Spearfish

Sun on melting snow, near Spearfish, South Dakota

There's no doubt about it: spring is inching its way toward us. The days are longer and the sunrise is brighter. Snowmelt is trickling down the streets and turning the yards into mudlots. No one's complaining. This has been a hard winter for many of our friends and family; everyone can use a bit of spring.

Up here on the prairies, no one's assuming anything. The blizzard season can last into May, after all. So we took advantage of a beautiful day to get up and go on a birding trip to Spearfish and environs. Spearfish is a lovely town in the Black Hills, at the center of a great bird-watching region. Having two fish hatcheries in the area doesn't hurt the birdwatching one bit. It was a quiet day with some spectacular raptors, most notably prairie falcons and bald eagles. One even posed for us.

Adult bald eagle in full awesomeness above Spearfish Creek. My camera's not that powerful; he was that close.

It was another good day for architecture of the open places, too.

Barn

Deserted cabin

Barn

Tiny shed

Barn

Happy weekend from the prairies.