If you are having trouble getting good photos of flying insects, try this.
Eurasian Tree Sparrow in South Dakota
This Eurasian tree sparrow showed up in my yard in southeast South Dakota. Watch the video to learn more about this unusual bird.
Mussels of ND, SD, NE, KS, MN, IA, MO
I use iNaturalist to document mussels that I find and so do countless others. iNaturalist is an app for your smartphone but its also a website. Visit iNaturalist. All links in this post take you to iNaturalist mussel projects. The mussel projects are defined to include mussels for each state. Furthermore you can look at the Project Journals for news about the project you are viewing.
Mussels are not well documented. But its not super difficult to photograph them and submit them to iNaturalist. Most mussels you find will be out of the water and will not be alive. I recommend 3 images for these shells. One of outside, one of the inside, and one of the hinge side. To help spread the word about mussels I created 7 project for states in the center of the country. I listed the states from north to south, west to east. I hope you will join any projects for states you live in or near and submit observations of mussels.
Western Column of States
Eastern Column of States
Kinds of South Dakota Plants per iNaturalist
Plant Taxonomy
To better understand plants it’s helpful to understand their taxonomy. The taxonomy of the vascular plants (most of the plants we know) is given below. This list does not include the more primitive algae, mosses, liverworts, and others that do not possess true leaves, stems or roots like vascular plants. It does not include some classes that are not typical of our area like Cycads (palms).
- Kingdom Plantae (Plants)
- Phylum Tracheophyta (Vascular Plants)
- Class Liliopsida (Monocots)
- Class Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
- Class Pinopsida (Conifers)
- Class Polypodiopsida (Ferns)
- Order
- Family
- Genus
- Species
- Genus
- Family
- Order
- Phylum Tracheophyta (Vascular Plants)
Plants of South Dakota
There are thousands of kinds of plants in South Dakota. To make it easier to find them, I’ve created logical groups based on growth habits and taxonomy. Growth habits are the structure of a plant. For example, Tree are woody plants with generally a single trunk. Graminoids are grass-like plants that are composed of grasses, sedges, rushes, cat-tails. All links take you to iNaturalist observations. The observations usually contain pictures and locations of the plants. I’ve included both wild and planted observations, so you can see plants that grow wild as well as plants used in landscaping.
Growth Habits of Plants
Trees of South Dakota Trees generally have a single woody stem known as a trunk. Examples include Ash, Elm, Oak, Cottonwood, and Hackberry.
Shrubs of South Dakota Shrubs generally have multiple woody stems and are shorter than trees. Examples include currants, gooseberry, chokecherry, and raspberries.
Woody Vines of South Dakota Woody vines have a woody stem and climb on other plants or structures. Their trunk cannot support the plant without something for it to climb on. Examples include grape and woodbine.
Graminoids of South Dakota Graminoids are members of the Poales taxonomic order. They are not woody plants. Examples includes grasses, sedges, rushes, and cat-tails.
Taxonomic Grouping of Plants
Conifers of South Dakota Conifers are members of the Pinopsida taxonomic class. They are woody plants that have cones and scale-like or needle-like leaves. Most are evergreen. Examples include pines, spruces, and junipers.
Monocots of South Dakota Monocots have parallel leaf veins and one seed leaf. They are not woody plants. Examples include lilies and grasses. Graminoids are included here but are also displayed in their own link.
Dicots of South Dakota Dicots have branching leaf veins and two seed leaves. They can be woody or herbaceous. Examples include sunflower, roses, and oaks. Many of our trees, shrubs and woody vines are dicots.
Ferns of South Dakota Ferns are plants that reproduce by spores instead of seeds. Yet they have a vascular system that includes stems, leaves and roots.
Lycophytes of South Dakota Lycophytes are a very small group of plants that include quilworts, clubmosses, and spikemosses. They reproduce by spores.
Gingkos of South Dakota Gingkos are an ancient class that only contains one species, Gingko biloba from China.
Taxonomic Groups minus Growth Habits
To make the group more manageable I’ve removed the woody plants from the dicots to give you a list of only herbaceous dicots.
Herbaceous Dicots these are all dicots without the woody plants
Kansas Native Plants Site
In 1998 I started this website. In 2020 I moved to South Dakota. The site has about 1200 indexed pages of native gardening information, butterfly gardening, papermaking from plants, a plant identification guide, and backyard bird information. In 2024, I updated the site and corrected pages that weren’t loading. The site is available at https://kansasnativeplants.com/.
