Sunday we made the drive up from Seattle and, after making it through Canadian Customs, spent the night in Hope (east of Vancouver). One of the signs at the border reminded us the "think metric" and that, so far, has been a little tricky.

The area is nestled among the peaks of the Cascade Range about 25 miles from the border with Washington and North Cascades National Park in that state; a mountain due south of the campground presents a nearly vertical face that I estimate being close to 3000 feet. Southeast of Hope is E.C. Manning Provincial Park, a huge track of land whose west side is rain forest with large old-growth Western Hemlock trees. Just about midway through park the road crosses Allison Pass to the "dry" side of the park and just beyond the pass is a road that offers an nice view of the surrounding mountains. In the distance in this image is Mount Frosty which is near the BC/WA border.

Fairly common in the rocky areas along the side of the road leading to an alpine meadow at the top of the peak were Hoary Marmots. Chipmunks and ground squirrels were also present, as were Clark's Nutcrackers, Gray Jays, and a few Pine Siskin. I was surpised to see some of the "locals" feeding peanuts to the Clark's Nutcrackers and, just like the Florida Scrub-jay, the birds were landing on their hands or arms and taking the peanuts from them.

Tomorrow we will move deeper into the north with a planned stop in Prince George, BC then, on Wednesday, head to the Cassiar Highway spur of the Al-Can Highway. Internet access will get a little iffy after Prince George until we arrive at Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory the first of next week (a park in Hyder, AK may have dial-up speed WiFi available when we are there over the weekend and I will try to post an entry if it is as painfully slow as this one in Hope then I will refrain from posting any images until I get a high-speed connection).

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 09:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This has been something of an odd week; I'm late with the quiz and there hasn't been much photography going on. The quiz should be kind of easy but, then again, maybe not. This is from Mt. Rainier National Park but they are found in many of the western mountains. They must be getting fed regularly because this one had very little fear - when I walked back to the truck after making this image it flew up and landed on the mirror, staring at me the whole time like he was esxpecting a handout. I caught a fleeting glimpse of another bird that would have been great for the quiz this week but, alas, there was no place for me to pull over.

Just to get caught up on things, we left the Glacier National Park area on Tuesday morning, stopping in Spokane, Washington. That afternoon I went to check out Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge southwest of the city but the hoped for lakes full of ducks turned out to be little more that ponds surrounded by cattails and sedges that would have made photography impossible. Wednesday morning we went a little farther west to a town east of the Cacades and a visit to Mount Rainier National Park. That didn't go as planned since it came to pass that the road I had planned to take into the park didn't - even though both my GPS and Streets and Trips told me it would. Adding to my frustration, the advertised "WiFi" at the KOA in Ellensburg, WA was, in fact, "LoFi" sooooo, I bailed out of there Thursday morning and went farther to the west from which I could take a known paved road to the park.

This cascade and fall is located a short distance from the Paradise Inn at Rainier. It is a creek that feeds Paradise River but, as near as I can tell from the topograhic map I have of the park both an unnamed creek and fall. It is just one of many on the park and I suspect a person could spend weeks - or possibly months - trying to shoot them all.

South and slightly east of Rainier is Pinnacle Peak. Though I had only this afternoon to explore, this is an awesome park. Unfortunately there are few places to stay that are close; as it was I had to drive 70 miles just to get to the entrance at the southwest corner. It would have been about the same distance to the east entrance had the road I had chosen for me gone through.

This morning, before driving up to the park, the truck was service and tomorrow the day will be spent preparing to set off for the Great White North. I will be collecting my dear old mum at the airport tomorrow night and, by Sunday evening we will be in "Beautiful British Columbia" as we begin 6+ week trek on the Alaska-Canada Highway(s). Many of my planned stops will have WiFi available and I plan to post entries on a regular basis from there. Don't call because at 79 cents/minute to "roam" in Canada my phone will be turned off until I get to Alaska . . .

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 12:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For the last 3 or 4 days we've been calling home a little campground just outside Hungry Horse, Montana (yep, that's the name), a small town about 10 miles from the west entrance to Glacier National Park. Following a morning of asking questions at the Visitor Center and a bookstore we took a ride up the Going To The Sun Road in the afternoon. It is quite and interesting ride up (and down) the road that was originally built in the 1930's. While I'm sure there has been some new pavement laid down over the years, I don't think it is much wider than when people first traveled in in Model T's and A's. Though I've been closer to the Sun on other mountains, at the top of Logan Pass there is a visitor center and a some of wildlife. There were White-crowned Sparrows either singig or chipping from the tops of several trees; this one was kind enough to pose in about 3 different locations for me (he was a chipper, not a singer and each time I caught him with his mouth wide open his nictitating membrane was closed).

