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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Veagle's 2013 List (1 Viewer)

Later in the same day, our group visited several locations in Walworth and Potter Counties, with a good selection of waterfowl and shorebirds.

May 18 - Walworth and Potter Counties, SD

247. Bobolink
248. Solitary Sandpiper
249. Glossy Ibis (State bird)
250. Red-necked Phalarope
251. Cinnamon Teal
252. Stilt Sandpiper
253. Black Tern
 
Sunday Morning at the SDOU Meeting, it had been very rainy and stormy during the night, and the weather wasn't too much better this morning. I headed across the Missouri River with a relatively small group of other birders. Our first goal was to try to re-find a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher seen south of Timber Lake. Despite the fact that the bird was perhaps 800 yards away, we managed good scope views of this great bird. Although it is a "regular" visitor to SD, it is really only seen maybe every other year. So this was definately the bird of the trip for me. Afterwards we spent a few hours at the Little Moreau Recreation Area, tough going at first, but towards the end of the visit, it turned fairly productive.

May 19 - Dewey County, SD

254. Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (State Bird)
255. Cliff Swallow
256. Nashville Warbler
 
Monday, May 20 was a very difficult day for my wife and I. Our wonderful companion Daisy, a 19 year old cat, had recently been diagnosed with cancer, and this was to be her last day. I know that birders aren't supposed to be cat lovers, but that's the way it is.

I got home from work a little early, and we were fortunate to spend some quality time with her, and she seemed comfortable, but we knew this was the right time. Just before we took her to the Vet, I glanced outside, and saw one of my favorite local birds, a Western Tanager. And it somehow gave me the feeling that it was going to be OK.

May 20 - Rapid City, SD

257. Western Tanager
 
A couple of evenings last week, I spent an hour at a local park that is sometimes good for warblers during migration. The first night I got the usual Yellow, Orange-crowned, and Yellow-rumped Warblers, along with a Western Wood-Pewee.

On my second try, although the numbers weren't too good, I had a nice male Wilson's Warbler, and a new County bird, a beautiful male Magnolia Warbler, along with an American Redstart.

May 21 - Rapid City, SD

258. Western Wood-Pewee

May 23 - Rapid City, SD

259. Wilson's Warbler
 
I spent a couple of hours on Saturday morning at Hammerquist Rd., one of my favorite local areas, with a nice variety of new birds.

May 25 - Pennington County, SD

260. Yellow-breasted Chat
261. Bell's Vireo
262. Common Nighthawk
263. Blue Grosbeak

On Memorial Day Monday, my wife and I took a drive to southwestern Custer County. We first visited Boles and Roby Canyons, looking for the regular Virginia's Warblers, but they weren't to be found. We did find Rock Wrens, Plumbeous Vireo, and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. And although I am not a gifted ear-birder, it was nice to first hear, identify, and then see an Ovenbird. We then drove up to the Elk Mt. Fire Lookout, and had great looks at Lewis's and Red-headed Woodpeckers, in large numbers. And a quick stop at Hell Canyon yielded a good look at the resident Broad-tailed Hummingbirds in the area.

May 27 - Boles and Roby Canyons, Custer Co., SD

264. Rock Wren
265. Violet-green Swallow
266. White-throated Swift
267. Ovenbird
268. Plumbeous Vireo

May 27 - Hell Canyon, Custer Co., SD

269. Broad-tailed Hummingbird
 
Took a nice drive to the eastern part of the County, and had a good mix of birds, with many Blue Grosbeaks, a Ferruginous Hawk, Yellow-breasted Chat, and Indigo and Lazuli Buntings

June 2 - Pennington County

270. Bullock's Oriole
271. Lazuli Bunting
 
Back in NJ, visiting my parents, I had planned a morning of birding with Ken Walsh. We were going to the Delaware Water Gap, where I hoped for two Warblers I haven't seen, Hooded and Cerulean.

We planned a very early start to be there by dawn, and the day did not start as planned. First of all, it had started raining hard the night before, and it continued as I got in my father's car, at 4:15 am. The battery was dead. Ken, much to my amazement and delight, swung down, and picked me up, and we got a little later start than we had planned.