Plant Identification Books for South Dakota
About Plant Identification Guides
Since using the South Dakota Plants and Wildlife Facebook Group I’ve noticed lots of people needing help with plant identification. I put together this list of books about the plants of the Northern Plains including the Black Hills. You can purchase these books from Amazon. All links to products are affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. This helps support this site and allows me to continue to add new content. Thank you for the support!
Grassland plants of South Dakota and the Northern Great Plains
Grassland plants of South Dakota and the northern Great Plains
Trying to identify grassland plants in SD? This is a thorough guide. This 1999 version is not readily available on Amazon but you can Download a 2007 version from South Dakota State University.
You can also purchase it at the South Dakota Agriculture Heritage Museum Store.
Plants of the Black Hills and Bear Lodge Mountains
Plants of the Black Hills and Bear Lodge Mountains
If you are in the Black Hills of South Dakota or Wyoming, this is the reference to have. This 1999 version is not readily available on Amazon but you can Download a copy from South Dakota State University.
You can also purchase it at the South Dakota Agriculture Heritage Museum Store.
Wetland Plants of the Northern Great Plains
Wetland Plants of the Northern Great Plains: A complete guide to the wetland and aquatic plants of North and South Dakota, Nebraska, eastern Montana and eastern Wyoming
This sounds like an awesome guide as it covers over 500 species of plants.
Weeds of the Great Plains
Weeds of the Great Plains is a 7″ x 10″ hardbound book for the Great Plains. It covers over 400 species of “weeds” and contains 266 line drawings. Each species account includes a full page photograph along with close ups flowers, fruits, and other details to aid in identification,
You can purchase it directly from Nebraska Department of Agriculture
Mitchell SD Christmas Bird Count Results 2024
About the CBC
For over 100 years, the Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC) uses volunteers to track bird populations by holding local counts across North and South America. Counts are held between December 14 and January 5 and are composed of volunteers of all birding levels to count birds in the field and at their feeders. Volunteers count birds and tally them by species within a 15 mile diameter count circle.
The Mitchell circle is centered roughly at the Corn Palace. It encompasses parts of Davison and Hanson counties including the cities of Mitchell and Loomis. The Mitchell count circle can be found at https://arcg.is/1vb44L2.
After a 46 year hiatus, the Mitchell CBC was reinstated in 2013. The first count was executed in 1957. Two more counts were executed in 1966 and 1967.
Count Summary
This year’s count took place on Saturday, December 14, 2024 and was the 12th consecutive year to hold the count since reinstatement. This was the first year I never saw any birds at my mom’s bird feeders all day long.
On the day of the count we had foggy conditions all day with freezing drizzle. Day time temperatures started at 25° F and rose to 30° F. The maximum wind speed was 5 mph out of the south. There was no open water other than some moving water.
A total of 17 people participated and all were adults. We had 7 groups of people who birded in the field and 9 groups that watched their feeders. Field groups spent 16 hours in the field observing birds. In comparison the feeder watchers spent 34.25 hours watching birds at their feeders.
We had a total of 1,607 birds composed of 33 species for the count day. Both the total number of birds and number of species were lower than past years. There were an additional 7 count week species. Count week species are seen 3 days before or after the count day but not on the count day. The most abundant species was the rock pigeon at 427.
We added two new species to the count. A pileated woodpecker was seen at a feeder on the edge of Mitchell and a yellow-bellied sapsucker was seen at another feeding station. Some misses included Cooper’s hawk, brown creeper, purple finch, horned lark, and lapland longspur. Both the pileated woodpecker and the yellow-bellied sapsucker were flagged as rare.
The best birds of the count were definitely the pileated woodpecker and the yellow-bellied sapsucker. The barred owl and short-eared owl were also very good additions.
We had no high counts which is not surprising since numbers were low this year.
I’ve composed the following tables: Counts for the Year, Participants for the Year, Counts by Year, and Effort by Year.
