The previous Point 5 shows the prairie dog town located in the bottom-left part of this image. If you continue east on the road, heading east and then north towards the Refuge's northeast entrance, you'll cross a spillway area between "Little White River Pool" to the north, and a large, deeper water pool to the south of the road. The southern pool is well known for American White Pelicans, as they typically breed there. The deeper water of the southern pool is also where you can often diving ducks and other water birds that prefer deeper water.
The spillway itself that connects the two pools is often "birdy". It seems to be a favorite spot for Kingfishers to hang out, and there often seem to be diving ducks in the spillway area. I also had one of the most intimate bird encounters I've ever had, standing on the spillway itself. The bottom photo shows a Red-tailed Hawk that had obviously just eaten (given the blood and meaty bits on its bill and feet). He was sitting on a metal rail of the spillway, and he let me get about as close as any wild raptor ever has. At one point I was literally standing 5 feet away as he stared at me. I thought he might be injured, but he did finally fly away and didn't seem to be having any issues.
Nice encounter, and a nice area to bird.
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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