Date: 4/11/25 7:16 pm From: Vic Fondy via groups.io <treasurecreek...> Subject: [sd-birds] West of Belle Fourche and WW report
We birded today from Belle Fourche west to the Aladdin area and return via upper Redwater. Roadside ponds were largely dry or with very little water. Raptor sightings included Bald/Golden Eagle, 8 Red-tailed Hawks, American Kestrels, and two unidentified raptors. Coxes Lake had one Osprey on the nest platform Our birds of the day were two Great-horned Owls and one Short-eared Owl seen in the shelter belt south of Coxes Lake. The Heron rookery near Beulah was partially occupied. Other sightings of interest included 3 Lewis's Woodpeckers NW of Aladdin, lots of Ring-billed Gulls, and a few California Gulls at the Belle Fourche lagoons. Thirty-eight species for the day.
We have had a few new sightings around our home 1.5 miles south of Whitewood including FOS Turkey Vultures overhead and a Great Blue Heron along WW creek. The Sharp-shinned Hawk was by on April 6 but the last sighting of the Northern Cardinal was April 4.
