Warmer temperatures and reduced wind created rising thermals that provided better photo opportunities with a Golden Eagle and a Rough-legged Hawk as the sun was setting at the end of last week’s SoDak field trip. Paul wanted to share a second photo of the adult Golden Eagle as it looked down at him and showed the markings on its tail feathers best.

Last Sunday, I decided to push my afternoon drive back toward sunset to check for owls, and the plan proved to be fruitful. Most exciting, I found an apparent pair on territory, perched on the edge of a small grove of trees that has a vacant Swainson’s Hawk nest in its midst. That was about 6 miles south of home, and I found a big female perched high on a bare branch near the Great Horned nest I monitored last year, located about 11 miles south. That nest is all but gone after the beating it took from the owls last spring, but I think the lone female was the one I photographed in the hoarfrost a week earlier less than half a mile away. She may be on territory too, and there is a nice Red-tailed Hawk she might have her eye on about one-third of a mile southwest of last year’s nest.

I also checked for an owl a few miles northeast of my office, but was really surprised to spy a little falcon instead. I only noticed the head barely poking above a tall wooden pole, and I actually drove past it before u-turning to take a closer look. Sure enough, it was a beautiful female Merlin; very trusting, perhaps because she was perched so high up. All the birds were very fluffed up, which they do to trap some air between their feathers and body to warm themselves, even though it was a balmy 22 degrees with no sunset wind.

Balmy indeed, Tuesday night an Arctic air mass plunged temperatures below freezing – far below zero. But the sun was forecast to shine Thursday and Friday, so I braved the cold and drove south to my SoDak winter raptor “hotspot,’ which was freezing too. But I enjoyed getting back to raptor country after an absence of almost two months, due to the lack of two days of sunshine in a row during the interim. Why the need for sunshine? Photography of course. But it takes more than sunshine to get good raptor photos – to be sure.

SoDak Excitement

I had great luck seeing birds of prey, some at very close range, including 12 Golden Eagles, 6 Bald Eagles, 15 Rough-legged Hawks, 9 Red-tailed Hawks, 1 first-year Ferruginous Hawk, 4 Northern Harriers, 1 very big female Prairie Falcon, and 2 Merlins, both flying, 1 a pale tan-colored female or immature Prairie Merlin. The total number of 50 raptors was within the norm, considering there were no Bald Eagles at the tailrace area below Oahe Dam, located on the Missouri River just north of Pierre. During December I found 20 to 30 Bald Eagles concentrated at the tailrace, but sighted zero last Wednesday.

I also observed a Great Horned Owl soaking in the sunshine in the window of an old barn sided with aged corrugated metal siding. I observed the same scene, possibly including the same owl, about a year ago, so it was fun to see a repeat performance. Other birds included a Northern Shrike, a small flock of Dark-eyed Juncos, and a few flocks of American Robins. Horned Larks were much more abundant in this area, with flocks numbering 4 to 35 scattered across the landscape that is mostly clear of snow down in the “South” of Dakota.

At the Oahe Dam tailrace, the most notable birds were a few Red-breasted Mergansers, along with Common Mergansers, Common Goldeneyes, a female American Wigeon, and a pair of Gadwalls among an abundance of Mallards and Canada Geese. South of Pierre I also saw a few flocks of hundreds of Canada Geese feeding in harvested corn fields. Oh, and did I forget the state bird of South Dakota? Yes, there were plenty of Ring-necked Pheasants – and 3 Greater Prairie Chickens, and a lone state bird of North Dakota – a Western Meadowlark.

Day Two in SoDak was windy, which meant most birds were not perched in the open, but I enjoyed many observations and interactions with raptors, and by mid-afternoon the wind subsided. It was also notable that the temperature warmed to an unseasonable 48 degrees, 40 degrees warmer than the high temp the day before. My photo luck became best after I left Pierre: My ninth Golden Eagle of the day was soaring low as I jumped out of my van and began photographing as its long widespread wings beamed the reflected light of the low sun as it circled again and again overhead. Similarly, when I intercepted a Rough-legged Hawk a few miles farther down the highway, the soaring raptor caught the late sunlight in the same fashion.

My last bird of the day was a beautiful adult Ferruginous Hawk that had especially orange back, leg, and tail feathers – really pretty as the well-fed raptor stood atop a tall pole. Recently I read a report by a birder who was not familiar with Ferrugs, who described one he just viewed as “quite colorful” – looking at this bird, I thought “colorful and majestic.” No falcons Friday, but that would be the only dent in a really fun and rewarding day in the SoDak realm. Make that two days! Woo-woo!

Article and photos by Paul Konrad

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