The resident rodents there were Columbia Ground Squirrels who had burrows everywhere. Not exactly sure what they were so upset about, maybe it was all the people up at the top of the pass, but they were barking almost as much as the prairie dogs were when the Bison came in to graze at Theodore Roosevelt National Park's dog towns. I suppose it is possible that this one was worked up about Roxie, but that would not explain what was going on with the others several hundred feet away. I was reading about British Columbia today and I'm thinking that this will not be the last of these squirrels we will encounter as their range extends at least into the southern portion of the Canadian Rockies

As I was finishing up round 2 with the White-crowned Sparrow a Rocky Mountain Goat wandered into the parking area accompanied by a Kid. They come to lick up antifreeze; the rangers try to shoo them away but it is, apparently, an exercise in futility. The funny moment of the goat experience (did you know that they are not really goats and more closely related to African antelopes?) came early on when I was sitting down in the parking lot trying to get as close to eye level with the Kid as possible. Roxie was sitting down next to me when, after I had made a few images, mom caught sight of the dog. Not sure if the momma goat just didn't know the difference between Canis lupis familiaris and the real baby goat-eating Canis lupis, but she began to take measured steps toward Roxie with her head slightly down and staring hard. Fearful of the possibility that Roxie might soon be on the receiving end of a head butt, I figured it was best if I quickly retired her to the safety of the truck parked about 150 feet away. That goat watched us walk all the way back, too.

The following morning (Friday) was spent on fruitless searches for bear, ducks (Harlequin - see the previous entry), and dippers. While looking for a way to get down along the banks of Upper McDonald Creek for the water birds I did get some shots of this dragonfly, a female White-faced Meadowhawk. I did find a trail that would take me to the creek and, given that there were trail rides running through the area all day, it was probably safe. Maybe I'm chicken, but I still opted to heed the warning sign that said not to hike in that area alone since I would be "entering Grizzly Country". As it was, the following day I would find a way to get down to the creek and not need that trail.

In the same area where I happened upon the dragonfly I found these rather interesting looking wildflowers. I wish i could tell you what they were - I now own 3 books on Rocky Mountain wildflowers (the most recent of which looks pretty extensive and is dedicated exclusively to the northern Rockies)and this flower is not in a single one of them. While it could be that this is an intermediate stage of the flower's development, if people who put together field guides for birds can show us different plumages, why can't people who put together guides for flowers more than a picture or drawing of the flower in full bloom? And size. How big is the damned flower? These things were all over the roadside and the trailhead; I can't believe it is because they are not "common". Update: A book in the RV park's store actually had this flower and it is Bladder Campion (Silene vulgaris) - considered a weed by some and a possible reason it is not in all of the guides.

Saturday began with a long, scenic drive around the southern end of the park in order to travel Going To The Sun Road from east to west. The best photo ops came at one of the turnouts as the road began to climb along the north shore of St. Mary Lake. The small island is Goose Island, the peak in the center is Gunsight Mountain. Simply beautiful. We made our way to the top but, being a Saturday, the crowds were beginning to build so we went on down the mountain.

I took today off because of the weekend throngs; much of the day today was spent making plans for the Alaska-Canada Highway trip that begins in exactly one week. I plan to spend some more time in the park tomorrow afternoon - the morning is dedicated to having service done on the truck before the journey north.

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 11:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We've been visiting Glacier National Park the last few days and last night I went into the park to shoot some waterfalls and cascades on Upper McDonald Creek. I actually never got past this particular cascade, exploring different camera angles and, just before leaving, setting up the camera on delay to get a snapshot of me and the dog.

I didn't realize they were even back there until I was taking everything down to leave and, just as at Cave Falls in Yellowstone where a Dipper practically landed in my lap, I was not equipped with a long lens to do anything about it. The arrows are pointing to a pair of Harlequin Ducks (yes, the same ducks I've been searching for the last 3 days) who had decided to pop in while I was making this photo. It required 3 "takes" because Roxie still hasn't learned when to look at the camera; the ducks are not in the first frame but in both the second and third. They were several hundred feet down river (naturally) by the time I got back with the right gear.

I have some stuff to post which I hope to get to later today since this morning, at least, looks like rain.

