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Neil Barker's avatar

I really like that sketch of the Semipalmated Plover - really well done, Kelly. Also that photo of the junvenile Grasshopper Sparrow is excellent with them staring straight at the camera. I wonder what they were thinking at that time, haha. Thanks for sharing.

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Kelly C. Ballantyne's avatar

Thanks so much, Neil, I was pretty happy with how that one turned out. Re the Grasshopper Sparrow youngster, probably something to the effect of "what kind of weird animals are those?" 😂

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Whit's avatar

My favorite thing about the grasshopper sparrows at Boyer chute in Nebraska was that I could measure distance by their territory song. It was the same number of footsteps from one sparrow to the next.

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Kelly C. Ballantyne's avatar

Oh that's very cool, Whit! The territories in this park didn't seem quite so evenly spaced, but I'll have to try that this season.

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Dan Lory's avatar

Thanks for sharing this, Kelly. The Uppie & Company recording is great. A "ton" of Chimney Swifts is much more expressive than "350," or some such numerical eBird checklist entry. From all your beautiful art, the one image that is the most evocative for me is the soft purple bluestem. That park can't be beat when those bluestem are blushing! Thanks for sparking that memory.

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Kelly C. Ballantyne's avatar

I'm so glad you liked it Dan. There's nothing quite like Big Bluestem in bloom.

Also, as you could probably imagine I had to edit out a lot of "is that it? It sounds close, where is it" from that audio clip 😂

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Dan Lory's avatar

🤣

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Nathaniel Bowler's avatar

Ouch! Your poor scope. I dropped mine on the road the very first time I used it. Actually, I hadn’t even used it. I was just trying to put it in the car 🙃

Love that Semipalm sketch 😍😍

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Kelly C. Ballantyne's avatar

Oh double yikes! Did yours survive? I'm grateful I was able to get mine repaired at a very reasonable price, but it took me months to actually ship it off for said repairs. 🫠

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Nathaniel Bowler's avatar

I was able to use it for almost a year but the eyepiece eventually fell off. Luckily it’s a vortex so fixed for free within 10 days or so

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Kelly C. Ballantyne's avatar

their warranty is truly amazing!

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Misi Ballard's avatar

I love your observations and am fascinated by the existence of such a rich wildland where once there was such massive industrial development. Rewilding is so critical to restoring wild nature… this park is inspiration for so many similar sites across our country. Thank you for introducing me to it!

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Kelly C. Ballantyne's avatar

Thank you for reading, Misi. I'm so glad to share the joy and wonder that is this post-industrial slice of lakefront. There are endless lessons to learn from nature about restoration and healing. 💚

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James Freitas's avatar

The sketch of the Semipalmated and the photo of the Sedge Wren in Big Bluestem are both so beautiful. There’s something about wrens. I’d melt if a got such a great encounter and photo of a Sedge Wren. Thank you for sharing.

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Dan Lory's avatar

🤣

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