A SoDak Red-tailed Hawk provided a fruitful opportunity to take a series of photos as it soared in circles overhead. At one point, a third-year Bald Eagle broke into the scene as it winged by (bottom photo).
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On a beautiful sunny day last week, I took a time-honored drive along paved and gravel roads on a quest to check on a diversity of birds of prey that congregate each winter. It was my initial visit to my “SoDak winter raptor hotspot,” where I especially hope for good interactions with Golden Eagles and Prairie Falcons, birds I don’t tend to see in my more northern neighborhood. I was rewarded with sightings of 4 Goldens and 3 Prairies, along with 8 Bald Eagles, 17 Rough-legged Hawks, 18 Red-tailed Hawks, a young Ferruginous Hawk, and a Merlin, for a total of 52 raptors!
That total will increase by 20 to 30 more eagles, hawks and falcons, but it’s really more about the personal interactions that always transpire with a few of the birds along the way, often involving photography sessions with trusting individuals. Golden Eagles have been standouts, along with Prairie Falcons and Ferruginous Hawks, although Bald Eagles – adults and sub-adults alike – and Merlins and Rough-legs have been accommodating too, often sparking a jolt of adrenaline and excitement.
Even though it’s early for winter birding, especially with our November weather reprieve and the lack of snow cover we’ve appreciated up north, considering the number of Rough-legged Hawks and Bald Eagles that have been passing through my area during recent weeks, and the paucity of Red-tailed Hawks, I knew there would already be something of a build-up of birds of prey at my SoDak winter raptor hotspot centered at the capitol city of Pierre. The first half of the drive is along the east side of the Missouri River, while the second half crosses the Mighty Mo’ to the “West River” side, as South Dakotans refer to it.
The most obvious overview to my day trip was that I didn’t see any Red-tailed Hawks until I reached the outskirts of Pierre, and while there were a dozen Rough-legs along the way to Pierre, I saw less than half that number south of Pierre – probably an indicator that it was still early in the season. I so enjoy visiting this winter hotspot each winter – this is my seventh in a row, and it gets no less exciting. The difference this winter is that I will make day trips rather than staying overnight as I normally do, my reaction to keeping covid-wary.
Golden Moment
It proved to be an eventful day of birding during which 2 interactions stood out, both at the end of my long drive. After scoping out a Golden Eagle “hang-out” on the edge of pheasant cover followed by a small prairie dog town, I was surprised not a Golden or Bald or Ferrug or Rough-leg was apparent – during some visits to this location I have seen all of these species including the potential of 2 to 5 eagles. Hmm; then as a drove down the dusty road in an open area devoid of trees I scanned in each direction, but was really caught off-guard by a big adult Golden Eagle perched literally right outside my window – 15 feet away – we were suddenly looking at one another eye to eye.
I was traveling too fast to hit the brakes, and the light wasn’t right, so it wouldn’t have served a purpose to stop short, so I held my breath and kept motoring hoping the eagle would remain on its surprisingly low perch. The grand eagle barely flinched as I passed so close. Never have I had such an encounter with an eagle on a roadside fencepost, nor have I so obviously missed such an obvious bird until we were within reach of one another. But in hindsight, if I had seen it in advance, I never would have approached so close. Even so, now I was on the right side of the eagle for photography, with the sunlight at my back, and I figured I would be able to approach this eagle for a photo op considering its lack of concern for my first all-too-close initial drive-by.
I continued down the road another half mile before making a U-turn and hustling back toward the big Golden. I slowed a bit, and stopped when I saw the big raptor was showing an initial concern. I took a couple photos before it took flight, then hoped it would catch an updraft in the wind and circle back for a flight photo, but this eagle had already provided a memorable interaction, showed amazing patience during my accidental close passage, and winged low to the south to a better hunting or loafing area – hoka hey!
Big Red Soars
The second close encounter took place at the very end of my long SoDak transect, a bit more than a mile west of the Golden Eagle close encounter. That terminus is also usually a sure bet, where I see both eagle species, Red-tailed Hawks, and Rough-legs too. This time, as I approached my turn-around point, concerned about striking out at this usually rich raptor site, a Red-tailed Hawk flew up from the side of the road (geez, another bird within a few feet that I straight up almost missed?).
The Red-tail elevated into the wind and glided to the top of a perch. It was a classic prairie Red-tail with a light-colored ventral side, and as I made a little turn-around, the big hawk spread its wings and began a lazy circle overhead. I hopped outside my vehicle to follow the hawk’s soaring flight better, and was glad to see it didn’t react to the human standing below pointing a camera at it (ha-ha).