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 09:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last week's bird was a little tricky, I suppose, with some 6 sub-species of Dark-eyed Junco, knowing the range we can narrow down the list of possible suspects to 3: Slate-colored, Pink-sided, and Oregon. Looking closely at the Pink-sided we see that in adult plumages the lores (the fleshy area between the base of the bill and the eyes) is black, eliminating this sub-species as a contender. The Slate-colored female can be similar in appearance but, in mid-July, highly unlikely as they nest in the Boreal forests of Canada and would be extremely rare in mid-summer. In addition, our bird has a a full grey hood where the Slate-colored "brown" female has brown on the back of the head. So the answer is female Dark-eyed Junco, Oregon sub-species.

This week's bird is also a forest dweller that was photographed in western Montana. Good luck!

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 08:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The waterfalls of the Sierra are frequented by only one bird, --the Ouzel or Water Thrush ( Cinclus Mexicanus , Sw.). He is a singularly joyous and lovable little fellow, about the size of a robin, clad in a plain waterproof suit of bluish gray, with a tinge of chocolate on the head and shoulders. In form he is about as smoothly plump and compact as a pebble that has been whirled in a pot-hole, the flowing contour of his body being interrupted only by his strong feet and bill, the crisp wing-tips, and the up-slanted wren-like tail.

He is the mountain streams' own darling, the humming-bird of blooming waters, loving rocky ripple-slopes and sheets of foam as a bee loves flowers, as a lark loves sunshine and meadows. Among all the mountain birds, none has cheered me so much in my lonely wanderings, --none so unfailingly. For both in winter and summer he sings, sweetly, cheerily, independent alike of sunshine and of love, requiring no other inspiration than the stream on which he dwells. While water sings, so must he, in heat or cold, calm or storm, ever attuning his voice in sure accord; low in the drought of summer and the drought of winter, but never silent.

- excerpt from The Mountains of California, Chapter 13 "The Water-Ouzel, John Muir (1894)

I've wanted to photograph this bird (now known as the American Dipper) the moment I read this chapter several years ago. Today was the day.

(And if you have not read Muir, you should. Read the entire chapter here and can find still more here.)

( And remember to BOYCOTT EXXON/MOBIL, I'm sure if Mr. Muir were still with us he would thank you.)

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 11:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Other than the required Friday Quiz I've been slacking a little (okay, a lot) on posting entries. I've wanted to but time seems to have been precious. The images have been coming though, so that is a good thing. There have been other projects, too, not the least of which was deciding over this past weekend to upgrade to a newer and much faster notebook computer. That in and of itself presents new challenges, the worst of those being installing all kinds of software and getting things set up the way I like. One of the things that prompted the buying decision was it took me far too long to get images ready to enter in a contest (NWF) on Saturday (I thought I was ready but found out htey'd increased the number of images you could enter so there was a last minute thrash to get more uploaded). And Saturday was the day we migrated from the Yellowstone Area up to Missoula, Montana.

I'll try to devote fewer words to this entry and just upload several images with brief descriptions and highlight where we were and what we did. I'm going to start with just a couple and add some more as I get a little time this afternoon (with software funtioning correctly, the daunting task of moving files from one computer to another is slowing things up even more).

On Monday morning(7-10) we went with a "neighbor" for a return trip to Red Rock Lakes NWR and the surrounding area. This is a place I simply have to devote some time to but in the spring. I have never experienced mosquitoes on the level of this valley anywhere. As bad as they were in Minnesota, here they are not only numerous, but at least double the size. Call me a wimp, but the disease carrying potential bothers me. Still, I made a few images and know a little more about the lay of the land for a return visit, possibly next Spring. As we shall see as the week unfolds, there is great beauty in this part of the country. This image is of the first Pronghorn I saw doing something other than grazing or resting - it actually was moving at a trot (would love to see one moving at full speed someday) to catch up with the rest of the herd who had wandered off.

Later that afternoon we drove south and east for another waterfall (followed by a shopping excursion to the "big city" of Rexford, ID). This is Cave Falls in the southwest corner of Yellowstone National Park. It is accessible from inside the park only by foot trail, by automobile there is a spur off of the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway, 14 miles of which is over a very dusty and bumpy "road". Worth the trip though as it is a beautiful sight though in my opinion there should be some sort of park rule about fly fishermen being able to fish as close to it as they were. Another highlight of my visit there was having an American Dipper land on a rock less than 10 feet from me - and he dipped! Naturally the only lens I had in my possession was a super wide angle which would have rendered Muir's Water Ouzel a mere speck (hopefully this morning I will have my Dipper's)

(more to come)

I've been seeing American White Pelicans since North Dakota in just about every lake including Yellowstone Lake. I was surprised however to find them not only in the Yellowstone River, but even in the Le Hardy Rapids on said river. There were three on this morning including this one standing just downstream from the "whitewateriest" section of the rapids. I was told that they will catch fish that jump out ot the water though didn't see that happen. The 1/2 hour I spent watching this one it was content to just stand there while the other 2 would fly up close to where this one was standing and then float downstream while fishing.

