South Dakota Black Hills and Wildlife Loop

Following five nights celebrating our family reunion in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, we joined our younger daughter's family on a road trip back to Illinois. We entered South Dakota by way of Wyoming en route to Blue Bell in the Black Hills of Custer State Park. 

We occupied adjacent cabins in a Ponderosa woodland at Blue Bell Lodge, just off the famous Wildlife Loop:



Anxious to tour the Loop before dark, we made 6:00 PM dinner reservations at the restaurant but waited over an hour before being served. The food was wonderful despite the terrible service. There was no time to drive the Loop's entire 18 miles, but the wildlife viewing was spectacular.

Hundreds of American Bison wandered freely along the road. Fences and cattle guards control their rotation between huge grazing grounds:







Pronghorn Antelopes abounded:





As dusk approached, White-tailed Deer became more numerous. Many of the does had fawns:







Ten-point buck in velvet:



Feral Donkeys, descendants of Wild Asses released by early settlers, approached our auto, apparently looking for treats offered by tourists despite prohibitions against feeding the wildlife:





All too soon, darkness descended and we made our way back to the cabins. This was the scene a little after sunset, under a waxing Strawberry Moon. This is the Algonquin Indian name for the full Moon in June. This year it coincided with the Summer Solstice, a "once-in-a-lifetime" event. (Better make that "twice in my lifetime" as the last time this happened was in 1967 but the next will not occur until 2062):



Birding was not a main pursuit, but during a brief walk around the cabins I found Red-breasted Nuthatches:





Early the nex morning, A Wild Turkey with five poults walked next to a neighboring cabin...







...and a Cottontail Rabbit huddled near the road, perhaps thinking I could not see it:



While I was taking in the beauty of a mountain stream which ran by the Lodge, a deer suddenly crossed the water towards me:



On the way to our next destination, we drove the length of Needles Highway, a winding road through magnificent rock formations and narrow tunnels:







We visited Crazy Horse Memorial, an ambitious granite statue being carved out of a mountain, billed to become  world's largest sculpture, once it is completed. It honors the legendary war hero of the Lakota tribe, whose most famous victory against US troops was the Battle of the Little Bighorn (General Custer's Last Stand -click for more information. )

The carving was started in 1948 but has made slow progress. Only the warrior's face has been completed so far. His head will be 87 feet (27 m) high:







The smaller (60 ft/18 m high) faces of four US presidents are carved on Mount Rushmore, only 17 miles away.  It is an awe-inspiring sight:





On our way to our next stop, Mount Rushmore could be seen in the distance:



Our last glimpse of Mount Rushmore through a gap in the trees as we headed east towards the Badlands:



For the "reflection" meme I must hearken back to a photo I took before we flew to Colorado. A few doors from our daughter's home in Illinois, this silo cast its image on a small pond:



Pale Coneflowers bloomed on the Illinois prairie:



= = =  = = =  = = = =  = = = = =

Linking to Misty's  CAMERA CRITTERS,

Linking to Eileen's SATURDAY'S CRITTERS,

Linking to GOOD FENCES by Tex (Theresa). 

Linking to SKYWATCH FRIDAY by Yogi, Sylvia and Sandy

Linking to WEEKEND REFLECTIONS by James

Linking to BirdD'Pot by Anni

Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday by Stewart

Linking to Today's Flowers Friday by Denise

Linking to Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) by NC Sue
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Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display
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Crops & Clips: Flashback to July, 2013

We started the month of July, 2013 at our second home in Illinois, having just returned from our RV trip through Arizona and Utah. Join me once again as we direct the Retrospectroscope and flash back to events three years ago. As usual I will look for photos in my archives to meet the themes of SKY, REFLECTION, FENCE, MACRO and CRITTERS. And, I will add FLOWERS for Denise's meme. I succeeded in finding examples of all!

Construction on the new housing was proceeding at a fast pace. Yet this Red-tailed hawk roosted on a street light as if refusing to believe that our front yard was no longer a prairie rich with prey:



At Nelson Lake preserve, milkweed was in bloom and thistles were going to seed, ideal conditions to begin the nesting season for the American Goldfinches: 



The Common Milkweed looked too healthy; there were no signs of Monarch butterfly larvae:



A Song Sparrow perched on a Sunflower bud. In a few weeks the prairie will turn into mid-summer gold:



Tiny energetic Sedge Wrens were in full song:



Common Yellowthroats were, well, common:



The songs of Red-winged Blackbirds resounded all along the path:



Then, presto! We were back home in Florida, out early on the local wetlands as rain threatened:



Rain began falling out of a blue sky and we were rewarded with a rainbow as we exited our birding patch:



Florida Box Turtles manage to survive in the wounded wetlands. This one was crossing the path in front of us:



An immature Tricolored Heron struck a pose reminiscent of one of John James Audubon's watercolors:



Three Common Nighthawks flew together and one repeatedly "boomed" me-- diving down low and pulling up sharply. The sound is created by its wing feathers just as the bird starts to regain altitude:



A Great Blue Heron on our lake posed in front of a neighbor's fence:



During mid-month we had a rainy spell which persisted for over a week. One morning a Marsh Rabbit emerged from the water of a ditch along the path. Although a form a Cottontail, it is darker, has smaller ear, shorter lags, and lacks the white on its tail: 



Note the yellow eyes on this Eastern Towhee. Further north this species has red eyes:



The female towhee has brown where her mate is black:



This fledgling Eastern Towhee had me stumped as to its identity until a parent joined it:





A male Soldier butterfly:



A Morning Glory:



At the end of the month a back yard Wood Stork let me capture a video about its foraging habits (If video fails to load, CLICK HERE):

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= = =  = = =  = = = =  = = = = =

Linking to Misty's  CAMERA CRITTERS,

Linking to Eileen's SATURDAY'S CRITTERS,

Linking to GOOD FENCES by Tex (Theresa). 

Linking to SKYWATCH FRIDAY by Yogi, Sylvia and Sandy

Linking to WEEKEND REFLECTIONS by James

Linking to BirdD'Pot by Anni

Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday by Stewart

Linking to Today's Flowers Friday by Denise
________________________________________________

Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display
________________________________________________