While Bald Eagles provided a level of excitement to the birds observed during the week, Ring-necked Pheasants and Horned Larks were the life of the party as winter turned to spring.

In my home zone, and within many miles of it, there has been a real pattern of species I can expect to find recently: Bald Eagles, Ring-necked Pheasants, and Horned Larks – and there are few deviations from that small base group. For example, during an hour-long drive to Jamestown last Wednesday, I observed an adult male Bald Eagle that flew close enough to provide me with 2 photo tries, even though there was no sunshine, and along the way I spied groups of pheasants numbering 3, 4, 3, and 2; with scattered flocks of Horned Larks.

Thursday I braved the strong winds that made road conditions questionable in some locations, and perfect in others along the route I’ve been driving to the ‘lone cottonwood tree’ location where I can usually find eagles and pheasants. That afternoon, sunlight was available and with the big cottonwood in sight, I was excited to see an adult Bald Eagle stream in on the strong north wind, seemingly headed for South Dakota, which was only 5 miles away.

But suddenly, the eagle took an abrupt turn and committed an acrobatic half-circle in the air to land on the snow-covered ground adjacent to what looked like a gathering of 7 eagles, presumably assembled at a feeding site. Closer inspection with my binoculars revealed that the other “6 eagles” were actually the ears of deer raised above a snow bank, with the eagle inspecting something of note that wasn’t obvious from my distant viewpoint. But hey, it was great to witness the eagle’s dramatic flight.

Although there were no birds in the big cottonwood tree, there were scattered Ring-necked Pheasants along the edge of a tree and cover planting adjacent to the grand tree and a few more pheasants scattered in a snow-covered harvested cornfield – a total of 14 were evident. But there were 3 birds that broke the 3-species ceiling – 3 American Crows were feeding on carrion between the cover and cornfield. These crows were the first of their kind in the open northern plains, and I’m betting they were second guessing their “early arrival.”

Sand Lake Saturday

Although there was no snowfall, no travel was advised Friday due to high winds blowing accumulated snow, so Saturday I was primed to get on the road during the third sunny afternoon in a row. As I headed south and east to Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge, I was looking for a sign of spring, but watching for raptors I figured I would intercept along the way, fully knowing the primary birds would be Ring-necked Pheasants with plenty of Horned Larks scattered around. Sure enough, that was the case with maybe 200 pheasants total in scattered in flocks on both sides of the Dakota border.

Bald Eagles were no-shows until I reached the very southern-most point of my drive, a mile south of the little town of Columbia, South Dakota (south of the refuge). That’s where I finally found the first adult Bald Eagle perched at the end of a tall outreaching cottonwood branch. Another adult was perched a mile west of the little town of Houghton (east of the refuge). But the first raptor sighting was the biggest surprise, and it was perched on the edge of the refuge – the first Red-tailed Hawk of the season in northeast SoDak for me.

Was the Red-tail sighting my sign of spring? Yes, but there were 2 more signs too – about 5 miles south of the North Dakota border, I was surprised to see a pair of NoDak’s “state bird,” 2 Western Meadowlarks! Now if they had been singing their beautiful spring song it would really have been a strong sign of spring, but I did see 2 Ring-necked Pheasants crow, 1 in South Dakota and 1 in NoDak – that’s a true sign (and sound) of spring too!

Well, Monday was the official first day of spring, so I hope it was a beautiful day with promise of things to come for you. As I was driving through my snow-covered landscapes, I thought about the fact that in a mere 60 days, I’ll be photographing migrating warblers, vireos, orioles, and flycatchers at Melody’s Grove, just down the road a piece. What a remarkable transformation will take place in this region between now and then! Enjoy this first week of Spring!

Article and photos by Paul Konrad

Share your bird sightings and photographs at editorstbw2@gmail.com