December Again!

Hello to all, yes it is December once again.  This year has whizzed by and I have been chasing the months and never getting ahead. I hope you have enjoyed a healthy prosperous year.  If you are enjoying your winter birds, as we are, winter allows us to get a better look at our feathered friends. The leaves are almost gone from the trees and the bare branches allow us to see and photograph them a bit easier.  I counted 19 species in our yard today.  Our Hermit Thrush love their bath as well as the Orange-crowned Warbler and White-throated Sparrows. The peanut butter suet is loved by almost every bird in the yard. The Ruby-crowned Kinglet is a frequent suet visitor all day. The Sparrows love the seed on the ground and the suet. The Cardinals,Tufted Titmice,Carolina Chickadees,and American Goldfinch love the sunflower seed.

We were blessed to spend Thanksgiving in Comal County,Texas. We were camped near the Guadalupe River.  We enjoyed being given the opportunity to observe and photograph Fly Fishing on the river.  We made new friends  from Texas as well as South Dakota.  I will share photos of the fishing and the birds we enjoyed while we were visiting this area. The Guadalupe River is shallow in this area around New Braunfels.  We observed Common Sandpiper, Gadwall Ducks, Mallard Ducks, and the Osprey fishing in the mornings.  The Golden-fronted Woodpecker was seen many times. Hundreds of White-winged Dove sat on lines and in trees in this camping area. On one of our hikes we observed Wilson's Snipe foraging. So Cool! Blessings!

Badlands Buffalo and Birds

An unexpected visit to Theodore Roosevelt National Park allowed us to see and photograph great wildlife and scenery.  We were driving through North Dakota on our way to Glacier National Park.  Near Medora, North Dakota we saw the entrance sign for this park.  We unanimously agreed a quick visit was in order and a break from the rain would be welcome. This trip was filled with days of driving in the rain and though we were unaware at the time, more were in our future.  We decided to stay at a campground near the entrance.  We loaded the jeep with our camera and binoculars and were off on the adventure of this new place we had found.  This park is known as the North Dakota Badlands. The Badlands National Park in South Dakota is not green with trees and grass like Theodore Roosevelt Badlands. We loved our time here and I personally would love to see more of it and do more birding on another visit. We viewed prairie dog towns, coyote, Buffalo, feral horses, Pronghorn, White-tailed deer and Mule Deer. More than 185 birds may be seen in the park at different times of the year.  Most of the park's birds are migratory.  Some birds have adapted to the cold North Dakota winters and are found year-round in the park. The Coyote was a fun sighting and the Buffalo were happy to stay on the move paying no attention to us. The feral horses were beautiful.  They were far off the road so photos are not detailed.  We saw the Western Meadowlark standing in the road. I would certainly recommend this as a wonderful wildlife stop if you are in the area. Blessings!

The Common Loon