Bird Counts for the Year
The following table contains counts for the Mitchell CBC. CW designates count week birds.
| Species | Total |
| Snow Goose | CW |
| Canada Goose | CW |
| Wild Turkey | 141 |
| Ring-necked Pheasant | 86 |
| Rock Pigeon | 427 |
| Eurasian Collared-dove | 18 |
| Mourning Dove | 1 |
| Northern Harrier | 2 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | CW |
| Bald Eagle | 1 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 1 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 3 |
| buteo sp. | 5 |
| Great Horned Owl | 1 |
| Barred Owl | CW |
| Short-eared Owl | CW |
| yellow-bellied sapsucker | CW |
| Red-bellied Woodpecker | 5 |
| Downy Woodpecker | 15 |
| Hairy Woodpecker | 10 |
| Pileated woodpecker | 1 |
| Northern Flicker | 9 |
| woodpecker sp. | 1 |
| American Kestrel | 1 |
| Northern Shrike | 2 |
| Blue Jay | 8 |
| American Crow | 9 |
| Black-capped Chickadee | 15 |
| Red-breasted Nuthatch | 3 |
| White-breasted Nuthatch | 12 |
| European Starling | 223 |
| American Robin | 268 |
| Cedar Waxwing | 47 |
| House Sparrow | 46 |
| House Finch | 56 |
| Pine Siskin | 16 |
| American Goldfinch | 66 |
| American Tree Sparrow | 14 |
| Dark-eyed Junco | 37 |
| Harris’s Sparrow | 2 |
| Red-winged Blackbird | CW |
| Northern Cardinal | 10 |
| passerine sp. | 45 |
| Total | 1607 |
Participants for the Year
The Mitchell CBC wouldn’t have been possible without the help of these volunteers.
| Full Name | Field | Feeder |
| Doug Hansen | Field | |
| Jeff Hansen | Field | |
| Rick Hansen | Field | Feeder |
| Doug Hollum | Feeder | |
| Dee Johnson | Field | Feeder |
| Dennis Leland | Field | Feeder |
| Sheri Leland | Field | Feeder |
| Jacob Leland | Feeder | |
| Derrick Adams | Feeder | |
| Chuck Adams | Feeder | |
| Paula Mazzer | Field | Feeder |
| Chris Slaybaugh | Field | Feeder |
| Andrea Meyer | Field | Feeder |
| Scott Meyer | Field | Feeder |
| Tim Mullican | Field | |
| Bonnie Orr | Feeder | |
| Lonnie Wiess | Field |
Counts by Year
This table contains counts by year for the last 9 years of the Mitchell CBC. Note, zero denotes count week species.
| Species | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| Snow Goose | 0 | 7 | 0 | 75 | 0 | ||||
| Cackling Goose | 25 | ||||||||
| Canada Goose | 24 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 211 | 0 | |||
| goose sp. | 40 | ||||||||
| Wood Duck | |||||||||
| Northern Shoveler | 2 | ||||||||
| Gadwall | 2 | 4 | |||||||
| Mallard | 40 | 34 | |||||||
| Northern Pintail | |||||||||
| Redhead | 1 | ||||||||
| Lesser Scaup | |||||||||
| Common Goldeneye | 1 | 10 | |||||||
| Common Merganser | 204 | ||||||||
| Ruddy Duck | 2 | ||||||||
| Wild Turkey | 162 | 30 | 168 | 215 | 111 | 105 | 210 | 106 | 141 |
| Greater Prairie-chicken | 3 | ||||||||
| Ring-necked Pheasant | 141 | 221 | 34 | 146 | 97 | 261 | 231 | 333 | 86 |
| Rock Pigeon | 131 | 631 | 55 | 323 | 545 | 128 | 59 | 117 | 427 |
| Eurasian Collared-dove | 179 | 37 | 35 | 45 | 85 | 70 | 35 | 30 | 18 |
| Mourning Dove | 2 | 0 | 2 | 20 | 1 | ||||
| Ring-billed Gull | 0 | ||||||||
| Great Blue Heron | 1 | ||||||||
| Northern Harrier | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |||||
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | |||
| Northern Goshawk | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Bald Eagle | 6 | 8 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 28 | 21 | 0 | 31 | 26 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Red-tailed Hawk (Harlan’s) | 1 | 0 | |||||||
| Rough-legged Hawk | 20 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 18 | 37 | 1 | 3 | |
| buteo sp. | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | |||||
| Eastern Screech-owl | 1 | 2 | 6 | 2 | |||||
| Great Horned Owl | 5 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 1 | |
| Snowy Owl | |||||||||
| Barred Owl | 1 | 0 | |||||||