We spent the entire day roaming the park on Tuesday; the only area I think we missed was from Fishing Bridge on the "Loop" down to West Thumb and, from there, down to Old Faithful. On the way down to Old Faithful from Mammoth Hot Springs I came actross this Moose cow. I've seen other Moose and most of the time the just plod along however this one seemed a little agitated and was doing quite a bit of running back and forth across the meadow between a couple of stands of trees.

I had traveled less that 1/4-mile past the Moose when I came to what may have been - and this is purely speculative on my part - the source of her agitation. While I would have preferred a nice soft uncluttered background for photos of a Grizzly Bear, this is fine for a start. The bear was just meandering along the forest's edge, not too far from the roadway, paying no attention to the large crowd that began to gather. It eventually crossed the road and wandered off into the forest to the west.

Though it would be hard to top seeing (and photographing) a Grizzly, it was time to go see Old Faithful. I was determined to watch it erupt even if I had to leave Roxie in the truck for a few minutes (as it turned out it was okay to bring her to the viewing area). It was getting late in the afternoon and we were both getting a bit hungry but couldn't leave without stopping for a slow exposure shot of Firehole Falls. I actually made several images from different spots, with poor Roxie having to climb down a couple of slightly steep (but not too much) canyon walls with me. She was a trooper though and, for her trouble, let her romp in the creek a little. By the time we got back to the campground we had spent just short of 14 hours running around. Long Day.

On Wednesday morning I went on a search for American Dippers that turned out to be fruitless and whatever plans I had made for that afternoon were a wash thanks to a pretty nasty storm that rolled through. On Thursday morning I took a short ride up to the top of Sawtell Peak (Targhee National Forest, Idaho) based upon the suggestion of the neighbor, Newt, who I had gone with to Red Rock Lakes earlier in the week. I am more than thankful for his suggestion, Sawtell is a beautiful place to be (and a place of solitude early in the morning until the first DB's on ATV's show up). This image is looking west toward Mount Jefferson, the ridge of which is the Continental Divide; in the foreground is Idaho, the background Montana. The view is amazing with Yellowstone to the northeast and (about 60 miles away) to the southeast you can see the high peaks of the Grand Tetons.

Thursday morning was such a pleasure I decided to go back up Friday morning, influenced partially by the fact I had seen some Western Tanagers a little below the treeline and wanted to take a crack at them. Though I didn't get the tangers that morning I did make images of a couple of American Pipits that were at the top of the peak above treeline. on both mornings I shot several different species of wildflowers like these (still to bloom) Stonecrop, a few butterflies (Mormon Fritillary were very common), also present scurrying among the rocks were Golden-mantled ground Squirrels. Things I saw but - like the Western Tanagers - didn't photograph, included deer, a bull Moose, and some really pretty butterflies that didn't pose.

Note: In the last paragraph I opted to make the species names links instead of using thumbnails - just click on the name (for example "Mormon Fritillary")and the photo shoould open in a new window.

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 08:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last week's quiz was definitely a toughie since there wasn't a whole lot to go on. What you couldn't see that made it so tough were the blue feathers on the wings - our bird was a juvenile Mountain Bluebird.

This week's should be a little easier, the biggest downside being it is difficult to tell the bill shape since this bird's is full of bugs.

Good Luck!

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 07:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It seems as if catching up is a perpetual thing with me and that is what I had intended to do this past weekend. Stay relatively close to home if I happened to venture out and get a lot of image files organized in proper locations plus do a little of the same around my mobile home. And I managed to do a little bit of both. Then came Monday and Tuesday and now I am way behind again.

A couple of hours Saturday morning were spent driving on the roads that surround Henry’s Lake adjacent to the RV park where we are staying. It actually turned out to be a good decision. Things didn’t start out well for had I started out 2 minutes earlier I would have come across a pair of Sandhill Cranes in a field thick with wildflowers. Unfortunately I got to them just as they moved into the shadows of a tall stand of pine and aspen trees (all but hidden in the tall grasses was the colt that was following along with them). Things got better though a couple of miles down the road when I happened upon this Swainson’s Hawk perched atop a snag next to the roadside (this bird must like this spot because I would find it there again –this time facing me - Tuesday morning). In addition to the Swainson’s I made images of a couple of Tree Swallows and a new bird for me (strange since they are everywhere), a male Brown-headed Cowbird.

