Having visited nearby Jewel Cave, 2nd longest cave in the world, we also visited
Wind Cave National Park, the 5th longest cave in the world! One of the world's longest and most complex caves and 28,295 acres of mixed-grass prairie, ponderosa pine forest, and associated wildlife are the main features of the park.
The cave is well known for its outstanding display of boxwork, an unusual cave formation composed of thin calcite fins resembling honeycombs. In fact, 95% of cave boxwork in the world is found in Wind Cave.
The park's mixed-grass prairie is one of the few remaining and is home to native wildlife such as bison, elk, pronghorn, mule deer, coyotes, and prairie dogs. We spied these two pronghorn near the road. We also saw hundreds of prairie dogs, but they were shy and refused to pose nicely for photos.
After lunch at the lodge, we loaded up the kayaks and headed to Stockade Lake in the southern part of the park. I was in my kayak taking photos of the beautiful scenery, wildlife and Sid in his red kayak. How did I do it? Picture this: my small camera tightly enclosed in a Ziplock bag clenched in my teeth while I'm paddling the kayak. When something warrants a photo, I stop paddling and start shooting.
These two hawks and their nest of eggs were in the very top of a tree on a small island. The hawk landing must be the nest guardian. We heard him calling and squawking from far away. As we neared the island, we realized that he was attacking a large blue herron about three times his size! From what we could put together, the herron had landed in the top of a nearby tree posing a threat to the nest. The guardian repeatedly flew directly at the herron with claws ready for an attack. After about 8 rounds, the big herron flew away from the island! It was so dramatic, and Sid kept telling me to take photos of the fight. Unfortunately, the high winds, position of the sun and my utter ineptitude kept me from getting anything better than the photo above showing the guardian returning after an attack flight. Sid was so disappointed in me...and has mentioned it about every 12 hours since the incident. Maybe he will forget soon.
I liked this closer shot of Sid at the base of one of the many rock
formations that make up the Black Hills.
After returning to our cabin after kayaking I was driving through the cabin area and was so surprised to find this sight at an unoccupied cabin just three cabins away from us. Don't worry, I shot this from the truck! It seems that one male buffalo makes his way through the Blue Bell Lodge area every evening. Named Norman by the staff at the lodge, it is not unusual to see him walking through. In this case Norman snuggled up to a cabin for a little rest time. Later, he slowly made his way out of the cabin area stopping along the way to scratch his head by rubbing vigorously on a red fire hydrant. I took several photos of the "scratching action" using another camera. I will post photos of Norman and the hydrant later.
Day 9 was definitely a day for spotting wildlife! I took a little side trip in the truck to find out about
Camp Bob Marshall, located just outside of
Custer State Park on the way to Stockade Lake. While traveling slowly down a gravel road to the camp, I came upon a small herd of white-tail deer. I managed to snap a few photos of these beautiful animals. I was especially pleased with the photo above showing a young buck's velvet-covered antlers captured in a shaft of sunlight!
Here are five of the herd moving calmly, but cautiously through the woods...away from me and my truck. Sid was pretty disappointed that he missed seeing the deer and beautiful Camp Bob Marshall.
Having visited nearby Jewel Cave, 2nd longest cave in the world, we also visited Wind Cave National Park, the 5th longest cave in the world! One of the world's longest and most complex caves and 28,295 acres of mixed-grass prairie, ponderosa pine forest, and associated wildlife are the main features of the park.
The cave is well known for its outstanding display of boxwork, an unusual cave formation composed of thin calcite fins resembling honeycombs. In fact, 95% of cave boxwork in the world is found in Wind Cave.
The park's mixed-grass prairie is one of the few remaining and is home to native wildlife such as bison, elk, pronghorn, mule deer, coyotes, and prairie dogs. We spied these two pronghorn near the road. We also saw hundreds of prairie dogs, but they were shy and refused to pose nicely for photos.
After lunch at the lodge, we loaded up the kayaks and headed to Stockade Lake in the southern part of the park. I was in my kayak taking photos of the beautiful scenery, wildlife and Sid in his red kayak. How did I do it? Picture this: my small camera tightly enclosed in a Ziplock bag clenched in my teeth while I'm paddling the kayak. When something warrants a photo, I stop paddling and start shooting.
These two hawks and their nest of eggs were in the very top of a tree on a small island. The hawk landing must be the nest guardian. We heard him calling and squawking from far away. As we neared the island, we realized that he was attacking a large blue herron about three times his size! From what we could put together, the herron had landed in the top of a nearby tree posing a threat to the nest. The guardian repeatedly flew directly at the herron with claws ready for an attack. After about 8 rounds, the big herron flew away from the island! It was so dramatic, and Sid kept telling me to take photos of the fight. Unfortunately, the high winds, position of the sun and my utter ineptitude kept me from getting anything better than the photo above showing the guardian returning after an attack flight. Sid was so disappointed in me...and has mentioned it about every 12 hours since the incident. Maybe he will forget soon.
I liked this closer shot of Sid at the base of one of the many rock formations that make up the Black Hills.
After returning to our cabin after kayaking I was driving through the cabin area and was so surprised to find this sight at an unoccupied cabin just three cabins away from us. Don't worry, I shot this from the truck! It seems that one male buffalo makes his way through the Blue Bell Lodge area every evening. Named Norman by the staff at the lodge, it is not unusual to see him walking through. In this case Norman snuggled up to a cabin for a little rest time. Later, he slowly made his way out of the cabin area stopping along the way to scratch his head by rubbing vigorously on a red fire hydrant. I took several photos of the "scratching action" using another camera. I will post photos of Norman and the hydrant later.
Day 9 was definitely a day for spotting wildlife! I took a little side trip in the truck to find out about Camp Bob Marshall, located just outside of Custer State Park on the way to Stockade Lake. While traveling slowly down a gravel road to the camp, I came upon a small herd of white-tail deer. I managed to snap a few photos of these beautiful animals. I was especially pleased with the photo above showing a young buck's velvet-covered antlers captured in a shaft of sunlight!
Here are five of the herd moving calmly, but cautiously through the woods...away from me and my truck. Sid was pretty disappointed that he missed seeing the deer and beautiful Camp Bob Marshall.
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