Dakotas

 

We loved the Dakotas; both of them.  Open, uncrowded, and scenic.  Rolling grasslands.  Forests.  Lakes and streams.  We mean to go back and spend more time.  We were only in them for a couple days driving through, but we got several looks at what is a rare bird for us, the sharp tailed grouse.  Got lots of hawks and golden eagles.  Thought we would get a ferruginous hawk but we didn’t.  Here is the Dakotas list:

 

1.       Ring necked pheasant

2.       Sharp tailed grouse

3.       Pied billed grebe

4.       Double crested cormorant

5.       Turkey vulture

6.       Northern harrier

7.       Swainson’s hawk

8.       Golden eagle

9.       American kestrel

10.     Prairie falcon

11.      American coot

12.     Killdeer

13.     Baird’s sandpiper

14.     Eurasian collared dove

15.     Mourning dove

16.     White throated swift

17.     Belted kingfisher

18.     Eastern kingbird

19.     Horned lark

20.     Barn swallow

21.     White breasted nuthatch

22.     Mountain bluebird

23.     American robin

24.     Red winged blackbird

25.     Western meadowlark

26.     American goldfinch

27.     House sparrow