It has been quite a while since I’ve udpated, but I’m still here. Not much new. It was hot for a while, then rain, then it cooled down enough to require an extra blanket at night. I’ll take the cooler weather anytime. Bird migration has not picked up at all. The only “for certain” migrant I’ve seen is an Olive-sided Flycatcher. Archery Elk season opens September 1 and some hunters have trail cams at Baldwin Spring and Jumpoff Spring. For some reason, they have not put any at Lost Spring and that’s where the Elk are. I’m not going to say anything. For now the moon is full and no astrophotography, I am really starting to miss it.
Now the most common flower in the meadows is Dotted Gayfeather, shown here. A Monarch nectaring on Dotted Gayfeather. I’m seeing quite a few Monarchs now. Mountain Mahogany has seeded out, whole hillsides of Mountain Mahogany look silvery due to the seeds. I assume the spiral shaped awn has a similar function as some species of needlegrass, it forces the seed into the ground when the awn get wet. I’ve got lots of Red-breasted Nuthatches coming to my feeders now. They are fun to photograph. White-breasted Nuthatches and some chickadees too. I’m hoping the Pygmy Nuthatches will discover the food source soon. I haven’t seen any hummingbirds. A Red Squirrel at Baldwin Spring.
As always, right click on a photo to open in a new tab for a larger image.
I decided to try the black light last night. This works best on dark, warm, humid nights. The moon is nearly full but it was certainly warm and humid. I got a few interesting insects. Birding is slow, a male Cassin’s Finch has found my feeder and comes in regularly, but nothing else does. I am sure glad I’m where I’m at because it has to be hot down on the plains if it is this hot here.
This is a mantispid, also known as a mantisfly. I’ve never seen them before and according to BugGuide this is a first for South Dakota. I had several come in last night. Most likely it is Dicromantispa sayi. This moth is Eubaphe mendica, The Beggar. It gets its name from the spots which resemble holes in a beggar’s clothing. Also a first BugGuide record for South Dakota. The Cassin’s Finch.
I left the Slim Buttes on Friday and drove back to my quiet spot in the Black Hills. It was getting hot up there and forecast to get even hotter. When I got to my spot, someone else was there with a big 5th wheel and ATVs. There was plenty of room for me too but I decided I wanted some distance from ATVs so went back to the main road and took the road to Jumpoff Spring. I have often thought about taking the Scamp on that road but haven’t done it because of a steep hill and a rough, rocky road to get up there. Well, I tried it, took it real slow in 4 wheel drive and it turned out OK. No cupboards dumped out and nothing much happened. I really like this new spot, even quieter and more remote. One thing I am certain of, no one is pulling a 5th wheel or big camper up here! I put out the trail cams yesterday near Baldwin Spring and got nothing, then this afternoon I was walking down the trail by camp when I saw fresh Mountain Lion tracks from last night, made after the light rain that fell. I had one hummingbird at my feeder this morning that hasn’t come back, I think it was a Ruby-throated Hummingbird.
The meadow by my new camp is full of Purple Coneflower and many other flowers, there is a clump of Bristly Poppy in the back. The abundance of Purple Coneflower is amazing here. A Western Wood-Pewee at Baldwin Spring. This one of the best photos I’ve ever taken of this species, they always seem to land in a shadow or too high up. How many more photos can I take of Western Tanagers? I just can’t pass up a good shot. A very scruffy looking Vesper Sparrow, in heavy molt. I only got one shot of the hummingbird and it is not a good one. But, looks like Ruby-throated to me.
I haven’t been seeing anything too exciting. The weather has been windy and not good for trail cams. When the wind blows hard, movement of vegetation and shadows triggers the camera and I get hundreds of videos/photos with nothing in them. Now it looks like a couple of days of rain. I went back to Baldwin Spring one morning and got more nice bird photos. A walk in Hell Canyon was good for butterflies.
The Death Camas has all gone to seed, now the most abundant flower in my meadow is the Mariposa Lily. Thousands of them are in bloom now. I think this is a Northwestern Fritillary. According to my butterfly guide, it is right on the edge of its range in the Black Hills. Western Tanager at Baldwin Spring. Just a robin, but I really like this photo.
Baldwin Spring is my favorite bird photography spot in the Black Hills. I just wish some “new” birds would show up. I get photos of the same species every year. It is still fun to sit in my nest and take nice close-up photos. There is a perfect hiding spot (my nest) in between a juniper and some chokecherry bushes just a few feet away from the spring. I know the birds still know I’m there, but they get used to me. In the morning, the sun is behind me and usually the light is pretty nice. Today I carried the 500 f4 on a tripod to the spring. Yesterday I walked from camp, that is about 2 miles each way. I can drive to within a mile or so, depending on which route I take. One route is shorter and then one has to go down (and then up) a steep but short hill, maybe a few hundred yards. The other route is longer and downhill too but not as steep. I usually prefer the shorter route.
Yesterday I put my trail cams out at two trails leading to two other springs. There are no cattle this year so I’m hoping for something exciting to show up.
