The overhead image below shows the entrance area to Dewey Gevik Nature area, and the location of the permanent birding blind. With the position of the blind at the end of a little man-made access peninsula, the blind is usually surrounded on all sides by open water, with cattail marsh and wetland vegetation just on the southern edge of the blind. Water levels fluctuate significantly at Dewey Gevik, and sometimes the shallow wetlands on the southern edge of the blind become extremely shallow or even become open mudflats.
When water levels are higher and the blind is completely surrounded by open water, it's an absolutely wonderful location to view waterfowl from extremely close range. Dabbling ducks are the primary species you'll see in the shallow water areas around the blind, but in wetter times when the water is a bit deeper, diving ducks will also openly forage right next to the blind. The surrounding wetland vegetation on the southern edge of the blind is always great for wetland birds such as Sora, Green Heron, Yellow-headed Blackbirds, Marsh Wren, and others. As water levels drop, much of the area on the southern side of the blind becomes wonderful habitat for shorebirds.
Overall, it's a very nice place for a photographer to hide from his quarry, and get closer to birds than you can normally get in the wild. Northern Pintails, for example, are extremely wary birds in South Dakota, yet as the photo below shows, you can get extremely close looks at many waterfowl from this blind.
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SOUTH DAKOTA BIRDS AND BIRDING - LOCATIONS OF WEBSITE VISITORS
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Please mail any comments/suggestions/additional links for this page to: Terry L. Sohl