| Long-eared Owl | |||||||||
| Short-eared Owl | 1 | 0 | |||||||
| Northern Saw-whet Owl | 1 | ||||||||
| Belted Kingfisher | 1 | 0 | |||||||
| yellow-bellied sapsucker | 0 | ||||||||
| Red-bellied Woodpecker | 8 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 5 |
| Downy Woodpecker | 27 | 18 | 9 | 34 | 15 | 30 | 27 | 23 | 15 |
| Hairy Woodpecker | 13 | 11 | 5 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 10 |
| Pileated woodpecker | 1 | ||||||||
| Northern Flicker | 27 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 9 |
| Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) | 6 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 5 | ||||
| Northern Flicker (red-shafted) | 1 | ||||||||
| woodpecker sp. | 1 | ||||||||
| American Kestrel | 6 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Merlin | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | |||||
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | ||||||||
| Prairie Falcon | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| falcon sp. | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| Northern Shrike | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 2 | |||
| Blue Jay | 73 | 37 | 20 | 73 | 70 | 39 | 22 | 14 | 8 |
| American Crow | 15 | 10 | 17 | 32 | 17 | 18 | 5 | 12 | 9 |
| Common Raven | |||||||||
| Black-capped Chickadee | 24 | 15 | 11 | 53 | 40 | 78 | 10 | 13 | 15 |
| Tufted Titmouse | |||||||||
| Horned Lark | 4 | 368 | 60 | 70 | 220 | 11 | 236 | ||
| Golden-crowned Kinglet | 4 | 3 | 1 | ||||||
| Red-breasted Nuthatch | 12 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 3 | |
| White-breasted Nuthatch | 20 | 6 | 5 | 22 | 19 | 21 | 16 | 8 | 12 |
| Brown Creeper | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | |||||
| Carolina Wren | 0 | ||||||||
| European Starling | 6559 | 689 | 47 | 832 | 1188 | 447 | 135 | 55 | 223 |
| Brown Thrasher | 1 | ||||||||
| Eastern Bluebird | 5 | 0 | |||||||
| Townsend’s Solitaire | 1 | 5 | |||||||
| American Robin | 261 | 118 | 14 | 6 | 204 | 152 | 310 | 71 | 268 |
| Cedar Waxwing | 70 | 157 | 84 | 140 | 76 | 45 | 40 | 47 | |
| House Sparrow | 687 | 809 | 73 | 336 | 277 | 357 | 252 | 70 | 46 |
| House Finch | 49 | 128 | 38 | 27 | 115 | 25 | 75 | 26 | 56 |
| Purple Finch | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 15 | 1 | 4 | ||
| Common Redpoll | 97 | 4 | 2 | ||||||
| Red Crossbill | 0 | 3 | |||||||
| White-winged Crossbill | 1 | ||||||||
| Pine Siskin | 24 | 12 | 17 | 53 | 1 | 6 | 16 | ||
| American Goldfinch | 292 | 132 | 18 | 139 | 163 | 75 | 88 | 9 | 66 |
| Lapland Longspur | 30 | 50 | 20 | ||||||
| Snow Bunting | 8 | 3 | |||||||
| American Tree Sparrow | 456 | 413 | 11 | 49 | 433 | 41 | 20 | 14 | |
| Fox Sparrow | 1 | ||||||||
| Dark-eyed Junco | 83 | 172 | 50 | 123 | 100 | 60 | 97 | 41 | 37 |
| Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) | 36 | 14 | 28 | 54 | 39 | 9 | |||
| Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) | 8 | 4 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| White-crowned Sparrow | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||||||
| Harris’s Sparrow | 1 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||
| Song Sparrow | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||||||
| Spotted Towhee | 1 | ||||||||
| Western Meadowlark | 6 | 9 | 1 | 14 | |||||
| Red-winged Blackbird | 1212 | 1230 | 285 | 106 | 10122 | 450 | 141 | 125 | 0 |
| Brown-headed Cowbird | 2 | 13 | |||||||
| Rusty Blackbird | 19 | ||||||||
| Common Grackle | 20 | 1 | 20 | ||||||
| blackbird sp. | 506 | 2 | |||||||
| Yellow-rumped Warbler | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| Northern Cardinal | 27 | 21 | 6 | 23 | 29 | 12 | 14 | 3 | 10 |
| passerine sp. | 23 | 45 | |||||||
| 10682 | 5552 | 1121 | 3058 | 14733 | 2610 | 2080 | 1779 | 1607 |
Effort by Year
This table contains effort for all years of the Mitchell CBC.
