Buzzard Park in Spearfish

Thursday the huz and I took a drive to Spearfish for an early supper, stopping first at Buzzard Park. Icky name for a really nice park that connects to a fish hatchery. He'd told me about the park awhile back, discovering it when he visited a friend nearby. I can't wait to go back when it's all green and lush. In the meantime, here's what I saw on our short walk in the park...

...Orange, wilted berries...

...Chickadees and nuthatches up in the very tall, bare trees...

...A meandering Spearfish Creek...

...An equally meandering path along the creek...

...Apples in a neighboring yard, that were frozen on the branches...

...Queen Anne's lace, dry but still lacy...

...And an old, quaint stone building...

...Used for not such a 'quaint' purpose.

Skywatch Friday

Ok, I'm going to do a Skywatch Friday too, only this is the full moon on Monday, taken from my back yard. Deb, you asked if I use a zoom lens...yes, it's a 300 mm, can't live w/o it...want a 400 mm for C'mas!

Nutty for Nuthatches

I took another drive yesterday, gathering more 'patterns and textures' shots but not seeing much wildlife, until I stopped at a 'new' turn-out that's hard to see from the road...

...You can see the bit of bark being chipped away as this mini woodpecker (a.k.a. white-breasted nuthatch) gleans insects, spiders, and larvae (well, no larvae now) from the bark...they also eat nuts and seeds of conifers.

...Hmm, maybe it's better luck upside down...the nuthatches have an enlarged hind toe that enables them to hunt food upside down, which is amusing to watch...I was happy to get better photos this time around...

...And happy to get a bit clearer shot of a red-breasted nuthatch too.

A Chick, Yogi, and Chip

You didn't think that the gray jay was the only thing of interest my friend and I saw on our Sunday drive, did you now?

...For some reason, the black-capped chickadees came within six feet of me as they flitted all around the bare trees and shrubs along Spring Creek...I had to un-zoom the lens...

...Ok, now I can say that I've seen a bear in the Black Hills...near Mystic...

...Chip was very busy gathering food for winter along the shore of Roubaix Lake, but he paused here and there to make sure I posed no threat.

Hooray for the Gray Jay!

Friend Jayne and I took a really nice drive yesterday, out to Deerfield Lake and then up a dirt road to Mystic. Plenty of hunters were out and about as well...flashes of neon orange here and there. N of Mystic, we came upon two gray/white birds...shrikes?! I was very excited thinking I'd found loggerhead shrikes, even though they seemed larger than they should be. Turns out the pair was a couple of gray jays, still an exciting 'lifer' find!

Loggerhead and Northern shrikes are up to 10" long, robin-sized, whereas the gray jay is 10 - 13" long. The loggerhead's markings are fairly similar to the gray jay's at first glance, but both shrikes have much more distinct black eye patches and their black wings are in sharper contrast to a much paler body. Also, the shrike probably wouldn't be here this late in the year.