July 3, 2025 [LINK / comment]
NOTE: This is another "catch-up" blog post based on Facebook posts from June of last year.
June 3: My first day of serious birding while traveling out west was at the Atkins Slough Wildlife Protection Area, on the west side of the town of Tea, about ten miles southwest of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. There were several Common Yellowthroats, Swamp Sparrows, Eastern Kingbirds, Killdeers, and even a couple Great Egrets, Great Blue Herons, Blue-winged Teals, and Black Terns. (The latter stayed too far away for me to get a good photo.) I did manage to photograph a Marsh Wren but was frustrated in trying to spot a nearby Ring-necked Pheasant lurking among the reeds. At a Little League game in the evening in a small town farther north, I saw a Baltimore Oriole and a pair of Eurasian Collared Doves.
(Atkins Slough Wildlife Protection Area, SD, June 3)
June 5: As I headed west and then south from Sioux Falls, my first major "nature break" was at the Lake Andes National Wildlife Refuge. Along the way I spotted a Ring-necked Pheasant in a farm driveway and did a U-turn, but it was gone by the time I had returned. I did, however, hear and then see a Willow Flycatcher. As I approached Lake Andes, I was very happy to get great closeup looks at Bobolinks as well as Western Kingbirds and Lark Sparrows. Near the shoreline I was thrilled to get excellent looks at several Yellow-headed Blackbirds for the first time in my life! (I had previously only seen them from a distance.) Also present were Orchard Orioles, Killdeers, Eurasian Collared Doves, and an Upland Sandpiper in an uncharacteristic location: the water! In the town of Lake Andes, SD I had a nice view of a couple Red-headed Woodpeckers. There weren't many birds as I crossed Nebraska into Colorado, however.
(Lake Andes National Wildlife Refuge and nearby parts of South Dakota, June 5)
June 6: My next birding expedition earlier this month took place in the Rocky Mountain National Park, where it's so crowded that you need a special entry reservation. Horrible traffic jams! Early on I was delighted to see a Wilson's Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon subspecies with the yellow throat), Mountain Chickadees, and even a Lincoln's Sparrow! Just as I was leaving I got nice photos of two species I had seen for the first time last summer in the San Francisco Bay area: a Pygmy Nuthatch and a Violet-green Swallow -- wonderful! I'll post other bird photos (including some from the tundra) in a separate batch later.
(Rocky Mountain National Park, June 6)
June 7: My second day of birding in Colorado focused on the area in and around the city of Boulder. I began at the Sawhill Ponds Wildlife Preserve, where I immediately heard the first of many Common Yellowthroats and Yellow Warblers. Soon I spotted a pair of American White Pelicans up above, and then a Swainson's Hawk. Aside from the typical water-oriented birds such as Belted Kingfisher and Great Blue Heron, I also saw some Warbling Vireos, House Wrens, Northern Flickers (the western red-shafted subspecies!), other woodpeckers, Willow Flycatcher, and a pair of Ospreys on a distant nest platform. (The above birds are included in the top composite photo.)
(southeast of Boulder, CO, June 7 A.M.)
It was a hot day, so I rested a while before proceeding to my next destination, the Chautauqua Park which is next to the scenic Flatiron rock formations southwest of Boulder. As I hiked up the trail in an open grassland I was amused to see three Broad-tailed Hummingbirds engaged in an aerial battle -- my very first hummingbirds of the year! Then I entered a brushy transitional area and heard an odd song, and thanks to Merlin identified it as a Lazuli Bunting. Before long I had my eyes on a life bird! My only closeup photo was a side view, shown at the bottom left. (The Lazuli Bunting on the top right was 80+ feet away.) I also saw some Black-billed Magpies and a Yellow-rumped (Audubon's) Warbler. In the late afternoon I saw some American Goldfinches, and in evening a group of Bushtits in some evergreen trees. Quite a big day!
(southwest of Boulder, CO, June 7 P.M.)
June 8: For my third and final day of birding in Colorado, I took my brother John's advice and explored the Pawnee National Grassland, about an hour northeast of Boulder. As expected, there were plenty of Western Kingbirds, Western Meadowlarks, Horned Larks, Lark Sparrows, and my main target bird: Lark Buntings! (Bottom right; that's the state bird of Colorado.) In short, lotsa larks! I also photographed what I believe is a juvenile Chestnut-collared Longspur (middle left), which would be a life bird. At one stop I witnessed a Western Kingbird defending his nest from a Swainson's Hawk; high drama! Then a fierce thunderstorm came upon me, so I had to leave and drive into Wyoming. As the afternoon turned toward dusk I was lucky to see some Mountain Bluebirds at close range, and then a Gray Partridge just sitting along the side of the road. Another life bird!!! Also some antelopes running at high speed. It was a wonderful day!