| Count Date | Count Year | Field People | Field Hours All | Feeder People | Feeder Hours | Count Day Species | Count Week Species | Count Species Total | Bird Total |
| 12/23/1957 | 1957 | 2 | 9.00 | 25 | 0 | 25 | 1377 | ||
| 12/30/1966 | 1966 | 1 | 9.00 | 20 | 0 | 20 | 463 | ||
| 12/31/1967 | 1967 | 1 | 9.00 | 20 | 0 | 20 | 2885 | ||
| 12/26/2013 | 2013 | 17 | 52.50 | 6 | 13.25 | 47 | 2 | 49 | 10639 |
| 12/26/2014 | 2014 | 9 | 42.75 | 11 | 34.25 | 49 | 0 | 49 | 3560 |
| 12/26/2015 | 2015 | 20 | 37.25 | 14 | 29.00 | 49 | 6 | 55 | 4737 |
| 12/26/2016 | 2016 | 17 | 48.00 | 15 | 32.75 | 45 | 0 | 45 | 10682 |
| 12/26/2017 | 2017 | 17 | 47.00 | 4 | 13.00 | 42 | 2 | 44 | 5552 |
| 12/26/2018 | 2018 | 9 | 10.25 | 5 | 21.00 | 32 | 6 | 38 | 1121 |
| 12/21/2019 | 2019 | 13 | 47.50 | 17 | 29.00 | 51 | 2 | 53 | 3058 |
| 12/26/2020 | 2020 | 19 | 34.00 | 9 | 22.75 | 50 | 2 | 52 | 14733 |
| 12/26/2021 | 2021 | 17 | 28.00 | 11 | 27.75 | 38 | 3 | 41 | 2610 |
| 12/17/2022 | 2022 | 11 | 17.00 | 15 | 40.25 | 36 | 1 | 37 | 2080 |
| 12/16/2023 | 2023 | 9 | 29.75 | 16 | 35.25 | 44 | 2 | 46 | 1780 |
| 12/14/2024 | 2024 | 9 | 16.00 | 15 | 34.25 | 33 | 7 | 40 | 1607 |
Thank You
I’d like to give a big “Thank You” to everyone who helped with the count. This is a GROUP effort. All who participated should be very proud of their work.
If you know anyone who would like to help with the count next year, send me their contact information so they can be included in all communications.
Jeff Hansen
CBC Compiler
jeff.hansen.sd@gmail.com
785.806.6917
My Apple Orchard
Beginning in 2020 I started planting apple trees of various varieties that can survive in zone 4. I have images of the apples on iNaturalist and you can access them with the following list. When you click on the cultivar name it will take you to the iNaturalist observation showing you images of the cultivar.
| Observed | Cultivar | Scientific Name |
|---|---|---|
| 8/24/2022 | Freedom | Malus domestica |
| 7/22/2024 | Yellow Transparent | Malus domestica |
TablePress table
[table id=2 /]Mitchell SD 2021 Christmas Bird Count Results
Count Summary
This year’s count took place on Sunday, December 26, 2021 and was the ninth consecutive year to hold the count since reinstatement.
On the day of the count the skies were cloudy. Day time temperatures started at 13° F and rose to 35° F. The maximum wind speed was 22 mph out of the east. There was no open water other than some moving water.
A total of 25 people participated although many were small children. We had 4 groups of people who birded in the field and 7 groups that watched their feeders. Field groups spent 28 hours in the field observing birds. In comparison the feeder watchers spent 27.75 hours watching birds at their feeders.
We had a total of 2,610 birds composed of 38 species for the count day. Both the total number of birds and number of species were lower than past years. There were an additional 3 count week species. Count week species are seen 3 days before or after the count day but not on the count day. The most abundant species was the red-winged blackbird at 450.
We added two new species to the count. A peregrine falcon was seen during count week. A red shafted flicker was seen count day. Some misses included mallard, cooper’s hawk, merlin, lapland longspur, and snow bunting. The only rare species were the peregrine falcon and the red-shafted flicker.
Of note was the short-eared owl which hadn’t been seen on the count since the 1966.
Even though numbers were low, we had numerous high counts. They include northern harrier (2), bald eagle (10), rough-legged hawk (37), black-capped chickadee (78), white-crowned sparrow (2), purple finch (15).
I’ve composed the following tables: Counts for the Year, Participants for the Year, Counts by Year, and Effort by Year.
