Dinosaur Park, on a hill above Rapid City, South Dakota, was constructed to “perpetuate the facts of history.” It was built in 1936, funded by Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration. For years it was run as a private concession, but since 1967, it’s been a Rapid City park.
It wasn’t easy getting the Red Chair on top of the triceratops. I was originally planning on sitting in it, but once I was standing on its neck I realized how long the fall would be.
We climbed one of the rocks. I brought the Red Chair and placed it so I could take a photo with the Needles Eye, a slot in one of the rocks.
We discovered that the Needles were only about a mile from our lodge where we’d been staying all week. My wife and I went back the next day. We parked at an overlook, and a Gray Jay flew up to say hi.
I grabbed some almonds from the car because Gray Jays are very tame and can often be coaxed to eat from your hand. This one disappeared, but I also noticed a whole herd of Least Chipmunks. It took me about 10 seconds to get one to grab the nut.
The tunnel on the right is the tunnel in the earlier photo.
tympanuchus (from tympanum, drum, and echein, to have) phasianellus (little pheasant)
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Peter Norbeck Visitor Center — Custer State Park, South Dakota
I knew I had a chance to see Sharp-tailed Grouse in the Black Hills, but I figured any sighting would be a quick look as one flew across the road in front of the car.
We stopped at the visitor center and got out. Immediately, I saw two grouse foraging in the grass along the fence behind the building. I took some photos, went inside the visitor center, then went back out and watched them some more. They were very talented at staying in the shade under the fence. We hung around for about 20 minutes, and when we left, they had started to wander off into the prairie on the other side of the fence.
sphyrapicus (from sphyra, hammer, and picus, woodpecker) nuchalis (from nucha, nape, and –alis, belonging to)
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Custer State Park — Wildlife Loop Road
On Saturday morning we drove the roads in Custer State Park. The weather could not have been more perfect. I had everyone watching and listening for the life birds I had a chance to see, including Pinyon Jays. We were driving a stretch with groves of trees in the prairie when my wife heard jays. I stopped and jumped out. I didn’t see them, but I’m sure they were Blue Jays. But while I was out of the car, I heard a woodpecker in the trees behind the car.
I saw it fly across the road into a small tree. The light angle was wrong, but I could plainly see that it was a sapsucker and that it had extensive red on its throat. I couldn’t see the back of its head, but before I could get a better look, it flew back across the road into a grove about 40 yards away. I saw it briefly after it landed, but then it disappeared. I kept looking and in the next few minutes spotted a Red-shafted Flicker and one (or maybe two) immature Red-headed Woodpeckers. I never saw the sapsucker again, but based on range and the field marks I did see, I’m sure it was a Red-naped Sapsucker.
NOTE: In the spring of 2017, I began entering my sightings onto the eBird database. I had seen two sapsuckers in Arizona in April, 1984. At that time, Red-naped Sapsuckers were considered a subspecies of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, which I’d often seen. I was entering a lot of data quickly and didn’t stop to think. But eBird was programmed otherwise and changed those two sightings to Red-naped Sapsucker. So technically, I saw my lifer on April 3, 1984. But I’m not going to change the orders of my lifer list.
We spent Saturday morning driving the roads through Custer State Park, with a side trip into Wind Cave National Park.
The bison were penned in, I know, but it didn’t feel like they were — those parks are large.
Western Meadowlark — They were by far the most frequently-seen bird in the prairie-portions of the park.
Burrowing Owl and Black-tailed Prairie Dogs
The majestic Pronghorn.
He was only about 15 yards off the road and seemed inclined to stick around — until I grabbed the Red Chair and tried to get a photo.
When we drove back from Wind Cave into Custer State Park, the burros were waiting for us. They didn’t move as I got closer. I joked that I was going to drive between them. I got closer and closer until I was right on top of them, but they still didn’t move. I edged slowly between them and my right rearview mirror bumped the white one on the nose. It jerked its head back a bit, but still didn’t move.
Mountain Bluebird
A young Pronghorn — and a bunch of flies
A flock of Bighorn Sheep were wandering around in a campground. One old couple were sitting in their lawn chairs about 10 yards away.
