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Seeking Spring Ornaments
May 28, 2025
Spring in South Dakota is a joy to watch unfold. It is not always the same within the particulars, but the rhythm of new blossoms and migrating birds are always harbingers of the season of life taking hold. This year saw a hot, windy and dry stretch in early May followed by cool, rainy days. It is now after Memorial Day and the landscape is lush and green out my window, even if the clouds are low and gray. Last year’s barn swallow couple is back inspecting my light fixture outside my front door for another nesting season. I’ve been doing a spring journal for over a decade in this space. This year, more than ever, you’ll see images featuring new blossoms and spring birds. I’ve called them “spring ornaments” in the past and that is how I still see them — fleeting glints of color showing off after a long, cold, Dakota winter.
March 28
I photographed my first pasqueflowers of the season in McCook and Hanson counties.
April 4
Snow flurries in rural Deuel County slowed a small flock of flicker woodpeckers arriving from warmer climates.
April 16
The first plum brush blossoms and bumblebees delighted the senses in Union Grove State Park.
April 19
A few trout lilies were in bloom on the hillside along the Union Grove State Park road.
April 26
Bluebells and pasqueflowers were found in the Slim Buttes of Harding County.
April 27
Star lilies in bloom along a trail of the Sage Creek Wilderness in Badlands National Park.
April 29
A black and white warbler was one of the first migrating songbirds I saw and photographed at Palisades State Park.
April 30
I spent an evening after work chasing a small flock of warblers at the Big Sioux Recreation Area near Brandon. Yellow-rumped warblers and a single palm warbler obliged for a quick portrait session.
May 1
These Canadian goslings at Palisades State Park were among the first babies of spring.
May 3
After a work trip to Minnesota, I stopped at Hartford Beach State Park where a pair of red-bellied woodpeckers were prepping their nest. I also spotted my first prairie smoke wildflower in eastern Brookings County later in the afternoon.
May 4
Tulips and decorative trees bloomed on a near perfect spring day in Sioux Falls.
May 10
A yellow warbler posed at Palisades State Park.
May 12
A Baltimore oriole came in close for a quick snapshot.
May 14
Eastern red columbine were in bloom and a few comma butterflies soaked up the spring sun at Palisades State Park.
May 17
One of my favorite warbler species, the magnolia warbler, gave me a good look at Palisades State Park.
May 25
I took a quick trip to see family and check out the landscape in northeastern South Dakota. Highlights included a patchy of small white lady’s slippers and blue-eyed grass in Deuel County, Tabor Lutheran Church in Strandburg flanked by American flags to honor Memorial Day and a superlative sunset beyond Garfield Lutheran Church west of Lake Norden.
Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he's not working at Midco he is often on the road photographing South Dakota’s prettiest spots. Follow Begeman on his blog.
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