The continuing rain was really hiding our target birds. Ken had seen both the previous weekend, but we were not having any luck today. At least with these two warblers. We did some heavy duty scrambling up some steep hills, and much to my amazement, within a few minutes, we got good looks at two lifers that I didn't realize would be possible, Louisiana Waterthrush, and Worm-eating Warbler. We continued the morning, getting great looks at Scarlet Tanager, Northern Parula, Wood Thrush, and Blue-Winged Warbler.

A great morning, despite the weather, the car troubles, etc. I owe Ken big-time.

June 7 - Delaware Water Gap - Old Mine Rd. - NJ

272. Northern Parula
273. Louisiana Waterthrush
274. Worm-eating Warbler
275. Scarlet Tanager
276. Veery
277. Wood Thrush
278. Tufted Titmouse
279. Blue-winged Warbler
 
On our way back to my Hotel, Ken Walsh told me about a Mississippi Kite that had been found near the South Shore of Staten Island, only about 15 minutes from my parents' home. Early the next day, I made a trip over there, and with the help of some local birders, was able to get good looks at the Kite, first soaring, then perched in a snag nearby. A totally unexpected lifer, my third of the trip!

June 8 - Edison, NJ

280. Carolina Wren
281. Carolina Chickadee

June 8 - Staten Island, NY

282. Mississippi Kite
 
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Over the last two days, I have spent the mornings birding in the Black Hills. The weather was perfect, and I got most of the birds I expected. The best bird of the day, though not a year-bird, was a Broad-winged Hawk, a very good bird in western SD.

June 15 - Lawrence County, SD

283. Golden-crowned Kinglet
284. Dusky Flycatcher
285. Cordilleran Flycatcher
286. Red-naped Sapsucker
287. MacGillivray's Warbler
 
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Took a drive recently to one of my favorite local spots, Hammerquist Rd., hoping for Cuckoos. Sure enough, I got them both, hearing and seeing them well. Also picked up Dickcissel for the first time this year. Very nice morning.

June 22 - Pennington County, SD

288. Yellow-billed Cuckoo
289. Dickcissel
290. Black-billed Cuckoo
 
Went out early on the 23rd to a local spot for Sora, which sang in the distance. I heard from a friend about a place not far away where she had heard Common Poorwill. So my wife and I drove out there in the evening for a look, and listen. We got there a bit too early, and it was not until we were on our way out after hiking a mile or so, that we clearly heard at least two Common Poorwills. Even got a quick look at one.

June 23 - Pennington County, SD

291. Sora
292. Common Poorwill
 
My wife and I spent an extended weekend along the Colorado Front Range. Although the focus of the trip was not birding, I managed to find two birds that had been eluding me. On the way down, we were looking for McCown's Longspurs, and got to the Pawnee National Grassland, in Weld County, CO around 8 pm. Ran out of light before finding anything along the Western edge of the grasslands, other than an approaching storm. The next morning we returned to the Briggsdale area, and got fantastic looks at a handful of McCown's Longspurs, along County Road (I think) 96, on the way to Murphy's Pasture.

Then on Saturday morning, after using eBird to try to identify locations that might yield Green-tailed Towhee, I hiked into Skunk Canyon, right out of a Boulder sub-division. A really nice place, incredible scenery, and lots of nice birds. Having gone about a mile and a half into the Canyon, I turned around to retrace my steps. Spotted Towhees everywhere, and then almost to the bottom of the canyon, proper, I finally found a GTTO, which perched up and sang for me for a couple of minutes. Also had Chats, Virginia's Warblers, Western Tanagers, Wood-Pewees, Gnat-catchers, and other goodies.

Two birds that I have just not had any luck with. This time everything clicked, and my past failures in trying to find them, made it that much sweeter.

June 29 - Weld County, CO

293. McCown's Longspur B :)

June 30 - Boulder County, CO

294. Steller's Jay
295. Black-chinned Hummingbird
296. Virginia's Warbler
297. Green-tailed Towhee :t:
 
Spent the better part of a week in Jackson Wyoming with our family. The purpose of the trip was not birding, but I always manage to get up early and spend some time out and about. The highlight of the week (birding-wise) was my lifer Hammond's Flycatcher. Got some good mammals as well including Elk, Deer, Pronghorn, Moose, and Bear.