Counts for the Year
The following table contains counts for the Mitchell CBC. CW designates count week birds.
|
Species |
Total |
|
Snow Goose |
CW |
|
Canada Goose |
CW |
|
Wild Turkey |
105 |
|
Ring-necked Pheasant |
261 |
|
Rock Pigeon |
128 |
|
Eurasian Collared-dove |
70 |
|
Mourning Dove |
2 |
|
Northern Harrier |
2 |
|
Sharp-shinned Hawk |
1 |
|
Bald Eagle |
10 |
|
Red-tailed Hawk |
8 |
|
Rough-legged Hawk |
37 |
|
Great Horned Owl |
5 |
|
Short-eared Owl |
1 |
|
Red-bellied Woodpecker |
9 |
|
Downy Woodpecker |
30 |
|
Hairy Woodpecker |
9 |
|
Northern Flicker |
1 |
|
Northern Flicker (yellow-shafted) |
4 |
|
Northern Flicker (red-shafted) |
1 |
|
American Kestrel |
1 |
|
Peregrine Falcon |
CW |
|
Blue Jay |
39 |
|
American Crow |
18 |
|
Black-capped Chickadee |
78 |
|
Horned Lark |
11 |
|
Red-breasted Nuthatch |
8 |
|
White-breasted Nuthatch |
21 |
|
Brown Creeper |
5 |
|
European Starling |
447 |
|
American Robin |
152 |
|
Cedar Waxwing |
45 |
|
House Sparrow |
357 |
|
House Finch |
25 |
|
Purple Finch |
15 |
|
Pine Siskin |
1 |
|
American Goldfinch |
75 |
|
American Tree Sparrow |
41 |
|
Dark-eyed Junco |
60 |
|
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) |
39 |
|
White-crowned Sparrow |
2 |
|
Western Meadowlark |
1 |
|
Red-winged Blackbird |
450 |
|
Northern Cardinal |
12 |
|
passerine sp. |
23 |
Participants for the Year
The Mitchell CBC wouldn’t have been possible without the help of all of these volunteers.
|
Full Name |
Field |
Feeder |
|
Mavis Anderson |
Field |
Feeder |
|
Chris Anderson |
Field |
|
|
Mike Blaalid |
Field |
|
|
Hazel Blaalid |
Field |
|
|
Oliver Blaalid |
Field |
|
|
Jeanne Blaalid |
Field |
|
|
Anne Cross |
Field |
|
|
Ryan Cross |
Field |
|
|
Ellie Cross |
Field |
|
|
Maggie Cross |
Field |
|
|
Hunter Dunteman |
Field |
|
|
Oakley Hague |
|
Feeder |
|
Ella Hague |
|
Feeder |
|
Doug Hansen |
Field |
|
|
Jeff Hansen |
Field |
Feeder |
|
Rick Hansen |
Field |
Feeder |
|
Amanda Hegg |
Field |
|
|
Dennis Leland |
Field |
Feeder |
|
Sheri Leland |
Field |
Feeder |
|
Libby Olson |
Field |
|
|
Bonnie Orr |
|
Feeder |
|
Letha Rowley |
|
Feeder |
|
Barb Stolz |
|
Feeder |
|
Garrett Walter |
Field |
|
|
Tammy Wheeler |
|
Feeder |
Counts by Year
This table contains counts by year for the last 10 years of the Mitchell CBC. Note, zero denotes count week species.
|
Species |
1967 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
|
Snow Goose |
|
|
|
0 |
|
0 |
|
|
7 |
0 |
|
Canada Goose |
|
0 |
50 |
0 |
24 |
0 |
|
|
4 |
0 |
|
Wood Duck |
|
|
|
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gadwall |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2 |
|
|
|
Mallard |
43 |
|
225 |
2 |
|
|
|
40 |
|
|
|
Redhead |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
|
|
Lesser Scaup |
|
|
|
3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ruddy Duck |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2 |
|
|
|
Wild Turkey |
|
104 |
294 |
88 |
162 |
30 |
168 |
215 |
111 |
105 |
|
Greater Prairie-chicken |
|
10 |
|
|
|
3 |
|
|
|
|
|
Ring-necked Pheasant |
3 |
194 |
137 |
366 |
141 |
221 |
34 |
146 |
97 |
261 |
|
Rock Pigeon |
|
112 |
495 |
435 |
131 |
631 |
55 |
323 |
545 |
128 |
|
Eurasian Collared-dove |
|
68 |
95 |
54 |
179 |
37 |
35 |
45 |
85 |
70 |
|
Mourning Dove |
|
9 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
|
0 |
|
|
2 |
|
Northern Harrier |
|
1 |
|
|
1 |
|
0 |
|
|
2 |
|
Sharp-shinned Hawk |
|
5 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
|
2 |
3 |
1 |
|
Cooper’s Hawk |
|
2 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
