Sunday night Charlie Miller and I went for a night drive, mostly to see if we could get more Northern Saw-whets to responds to calls. We had no success with that. However, on the roads there were Common Poorwills. I think these must have been family groups, as there would be several close to together, then none for a distance. Also, some of the birds were incredibly tame, I think I could have picked up several of them, but I didn’t try that. I suspect that these were the young ones, probably just out of the nest. One just sat on the road as we drove slowly by. I took a photo out of the truck window, looking down.
One of maybe eight that were sitting on the road. We could hear more. It was hard to accurately count them as most would flush then land again up ahead with other poorwills. This is nearly a full frame image.This one was in the vegetation just off the road. This is a slightly cropped image. I was so close that I couldn’t fit the entire bird in the frame. I photographed this one from the truck window, shooting almost straight down. It never flushed, even as we drove by.
Last night, Charlie Miller came out to join me for some black lighting for insects. He got here about dark and almost immediately heard a Northern Saw-whet Owl calling. Of course, I couldn’t hear it, but he guided us to where it was and soon we were standing under it. I could hear it quite well then. It stayed high in a pine, I was able to get some photos. That is the first saw-whet I’ve seen in a long time. The black lighting was kind of slow but we got some interesting things. As always, a larger image can be seen by right clicking and opening in a new tab.
The Northern Saw-whet Owl. Charlie was sure he could hear two but we only saw one. A few days ago, I went up by Government Hill for a hike. Two Prairie Falcons started harassing me, I got a pretty good shot of one flying straight at me. In a muddy stock pond, I saw this clump of Broadleaf Arrowhead, I thought it made a nice photo. Hypoprepia miniata, Scarlet-winged Lichen Moth. As the name suggests, larvae feed on lichens. Parthenice Tiger Moth, Apantesis parthenice. Will be a new South Dakota record for BugGuide. A Western Wood-Pewee posing on a lichen covered branch.
Today my brother Ted was here, having come up from Rapid City to work on the communications tower north of my campsite. We were sitting outside visiting when I noticed a different species of swallowtail flying around. At first, I thought it was an Anise Swallowtail. It landed and I got a few photos. Later, I was checking the photos and determined that it was actually an Old World Swallowtail, also referred to as Baird’s Swallowtail, which is the subspecies that occurs in this area. This is a lifer butterfly for me! The Old World Swallowtail is found across Asia, Europe, and western North America, nearly the entire palearctic region. It is the only species of swallowtail in most of Europe. There are over 40 recognized subspecies. Unlike the nearly identical Anise Swallowtail (for which the larval food is plants in the Parsley family), the larvae of the Old World Swallowtail feed on various species of sagebrush and sageworts.
My first clue was the black spot in the orange eye of the hindwing. In an Anise Swallowtail, that black spot is centered. In the Old World Swallowtail, the black spot is on the border. I got more photos, some showing the underwing and abdomen. The Anise Swallowtail has a mostly black abdomen; the Old World Swallowtail has a yellow abdomen with black stripes. There are other differences too but are more subtle and not as easy to pick out. A nice frame filler! I surely didn’t expect to get a lifer butterfly out here in the Slim Buttes, but I did. An Anise Swallowtail from the Black Hills, for comparison.
Today I went for a long hike, off trail and down canyon. I ended up at Puckeroo Spring. I wanted to see if I could find the old Doc Hodge house. Doc Hodge was what we would call a naturopathic doctor nowadays. He was apparently friendly with the Sioux and learned about their methods of treating disease and injuries. He lived in a house in what is now Doc Hodge Draw. There is a Doc Hodge Spring too. I could see the remains of the house in Google maps and wanted to see it for myself. It is on private land, so I just looked from high spots along the fence line with the National Forest Service property. I can find almost nothing on the internet about Doc Hodge, and no photos of the old house. I did find this comment in an article in South Dakota Magazine.
Untamed Harding County April 19, 2016 By John Andrews
Scott B Besler said:
In reply to Wayne Rosby’s question about the Doc Hodge place. Doc Hodge was an herbal doctor to whom many swore loyalty for curing illness and aches during those early years in Harding County. The Hodges had a ranch there along with Doc Hodges hospital/infirmary. The ranch stayed in the family for a number of years and is now part of the Lermeny ranch. My grandmother gave Doc Hodge credit for his treatment of my mother when she was a young girl and contracted Scarlet Fever. She said his herbal treatment lowered her high fever and may have saved her life. I too am obviously happy about that or I might not be here.
It just happens that I met Wayne Rosby and his wife, Dorothy, a few days ago. Charlie Miller stopped in with them and we had a nice visit. Dorothy is Charlie’s sister. At the time I didn’t even think to ask them about Doc Hodge’s house.
