From the Vault: Lifering in the Dakotas

It’s been awhile since I’ve touched this blog. It’s been even longer since I took the trip I’m detailing in this post. It seems there was always an excuse for putting it off: chasing kids around with their busy schedules or chasing birds near and far.  Well, here we are together, enduring this pandemic, with nothing but time on our hands and with no place to go.  So maybe we can escape the news, however briefly, and go back to the summer of 2018 to relive a little roadtrip the kids and I took.

In July 2018, Melissa left the state for a convention with some girlfriends. Not wanting to be stuck at home that whole time, the kids and I struck out on our own adventure–a loop tour through South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, and North Dakota.  Of course it was fueled by my desire to get some new birds (and show the kids some new states and fun scenery, I guess).

With camper in tow, the kids and I set out early one morning to get to the Black Hills by late afternoon.  Heading west on I-90 through South Dakota was pretty uneventful save for hundreds of Corvettes that passed us. They were literally everywhere, even at the obligatory stop of Wall Drug. What in the world was going on?

Evan MarinOnce we got to our destination of Spearfish, South Dakota, we figured it out.  These geri drivers were at some annual Corvette rally which was being hosted by the very town where we were camping. While they were there to ogle each other’s cars, we were there to take in the natural beauty of the area. After dropping the camper off at the Spearfish City Campground, the kids and I drove the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway, a winding road that followed the mountain stream called Spearfish Creek up through the breathtaking, steep-sloped canyon.

Spearfish CanyonTruly this canyon was magnificent. Mount Rushmore is great, but Spearfish Canyon is a must-do if visiting the Black Hills.  Unlike dozens more Corvettes on the Scenic Byway, I wasn’t just cruising looking at scenery–I was on a mission to find a bird that calls the fast, cold Spearfish Creek home: the American Dipper.  The Black Hills are the closest place to Minnesota to find this bird that is a denizen of mountain streams.  Range maps show the Black Hills as a habitat island for this bird, completely separate from the rest of its range. Seeing this shallow stream in the mountainous terrain made it clear why this place was acceptable to the Dipper.

The kids and I made periodic stops along the Byway to check locations from eBird that had fresh Dipper sightings.  We were striking out, including at Iron Creek which was a feeder stream to Spearfish Creek and held the most promise based on eBird reports.  But it was Evan who came to the rescue.  He asked me what these birds looked like and said he had just seen a small gray bird fly under the overpass where Iron Creek went underneath the highway.  So we kept looking and eventually we spotted it.  What a small, fantastic bird it was! There really is no other bird like an American Dipper.

American DipperAmerican DipperAmerican Dipper American DipperEven the kids enjoyed watching the Dipper do Dipper things, like flying all around and… dipping.

Evan American Dipper American DipperThe Dipper was the main birding goal for South Dakota.  With it securely locked down, the kids and I retired for the night at the Spearfish City Campground. This campground is the kids’ favorite camping location ever because Spearfish Creek runs right through it, a great place to cool off during the day or play in the night.

Evan MarinThe kids enjoyed the campground so much that we decided to spend a second night there instead of our original plan of camping in Montana.  Our second day of the trip was not about the birds as we went to see famous landmark in next-door Wyoming: Devils Tower.  This was a lifer experience for all of us and something I had wanted to see for some time.

Devils Tower

On the way back to Spearfish I decided to take the scenic route on the forest service roads through the Wyoming Black Hills.  Little did I know that I wouldn’t have cell reception and that my paper placemat map of the area was woefully insufficient.  As one winding road fed into another, we couldn’t tell when we would emerge from the wilderness. The kids grew more and more nervous.  They claimed I was lost.  Psshht.  But to alleviate their worries, I flagged down a kind Wyoming resident who was recreating in the forest, and he kindly let us follow him out to a main highway and made sure we had enough gas. The kids were relieved.  To this day we still argue about whether I was lost or not.

On the third day of our trip we traveled from Spearfish up into Montana.  Our time in Montana was just a few hours which was just enough to stop and smell the sagebrush of southeastern Montana, a smell I will never grow tired of.

Evan Marin MontanaAfter our quick foray into Montana, we were headed to our camping destination of Theodore Roosevelt National Park in western North Dakota.  When we got to the park, we were devastated to learn the campground was all filled up.  So we camped at a Motel 6 in Dickinson.

The next morning we went back west about 20 miles to a certain country road I had been studying on eBird just north of Belfield (31st Street).  I knew this road held two potential lifers and a host of other fun birds, but I wasn’t expecting such remote grassland beauty.  It was one of the coolest places I had ever birded.