In the afternoon we took a little sightseeing joyride to a spot called Earthquake Lake. In 1959 a 7.5 magnitude earthquake (the “Hebgen Lake Earthquake”) occurred northwest of Yellowstone National Park. Downstream from the epicenter, 90 million tons of rock and debris tumbled from a mountainside into Madison River canyon, damming the river. Sadly, 28 people (many of them camping along the river) lost their lives; riverside resorts, campgrounds and a stretch of U.S. 287 are now below the surface. Many trees that once stood along the river canyon’s walls, drowned in the new lakes waters, still stand lifeless in the lake (in one section I saw them serving as roosts for Double-crested Cormorants).

Sunday morning I made another lap around the lake, adding a couple of more Tree Swallows, another Swainson’s Hawk, (this time in a different tree), and added another new species to the catalog. This Vesper Sparrow perched patiently while a made a few images of it holding a rather large – what is it, a caterpillar? – it had captured for breakfast. Most if the lake’s perimeter is sagebrush which makes great habitat for these sparrows; a lot of the area is cattle ranches and every few hundred feet are nest boxes used by the swallows and (abundant) Mountain Bluebirds.

While much is justifiably written and said about the wonders of our National Parks, too often we overlook the fact that other public lands contain areas or sites with similar wonders. The aforementioned Earthquake Lake in Gallatin National Forest is one such example; another is the Mesa Falls Scenic Area in Idaho’s Targhee National Forest. The Henry’s Fork of the Snake River plunges about 110 feet as it makes its way through canyon at Upper Mesa Falls (pictured here), then, just downstream, another 65 feet at the lower fall. About an hour from West Yellowstone, they can be reached on the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway which intersects with U.S. 20 south of Island Park, Idaho. In addition to these falls, a spur takes you to Cave Falls (which I would visit Monday) in the southwest corner of Yellowstone National Park – a location accessible from the park’s interior only by hiking trails.

Now that I’m a little caught up (again) on image filing and blogging, maybe later today I can deal with what I did Monday and Tuesday . . .

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Since it appeared as if the afternoon storm was going to pass and allow a couple of hours shooting I decided to risk driving to Yellowstone to see what I could find. It wasn't long after entering in the park that I came to a traffic snarl at the Madison River bridge. I asked someone what the attraction was and they said "wolf", which got my attention. The jubilation was short-lived however when I recognized as soon as I saw it that what we had was a Coyote. I was really quite surprised that it didn't take off right away with all the commotion but hunger must have been stronger than fear this time. Other than that the prey was a large rodent I'm not sure what the Coyote was eating though think, based upon size and color, it may have been a Marmot.

I'd gone to the park with no real plan so, once things were over with the Coyote, I decided that maybe I should see what I could come up with at Gibbon Falls since it was still kind of overcast, a condition I find lends itself well to images of flowing water. That plan was derailed about a mile from the falls when I ran into another traffic jam - this one caused by a couple of Bison who were wandering down the road. They would switch back and forth between both lanes which held up both directions. Traffic was still tied up by the time I reached the falls and there were cars taking up all the parking spaces - cars whose occupants were taking in the Bison show armed with their cameras (still and video). So I kept on going and, just a couple of miles later found more cars to the side of the roadway and traffic slowing down. The object of everyone's attention this time was a Bull Elk in nice afternoon light on the east side of the road. Ecstatic about such good fortune I parked the truck and reached for my gear. Only to watch it turn and wander off into the pines as I opened the door. The good news was I noticed that everyone was looking at another one lying in the tall shaded grass on the other side. Even closer to the road. Though the Elk out in the sun would have been my preference, I got out my flash and made a few images of this one before deciding to move on.

About 1/4 mile up the road I found another out in the meadow on the west side, out in the sun but backlit. While I was pondering a hike out into the meadow at a safe distance so as to not spook the Elk and to see if I could get some images with the sun behind me the one I'd been shooting in the shad decided it was time to do a little foraging out in the light. Being closer to the road meant that my hike out in the meadow wouldn't be quite as far and the sun's angle was a little better at the same time. So it was back into the truck and down the road to where we'd been just minutes before. I took some shots of this bull and when I slithered back to the truck I notice that the Elk I'd left behind was now coming over to the same vicinity as the one who'd been resting. That's is when I decided to make the image you see here - a silhouette with the afternoon sun glowing through his fur for a "rimlight" effect.

Moments later the sun would dip behind the mountains bringing an end to a short but interesting visit to Yellowstone.

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 11:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

But is it . . .

1. The hoof/leg with the antler.

2. The antler with the leg or hoof.

3. The inside of the thigh with the antler.

He knows bur he isn't telling.

