Cash and the River

[SD Pheasant Slayer]

I'm a fortunate employee of the University of South Dakota Biology Department and spend my summer doing research on the Missouri National Recreational River (the longest stretch of "unregulated" Missouri River remaining). This summer we're doing songbird surveys that require us to be out in the forests bright and early which leads to a lot of sunrises on the water. On the mornings I'm just in support, Cash comes along and terrorizes the river life. I decided to grab the camera for a couple of recent mornings and share some of what I came across. Pretty typical of a morning on the river:

The sandbars can make it tough to get around


Sun comin up over the sandbar


Lot of these left behind by channel migration. Gnarly old cottonwoods






Lots of these guys out and about this time of year




Heading into a birding site


Occasionally a hike leads to the top of the bluff and provides some pretty nice views




Stumbling through the woods, we occasionally stumble across a hidden gem


And of course, the best part of the job is the company:

[birddogger]

What a job to have!!!

Charlie

[bwire]

Nice pictures
Does your dog know how lucky he is?

[wems2371]

Neat photos. Cash is a handsome boy.

[birddog1968]

I'm jealous !!! Big thumbs up.

[SD Pheasant Slayer]

GPBlitz... that old devil is a big one. One of the biggest I've seen. I'd venture a guess that his shell is nearly 30 inches long front to back and I'd guess he weighs upwards of 60 lbs, but I really have no idea on the weight.

[ckirsch]

Great photos! You have a beautiful dog.

Has Cash been turtle-broken? Those guys could take a big chunk out of a dog's nose.

My brother earned his Masters in Biology at USD, and had a similar position to yours. He was in charge of a hognose snake study of some type, and spent summer mornings on those same river banks twenty years ago.

Keep sharing....

[Crestonegsp]

Great photos, makes me miss home in good old South Dakota but what is all this talk about the USD when everyone knows SDSU is a much better school or that is what they told me when I went there.

[SD Pheasant Slayer]

Crestonegsp - SDSU is a great school... especially if you want to be a sheep farmer or are looking for a nice toothless lady to call a wife. Haha... kidding aside, thanks for the compliments. I'm off to Ames in August and I'm gonna miss SD.

[Kiki's Mom]

Awesome!