Red Dirt Road

The two grassland species I was after were Baird’s Sparrow and Sprague’s Pipit–two extremely rare birds in Minnesota.  Here in North Dakota, they are annual and occur in good numbers in some areas.

Because I had been studying the vocalizations of both birds, it didn’t take me long to pick out my Baird’s Sparrow lifer and get some good looks at it.  I remember at the beginning stages of my birding thinking how boring and drab this sparrow looked, yet I found myself absolutely captivated by it here in North Dakota.  Perhaps it was its beautiful song, the incredible setting, the rarity of it, or all of the above, but this was a lifer I enjoyed immensely.

Baird's SparrowBaird's Sparrow Baird's SparrowBaird's SparrowThe Sprague’s Pipits had been reported in decent numbers too, and I was able to detect them by their spiraling series of whistles given from very high in the sky.  It took a long time, but I was finally able to pick one out against the overcast sky–a mere speck that resembled a bird.Spragues Pipit

These birds seemingly stay aloft forever.  It was remarkable how they would seem to just float in the strong winds without needing to come back to Earth.  I never could spot one come down.  I was hoping to view and photograph one on the ground.  During all this time, their beautiful song became ingrained in my memory.  In fact, long after this I heard that song repeatedly on the Canadian TV show Heartland that Marin had gotten hooked on.

This red dirt road was a treasure chest of good birds besides these two key lifers. Other highlights included seeing a couple of Burrowing Owls, a fly-by Prairie Falcon, a Golden Eagle, Western Kingbirds, Lark Buntings, and a juvenile Swainson’s Hawk. 31st Street north of Belfield was just one of those magical places to bird.

Swainsons HawkLark BuntingAs we made our way east across North Dakota on our way back home, we stopped in the central part of the state to look for a Clark’s Grebe lifer.  Despite finding many Western Grebes, we couldn’t come up with a Clark’s.  All is well since I later got that one in San Francisco this past summer.  One of my favorite memories from poking around looking for the Grebe was coming across a dozen Cattle Egrets mixed in with some cattle.  It’s funny how birds like that can be so rare in Minnesota yet so easily found in North Dakota.

This was a fun little trip that produced some great memories for me and the kids and gave me three key lifers.  I’m not sure why it took me so long to write about it.  There are more untold stories of life birds still in the vault.  As we go along in through this uncharted period of history, I may have to bring one out every so often.

Great Faces, Great Chases–South Dakota

October 2004.  Some of you will remember that this was when the Red Sox swept the Cardinals and finally ended their long World Series drought.  I remember watching some of those exciting games on a crappy hotel TV in South Dakota when I dragged my wife of just a year-and-a-half along on a pheasant hunt.  “It’ll be fun!” I said.  Boy, was I green.  Long story short, I am still married and I made South Dakota history by being the only hunter ever to get skunked in the land where the state bird outnumbers the people by 100:1.  It’s true; somewhere near the Corn Palace in Mitchell there is a plaque displaying this bit of trivia.

Fast forward to 2015, and the pull to go back to South Dakota was once again strong.  Only this time the bird was not the Ring-necked Pheasant, and was instead the Lower Rio Grande Valley native, Great Kiskadee.  From deep south Texas, a Kiskadee made history in the five-state area (MN,WI,ND,SD,IA) by making an appearance at a rural residence in the Brookings area.  Apparently the bird, which shares time between two neighboring residences, showed up SEVERAL months ago and was only recently brought to the public’s attention when one of the homeowners eBirded it two weekends ago.  Interestingly, this report came out DURING the annual South Dakota Ornithologists’ Union’s annual meeting in Brookings just 20 minutes away.  Needless to say, the meeting immediately adjourned for a quick field trip to verify the bird’s identification.  The conclusion was that yes, this was for real.  Since then, droves have been making their way to see the Great South Dakota Kiskadee.

I was one of those itching to cross the border.  I made plans to go on Saturday, November 21st.  Melissa was gone to a conference so the kids would be accompanying me.  Since I had been talking it up all week before we left, the kids were actually really excited about going on this bird chase.  I don’t know if it was the prospect of going to another state or that they’d be able to watch Star Wars movies (a recent indoctrination at our house) or if they wanted to actually see this cool bird, but they were making their own preparations for the 3-hour one-way trip, getting most everything packed and ready themselves.  I wish I wouldn’t have been so engrossed in trying to track down the latest sighting information so that I could have paid more attention to their conversations as they gathered belongings, packed bags, and readied the snacks.

checklist

Evan was with me on the partially-botched Vermilion Flycatcher chase, so he added an extra checklist item just for my benefit.