July 11 -14, Teton County, WY

298. Mountain Chickadee
299. Trumpeter Swan
300. Hammond's Flycatcher

July 14, Lincoln County, WY (rafting trip)

301. Bank Swallow
302. American Dipper
 
Over the last two days, I spent a good deal of time in the Black Hills, with a birder friend from Pierre. On Saturday, we saw more Hummingbirds in Hell Canyon than I've ever seen in South Dakota, and had a six Woodpecker Day, including Black-backed and American Three-toed.

July 27 - Hell Canyon, Custer County, SD

303. Rufous Hummingbird

July 28 - Williams Draw, Pennington County, SD

304. American Three-toed Woodpecker
305. Black-backed Woodpecker
 
Karen and I went out for some birding at Sevey Lake. Really somewhat depressing there this year, as the lake is virtually dry, and most all the birds are gone. I get out there only occasionaly, with memories of how great it has been in the past. We saw a few assorted shorebirds, and a finally got my first Great Horned Owl. Hard to believe prior to today, I have had Boreal, Snowy, Northern Saw-Whet, Great Gray, Northern Hawk-Owl, Barred, and Burrowing, but no Great Horned, the most common in this area. I guess that's what makes this so much fun - the fact that you never quite no what you'll see.

August 4 - Meade County, SD

306. Great Horned Owl
 
There have been reports of an Anna's Hummingbird in neighboring Sturgis. I held off while the big Motorcycle Rally was going on, but now that it's returned to normal, I went up last week after work. Got excellent looks at the Hummingbird as it fed on a small reddish flower. This is only the second time Anna's has been seen in SD, the first time in 2008.

August 14 - Sturgis, SD

307. Anna's Hummingbird
 
I drove across the state on Friday after work, stayed at a friend's home in Yankton. We were searching for Buff-breasted Sandpiper, a lifer for me, and also went to see if we could hear a Chuck-will's Widow, also a lifer. Got both, with great pictures of the Buffy taken by my buddy Roger. Also got a couple of other state birds - Sedge Wren, and Least Tern, as well as a few birds that are relatively common there, but not in the Western part of the State - Eastern Towhee, Eastern Wood-Pewee. A really nice day in a beautiful part of the state that I really haven't seen before.

August 16 - Yankton County

308. Chuck-will's Widow

August 17 - Yankton County

309. Buff-breasted Sandpiper
310. Least Tern

August 17 - Bon Homme County

311. Eastern Wood-Pewee
 
Back in Santa Fe for the first time this year. Arrived on Wednesday, and saw Juniper Titmouse and Western Scrub-Jay in the yard. The next morning I went for a walk in the arroyo, and found several other new birds for the year. Highlight was first hearing, then seeing several Pinyon Jays, which are really hard to find back in South Dakota. So nice to be in a different environment, where everything is fresh. Really enjoyed it.

August 21 - Santa Fe, NM

312. Juniper Titmouse
313. Western Scrub-Jay

August 22 - Santa Fe, NM

314. Canyon Towhee
315. Western Bluebird
316. Bushtit
317. Pinyon Jay
 
After oversleeping this morning, we decided to put off our our trip to Albuquerque this morning. Instead, we went to one of our favorite places in Santa Fe, Cafloutie's, for a great breakfast, then went over to the Randall Davey Nature Center. A spectacular morning, bluebird skies, and the birding was really nice. The feeders were busy with Lesser Goldfinch, Pine Siskins, Black-chinned, Broad-tailed, and Rufous Hummingbirds. Then we went up on the plateau and hiked into Bear Canyon, where we got a lot of activity. The first nice thing were some fly-overs from Clark's Nutcrackers, which I haven't seen in a few years. Plenty of Mountain Chickadees, and a couple of Plumbeous Vireos. We stopped briefly for a snack at a birdy spot, where we spotted a number of very nice Virginia's Warblers, a group of Stellar's Jays, a Western Tanager, and a few Black-throated Gray Warblers. But the highlight was a single beautiful Grace's Warbler, which I had only seen before in Arizona.

We tried to find a Calliope Warbler, but no luck there. But a really nice morning, even added 6 birds to my New Mexico list.

August 23 - Santa Fe, NM

318. White-winged Dove
319. Clark's Nutcracker
320. Black-throated Gray Warbler
321. Grace's Warbler
 
Spent a lot of time studying the various Hummingbirds we were getting our feeders, and it paid off with a decent look at a Calliope.

August 24 - Santa Fe, NM

322. Calliope Hummingbird
 

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