(Pawnee National Grassland, Colorado, and south of Casper, Wyoming, June 8)
June 9: My main destination in Wyoming was Devil's Tower, where Jacqueline and I had seen a Western Tanager back in 1998, when I was still a novice birder. Sure enough, I managed to spot and photograph my main target bird after I had hiked about 2/3 the way around the massive rock formation. Beautiful! I also had nice views of Western Wood Pewee, Bullock's Oriole, Yellow-rumped (Audubon's) Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Red-headed Woodpecker, Black-billed Magpies*, various nuthatches, and -- finally -- a Black-headed Grosbeak! Yet another fun and successful day of birding out west!
* For some reason, the Devil's Tower bird checklist indicates that Black-billed Magpies are rare in the summer. Not at all!
(Devil's Tower National Monument, June 9)
June 10: My main objective as I re-entered South Dakota from Wyoming was sightseeing in the picturesque Black Hills, especially at Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial. I did, however, set aside time for birding, with one particular target species: the American Dipper. At my brother John's recommendation, I drove up Spearfish Canyon and must have made ten or more stops along the way in my quest for this unusual bird. Early on I came across several Wild Turkeys and a Red-breasted Nuthatch, and along a big cliff I had very good views of a dozen or more White-throated Swifts. I even managed to get some decent photos of them! Further upstream I came upon some birds that would be considered common in the east: Red-eyed Vireos, American Redstarts, and Common Yellowthroats. Finally, as I was walking along the rapids, I saw a dark, chunky-shaped, medium-small bird darting around a big boulder: an American Dipper, a life bird for me! I waited ten or more minutes, but never saw it again, and failed to get a photo. Oh well. An hour or so later, along a trail near the Stratosphere Bowl historical site (about ten miles from Mount Rushmore), I had a nice closeup view of a Black-headed Grosbeak.
(Black Hills of South Dakota, June 10)
June 11: Leaving the Black Hills and heading east across South Dakota, my first stop was in the Badlands National Park. (Actually, I first spent quite a while shopping in the world-famous tourist shopping mecca of Wall Drug.) The Badlands scenery is awe-inspiring, as the green prairie suddenly changes to stark, barren, other-worldly landscape not unlike the Grand Canyon. For a while, the only birds I saw were swallows, Brown-headed Cowbirds, Western Meadowlarks, and a Brown Thrasher or two. Then finally I hit the jackpot at one of the overlooks, with a Western Kingbird and Orchard Oriole in close proximity (photos merged to compensate for different focal lengths), along with a Lark Sparrow, and best of all, a Rock Wren that perched just a few feet away and sang up a storm. Later in the afternoon, on a big pond south of the state capital Pierre, I saw some Blue-winged Teals, American Wigeons, and a Killdeer. It's amazing how many ducks, grebes, and even pelicans the isolated prairie lakes and ponds can sustain!
(Badlands National Park and central South Dakota, June 11)
June 13: A few days before I headed back east, I went hiking along the woodland trails at Beaver Creek Nature Area and then the Mary Jo Wegner Arboretum. There I saw several bird species that one could see just about anywhere in the eastern states, but are either much less common or not found at all in arid western South Dakota: Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Indigo Buntings, Common Yellowthroats, and American Redstarts. This shows how the state is a transition zone in terms of the ranges of many bird species. I also saw a few House Wrens and American Goldfinches that day, as well as several 13-lined Ground Squirrels, commonly called "gophers."
(Beaver Creek Nature Area and then the Mary Jo Wegner Arboretum, near Sioux Falls, SD, June 13)
June 15: On my next-to-last day in South Dakota, I spent about an hour south of Vermillion in the Missouri River valley. There I finally saw two of the most typical (but not always prominent) bird species of the Great Plains: a very close Grasshopper Sparrow and a distant Dickcissel. Also present were the quite widespread Lark Sparrow, Eastern Kingbird, and Brown Thrasher and a Red-headed Woodpecker. The day before while golfing I had seen a Bald Eagle (for the only time in my trip), and I was told that there was a nest of them near the Vermillion River, but I could not find it.
And that wraps up my western birding adventures of June 2024!
June 25: It was quite hot and dry after I returned to Virginia, but I took advantage of a mild day to make a visit to Bell's Lane. Among the highlights were several Orchard Orioles (including a mother feeding a fledgling), a House Wren, a Gray Catbird adorned with human-provided "jewelry," a Brown Thrasher, a Red-bellied Woodpecker, an Eastern Towhee, an an Eastern Kingbird, and an Indigo Bunting.
June 29: Today was another hot one, so I went to the shadiest trail I could think of: Chimney Hollow, near West Augusta along Rt. 250. There were several Acadian Flycatchers, which are usual summer residents there, but NONE of the expected Louisiana Waterthrushes. A result of the drought, perhaps? There was hardly any water in the stream. I also saw a Worm-eating Warbler, a Black-throated Green Warbler, several noisy Ovenbirds (including one that was faking an injury to distract me, just like a Killdeer!), a Scarlet Tanager, and a Blue-headed Vireo.
(Chimney Hollow, June 29)
Additional photos and montages, including individual photos of some of the birds in the above montages, will soon become available on the Wild Birds chronological (2024) page.