Ducky Daycare Pond and Beyond (1 of 2 Parts)

Thursday I took a drive E of the Hills, hitting the gravel road network among the farms and ranches, starting S. at the large pond and working my way N. along my usual routes...

The pond was quite active...right off I spied this pied-billed grebe not far from the road...

When it soaked in that I was seeing several eared grebes sitting on nests made of pond weeds on top of the water, you can believe I was pretty excited! I managed a few shots of this female on her eggs closer to the road than the others, before she took to the water...exposing her four eggs...

The female mallards have set up ducky daycare on the pond...this gal's got seven chicks...

The marsh smartweed, a buckwheat, is in bloom now...

Unlike the N. shovelers, the eared grebes seem to stay paired up during nesting...if the male shovelers are about, I don't see them...or I'd of shared a photo of a male by now...

The American coots are always present on the pond, less leery of photographers than the other water fowl...they wouldn't be so helpful if they knew how I always get a kick out of their funny mugs...

The Air Force B-1 Bomber doesn't have feathers like the other birds...two flew over, disturbing the peace and quiet at the pond...heading to Ellsworth AFB...

Moving along, I almost got a shot of this young buck staring out of the tall grass at me...but he reacted faster than I did and bolted for the trees...

The Upland sandpipers are always easy to photograph, a bit dull-skulled it seems...but then what can one expect of a 'shore' bird that prefers grasslands? Hmm...both were doing their funny head-bobbing routine, whether standing on the roadside or perched on a fence post...

The sunflowers (and other sunflower-like yellow asters) are in bloom...

And the horned larks are busy scouring the gravel roads for bugs....

Ok, this is another split post...will post the second half Tues. or Wed.