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 12:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last night a storm came through here that was about as intense as I’ve experienced in this trailer. From the sound of things I was sure there was hail but didn’t see it on the ground, so the rain drops must have been huge. Having endured that should have been an indication that the gravel roads I planned to travel this morning might not be in too good of shape. But I went anyway.

It was a beautiful morning, the skies were blue – a great day to go looking for birds. Things were actually pretty good going over Red Rock Pass, only one spot that was really slippery. Then I got past the refuge headquarters. The good news is I didn’t get struck but a couple of times I sure I was headed for the ditch. Not a good place to be in a location that is just about as remote as there is in North America. Before you head over the pass there is even a sign that warns there is no gas for 65 miles. So, I tippy-toed back across the pass, deciding along the way that I ain’t goin’ there again without 4-wheel drive or 2-3 days of no rain (and it is getting ready to rain again today). Most of what I can find on that side of the pass can be found on this side, too.

The day wasn’t a total loss though.

Richardson’s Ground-squirrels were scurrying around everywhere; it was something of a miracle that I didn’t run any of them over. They are either very brave or just not too smart. This is the only I think I saw that wasn’t in a state of motion and posed nicely while sunning itself atop a moss covered boulder.

On the way back down the pass I came across a Northern Flicker that did not seem to be bothered by the approach of my noisy damned diesel truck. The only problem being that its position clinging to a fencepost left it with a shadow from the barbed wire directly across its head - and I didn’t think I wanted that in the photo. So while the waiting game went on a Savannah Sparrow landed on the wire about 18 inches away from the flicker. “Okay”, I thought to myself, maybe I’ll add a little more magnification and snap off a couple of frames of the much smaller sparrow. While that was going on, the flicker decided to move, which prompted me to shoot a couple of close-ups then, if the bird would hang around long enough, take the teleconverter off and get a couple of full body shots. That wasn’t to be because, as luck would have it, just as I got everything set up another vehicle came down the road sending my flicker elsewhere.

Still, all in all it was an interesting day. I had hoped for a return trip to Yellowstone late this afternoon but don’t think the weather will allow that. Tomorrow is another day . . .

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 06:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Roxie and I spent a good part of the morning/early afternoon yesterday making the drive from Greybull, Wyoming to Island Park, Idaho. The drive took us through Yellowstone National Park and the campground is about 20 miles from the west entrance to the park. Once camp was set up we headed back to the park primarily because I wanted to see Old Faithful. That will have to wait for another day because I found out my companion is not welcome in the “thermal areas” of the park (she can be in the truck while I go walk around but, trust me, she has an endless barking fit the entire time I leave her, even if it is just to pay for fuel inside a store). She stayed inside the truck while I made the image at left of Firehole Spring near the Lower Geyser area. I learned after a couple of times watching it that I could see the big bubble coming up when it erupted and managed to get a good one.

Early in the evening we were on our way out of the park and came across the “Madison Herd” of Rocky Mountain Elk along the roadside (along with a couple of hundred other people – a few of them looking at me with “lens envy” in their eyes). With the sun nearing the mountain tops the light was just about perfect for photography and I was lucky enough to get one of this year’s calves out in the open for a few frames before the herd slipped into the mountain’s shadows.

These animals were misnamed by early settlers who thought they were the same animal as Europe's Elk - which is the same animal we call a Moose. They are also referred to by the name used by the Shoshone: Wapiti (which means "white rump").

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 05:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The answer to last week's quiz was Horned Lark.

Since that one seemed to be just a little too easy, this week we'll just have to get a tough again. If it were an adult it would probably be easy to get, but everbody likes a challenge, right? Even I struggled with this one some; more of a profile would certainly make it a little easier. There were 4 of them total perched on a wooden fence just a few feet from one another.

Good luck!

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 02:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

The ride from Sheridan over to the western side of the Bighorn Mountains was an adventure as it was the first time over a high mountain pass pulling the trailer. An “E Ticket Ride” you might say (for those of us who can remember the days at Disney when you got a book of tickets with your admission – the best rides needed an E ticket). Granite Pass was a hair over 9,000 feet and I started out at a little under 4,000 and at the bottom of the western side the altitude was just over 4,000 feet. The western side is steeper and for several miles I kept it in first gear, moving along at about 25 MPH. The picture at left shows the Shell Creek Gorge which U.S. 14 follows on the south side. A portion of the highway is just to the left of center.