Big Red continued its ultra-slow circles overhead in somewhat harsh lighting, but I was glad the hawk didn’t soar any higher. It angled behind a small conifer stand, and as I waited for it to re-appear, a third-year Bald Eagle emerged instead, flying due south. I took a couple quick photos even though I knew the light was off-center for the eagle to be lighted correctly. Nonetheless, it was a surprise that resulted in a quick photo series of the documentary kind. The Red-tail returned, circling; landed for a moment, then soared again in the afternoon breeze.
Thanksgiving Geese
Back in my home neighborhood, Snow Geese continued to dominate the entire month of November, and a Thanksgiving outing provided a special opportunity to photograph on the edge of more than 100,000 Snow Geese! Being Thanksgiving, the quiet road that skirts the edge of the lake was all but deserted, and the geese responded by extending their huge flock right up to the shoreline. More than 100 geese lined the shore with hundreds more in the adjacent shallow water that extended to expansive throngs of geese that I can only imagine numbered more than a-hundred-thou. But the really crazy thing was that the geese standing on the shoreline extended up the roadside, and about 15 Snows were actually standing on the paved road – that’s an unheard of first, to be sure!
I moved into position close enough to use the shoreline geese to show others that the vehicle parked off the side of the road was no threat, and it worked very well – for 2 hours! I didn’t mean to spend that much time with the geese, but it was a rare and fulfilling opportunity to photograph them in close quarters, and they continued to be especially trusting. In fact, in time some geese swam right up to my position, just 20 feet away – white Snows and blue morphs, immatures of both color morphs, and some white-blue hybrids too. Perhaps the most exciting were the numbers of Ross’s Geese that swam near, and even came ashore to escape the wind-driven waves. It was an exceptional experience, indeed.
Then too, every once in a while geese along a far edge of the big flock would erupt from the water with a roar of wings in response to the simple appearance of a Bald Eagle. The geese rose by the thousands in a progressive wave above the lake, then swirled this way and that before returning to the water as the eagle exited the area. Overall, I counted 7 Bald Eagles in the area, a high count this fall. Throughout the afternoon, I enjoyed photographing flocks and pairs and family groups of geese that flew close, often landing on the shore or waters adjacent to the shoreline. In short, the action kept me engaged, and thrilled; and I share some of my favorite Snow Goose photographs in this week’s Bird Photography feature at the end of this issue.
Chocolate Luck
Saturday I checked on the goose action to the north again, but decided the situation wasn’t libel to be fruitful in the short term, and headed for home. While still 4 miles north I was surprised to find a dark morph Rough-legged Hawk hovering on the updraft above a lakeshore hill – right next to the road. At first I wasn’t sure it was a dark morph, but after taking a U-turn on the good light side of the hunting hawk, I confirmed it was a chocolate-brown dark morph female floating in an almost motionless position as I approached it.
I took a documentary photo and was pleased the hawk glided in my direction only to hover near and above my vehicle. I recorded it flaring with one wing high as it found its spot to hover, and I continued my photography as it extended its neck downward in a rather unique fashion as it remained stationary, seemingly above prey considering its focused attention. I was thrilled with the opportunity, and even though the chocolate Rough-leg departed and I had some nice photos in camera, I waited and watched, and darned if the trusting hunter didn’t return twice to give me ever-more exciting photo ops. What a dynamic bird, literally floating stationary on the updraft of the stout west wind, seemingly just beyond my reach, but well within the reach of my camera lens – whoo-wooo!
Snowy Sunday
A strong north wind roared Saturday night, and to my surprise, most of the Snow Geese in the area made the flight south, not planning to return until spring. There were still a couple hundred Snows here and there, but that was little consolation for the abrupt change of season. As I returned to my office though, a consolation prize awaited just a little more than a mile north of home – the first Snowy Owl of the season – a great thrill, and a true indicator of the advent of winter. I enjoyed a good look at the young Snowy Owl as it seemed to battle the wind from its elevated perch. I took a couple documentary photos and wished the great white owl well during the months ahead. It was also fitting that Sunday was the first day of “Snowy Owl Week,” proclaimed by the Owl Research Institute.
Requiem for the Fall – Whenever I step outside to the sounds of goose music as flocks of Snow Geese fly low overhead, it underlines what makes this area so special. Recently I found a new twist on my appreciation for goose music: Although I don’t usually listen to classical music, as I started the engine my vehicle’s radio was turned to a public radio station that features classical during some hours of the day. As a particularly large flock of geese passed overhead their signature calls mixed with the classical orchestra music - aah, that works well, I thought; merging the natural goose music with the highly orchestrated and historic classical music was a wonderful mixture. Since that awakening, I have mixed the two sounds periodically with the same pleasing effect – give it a try sometime.
Article and photographs by Paul Konrad
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