When the day came, the kids and I made the long trip to SD.  Seeing that the temperature was only 18º, I was nervous that the tropical bird would have wised up and got out of town.  Once we got there, I was amazed that we were the only birders.  Even more amazing was that despite a two-hour effort, we got skunked.  History had repeated its ugly self.  Two birders showed up just as we left, so I gave them my phone number in case the Kiskadee showed up just after we got down the road.  No phone call.  In fact, those birders put in two hours and came up empty too. Imagine the great frustration, then, when later that evening the homeowner reported that the Kiskadee showed up just after we all had given up!  Yoda could feel my great pain.

I agonized over going back the next day.  I decided not to, figuring some day I’d bird in the Lower Rio Grande Valley and get this bird easily.  So Thanksgiving week happened along with all kinds of birding excitement of its own–stay tuned, and that Kiskadee kept up his daily appearances.  Stupid Facebook.  Videos and pictures and reports of that bird kept taunting me.  So this weekend, Evan and I went back.

We didn’t even get out of the home county before things started to look different.   Getting a FOY Merlin, a female Richardson’s “prairie” subspecies to be exact, at the very end of November got the birding juices pumping early.

Merlin

Then, just outside of Brookings, a rooster pheasant alongside the road was another good sign.  We did not even see a single pheasant on the last SD run.  Telling.  The good vibes were quickly iced, however, once we got on site and were off to an eerily-familiar start with at least a half hour of not seeing the Kiskadee.  Hopes were lifted when I visited with the homeowner at the north residence who told me he saw it that morning.  He asked for my number and said he’d keep watch at his place if I wanted to go wait at the south residence. As you can see, I got that phone call and redeemed my fruitless trips to South Dakota.

Great KiskadeeGreat KiskadeeIt turns out that Great Kiskadees are quite crushable, especially when they are chilly and don’t move for over 20 minutes.  Either that or the diet of heavy suet and cat food has made this individual lethargic.

Great KiskadeeGreat KiskadeeWhat a month it’s been with Arizona birds and Texas birds popping up in the north.  I know I owe you some more AZ coverage in the next post, but first we’re going to have to take a look at my last ever triple lifer day in Minnesota.  Buckle up, Larus fans.

The Colorado Trip: Birding South Dakota’s Badlands and Black Hills

BadlandsFinally. After an eight-year hiatus, the great American road-trip was reborn in our family.  There’s something liberating about heading out on the open road putting hundreds of miles under our seats, crossing numerous state lines and seeing new sights.  Our kids are to the age where they are now able to tolerate such intense travel and enjoy it too.  This summer we were headed to the mountains of Colorado to visit my aunt and uncle in their beautiful mountain home.

Though not the quickest route, we opted to head to Colorado via Rapid City so we could see Mt. Rushmore.  It would be a first for Melissa and the kids, so it was a must-stop. The scenery and the birding was most unimpressive until we crossed the Missouri River at Chamberlain.  But then, as soon as we made it to South Dakota’s better half, a western bird ambassador was there to welcome us.  A gorgeous, no-doubt-about-it Swainson’s Hawk soared over the freeway while I was cruising along at 75 MPH.  I involuntarily hollered, “Swainson’s Hawk!” Of course, soaring birds and speeding cars do not lend themselves to photo ops or good viewing.  Evan panickingly asked, “Where?!”  But it was too late and he didn’t see it.  Then the porch-lip came out in the back seat, and I was reminded by my wife to not draw attention to wildlife sightings on the road because the kids inevitably miss them.  We’ve been down this road before. Though I could now firmly claim this lifer, I tried to console Evan by assuring him that there would be more Swainson’s Hawks on this trip.  Boy, was I right, but that’s for another post.

Though not part of the original travel plans, we opted last-minute to dip south of I-90 to drive through Badlands National Park.  Growing up in Montana and then moving to Minnesota, I don’t know how many times I’ve traveled the I-90 stretch, but I have no memory of ever driving through the Badlands and seeing them up close.  I only remember distant views from the interstate.  I am so glad we decided to take this detour.  The Badlands are truly impressive with their beauty and other-wordly look.  And we were there on a beautiful day with cool temps.

Badlands

BadlandsThe expanse of the Badlands goes for miles, and I could have photographed them all day, but I was distracted by the birds.  When we stopped at one of the first scenic overlooks I caught sight of a blue bird.  It turned out to be our Mountain Bluebird lifer.

Mountain Bluebird

Mountain Bluebird

This was a hoped-for lifer and not one that I expected to get so soon in the trip.  It turns out that there would be even more life birds at this little stop. Buzzing around the cliffs and rocky outcroppings were several Violet-green Swallows.  My photo in the harsh afternoon sun doesn’t fairly show its namesake, but I can assure you that this is probably the finest-looking swallow there is.

