Wednesday, March 1, 2023

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Gray Partridges played an important role in the editor’s birding highlights this week, providing nice images of a male of the initial pair sighted near the Missouri River south of Bismarck.
Several other Gray Partridges were found within 10 miles of his office, including a flock numbering a dozen.
A beautiful Rough-legged Hawk on the hunt from a stationary perch was among the 8 Rough-legs observed in the Pierre area.
One of the dark morph Harlan’s Red-tailed Hawks sighted in SoDak soared overhead, providing a chance to take some documentary photos from below. While the tails of Harlan’s are highly variable in color, this adult has a mostly white tail with a gray terminal band and some gray shading along the sides of individual tail feathers.
Another meeting with a favorite wintering Golden Eagle provided a chance to monitor its behavior during a much-appreciated photo session.

Welcome to March! This month will surely highlight seasonal changes that will bring the first migrants north as remarkable concentrations of geese, cranes, and eagles congregate in the center of the United States, from Nebraska to Missouri and Iowa to Colorado, stretching out beyond the Platte River to the Missouri River and Rocky Mountains. It definitely seemed spring might be finding a foothold across the northern plains during recent trips to Bismarck and south of Pierre, providing interesting observations and warmer weather, but ...

With Florida birding a fine memory, the reality of late winter in the Dakotas is obvious and was underscored by yet another blizzard the last week of February, and now again the last day of February. But last week even southern California had blizzard conditions; oh well, spring will come eventually. In the meantime, a recent drive to Bismarck provided a look at a pair of Gray Partridges, although while the male was pretty obvious and provided a couple nice photos, the female was very cryptically hidden among short grasses. I also observed a flock of 11 Gray Partridges, a rare double sighting of these hard to find and always appreciated birds.

Closer to the Missouri River east of Bismarck, a winter Red-tailed Hawk took flight on the edge of Dogtown Marsh with a vole in its beak; apparently I just missed the catch, but it was a nice sighting, followed by another Red-tail hunting on the edge of the big city. Another rare winter visitor sighted was a male American Kestrel on the south edge of town, fueling my impression of early migrants in advance of the next week’s blizzard. Not far from the kestrel I photographed a perched Bald Eagle that eventually flew low above my position, and a second eagle was soaring high over the city not far from where the second Red-tail was hunting.

SoDak Raptors

The sunshine and warmer temperatures held true the next couple days, so 2 days later I passed through the other Dakota capitol, Pierre, as I conducted my census of winter raptors along established transects in my SoDak hotspot. There were fewer raptors than the previous month, but a total of 37 kept my attention levels high and a few birds provided photo ops. Overall, I observed 8 Golden Eagles, 3 Bald Eagles (1 incubating on a nest), 8 Rough-legged Hawks including 1 dark morph, 2 first-year Ferruginous Hawks, 13 Red-tailed Hawks, and a trio of falcons that provided added levels of excitement, including a Prairie Falcon, a Merlin, and a male American Kestrel.

Of the 13 Red-tailed Hawks, 5 were Harlan’s Red-tails that included 4 dark morph and 1 light morph Harlan’s. All the Harlan’s Red-tails, which I could identify as individuals by their distinct plumage, were on winter territories they have occupied during previous surveys and previous winters. It was noteworthy that no Northern Harriers were sighted, and the Rough-legs were especially low in number, while Red-tails appear to be increasing in anticipation for spring. It was a beautiful 51 degree afternoon with ample sunshine, and birds of prey provided quality opportunities to photograph them – about ¼ of the raptors observed – and flocks of Horned Larks and a few Ring-necked Pheasants rounded out my birding list.

Local Birding

The second day after returning from SoDak, I began a birding drive with elevated hope of finding a Snowy Owl, super-rare this winter, but it seemed to be worth a try and I had one of those inner impressions that I might have some luck. The drive showed immediate potential when I was alerted by the low hunting flight of the first Northern Harrier of the year – usually a sign of spring, but in this case, it was probably a wayward raptor on the open prairie. It did elevate my expectations of seeing other interesting birds, but after that initial shot of adrenaline, I didn’t see any other birds during a drive along a usually fruitful route to the north and west. Oh well, it was nice to get outdoors and check the pulse of nature.

Post blizzard, last Friday I observed a flock of 6 Gray Partridges about 8 miles to the west under a cloudy sky, so with bright sunshine Saturday I thought I’d check back on them for photo potential. I didn’t see them at first, so decided to drive down a gravel road I haven’t taken in years. After about 3 miles I decided to turn around, and as I did 5 partridges flushed from an adjacent corn stubble field – hmm. Then I turned left to check out a farmstead a mile north, and was surprised by a pair of partridges that flushed from the side of the road, alighting on the edge of the farmyard. This was just 2 miles from where I found the original 6 partridges the day before, indicating a little partridge haven.

As I returned to the previous day’s sighting location, about a quarter mile to the south I could see a little lump on a low snowless hilltop – could the partridges be feeding there? I checked with binoculars, and there they were, a half-dozen Gray Partridges perched in a circle with their heads facing outward like quail. What a primo photo that would make if they were set off by snow rather than black dirt; so I didn’t bother them with the interest in hoping the see them again in a more photogenic position.

Sunday afternoon I drove through the partridge area, without seeing any hint of the birds, but as I backtracked I saw birds running across the road in front of me – and a closer look revealed 12 Gray Partridges hustling along a railroad track. I could hear them calling as they searched for forage, eventually running across an open expanse to the cover of some bushes. I waited a bit, and sure enough, 1 then 2 partridges stepped beyond a little snow drift before flying 70 feet as a flock of 5 – interesting. It was fun to find this little population of Partridges close to home, and I will continue to check on them in coming weeks.

While flocks of Horned Larks have been more abundant the past month, Snow Buntings have been absent from the hundreds of miles I’ve covered recently, but Friday I observed a flock of 4, then Saturday I saw more mixed in with large flocks of larks. By Sunday there were many flocks scattered around my home zone, which was fun interesting to witness. It’s nice to have that local perspective, to see how things ebb and flow as weeks and seasons progress. Enjoy some birding during your first week of March; in fact, enjoy the entire month of birding as winter turns toward spring.

Article and photos by Paul Konrad

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