Bobo's at Bear Butte

Yesterday I took a drive to Bear Butte Lake, near Bear Butte. This is a pic of both, taken from a path along the W side of the lake. Mato Paha or “Bear Mountain” is the Lakota name given to this site. This geological formation is one of several intrusions of igneous rock in the Black Hills that formed millions of years ago. The mountain is sacred to many American Indian tribes who come here to hold religious ceremonies.

Along the path, I found lots of the above bird. Back home, I found the female bobolink in my field guide and it was a match. I had to go through all the perching birds cause I had NO clue what this was. Heck, a bobolink?! Yahoo! They are not found in the Black Hills, but then I was outside of the NE edge of the Hills.

How funky is this bird?! I saw 2-3 of these mottled birds among the many females. I have drawn the conclusion that either A) Mom and Dad are not the same species or B) this is a male juvie bobolink or C) both! See the light patch on the back of the head? Bobolink! I don't know whether to be excited that I've seen bobolinks, or disappointed I didn't see any adult males. Unless this dude is, like, a cross-gendered wonder.

Update: Thanks bunches Warren, Caroline, and Hap, you're right, this is a male bobolink molting! I looked at Red and the Peanut's blog post of July 27th as Caroline mentioned, and those photos are a mirror image of my motley fellow. Cripes, it's hard enough to ID birds when they're in their normal phase, now I gotta figure out what a molter looks like? And, Wow Hap, they fly to S America for 7 mo's? Well, I can't blame 'em considering SD winters...would someone book me on that flight, too?! Geez, so much to learn, so little time.