|
|
Northern Goshawk |
|
3 |
|
1 |
|
|
|
2 |
1 |
|
|
Bald Eagle |
|
8 |
3 |
6 |
6 |
8 |
1 |
9 |
3 |
10 |
|
Red-tailed Hawk |
|
15 |
24 |
19 |
28 |
21 |
0 |
31 |
26 |
8 |
|
Red-tailed Hawk (Harlan’s) |
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
0 |
|
|
|
|
Rough-legged Hawk |
1 |
16 |
3 |
2 |
20 |
11 |
1 |
6 |
18 |
37 |
|
buteo sp. |
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
Eastern Screech-owl |
|
4 |
1 |
|
1 |
2 |
|
6 |
2 |
|
|
Great Horned Owl |
3 |
4 |
10 |
2 |
5 |
7 |
0 |
14 |
10 |
5 |
|
Snowy Owl |
|
|
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Barred Owl |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
|
|
Long-eared Owl |
|
|
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Short-eared Owl |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
Northern Saw-whet Owl |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
|
|
Belted Kingfisher |
|
|
1 |
0 |
|
|
|
1 |
|
|
|
Red-bellied Woodpecker |
|
5 |
9 |
9 |
8 |
5 |
4 |
13 |
9 |
9 |
|
Downy Woodpecker |
2 |
19 |
30 |
32 |
27 |
18 |
9 |
34 |
15 |
30 |
|
Hairy Woodpecker |
|
5 |
17 |
16 |
13 |
11 |
5 |
12 |
10 |
9 |
|
Northern Flicker |
|
21 |
8 |
20 |
27 |
6 |
9 |
12 |
6 |
1 |
|
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) |
1 |
|
|
|
|
6 |
5 |
|
2 |
4 |
|
Northern Flicker (red-shafted) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
American Kestrel |
|
3 |
1 |
2 |
6 |
3 |
|
4 |
4 |
1 |
|
Merlin |
|
2 |
|
|
2 |
1 |
|
3 |
|
|
|
Peregrine Falcon |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
0 |
|
Prairie Falcon |
|
|
|
1 |
|
|
|
1 |
1 |
|
|
falcon sp. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
1 |
|
|
|
Northern Shrike |
|
8 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|
3 |
6 |
|
|
Blue Jay |
1 |
59 |
37 |
46 |
73 |
37 |
20 |
73 |
70 |
39 |
|
American Crow |
90 |
12 |
54 |
57 |
15 |
10 |
17 |
32 |
17 |
18 |
|
Common Raven |
|
|
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Black-capped Chickadee |
6 |
32 |
39 |
34 |
24 |
15 |
11 |
53 |
40 |
78 |
|
Tufted Titmouse |
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Horned Lark |
100 |
43 |
255 |
444 |
4 |
368 |
60 |
70 |
220 |
11 |
|
Golden-crowned Kinglet |
|
2 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
|
|
3 |
1 |
|
|
Red-breasted Nuthatch |
|
3 |
3 |
3 |
12 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
10 |
8 |
|
White-breasted Nuthatch |
1 |
10 |
17 |
20 |
20 |
6 |
5 |
22 |
19 |
21 |
|
Brown Creeper |
|
8 |
7 |
1 |
|
|
0 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
|
Carolina Wren |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
European Starling |
130 |
1339 |
286 |
445 |
6559 |
689 |
47 |
832 |
1188 |
447 |
|
Brown Thrasher |
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
|
|
|
Eastern Bluebird |
|
|
|
4 |
5 |
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
Townsend’s Solitaire |
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
|
5 |
|
|
|
American Robin |
|
1746 |
39 |
561 |
261 |
118 |
14 |
6 |
204 |
152 |
|
Cedar Waxwing |
|
174 |
52 |
153 |
70 |
157 |
84 |
140 |
76 |
45 |
|
House Sparrow |
1000 |
360 |
292 |
749 |
687 |
809 |
73 |
336 |
277 |
357 |
|
House Finch |
|
61 |
33 |
108 |
49 |
128 |
38 |
27 |
115 |
25 |
|
Purple Finch |
|
|
|
7 |
1 |
|
0 |
0 |
4 |
15 |
|
Common Redpoll |
|
|
45 |
7 |
|
97 |
4 |
|
2 |
|
|
Red Crossbill |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
White-winged Crossbill |
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
Pine Siskin |
|
0 |
16 |
22 |
|
24 |
12 |
17 |
53 |
1 |
|
American Goldfinch |
6 |
