From Kennebec, through Presho and eastward to Highway 83 that heads north to Pierre, South Dakota Highway 16 parallels the interstate on the north side. It's typically between a few hundred yards and half a mile from the interstate itself. It's paved and isn't a bad road, but as you can imagine with the Interstate being so close, there's not much traffic. That's good, because Highway 16 is one place where I've had tremendous luck with winter raptors.
There aren't many perches out on the prairie! Not much for trees except in a few riparian areas or sheltered locations. For a raptor, a perch on the prairie is a treasured location, and quite often, those perches tend to be man-made structures. Along most of Highway 16 there's a series of telephone poles, along with a series of fence posts. Drive Highway 16 in this area in winter, keep your eyes on the fence posts and telephone poles, and you will often see a perched raptor. It's not uncommon to see several raptors in rather close proximity, spaced out every few hundred yards as you drive down the highway.
It's not just the number of raptors that you'll see here, it's the variety and "quality", from a birder's perspective. On this stretch of road, I have photos of Gyrfalcons, Snowy Owls, Ferruginous Hawks, Golden Eagles, Prairie Falcons, Rough-legged Hawks, and more. As with the whole Presho area, just driving any random road, you're likely to have some luck, but Highway 16 seems to be luckier than most locations for me.
Snowy Owl hanging out on a telephone pole along Highway 16 (this is near Kennebec, just east of Presho)
Not the most picturesque of perches, but here's a juvenile Gyrfalcon hanging out on Highway 16 just west of Presho.
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Please mail any comments/suggestions/additional links for this page to: Terry L. Sohl