Violet-green Swallow

Violet-green Swallow

I expected this bird and was able to identify it easily because of my eBird scouting. That scouting also helped me identify another fast-flier, the White-throated Swift! Photographing swallows and swifts is a daunting task under normal conditions, even more so when you are trying to keep children frum plummeting to their deaths. Needless to say, I didn’t get any photos of the swifts.

EvanI could not believe how accessible death was at this place.  Sure there are fun hills to climb like pictured above, but the other side is a doozy. This canyon was well over 100 feet down.BadlandsIt was fun to look at the bottom of this barren piece of earth and see a family of Say’s Phoebes, another good western bird.

Say's PhoebeWhat a good little stop this was – three quick lifers and a fun place to stretch the legs after a long drive.  But we had more Badlands to see and hopefully more birds too, so we continued on our drive through the park.  We spied Western Kingbirds wherever there were trees on which they could perch.  Such a fun bird.

Western Kingbird

Western Kingbird

As we made our way out of the park on Sage Creek Road, I was watching the fences for more WEKIs as well as Lark Buntings.  This potential lifer was reported as “ubiquitous” on this road in one eBird report.  I was very hopeful. We did stop to be entertained by the myriad of Prairie Dogs as they popped up and disappeared like a real-life whack-a-mole game for as far as the eye could see.  The whole family enjoyed the antics of these cute, pudgy rodents.

Prairie Dog

Prairie Dog

But doggone it, I completely forgot to check out the Prairie Dog Town for Burrowing Owls.  I had seen reports of them being with the Prairie Dogs.  One of those dogs poking its head up could just as easily been one of the Burrowers.  We’ve seen them before in Arizona, but one should never pass up an opportunity to look for a Burrowing Owl.

We continued our drive, and I was getting frustrated that we were not seeing the “ubiquitous” Lark Buntings.  Finally as we pulled out of the park, Evan pointed to a group of birds on the fence and asked what they were.  Mixed in with dozens of Mourning Doves were two Lark Buntings!  But they were a long way off and not letting themselves be photographed well.

It didn’t matter because as we kept driving on Sage Creek Road on the outside of the park, the Lark Buntings truly were ubiquitous.  I guess I should have read that report a little more carefully.  In case you are a birder and are looking for the Lark Bunting, the birds were on the wires on the north-south stretch.

Lark Bunting

Lark Bunting

Lark BuntingLark BuntingAfter securing a tidy haul of life birds and enjoying the scenery, it was time to make our way to the Black Hills of South Dakota to meet up with the presidents at Keystone.  The most notable bird seen along the way was a Red-headed Woodpecker – always a treat to find.

The stop to see Mt. Rushmore was brief.  It was basically a tick on the bucket list for many in our party and nothing more.  To us it just did not compare to the natural beauty of the area and its wildlife.

IMG_0032

Great Faces

With their pine covered mini-mountains, the Black Hills are absolutely gorgeous.  Our destination for the night was Hot Springs, a great small-town without the tourist trappings of Keystone.  But on the way to Hot Springs we passed through Wind Caves National Park.  Nothing new in terms of birds, but this guy right by the road was startling, a little scary, and very cool!

Bison

We eventually made it to Hot Springs where we settled in for the night.  But being in new lands with new birds does not lend itself to getting rest.  I was up and at ’em at first light to check out a local city park, Lower Chautauqua Park, located near a water park called – get this – Evans Plunge.  I was going to this park because it was very near our hotel and there had been eBird reports of Black-headed Grosbeaks among other notable western birds.

The first bird I heard and saw was the Spotted Towhee.  It was quite a thrill to catch up with this old friend after finding my lifer as a Kandiyohi County first official record back home in April.  In the early morning light I was only able to moderately improve my photograph of this species.

Spotted Towhee

Spotted Towhee

Eventually I had the good fortune of bumping into the reported Black-headed Grosbeaks. Despite my best efforts of following them through the trees, I only managed to get one decent photo.  Regardless, I was pretty excited to get this lifer.  It was such a cool-looking bird.  I don’t think I’ve met a grosbeak I didn’t like.

Black-headed Grosbeaks

Black-headed Grosbeaks

I wish I could have hung out longer to get more photos of these birds in better light, but I had to head back to the hotel so we could get ready to venture through Wyoming on our way to Colorado. South Dakota was good to us with several lifers and spectacular beauty, but it was time to get to Colorado to see what avian treasures awaited us.