Thursday, May 26, 2011

A Slight Reprieve

We decided to take advantage of a short break in the inclement weather yesterday by hiking to the high point in our back pasture. I was able to see Heart Mountain for the first time in days as the cloud cover lifted.
We are very careful when hiking this time of year to stay as far away from the mama elk as possible. It is tough to do as we have many that use our property as a maternity ward. In the winter months they gather in numbers of up to several hundred. This time of year the females tend to be solitary as they search out remote, quiet areas to give birth. This one is keeping a close eye on us even though we are across a deep ravine from her spot. We saw about a dozen lone females in the distance on our three hour hike.
 We also spotted another LBB, or little brown bird. I had to look this one up when we got home. It turns out he is a summer visitor that usually winters in South America called a Swainson's Thrush. I don't know who Swainson was but he has several birds named after him!

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