American Kestrel

A female American Kestrel paused for a second on the corner of a building out at Mt. Comfort Airport.

Cimarron National Grasslands

A windmill on the background of the yucca and sage steppe of the Cimarron National Grasslands.


An American Kestrel perches on a yucca stalk. I made the trip to these national grasslands Tuesday afternoon. I had a couple hours to spend before sundown, which is no where near enough time to bird/explore the area in the way it deserves. CNG is in the extreme southwest corner of Kansas, abutting Colorado and Oklahoma. This area was very hard hit during the dust bowl, after which, the government started buying the devastated land and setting it aside for conservation. Now it is one area of short-grass prairie and steppe that has some natural character in the area.


A Badger looks up from his business in a wheat field. He wasn't sure what to make of me, and kept smelling the air, before waddling off and continuing his hunt.


Another windmill in the distance obscured by heat distortion. I know it is an old effect, but I love the impressionist painting look it has.


I decided that my goal at CNG was going to be the Lesser Prairie Chicken lek. I couldn't work out any way to visit the lek in the morning, so evening was going to have to do. The National Forest Service had set up a blind, and the log book had been reporting at least a couple Lesser Prairie Chicken displaying for the last couple mornings. I hiked/birded around for a couple hours before the sun got low. The birds were occasionally supposed to display on the lek in the evening, approximately one hour before sunset. Sunset happened to be about 8:20 central time. A very nice British couple and I got in the blind a little before seven o'clock. The weather was warm (mid 50's) and sunny, but the wind was brisk. I appreciated the windbreak of the blind. We kept our eyes and ears peeled, but the prairie chickens never showed. It was by far an unpleasant time, though. There was a prairie dog town with a pair of Burrowing Owls on guard. A Kestrel was hunting the steppe. Western Meadowlarks and Horned Larks (pictured above) sang to us. Jackrabbits and White-tailed Deer wandered past.


Slowly, the sun set, and I had to leave. Almost as soon as the sun dipped below the cloud layer on the horizon, a pack of coyotes just over the hill broke out into chorus of yaps and howls. It was quite a magical experience. I hope the Lesser Prairie Chickens can hold on against the coyotes and habitat destruction. If I ever get the chance again, I'll have to come back and try again, and look for the other specialties there like Scaled Quail, Mountain Plover, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Curve-billed Thrasher, Black-headed Grosbeak, Cassin's Sparrow, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Clay-colored Sparrow, McCown's Longspur, and Chestnut-collared Longspur.

Great Basin Birds part 1

We had been watching this Raven pair for quite a while this spring. They had all ready had a clutch fail. This one seems to be doing pretty well. Those nestling ravens look almost full size, and could beg quite loudly.


Kestrels seem pretty skittish when cameras are around, so I always appreciate a chance to take a picture that doesn't have sky for a bright sky for background.


I have seen Western Tanagers previously, but they still captivate my attention whenever one flies by. This guy was singing in the evening while I was finishing up my hike at the Great Basin National Park. He even obliged by staying put while I climbed steep hillside so that I could look across at him.

Prairie Falcon

Prairie Falcons are fairly common in the valley. It seems like we see one most every day. I got lucky when he flew away. The bottom picture is a close-up of Wheeler, which was cloud-free for the day. I think I have taken a picture of that mountain every day.

Crested Caracara

Caracara are somewhat vulture-like birds in the falcon family. We started seeing them while driving towards Lake Okeechobee. I really wanted a photograph, but we couldn't get one while driving. When we got to our contractor yard, I saw a Caracara land in a live oak. As I was snapping pictures, she got some company. I was very happy with the timing. You can see the bands on the male's legs. An interesting fact is that the color of the facial skin can change in seconds from gray to yellow to red.

Sleeping Bear Dunes

Sunday was our day to explore Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. We spent a lot of time walking up the dunes.

Walking out to Sleeping Bear Point near Glen Haven.

A view across Manitou passage

The lighthouse floating above the horizon. I enjoyed looking at the mirage at the horizon.

Joy waiting for us to come back up the dune. Joy very quickly and wisely learned to conserve her energy in the dunes. The loose sand made walking very difficult.

Our next stop was Dune Climb. (see map) The name seemed self-explanatory, so we started climbing. After the first steep rise, we could see that we were no where near the top. Here, I am at the second dune, which is twice as high as the first. Needless to say, we couldn't see the lake from this dune top either. I think Joy wearied of hearing Regan and I say, "let's just go to the top of the next dune, and then we'll see."

Eventually, we got to the top of a dune from which we could see Lake Michigan. Joy was not going any further, and I resigned myself to retreat to the car.

I did have to go on just a little bit further, on principle. Here you can see Joy and Regan climbing a dune on the way back to the car. I think I was caught up with Joy by the time she got to the crest.

The dune overlook, on the Pierce-Stocking scenic drive was spectacular. I had a very hard time resisting the urge to walk down and back, but we had a 8+ hour drive home. This spot is 450 feet above Lake Michigan.

A Peregrine Falcon flew by heading south while we were at the lookout. It would have been great to just sit there for a while. Well, I can't imagine that I would just sit there, especially when there are dunes to climb.

Cedar Bog

Sunday I visited Cedar Bog in Springfield, Ohio. This is a great place to visit. It is named for the White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis) that ring the wetland. This must be about the furthest south that they naturally occur.Impatiens capensis (Jewelweed) with the evening sun behind it.

Kalm's Lobelia (Lobelia kalmii) growing in the sedge meadow.

Allium cernuum (Nodding Onion) was a surprise to find growing in the sedge meadow, but then again, many prairie plants find a home in fens.

Joy on the boardwalk. The loop trail is all boardwalk, which is much nicer than wading through muck, marl, and peat or hopping from tussock to tussock. It was nice to take Joy to a fen to see some of the cool plants without getting messy.

Allium cernuum again

An American Kestrel flying off with his catch

Peregrine Falcon

I took these pictures from the top of the Soldiers and Sailors monument downtown. The windows up there are so dirty that I had to play with the contrast and brightness some, but I am happy with the result.

Prairie Falcon

One of the several interesting birds at Garden of the Gods was a pair of Prairie Falcons. The looked like they were going to nest on one of the tall slabs of rock.