Day 38--Empty State Parks, Empty Prairie and the Adams family!

I'll save the "Adam's Family" 'til the last. The morning started with Jim taking the truck in at 8:00 to get a lub and oil change. We have driven 5,000 miles with the truck and I get the oil changed every 3,000 miles. We last got the oil changed in Rockport TX. There were no Toyota Dealers in Yankton as the closest one is in Sioux City IA,  about 50 miles distant. The Ford dealership advertised a "walk in" lub so I took advantage of that  and was first in line (There was no line even after I finished).  Zach took care of me and I was out of there in 45 minutes. That dealership is under remodeling and it is ready for it , it looks like.

Then after breakfast (oatmeal, juice, probiotic and hot drink), we packed our lunch and headed east this time toward the Iowa border.

There were three areas to visit today. One was a Prairie that has been set aside in native grasses, but in driving slowly through that area on a very packed clay road, we saw nothing.  At the end of the road when we were ready to resume main road travel to the second spot, a man in a pickup truck stopped to see if we were lost. He was a cattle rancher  and bantered with us for a few moments. In the conversation he mentioned that this AM whie he was driving to get work done, he saw in a field some 25-30 Northern Harriers eating something in the field. Now this is a rare event as,  even though they migrate north, the Harriers are seldom seen with more than a pair at a time.  Although we were too late to witness the event it was certainly newsworthy to hear about it. (We did see a Harrier later in the morning gliding over a field and when he passed a certain point ...up flew a Pheasant and frightened the Harrer as it changed its course in a hurry.  (see pictures)  It was quite a sight. I clicked my camera as it happened so fast I didn't know if that was a Pheasant or not. (Ruth always says there are NO Pheasants in South Dakota as we haven't seen one yet!)  Later, on the computer, we could see that it was a Pheasant. The Harrier video come out quite clear.

 
The Pheasant that frightened the Harrier
when it flew up.
The second  stop was at a State Park (Union) that was on the way south from the first area in the Prairie.   This was  State Park that  we had all to ourselves. The entire hour we were there we saw no one nor did we see any birds. Just as we were about to leave a warbler started singing, but we could not see it nor identify it. N.B. We have books to identify and a very good tape recorder that plays back the nbirds that we think might fit the category. But this one was a blank. We ate our lunch in a very nice picnic grove but nary a bird sang nor moved.

So Jim had a third place to go.  (Now that did not mean we didnt see any birds , as we alwasy bird on the fly on the road). By that time we had 20 birds or so.  Most of them the "usuals" that we see every day. We totalled 35 birds today.

This Was the Adams Preserve and Natre Center located just outsde the town of N. Sioux City SD.  It is a 1500 acre plat of land set aside by the famiy (now third generation) in perpetuity for the use of the State of South Dakota. It has very wde and accessible trails,  a Homestead of the original home, a lake (that we gravitated to) and a visitor center . A unique feature of the center is that they also provide a Golf cart for those who are not able to do any or little walking. It was not up and running yet as the season is early. A very fne hostess (Dodi a Park Employee) met us and gave us a good rundown and some hints for birding

A Red Bellied Woodpecker shares some food with

a House Finch.

This is the entrance to the Adam's family Nature Preserve.

Lake McCall is the small lake on the property

This was one of the ducks on the Lake (A female Shoveler).

(Note the large bill for digging in the mud.)

We headed ut to the Lake and although it was a only 1/3 mile walk we took our time, spotted some birds on the way and found a bench at the blind by the lake to have a relaxing time while watching the birds and taking pictures. (See sign)  There were joggers, runners and a biker or two on the paths.

So it ended up being a fairly decent birding day with 35 species identified and two that we could not.

Tomorrow we head for Aberdeen SD where the Sand lake NWR is located . I believe that will be a good birding area and maybe some of the warblers wil have caught up to us. Thanks for reading and I hope you are enjying the trip.