Here’s a satellite image from Google Maps, showing the old house. Not much to see here, but I guess this is it. This was taken from the ridge above Puckeroo Spring. All the trees look closer to the house than they do in the Google Map image, but that is probably just the telephoto lens effect. I’m not entirely sure this is the same building. I could see this from the fence line. Scott Besler’s comment indicated a hospital/infimary, whether it was part of the house or separate, I have no idea. That big tree in the background looks like the same tree in the first photo, as does the leaning tree on the right side of the photo. I can see the old stone walls in the Google Map image too.
July 15 and I’m still in the same place, Slim Buttes, Custer National Forest, Harding County, South Dakota, USA, Earth. I still haven’t had a good night for astrophotography. Today smoke from the Canadian forest fires rolled in, it is not helping. There isn’t much new here. I went into Buffalo this morning for groceries, water, gas and ice. On the highway I saw lots of Chestnut-collared Longspurs that I haven’t seen before. A few nights back, a series of thunderstorms came through, the second storm started dropping hail, some were up to 2 inches diameter. No damage here though, but a lot of rain.
A Rock Wren that has just captured a grasshopper. I watched it dismantle the insect and eat it. Wildflowers are still abundant. The Purple Coneflower is about done but the Wild Bergamot (Horsemint) is coming on strong now. This photo is of Upright Prairie Coneflower, Ratibida columnifera. I put in another night with the blacklight. This is Harris’ Three-Spot, Harrisimemna trisignata. It is a very distinctive moth, nothing to be confused with it. The larvae feed on various woody plants, including wild raisin, winterberry, bush honeysuckle, black willow, white ash and apple, none of which I have seen in the Slim Buttes. This is a more eastern species and will be a first SD record for BugGuide when I get it entered. Also a first SD record for iNaturalist. American Bird’s-Wing Moth, Dypterygia rozmani. Larval food is various docks and smartweed. Another nocturnal species of burying beetle, Nicrophorus pustulatus. It is the only species in the genus Nicrophorus that is known to raise its young on food sources other than carrion. The beetle is known to utilize snake eggs to raise the young. Also reported to be a brood parasite of other Nicrophorus species. Like most burying beetles, this one is carrying a load of phoretic mites. Phoresis by mites serves only as a means of transportation, in this case to a food source, carrion.
Last night I set up the blacklight. Since the butterflies were abundant, I thought maybe the moths would be too. And they were. I have far too many photographs of new moths to post here. I photographed 16 species that were new for me! I was hoping to get an Io Moth but that didn’t happen, but I did get some really nice sphinx moths that I’ve never seen before. Maybe tonight I can get an Io Moth. I’ve been using iNaturalist to get a quick ID on most of these moths and it is working very well, highly recommended!
This was the most exciting species, Aechemon Sphinx. Larval food is various species in the grape family. This is a big moth! I’ve never seen one before. This is a smaller sphinx moth, the Vashti Sphinx. The larval food plant is snowberry. Another new species for me. A Waved Sphinx. Larva feed on ash and hawthorn, both of which are present in the area. Zeller’s Macalla Moth, Macalla zelleri. Another new species for me. Larval food plant is poison ivy, which is very abundant here. Common Lytrosis Moth, Lytrosis unitaria. A strange looking moth, one of the larval food plants is hawthorn, which is found in the Slim Buttes. This will be a first South Dakota record for BugGuide when I get it entered. Nicrophorus orbicollis, a species of burying beetle, carrying a lot of phoretic mites. Large Lace-border Moth, Scopula limboundata. This will also be new BugGuide record for South Dakota when I get it entered. This is my big butterfly find, a Striped Hairstreak from a couple of days ago. I’ve only seen two of these before and neither one of those was very cooperative. This one was, I got lots of photos with the 100mm macro and ringflash.
I left Pierre yesterday and drove to the Slim Buttes. There has been some good rain out here and the flowers are abundant as are the butterflies. After being in Pierre for almost 2 months, the quiet out here is welcome. There are no trains, barking dogs, loud vehicles, airplanes, or other noisy things. Just birds and the wind. This morning, I went for a walk and got 26 species of birds. My eBird checklist is here. I hope for a few clear nights so I can do some astrophotography in the dark skies of Harding County.
I found this Plains Garter Snake in a puddle on the road, I’m not sure what it was doing but it refused to leave the water. Butterflies are really abundant. Here’s a Milbert’s Tortoiseshell. A Two-tailed Swallowtail nectaring on a thistle. Aphrodite Fritillary.Great Spangled Fritillary.While in Pierre, I took one trip out to the Fort Pierre National Grasslands. Here’s a Burrowing Owl that was harassing me about being too close to its nest hole. This is Wedgeleaf Frogfruit, Phyla cuneifolia. It was growing in a prairie dog colony near Richland Dam. This location is the farthest north this species has been reported, according the iNaturalist. Typically a species of the southwest, the Navajo reportedly used it to treat spider bites. A Marbled Godwit. I’m experimenting with some new software for astrophotography. StarXterminator lets me remove the stars for processing then add them back. NoiseXterminator is a much better method of reducing noise. I think the results are impressive on the North America Nebula, which I took several years ago. Now if I can just get some astrophotography done! The weather has not been cooperative.
