Spring's Trying to Get Sprung...

What a difference a day (or four) makes...like I predicted, the snow is back...3 to 4 inches to be exact...so I'm glad that I got out for another drive in the Hills a few days ago to check for any signs of spring...

First, In my own backyard, one sure sign that spring is technically here is the return of the house sparrows...

Checking around at my usual stops along Sheridan Lake Road, I found this big mushroom several feet up on a tree along Spring Creek...

At the next stop, I heard this red-tailed hawk before I could locate it...

At the south end of Sheridan Lake I found a Mt. bluebird pair...the male took off before I could get a decent shot...hopefully sometime later this year I will...

I came back home via Hwy 44, stopping at Canyon Lake...is this the same squirrel I photographed during my last visit there? Poor guy had an injured ear...did a dog attack it? Hmm...

Another sign of spring....a wood duck pair was spotted on the lake.

Checkin' the Critters at Canyon Lake

Western South Dakota is currently enjoying above-normal temperatures; most of the snow is melted BUT I'm not fooled in the least...winter is not over, and the countryside is still completely dead, UGH. There's no point driving very far unless I'm gathering vitamin D, so I took another drive over to Canyon Lake to see if there were any newcomers about......

Walking the path by the lake, right off I found a curious squirrel....it started up the tree, then came down for a better look....

...It eventually had enough of the paparazzi treatment and headed upward...

Nearby some Canada geese wobbled away....

The ice on the lake had amoeba-like cracks.....

I didn't realize at first that I had this one shot of an exciting visitor...that's a hooded merganser in the center! Looking at both a local reference and the field guide, I'm not so sure it's supposed to be here...definitely a lifer for me!!  :o)

The common goldeneyes were about as usual...

Another new (to me) visitor, a snow goose! Not a lifer...That's a bufflehead in front of it....

Back at home...the European starlings arrived two-three weeks ago...3-4 of them sing every morning from the top of the poplar tree outside our bedroom window. The robins are back too, so spring must be near....we won't start seeing green until May however.... SIGH......

A Tale of Two Lodges

So, Part II of my wintery drive through Custer State Park recently...the park now has five lodges, and I passed by three of them on my route. The first one, the Game State Lodge, didn't have the icy decor I was looking for, so I continued on to Blue Bell Lodge...

Where I found what I was looking for...icicles...

Some covering an upstairs window...some, reaching for the ground...

In the summer, Blue Bell Lodge provides a nightly Western Chuck Wagon Cookout that begins with a hay ride to a secluded canyon and includes a sing-along w/ Western entertainers...I'm hoping to enjoy the outing this year...

Moving on towards Legion Lake Lodge, this coy gal showed off her beautiful white tail...

Across Legion Lake, a bridge, accessable from the parameter...

Legion Lake Lodge was also adorned with an impressive crystal fringe...

A paw print inside a human print....raccoon? Fox? No...I have yet to ID this but I have certainly tried... 

Human tracks that I was following in to the edge of the lake...several inches deep...I didn't wear my snow boots cause they're hard to drive in, but did have my hiking boots on...

The fence posts around the Lodge had lop-sided snow caps...

A Black Hills (white) spruce by the Lodge, covered in cones...it's South Dakota's state tree.