On Tuesday, I posted on this blog page by mistake (you can read the next post, if you haven’t already). Coming to a fork in the road, we chose the route north directly back into Badlands National Park. Just before we got into the park (you can see the fence and cattle crossing grate of the park boundary in the image below), some free-range cattle were on the road. Also, in the image you can see the middle layer in the Badlands wall called the Yellow Mounds. About 34 million years ago, this ancient sea bed rose into what is now called the Black Hills. River erosion deposited the soil which is now this colorful mustard tinted soil, which was once again later covered by an inland sea.
South entrance to Badlands National Park
Prairie dogs are found throughout the area. While looking for some places to photograph those critters, we twice saw raptors hawking the prairie. They were too far away to photograph. Norther Harrier, hawk, owl? We couldn’t tell, but did find some baby prairie dogs—same things the raptors were likely looking for.
Prairie dog pup
As we slowed for the cattle, we noticed another raptor circling the fields and getting closer. Time to get out of the car and get the long lenses.
It would mostly fly low over the field for a few feet off the grass to about 50 feet up.
Owls are silent hunters. It is eerie (earie?) when one flies close to you with feathers designed to be completely silent. Their heads are big to hold their large eyes for low light vision and facial disks to capture the sound of their prey who won’t have a clue the silent killer approaches.
This fellow is a Short-eared Owl, and someone to add to my life list. The little ear tufts are usually tucked in and not seen unless the owl is agitated. It hunts, lives and nests in grasslands like this on five continents, and is also called the marsh, grass, or prairie owl, though the English call them “Shorties.” The scientific name, Asio flammeus, is appropriately translated as fiery horned owl. Our entertainer did climb high in the sky and posed in the fiery clouds for a bit.
Short-eared Owl sunset
We wanted to get up into the Badlands to find an overlook for sunset, so we watched a few more passes of the hunter before moving on into the Park.