Once all was settled at the campground it was off to see what could be found at Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area. There is very little access from the roadways with one of the few stops being Devil’s Canyon Overlook. It is about 1,000 feet down to the lake from this vantage point. I know one of the prime reasons we dam rivers is for electric power but it just seems so sad that we have to destroy places of such beauty to do it. I remember reading of John Muir's fight nearly 100 years ago trying to prevent construction of the dam in Hetch Hetchy Valley at Yosemite (to provide power for San Francisco) and how he felt it was even more beautiful than Yosemite Valley - something we will never know ourselves).

The area gets its name from the Bighorn Sheep that were once native to the area. Extirpated in the early 20th century, Bighorns were reintroduced to the national forest later in the century and a small group made its way to the other side of the river and is now thriving there. These two lambs were with a large group foraging along the roadside in the recreation area. The only ram I saw was in a classic pose looking over the edge of a cliff, unfortunately about a quarter mile away and too far away for a photo.

Traveling deeper into the recreation area the road passes through the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range. Between 120 and 160 wild horses roam the range (the population is managed by the Bureau of Land Management) and DNA testing shows that their ancestors were domesticated Spanish horses. It is believed that they the herds roaming the area were strays from Native American tribes that resided near here. The horse pictured here was in the company of another stallion, probably a couple of “teenage” mustangs looking to start a harem of their own. I watched as they interacted briefly with a small herd of other horses before they moved on into the hills and, as I was leaving I saw a few more a little higher up and to the west from the highway.

Today (Wednesday) it was back to the national forest and a drive into the high country on Forest Road 10. This time I completed the 22 mile drive from U.S. 14 to U.S. 14-Alternate. The road is pretty bad in places and I kept one eye on the sky since a few areas looked like it would not take much water to turn it into a quagmire. It was worth the bumping and grinding, the road climbs to over 10,000 feet through pine woods and meadows full of wildflowers – and butterflies. Edith’s Checkerspots were plentiful and, while most butterflies seem to be territorial, these would chase off anything that moved including bees and other flying insects. My biggest disappointment was once we got to the area where the American Pipits were hanging out they were chased off with the arrival of a convoy of 4-wheeled ATV’s (hopefully not one of those groups that ignore the “stay on established roads and trails” rules).

Once we were back on the highway we stopped at the Medicine Wheel Historical Site where I subjected poor Roxie to a 3-mile hike at 9,600 feet (I admit, it was tough for me too in that thin air). A pair of Mountain Bluebirds are using a nest box near the Ranger’s shack and I caught the female on a post just outside with a beak full of insect. One thing I found interesting was there was a juvenile bird helping with the feeding and this behavior (by first brood juveniles) is noted in Cornell’s Birds of North America Online (subscription). With luck we will encounter more of them as we go farther west - the males I've seen only at a distance so far are incredibly blue. Indications are that they should be common in the mountains of western Montana where we will be for most of the rest of July.

The last stop for this visit was Shell Falls just off Highway 14 near the top of the Shell Creek gorge mentioned above. The water cascades 120 feet (at something like 3600 gallons per minute!) and the forest service provides a couple of different vantage points to view the fall.

If not for commitments later in the month I would love to continue exploring the Bighorns. There seem to be several “good” roads into the backcountry and there is another section south of here west of the city of Buffalo. But we must press on and tonight we will be setting up camp in a small patch of northern Idaho 20 miles from Yellowstone (in Wyoming) and 25 miles from Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge (in Montana).

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 08:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sheridan, Wyoming has been my home (maybe base is a better word) for the past couple of days and, other than a visit to the site of the Fetterman Fight and Fort Phil Kearney*, the purpose of the stop was to explore the Bighorn Mountains. From what I’ve been able to glean the Bighorns are part of the Rocky Mountain chain and, as such, are relatively young geologically and are mostly the result of upheavals in the Earth’s crust. Because of this they are quite rugged and contain many interesting peaks and rock formations. Much like the Southern Rockies (where I spent 6 years) they also seem to have a knack for afternoon thunderstorms in the month of July. The image here was taken as the clouds behind the rocks were closing together and the sun made a brief appearance from behind another. Just enough to light up the multi-colored lichens – exactly what I was hoping for. To give you an idea of scale, the large bolder on the far right is probably about 20 feet tall. There’s more I would like to shoot in the afternoon but the weather has more to say about that and I’ve been shut out the last two afternoons.

July is also peak time for wildflowers in the high country and I’ve added several of those to the mix of images made here. If there is anything next to insects that causes me to lose as much (or more) hair then it has to be wildflowers. I love to photograph them but all the research and reading often leaves me confused in the end. What we have here is a paintbrush and I think it is a Giant Red Paintbrush - but my guide to Rocky Mountain wildflowers doesn’t specifically list that species. The other thing that sometimes messes me up is that I will take a photo of the flower only and the field guide shows the entire plant and lacks detail in the flower itself. Maybe a day spent admiring the flowers with a field guide in hand would be a good plan, too.

