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1) Sand Lake NWR 2) Lake Hiddenwood State Park 3) Aberdeen Area 4) Claremont Area 5) Ordway Prairie |
| 1) Sand Lake NWR |
| Sand Lake is THE place to go for waterfowl in the state. Not only can as many as two million Snow Geese be present on a given day in spring, Sand Lake was one of the first places to re-establish breeding Bald Eagles. Sand Lake is also great for many other migrant species. The rest areas are great for warblers and vireos, the lakes are great for gulls, terns, and grebes, the ponds at the southern end are great for shorebirds, and the surrounding fields are great for sparrows and things. Sand Lake occasionally has rarities show up like a breeding Common Moorhen, White Ibis, Whimbrel, Brant, and Piping Plover and the staff at headquarters is very up to date on what's in the refuge and very helpful. |
| 2) Lake Hiddenwood State Park |
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Built in 1938 as a cooperative effort between Walworth County and the Works Progress Administration (WPA), Lake Hiddenwood Recreation Area is the product of a dammed creek valley and the planting of trees along the valley walls. What makes Lake Hiddenwood interesting to birders is its status as the largest woodland, protected from the wind by valley walls, for many square miles of north central South Dakota. Lake Hiddenwood provides food and protection to migrating birds as they make their way to the boreal forest of North America. The number of birds that find this spot can be extraordinary and impress even the most seasoned birder.
A product of its time when it was common to “improve” on nature, Lake Hiddenwood is formed by a 50’ high and 1000’ long damn. The lake winds through the valley floor for three-quarters of a mile and is up to a quarter of a mile wide. The south side valley walls have been planted with Ponderosas Pine, Green Ash, Elm, and Box Elder trees. Many Cottonwood Trees grow near the lake. Planted in neat rows, as was the fashion of the 1930’s, time has started to rearrange the trees to a more random configuration. The understory is comprised of mostly Honeylocus, Honeysuckle, Chokecherry, Plum and Buckthorn. Typical of the WPA is the characteristic natural stonework. There is a stone stairway leading up the south valley wall, a stone wall bordering the picnic shelter and tucked away along the east and north sides are picnic sites bordered by stonewalls with stone fireplaces. Sadly, the stonework has been largely neglected and is in need of maintenance. Trails wind around the lake and stream and for the most part are easy to navigate.
I first visited the park on May 17th , 2002 and was amazed to find warblers dripping off the trees. It seemed every bush had at least three birds hopping from limb to limb and every tree had ten. The vast majority of birds were Yellow-rumped Warblers, the most common spring warbler in South Dakota, but the shear numbers were amazing. I returned on May 18th , 2003 to find Lake Hiddenwood dripping with Yellow Warblers. My last trip to Lake Hiddenwood included camping for three days in late May, the 27th thru 29th, 2005. Although I would not say that birds where dripping off the trees, I did find the largest concentration of birds I had found that spring. Yellow Warblers and Tennessee Warblers were present in numbers. Three of South Dakota’s Empidonax flycatchers were present and could be heard singing throughout the day. Willow, Least and Alder Flycatchers are most reliably identified by song, giving a birder the chance to compare all three of their songs in close proximity. One of the best birding locations in the park is below the dam’s spillway. The trail that circles the lake flanks both sides of the creek supplied by the spillway. I observed a Connecticut Warbler for three consecutive days by the creek. In the winter of 2004-5 a Goshawk was utilizing this habitat. Throughout the park Vireo’s were present including a number of Philadelphia Vireos. A brilliant male Bay-breasted Warbler could be found in the campground for our entire stay. Other warblers encountered included a male Black-throated Blue along the stone stairway, Canada Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler and Mourning Warbler. A Cape May Warbler was found in 2003 in the pines along the south side. My warbler list for Hiddenwood has twenty species for just five days birding in May and I have observed ninety-two species of birds within the park boundaries.
Lake Hiddenwood Recreation Area is indeed a migrant bird trap. Along with being a great birding hotspot, its location at the northern boundary of our state means that when spring migration is nearly over in southern part of our state it can still be strong at Lake Hiddenwood. A birder can extend spring migration for a few days by traveling to Lake Hiddenwood Recreation Area. I thank those that planned and labored to build this park that we may enjoy the great birding it now offers.
Canada Goose Wood Duck Mallard Ruddy Duck Ring-necked Pheasant Pied-billed Grebe Eared Grebe Double-crested Cormorant Great Blue Heron Black-crowned Night-Heron Turkey Vulture Osprey Northern Harrier Sharp-shinned Hawk Cooper's Hawk Northern Goshawk Broad-winged Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Spotted Sandpiper Franklin's Gull Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Great Horned Owl Common Nighthawk Belted Kingfisher Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker Northern Flicker Alder Flycatcher Willow Flycatcher Least Flycatcher Olive-sided Flycatcher Eastern Phoebe Western Kingbird Eastern Kingbird Warbling Vireo Philadelphia Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Blue Jay American Crow Tree Swallow Northern Rough-winged Swallow Cliff Swallow Barn Swallow Black-capped Chickadee Red-breasted Nuthatch White-breasted Nuthatch House Wren Townsend's Solitaire Swainson's Thrush American Robin Gray Catbird Brown Thrasher European Starling Cedar Waxwing Tennessee Warbler Orange-crowned Warbler Yellow Warbler Chestnut-sided Warbler Magnolia Warbler Cape May Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Bay-breasted Warbler Blackpoll Warbler Black-and-white Warbler American Redstart Ovenbird Northern Waterthrush Connecticut Warbler Mourning Warbler Common Yellowthroat Wilson's Warbler Canada Warbler American Tree Sparrow Chipping Sparrow Clay-colored Sparrow Song Sparrow White-throated Sparrow Rose-breasted Grosbeak Black-headed Grosbeak Red-winged Blackbird Western Meadowlark Yellow-headed Blackbird Common Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird Orchard Oriole Baltimore Oriole House Finch Pine Siskin American Goldfinch
Submitted by Robert F. Schenck |
| 3) Aberdeen Area |
| Aberdeen is a great place for migrant warblers and other passerines. Just walk around some of the residential areas during migration. The surrounding marshlands also have plenty of cool birds including breeding Black-necked Stilts in the past few years. |
| 4) Claremont / Hecla Area |
| Along with most of the north, this area has become very wet in the past few years. One of the benefits to birders is the recent establishment of heron and egret rookeries in flooded areas. The West Slough, west of Claremont on highway 37 has gained some notoriety in the past few years because of rookery which has included a Tricolored Heron (and its Snowy Egret mate and offspring), Little Blue Herons, and Cattle Egrets. This colony has recently been abandoned and re-established just outside the town of Hecla, to the northwest. The rookery is even more visible as the county roads travel directly through it. Recent rarities include a potential state first Glossy Ibis. |
| 5) Ordway Prairie |
| Maintained by The Nature Conservancy, The Ordway Prairie is a very nice area of native prairie replete with bison and breeding Baird's Sparrows and Sprague's Pipits. What more could you want? Ok, no McCown's Longspurs. |
