Virtuoso

Head Games

A pair of pronghorn bucks joust for fun on a warm summer morning. During the rut, these games take on a more serious tone as they compete for the right to court the ladies.

Fweep, Fweep

Fweep is a technical term (well sort of). I believe it was a bird call in a Flintstones episode, but I digress..... My wife and I call fledglings "fweep fweeps," given their constant and incessant calls for parents to feed them. My wife (as usual) spotted what appeared to be a small bird sitting on a branch. I had to take an image and then look at it in the viewfinder to be sure. It was. I sure wish I could spot as well as she does! We believe this forlorn looking fledgling is a red-winged blackbird, mostly because dad was yapping at us from the tree above (despite our being a safe distance he was taking no chances). Fweep away little one!

Rambunctious

This little foal was only a few days old in this shot, and he was already harassing mom and playing with the other little ones. Mom has that "Lord, give me patience" look about her!

Extra Effort

A western meadowlark adds some extra effort to boost its singing prowess. Based on the residue on the rock, this must be a favorite perch!

Mrs. Blue

While not as flashy as her mate, Mrs. Mountain Bluebird is still a pretty little thing. We were blessed to have a pair with nestlings close by the cabin where we stayed outside Custer. While we could not see into the nest, both male and female were actively getting insects and taking them back to their hungry brood. Here, the female paused ever so briefly in a moment of respite before taking off in search of more bugs.

Tenderness

A jennie wild burro with her colt. The wild burros in Custer State Park are a big hit with families and small children, as they are the only wild animals in the park that you can feed if you wish (we chose not to). The little ones sure are adorable!

Leader of the Pack

One Fine Morning

Getting up early and into Custer State Park before the crowds arrived usually assured some quality alone time with the critters that roam the park. This particular morning was no exception. A band of four pronghorn bucks was leisurely grazing along the road, so I stopped my car and quietly got out. I actually sat down on the pavement and let the bucks interact and roam around me. I was glad I had the 70-200 with me as this is a full frame image. They are such handsome fellows!

Best Buds

Mr. Blue

Blue has always been my favorite color, which is probably why mountain bluebirds are among my favorite birds. As my wife will attest, they were one of the first things I started looking for on our recent Black Hills trip. We saw quite a few, including some recent fledglings. This male was taken using my car as a blind as most of these bluebirds are rather skittish.

But I belong here!

When my wife first spotted one of these birds, my initial thought was what is a sandpaper doing here in the middle of the South Dakota prairie? Upon further research, I determined it was an upland sandpiper, and indeed, it belonged here. One of two lifers for the trip, I was able to observe quite a few of them, scurrying along the edge of the grasses and in the air. Sweet!

Don't make me come over there!!

It looks like I'm getting the stink eye from this bull bison. Good thing I was right by the car! One of the things I've learned about Custer State Park is you need to get off of the paved Wildlife Drive and go out on the gravel roads that criss-cross the prairie. On this particular morning, I had an entire herd of bison to myself. There were at least 150 head in the herd with numerous "red dogs." I was ever hopeful to get the little calves doing their chasing, bucking and generally being cute but alas, they had already grown to the point that this behavior was in their past. Darn! The other thing I have leaned is get there early as the crowds generally don't start showing up until after 8 or so.