull
75. White-throated Sparrow
76. Eastern Towhee
77. Northern Mockingbird
78. Carolina Wren
79. Greater Yellowlegs
80. Great Egret
81. Northern Shoveler
82. Tree Swallow
83. American Black Duck
84. Northern Pintail
85. Canvasback
86. Mute Swan
87. Ruddy Duck
88. Double Crested Cormorant
89. Greater Black-backed Gull
90. Monk Parakeet

Lastly, went back today, and found one more that we looked for yesterday:

March 22 - Highland Park, NJ

91. Great Cormorant

[veagle]

Back in South Dakota, where the weather has been crazy. Arrived Sunday night, temperature around 60. The next day we had a blizzard with about 10 inches of snow, then it got warm, all the snow is now gone, and another blizzard forcasted for tomorrow.

Anyway...I've been seeing alot of waterfowl that I hadn't seen until last week in NJ...Pintail, Northern Shoveler, Canvasback, and one that I've been trying unsuccessfully until today. Despite the snow, spring is on its way.

March 29

92. Lesser Scaup

[veagle]

Ah, springtime....since last weekend, we have had two blizzards here in western South Dakota, with a total of about 25 inches of snow. All day yesterday, stuck inside. Today, went skiing, and on the way home spotted today's bird. Also went to a local pond were I saw some nice birds...Redhead, Canvasback, Lesser Scaup, Ring necked Duck, Common Merganser, along with Killdeer, Mountain Bluebird, and Western Meadowlark

April 5 Black Hills National Forest, SD

93. Red Crossbill

[veagle]

April 7 - Seen on my way driving home from work

94. Turkey Vulture

April 10 - Canyon Lake

95. Osprey

My patch, a freshwater pond, out in the prairie, usually gets a good mix of ducks, and now the shorebirds are returning. Also saw Greater Yellowlegs for the first time in SD

April 11

96. American Avocet

[veagle]

A rainy day today, first went to the Catron Pond

April 18 - Catron Pond

97. Franklin's Gull
98. Barn Swallow

later went out to Sevey's Lake, which was as high as I've ever seen it, from all the snow melt and rain

99. Bonaparte's Gull
100. Blue-winged Teal
101. Pied-billed Grebe

[veagle]

What a terrific day today. After a really long day at work (went in before 5 am for a computer system upgrade), left early and went out to the patch. Very windy but weighting down my scope with rocks in a bag made it stable enough to see a lot of shore birds, and ducks, including 3 lifers!

April 23 - Sevey's Lake

102. Marbled Godwit
103. Long-billed Curlew
104. Willet
105. Yellow-headed Blackbird

[veagle]

Another good spring day yesterday. Even though it snowed overnight, the skies cleared, and I went on a Northern Hills Bird Club outing that was very productive. Heavier snow last night, now 3 inches of heavy wet stuff on the ground today.

April 25 - Bear Butte Lake, Meade County, SD

106. American White Pelican
107. Northern Rough-winged Swallow
108. Loggerhead Shrike
109. Eared Grebe
110. Western Grebe
111. Lesser Yellowlegs
112. Say's Phoebe

April 25 - north of Bear Butte, along SD79

113. Great Horned Owl

[veagle]

April 26 - Catron Pond (in Rapid City)

114. Violet-green Swallow

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Did a long drive through Pennington and Meade Counties today. Spring has really arrived, from the warblers to the Shorebirds, to the 200 Yellow-headed Blackbirds we saw, it was a very productive day

May 2

115. Yellow-rumped Warbler
116. Orange-crowned Warbler
117. Upland Sandpiper
118. White-crowned Sparrow
119. American Bittern
120. Swainson's Hawk
121. Chestnut-collared Longspur
122. Vesper Sparrow
123. Grasshopper Sparrow
124. Wilson's Phalarope

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May 3 - Spearfish Canyon - the Black Hills are the only location in South Dakota for American Dipper

125. Cliff Swallow
126. American Dipper

later in the day, went for a walk, not focused on birding, but lucked out!

127. Swainson's Thrush

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May 4 - Backyard birds

128. Clay-colored Sparrow
129. Spotted Towhee

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May 8 - Backyard birds - a nice surprise again

130. Lincoln's Sparrow

May -9 Catron Pond

131. Spotted Sandpiper

later in the day, I went back to my "patch", Sevey Lake, which was just teeming with birds - lots of Wilson's Phalaropes, 3 kinds of swallows, lots of sparrows, a couple of Franklin Gulls, dozens of Eared Grebes, and all types of ducks.

132. Long-billed Dowitcher
133. Savannah Sparrow

[veagle]

I took a walk yesterday morning to a little pond near where I live, which I will call Nicklaus pond, as it is off Nicklaus Rd. Very quiet, except for numerous red-winged blackbirds, and a few geese, until I saw a bright yellow bird in the cattails.

May 10 - Nicklaus pond

134. Common Yellowthroat

later in the day, went for a walk along the Rapid Creek, where there were numerous Yellow-rumped and orange crowned warblers. Got a quick view of what I think was a Yellow warbler, but not able to identify it for sure.

135. Least Flycatcher

[veagle]

After dinner tonight, I went for a walk in Jackson Park, a good spot for warblers in the spring and fall. Sure enough I got Yellow-rumped, orange-crowned, least flycatcher, chipping sparrow, tree swallows, red-winged blackbirds, a flicker, and three foys:

May 13 - Jackson Park

136. Yellow Warbler
137. Western Tananger
138. Black-headed Grosbeak