Date May 23, 2023
Location Badlands National Park (Cliff Shelf trail), Interior, SD
Many of the trails at Badlands have few trees, but the Cliff Shelf trail is an exception. This trail is actually quite shady with Ponderosa pines, so the birds were different than the normal flycatchers and ubiquitous W. Meadowlark; instead there were many Spotted Towhees singing.
After hiking up the steps and then starting down, I heard a warbling song that was unique, so I stopped to try to find the bird. I was unsuccessful at first, so I decided to scan with my binoculars the tree from which I thought the song was coming. At about 5 o'clock, deep in shadows, I found him. Despite the low light, I was able to see the large, silvery beak and the orange wing bars -- just barely, he started preening his wings a bit, and that helped.
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