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WRS Survey Summary

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Route	Pierre grasslands SD (1251)
Location	South Dakota, United States
Survey date	2026-02-05
Survey ID	2404

Survey Conditions

Survey Date: 2026-02-05	Start Time: 09:00:00	End Time: 12:00:00
Temperature	8.5 (C)	12.3 (C)
Cloud Cover	60 (%)	35 (%)
Visibility	8 (km)	10 (km)
Precipitation	0: None	0: None
Wind Speed	2: 6-11 km/h (4-7 mph)	3: 12-19 km/h (8-12 mph)
Wind Direction	SW	W
Water	Frozen	Frozen
Snow Depth	0 (in)	0 (in)
Observer 1	GERALD W TOLL
Observer 2	Carol J Schmid
Observer 3
Observer 4
Notes	Warm weather brought the prairie dogs out of their burrows after having very cold cold temps the past week. This attracted the raptors very specifically to the dog towns as witnessed by the lack of many sighting away from the colonies. On a separate note, I was not able to run the Presho WRS because of parts of the route having roads that were nothing more than compacted soil and could not risk getting stuck in the quadmire of mud with the frost out of the soil.

Survey Sightings

Species	Time	Count	Behavior	Morph	Age	Sex	Habitat
RT (Red-tailed Hawk)	09:20:00	1	Perched	Light			•grassland

RL (Rough-legged Hawk)	09:25:00	1	Perched	Light			•roadsides•hayfields

GE (Golden Eagle)	09:35:00	1	Perched		Adult		•grassland

RL (Rough-legged Hawk)	09:55:00	1	Perched	Light			•roadsides•grassland

RL (Rough-legged Hawk)	10:10:00	1	Flying	Light			•hayfields

RL (Rough-legged Hawk)	10:10:00	1	Flying	Dark			•hayfields

RL (Rough-legged Hawk)	10:20:00	1	Perched	Light			•roadsides•grassland

GE (Golden Eagle)	10:25:00	1	Perched

NH (Northern Harrier)	10:30:00	1	Flying	Light		Male	•grassland

RL (Rough-legged Hawk)	10:30:00	1	Soaring	Light

BE (Bald Eagle)	10:35:00	1	Perched		Adult

UB (Unknown Buteo)	10:35:00	1	Perched				•grassland

GE (Golden Eagle)	10:45:00	1	Perched		Immature		•grassland

RL (Rough-legged Hawk)	10:55:00	1	Perched	Light			•developed

RL (Rough-legged Hawk)	10:55:00	1	Perched	Light			•roadsides•hayfields

RL (Rough-legged Hawk)	11:00:00	1	Flying	Light

UB (Unknown Buteo)	11:00:00	1	Flying

GE (Golden Eagle)	11:20:00	1	Perched		Immature		•roadsides•grassland

GE (Golden Eagle)	11:30:00	1	Flying		Adult		•grassland

RT (Red-tailed Hawk)	11:30:00	1	Flying	Light			•grassland

RT (Red-tailed Hawk)	11:35:00	1	Perched	Light			•developed

GE (Golden Eagle)	11:45:00	1	Perched		Immature		•grassland

RL (Rough-legged Hawk)	11:45:00	1	Flying	Light			•stubble agriculture

Survey totals by species

Species	Total Count
RT (Red-tailed Hawk)	3
RL (Rough-legged Hawk)	10
GE (Golden Eagle)	6
NH (Northern Harrier)	1
BE (Bald Eagle)	1
UB (Unknown Buteo)	2
Total	23