Yellow-rumped Warbler, Audubon’s race. Spotted Towhees are a regular at the spring. There are lots of Red Crossbills this year. They come in an amazing variety of plumages. This one is a juvenile bird, apparently they have already hatched a brood. Sometimes there will be 15-20 of them getting a drink or bathing. Male Red Crossbill, full color. I have lots of photos.A Gray Jay. I don’t see this species at the spring very often. A juvenile Clark’s Nutcracker. I watched one of the parents feeding it. Note the fleshy gape. American Goldfinch on a nice perch.
I’m back in Pierre. Actually, I’ve been here over a week now. The first few days were cold and wet but pretty good for birding, as lots of migrants were forced to land. As it was in Arizona, rain is needed here too. On the way up here, I stopped in a BLM campground near Datil, New Mexico. It is the Datil Well Campground and I plan to spend more time there on the way back to Arizona. Very nice area for astrophotography and the birding is pretty good too. I had read about this campground before but the reviews all said there was no phone service/internet. However, I found that some campsites do have service, good enough for email, news and weather, anyway.
A Black-chinned Hummingbird at Datil Well Campground, New Mexico. A Glossy Ibis at the Hyde WPA, near Pierre, SD. A Semipalmated Plover and a Piping Plover, side by side, Hyde WPA. My best bird of late, a Whimbrel at Hyde WPA. I got a text from Kenny Miller this afternoon letting me know he had found this bird. I headed up there and it was still present! A South Dakota life bird and a new Hughes County life bird as well. I have chased after Whimbrels in South Dakota a few times and they were always gone when I got there. I now have 370 species on my South Dakota life list. This is a lousy photo due to the distance, but I have lots of good photos of Whimbrels at the LINK.
It is sure good to see lots of birds again! I’ve been at Patton’s Hummingbird Center in Patagonia three times now and today is the first time I saw any Violet-crowned Hummingbirds. Apparently the numbers are down. I discovered that there are three feeders on the property (in the northwest corner) that do have Violet-crowned Hummingbirds. I never saw any on the rest of the property. The place is alive with other birds, too many species to list here. Lots of birders too.
I think I will leave tomorrow and drive to Silver City. I could stay here a long time but it is time to head north. Had a nice rain yesterday and the plant response to it was rapid, things are greening up. There was a dusting of snow on the Santa Ritas but it didn’t last long.
Violet-crowned HummingbirdNot as close but I like the perch better! I got very close to this male Ladder-backed Woodpecker.A Greater Pewee in the Empire Gulch at Las Cienegas. I’ve never seen one away from the mountains. Obviously a migrant on its way to mountains, where the species nests.
I left Ajo on Sunday morning and drove to the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area, near Sonoita. I’ve stayed here many times, it is free, quiet, and usually good birding. Like most everywhere else in Arizona, it is very dry. There is still water in the spring though and the cottonwoods are leafed out and green. The uplands are dry and brown. Had a nice rain this afternoon and now the forecast is for a low of 35F tonight! I would not be surprised to see some snow on the mountains in the morning.
Today Mark Otnes and I birded around Patagonia Lake where we had some good luck with a Least Tern.
I haven’t photographed Gila Woodpeckers for a long time, they are very common. But, this was a shot I couldn’t pass up. A Least Tern at Patagonia Lake State Park. We saw it flying around the lake several times but then it landed on the beach. The tern let us walk up very close. I took nearly 200 photos as it preened and rested. More of the same. It is always nice to get photos of birds doing something beside just resting. A Black Phoebe at the Patton’s Hummingbird Center.
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A couple of days ago, while birding in my warbler hotspot, I came around a bend and suddenly caught the eyes of a Bobcat looking at me from a big mesquite tree. It was close but it just stayed there and watched me. I took some photos and backed away. Later I came back and it was gone.
At the ponds, the latest excitement has been two Semipalmated Sandpipers, a Red-breasted Merganser and two Red-necked Phalaropes.
The Bobcat. It was laying on a horizontal trunk of a big mesquite. All I could see was its head. One of two Red-necked Phalaropes at the Ajo sewage ponds. It is really hard to get good photos at this site, which is too bad, because it does attract a lot of good birds. A lot of Vaux’s Swift have moved in. I keep trying for good shots but it is very hard. This isn’t too bad, but still a large crop, which really reduces detail. I have a lot that are much worse though!
The weather has been a little on the hot side but not too bad. My opportunities for astrophotography have been limited due to clouds and wind. Still no rain at all. The few areas that have got some water (mostly due to being watered or from runoff from paved streets) have been producing some birds. Tomorrow I have an appointment at Jones Ford in Buckeye to see what I need to do about the check engine light. I hope that doesn’t take too long.
M88, a spiral galaxy in the Virgo Galaxy Cluster. I would like to put more time in this but it looks that will have to wait. This galaxy group is known at Arp 286 (Arp is the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies, named after Halton Arp, the astronomer who developed it). The largest galaxy in the image is NGC 5566. It is the largest galaxy in Virgo but is so far away it appears small, even for the C8. Distance from Earth is about 65 million light years. I had to crop a lot but it still looks pretty good. NGC 3521, also known as the Bubble Galaxy. The large area of nebulosity surrounding the galaxy is from stars that have been torn out of the galaxy and dwarf galaxies that collided millions of years ago. A Sora I found at the golf course. It was right out in the open, very unusual for a Sora. A very cooperative male Hermit Warbler I found this morning. My prize bird for the day!Another view of the same Hermit Warbler.
