October 19, 2025 Field Log

We started off the day pretty much with a bang. We saw about 3 or 4 hawks right-of- the bat, only one that I was able to get a photo of. When looking at the little screen on my camera, I was trying to compare it to my bird bible. What I had initially thought it was, was either a Broad-Winged Hawk or a Sharp-Shinned Hawk. Once I had got the photo onto my computer and was able to look at it more closely, and with some more research, I found out it is actually a Ferruginous Hawk. This is only the second time I have seen this type of hawk on our Sunday drives. The next part of the drive was slow, until we pulled up on a pond that had maybe about a hundred Mallard Ducks and 2 Canadian Geese. I did fail myself in getting some photos but that is alright. We had stayed in that spot for a few minuets, because we were trying to scare up some pheasants we had seen scurry into the brush. One we did scare up, scaring us in the process. The other one decided to stay hidden. We turned around and kept going. The next set of miles there was nothing, I told Adam there is never anything standing where you want it to be. That is the downfall of driving around instead of hiking in. Sometimes you have to work with what you got. We rode past one of the ranches that my grandad used to manage, and we saw some deer, they were far off in the distance, and neither one of us thought to grab our binoculars. So we kept going, and just as we were about to get on a different road, I looked up and spotted 2 male Antelope. We cautiously approached them, they did not seem very skittish. They probably rode out the season on private land, meaning they did not get hunted very hard. I was very happy to see them as they are one of my favorite prairie animals. Not long after that we came across a little baby snake. Luckily it was not a rattler. After a few photos were snapped, we moved him off the road where he would not get ran over, and continued on. Where we did not see anything for miles. Again I bring up the disadvantage of road photography. There was still quite a bit of daylight left so I told Adam we should go check out some other areas. I am so glad I made the suggestion, as it led us to the greatest find of the day. We tuned onto a road that went by a Public Walk-In area. We were mainly after deer and antelope, and then after that we has planned on turning onto another road where we have frequently seen Owls. We never made it to see the owls, and the reason was quite amazing. We had come up over a hump in the road, when I saw a huge bird perched on a post. I told Adam I was pretty sure it was a Golden Eagle, which I had been trying to get photos of for many weeks at this point. We slowly made our way up to him, we were just in awe of the bird's large feet, and stature. We stayed there for a good thirty minutes probably, before he decided I had take enough photographs of him, and he flew away. As he flew away, I couldn't help but feel thankful in that moment. I told Adam, I do not consider myself to be very religious. Sometimes I catch myself questioning if God is there. This was one of the moments I start to really realize his glory, and just really be in awe of his creation. You know what they say, the Lord works in mysterious ways, ways like this very special moment that I will never forget.