29 |
57 |
197 |
292 |
132 |
18 |
139 |
163 |
75 |
|
Lapland Longspur |
1200 |
46 |
133 |
32 |
30 |
50 |
20 |
|
|
|
|
Snow Bunting |
|
5 |
1 |
55 |
|
|
|
8 |
|
|
|
American Tree Sparrow |
220 |
67 |
52 |
141 |
456 |
413 |
11 |
49 |
433 |
41 |
|
Dark-eyed Junco |
|
278 |
96 |
136 |
83 |
172 |
50 |
123 |
100 |
60 |
|
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) |
43 |
|
|
|
|
36 |
14 |
28 |
54 |
39 |
|
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) |
4 |
|
|
|
|
8 |
|
4 |
1 |
|
|
White-crowned Sparrow |
|
|
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
|
Harris’s Sparrow |
14 |
|
|
5 |
1 |
1 |
|
6 |
11 |
|
|
Song Sparrow |
|
2 |
3 |
|
1 |
1 |
|
|
4 |
|
|
Spotted Towhee |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
|
Western Meadowlark |
|
4 |
|
3 |
6 |
|
|
|
9 |
1 |
|
Red-winged Blackbird |
|
5720 |
597 |
410 |
1212 |
1230 |
285 |
106 |
10122 |
450 |
|
Brown-headed Cowbird |
|
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
2 |
13 |
|
|
Rusty Blackbird |
|
|
|
1 |
|
|
|
19 |
|
|
|
Common Grackle |
13 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
|
|
|
|
20 |
|
|
blackbird sp. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
506 |
|
|
Yellow-rumped Warbler |
|
3 |
|
0 |
|
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
Northern Cardinal |
4 |
14 |
29 |
26 |
27 |
21 |
6 |
23 |
29 |
12 |
|
passerine sp. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
23 |
|
|
2885 |
10639 |
3560 |
4737 |
10682 |
5552 |
1121 |
3058 |
14733 |
2610 |
Effort by Year
This table contains effort for all years of the Mitchell CBC.
|
Count Date |
Count Year |
Field People |
Field Hours All |
Feeder People |
Feeder Hours |
Count Day Species |
Count Week Species |
Count Species Total |
Bird Total |
|
12/23/1957 |
1957 |
2 |
9.00 |
|
|
25 |
0 |
25 |
1377 |
|
12/30/1966 |
1966 |
1 |
9.00 |
|
|
20 |
0 |
20 |
463 |
|
12/31/1967 |
1967 |
1 |
9.00 |
|
|
20 |
0 |
20 |
2885 |
|
12/26/2013 |
2013 |
17 |
52.50 |
6 |
13.25 |
47 |
2 |
49 |
10639 |
|
12/26/2014 |
2014 |
9 |
42.75 |
11 |
34.25 |
49 |
0 |
49 |
3560 |
|
12/26/2015 |
2015 |
20 |
37.25 |
14 |
29.00 |
49 |
6 |
55 |
4737 |
|
12/26/2016 |
2016 |
17 |
48.00 |
15 |
32.75 |
45 |
0 |
45 |
10682 |
|
12/26/2017 |
2017 |
17 |
47.00 |
4 |
13.00 |
42 |
2 |
44 |
5552 |
|
12/26/2018 |
2018 |
9 |
10.25 |
5 |
21.00 |
32 |
6 |
38 |
1121 |
|
12/21/2019 |
2019 |
13 |
47.50 |
17 |
29.00 |
51 |
2 |
53 |
3058 |
|
12/26/2020 |
2020 |
19 |
34.00 |
9 |
22.75 |
50 |
2 |
52 |
14733 |
|
12/26/2021 |
2021 |
17 |
28.00 |
11 |
27.75 |
38 |
3 |
41 |
2610 |
Thank You
I’d like to give a big “Thank You” to everyone who helped with the count. This is a GROUP effort. All who participated should be very proud of their work.
If you know anyone who would like to help with the count next year, send me their contact information so they can be included in all communications.
Jeff Hansen
CBC Compiler
jeff.hansen.sd@gmail.com
785.806.6917
Kentucky Coffee Trees at Mitchell Indian Village
Discovery
While leading a native plant walk at the Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village in Mitchell South Dakota, Jeff discovered some Kentucky Coffee trees growing in a draw at the village. He knew they did not occur naturally this far north or west. The closest natural occurrence of them is in the very southeastern part of South Dakota.
Indian Involvement
Indians were known to use the seeds of the Kentucky Coffee trees. Is it possible they brought the trees to the Mitchell area over one thousand years ago? Learn more about the cultural uses by Native Americans.