This next image probably isn’t even a wildflower but it looked too cool not to make an image, so here it is. The problem is really that there are so many different kinds of wildflowers and so many that are related. I’ve resolved that if I am going to continue making photographs of flowers I will just have to learn more (so if you know of a good introductory book - or great website - on how to identify them please let me know).

Mule Deer are plentiful in the area and I have seen three fawns over the last couple of days – boy are they quick to run for cover. I also happened upon this buck in velvet on one of my side jaunts down a dirt “forest road”. I was sitting in my truck patiently waiting as he moved closer, all the while hoping he’d come close enough for a nice head shot, but another car came along and he ducked off into the woods.

Hang around a big boulder long enough in the western mountains and there is a chance that one of these guys will, sooner or later, pop up and look around. I always knew they were rodents but one thing I learned today about Yellow-bellied Marmots is that they are members of the same family as squirrels and chipmunks. The other thing I learned is they are known hosts for the tick that transmits Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever so, though you should always be cautious in tick country, be on the lookout if you are in marmot country.

Tomorrow we move on to the other side of the range where I plan to concentrate on some of the birds I’ve seen around the last couple of days. The roads, campgrounds, and picnic areas have been kind of busy with the holiday weekend. Hopefully things will have quieted down and I can work on Mountain Bluebirds (Wow, are they blue or what) and American Pipits (I came across about ten pipits in a treeless area just above 10,000 feet this morning but baled out just before the downpour – I did not want to be on that road without 4-wheel drive when it got wet and muddy). Though I have yet to see them, there are a couple of good warblers – Wilson’s and Audubon’s Yellow-rumped - that are said to be common in the area, too. Just have to see what we can turn up.

*(The significance of the Fetterman Fight is that up until the Little Bighorn it was the worst defeat the U.S. Army had suffered at the hands of the indigenous tribes. It was also the battle in which a young Lakota warrior named Tasunke Witko – or Crazy Horse - established his reputation as a fighting man and leader.)

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 09:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The last morning that I was in Hardin, Montana I spent a little time with the Western Kingbirds before leaving. Most of the time one would stay behind, probably to guard the nest though it would occasionally leave for a couple of minutes to go “hawk” an insect. The one staying closest to the nest would use a nearby tree as a perch and chase insects out over the wheat field adjacent to the campground. When it came back 4 out of 5 times it would fly up to this dead branch just a couple of fee above the nest. At times it would just sit there looking around, do a litttle preening, or maybe give a big yawn (fetching all those insects for those hungry little mouths must be hard work).

Watching different bird behaviors is one of the things I like about spending time with birds; they really can be fun. The goal, of course, is to capture that behavior when, and if, the opportunity arises. The kingbird that was hanging around the nest would always chatter and flap its wings when the mate was returning. In many ways it reminded me of the antics I’ve seen from recently fledged birds – fluttering their wings while begging.

Would have been kind of neat to hang around a couple of weeks to see the young ones grow up.

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 09:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I’ve been doing a variety if things over the last few days, mixing my “histories”, if you will, but I chose this location as “home” for a few days for that very reason. My GPS chose the most direct route to my first stop of which about 15 miles was over a gravel road through some of Montana’s rangelands. Though it slowed me down a bit, there is nothing wrong with a ride through the prairies and you never know what you will find perched atop a fence post. On this morning it was a Western Meadowlark with a fine looking, bright green grasshopper for breakfast. It appears that there are quite a few meadowlarks with recently fledged young. The other bird I saw a lot of were Lark Buntings but they were really skittish and are going to require a little more patience and work.

North of here (here being Hardin, MT) is a sandstone butte known as “Pompey’s Pillar” upon which hundreds, if not thousands, have carved their names. Notable among them is William Clark – yes, the same man who’s name is attached to bird species like Clark’s Grebe or Clark’s Nutcracker and who also did a little exploring with a man named Meriwether Lewis (of Lewis’s Woodpecker fame). Clark’s inscription bears the date July 25, 1806 and a description of the location is in his journals.

The site is near the Yellowstone River, the view from the top into the valley simply amazing, and there is plenty of wildlife around, too. The monument is included in the Birding Montana guidebook as one of the Billings area locations and if there were nothing else, there is a rather large contingent of nesting Cliff Swallows. In the image at left those black dots to the left side are not spots on my camera’s sensor but about 50 or 60 swallows.

Their nests are, for the most part, attached to the butte in the shadowed area on the left side of the butte where the vertical wall meets the outcropping. The Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology