A winter of frost and snow

Frosted tree branch in front of a red barn

Red, white and blue along the Big Sioux River near Baltic, SD

Frost on weeds with Sioux Valley Baptist country church in the background

Bald Eagles along the Big Sioux River near Trent, SD

The beginning of a heavy snow event at the Sioux Falls Outdoor Campus

American Tree Sparrow in tall grass

Snowfall at Terrace Park in Sioux Falls

White-tailed deer near Oldham, SD

Lake Whitewood Church (eastern Kingsbury County) on a frosted morning

Trinity Lutheran in rural Kingsbury County

American Goldfinch at the Dells of the Big Sioux near Dell Rapids, SD

A red barn after a foggy morning east of Dell Rapids, SD

January 2021

Early January sunrise of the Falls of the Big Sioux

A relatively mild January brought a couple opportunities to get out into the world with camera in hand. This winter has brought more owl activity than any in recent memory. Particularly an abundance of short-eared owls in many locations. A particular group near Brookings has been the highlight of many birding enthusiasts since after Christmas. The evening I made it up there brought beautiful golden light to watch three hunt over a hayfield near the Big Sioux southwest of town. Later in the month, I heard there were no less than four snowy owls in the Redfield area, so I took a Sunday afternoon drive to investigate. I was able to see and photograph three individuals including a very white male shown as the last photo in this post. As January's go, this one was a good one. Click on an image for a larger file to view and thanks for checking in. 

 

Short-eared owl in the evening light

Frosty morning

Red barn on a frosty morning

Midway Lutheran (rural Moody County)

Lake Madison Lutheran

Winter scene after fog and frost

Great horned owl

Purple Finch

Red fox locked

Short-eared owl on the prowl

Snowy owl

December 2020

 

Sunset sky over the Arc of Dreams in downtown Sioux Falls

December of 2020 was a surprisingly colorful month for early winter in South Dakota. There was little to no snow but plenty of sunrises and sunsets as well as a few frosty days to exercise the camera muscles. Here are 12 favorites from the last month of the ill-fated 2020 for you to check out. Let's hope 2021 is as good as this last one was bad. Click on an image for a larger file to view and thanks for stopping by!

Frost on cattails with a red barn in the distance

Frost and fog with an abandoned prairie house

Sunrise with American Bison at Wind Cave National Park

Frost and fog at sunrise - Custer State Park

Frost on grass - Wind Cave NP

Frost on small leaves - Wind Cave NP

Frost on wild rose hips - Wind Cave NP

Coyote in the frosted prairie - Wind Cave NP

Bison on a frosty morning at Custer State Park

Barred owl in heavy snow - Big Sioux Recreation Area

American tree sparrow in snowfall - Good Earth State Park

February 2020

Sunset light above Lake Madison Lutheran of rural Lake County, SD

I wasn't able to get out much in February. I took a long drive on a Saturday in the middle of the month after a large snow and wind event in the northeast part of the state to look for snowy owls. I did not locate any, but was able to capture some interesting views of the snowy vistas as you'll see in this column.  Then the month ended up with prep work for basketball tournament time in Sioux Falls. I did some time-lapse work with the Arc of Dreams sculpture that arcs over the Big Sioux River between 6th and 8th Street, downtown Sioux Falls. I also started to shoot action photos of the NSIC basketball tourney. The first game saw a full house between Northern State and Augustana and shooting action photos with a full crowd always makes for better photos so I'm including few of my favs from that February 29th afternoon as well. As alway click on an image for a larger file to view and thanks for checking in!

Snowy patterns and designs

Deer and plenty of snow in the Coteau Hills of Deuel County, SD

The old Glenwood community building surrounded by winter

A snowman using the biffy out back?  Possibly.

A late winter sunset in rural Lake County

A barbed wire evening scene in rural Lake County

A yellow bus passed in front of the Arc of Dreams during a two second exposure. This image was taken from the 6th Street bridge and part of a time-lapse sequence.

The Sioux Falls Pentagon nearly full for the first NSIC tourney game

Parker Fox of NSU about to dunk

The Sioux Falls Pentagon

Another dunk about to hammer home from St Cloud State over Upper Iowa

January 2020

An early January sunset just east of Dell Rapids, SD

Typically January is a hard month to find time and good weather for outdoor photography enthusiasts. This year, however, the weather seemed to cooperate on my free weekends so I had plenty of photos to choose from when picking my favorite 12 of the month. From colorful sunsets to peaceful snowfall days to frigid sun dogs at the end of a good, old-fashioned ground blizzard, the first month of 2020 was all over the place... And that was OK. All I needed was a good pair of long johns, warm winter gear and a long lens to let the deep winter fun commence. Click on an image for a larger file to view and thanks for checking in!

Same sunset clouds as above but about five minutes later into the evening.

An American Tree Sparrow in the tall grass at Good Earth State Park

Snowfall at Big Sioux Recreation Area near Brandon

Snow on a Downy Woodpecker at Big Sioux Rec Area

Snowfall on tall grass at Big Sioux Rec Area

The Arc of Dreams lit blue and red for the SD Showdown series (SDSU at USD Basketball games)

Jack Frost's handiwork during an all-day blizzard

Sun Dogs west of Sioux Falls as the blizzard waned

Sun Dog sunset west of Wall Lake

A January thaw produced this water droplet melted from an overnight frost at Good Earth State Park

Late January sunset over frosted and iced grass