Yellowstone in February

 With the spring-like weather, we decided to drive over to Gardiner, Montana, on Friday and do a day trip into Yellowstone yesterday. It is always a treat to enter the Park this time of year as the crowds are a small fraction of their summer size and everything looks different with snowy highlights.

In the top photo you will see an interesting collection of Goldeneye. Yellowstone is one of the few places where you are almost certain to see Barrow's instead of Common. The interesting thing about this small group is that not only are there male and female Barrow's, I am pretty sure the duck in the lead is a female Common. The one that is third in line and to the front is an immature and may be either a Barrow's or a Common. I need someone with more knowledge and experience to confirm.

The next two shots show why it is always nice to have two camera bodies on hand; one with a long lens and one with a wider angle of view. Both shots are of the same Bighorn Sheep. In the first shot the landscape becomes the subject with the large ram merely a point of interest within the frame. In the second shot, it is all about the animal and we get to see the evidence of his many battles in the detail of the horns.

 This coyote was all alone when we spotted him crossing a snowy field in Lamar Valley. But as we rolled down the windows to take a shot he raised his head to howl and was immediately answered by other song dogs both to the west and then to the east. I can never get enough of their voices raised in chorus!

 After Lamar we backtracked to Tower Junction and set out on cross country skis on the groomed trail up the hill toward Mt Washburn. Along the way we stopped for a quick view of Tower Falls encased in ice.


Below is a shot from our Friday afternoon hike above Gardiner. In the center near the bottom of the image you can see the Roosevelt Arch with Yellowstone stretching off into the distance behind it.

Not so Solitary

One of my favorite winter visitors is the Townsend's Solitaire. Because of an abundance of juniper bushes on our property, we are almost certain to have one or more of this beautiful member of the Thrush family with us for much of the year.

Although they are now listed as "uncommon" in bird books, I have read accounts from early settlers which describe seeing flocks of hundreds of birds.

This fall, we were quick to notice the arrival of a particular Solitaire as he insisted on constantly banging into the windows of the garage. Like most western ranches, we have a number of buildings that contain windows. We have decals on most of  them and that has cut way down on the number of bird strikes we see but this guy was obviously intent on fighting his reflection. Upon advice from a number of experts in the field, I covered the garage windows as much as possible at which point he moved on to the bunkhouse. I did the same there and then he headed for our home. We took turns chasing him as he attacked; our biggest concern being that he would injure himself in his single-mindedness. Over a period of weeks he showed his persistence as he would wait until we left and then immediately attack the window or, if we were equally persistent, he would find any shiny object he could to attack his reflected twin.

Then, suddenly, he stopped. It didn't take long to see why - instead of one Solitaire we now had two! I don't know if they are a male and a female or two males but our buddy is no longer interested in beating up windows and instead spends much of his day hanging out with his new friend. Despite the unusually snowy and cold winter we have experienced, both birds have hung in. During the worst of the snow I actually watched them diving into snow banks to reach the juniper berries underneath even though we were feeding other birds seed at the feeder. They are smart. They wait just out of reach each morning for me to fill the llama's water tank and then they land on the edge to drink the water at its highest point when it is easy to reach. On days when the sun comes out, they land on the edge of the roof and drink the snowmelt as it runs off.

I am just so glad our Solitaire is solitary no more!

A Saturday Afternoon Hike

This has been a long, unusual winter weather-wise in the high desert of NW Wyoming. We have had way more snow than usual and the temperatures have been colder for much longer periods of time. When I got up yesterday, the outdoor thermometer read 3 degrees Fahrenheit. Then sometime around 10 pm last night the wind started to blow and this morning the temperature was 45 degrees. What a difference! And the warmer weather is now supposed to hang around for a week or more.

 With the warmer temps and bright sunshine, Ken and I decided to go for a hike this afternoon. The going was tough as we kept plunging through the snow drifts about every third step but it was worth it just to be outside enjoying the beautiful surroundings. We hiked about 4 miles, going north to visit the sandstone cliffs on adjoining BLM land. The double arches in the top photo have intrigued me for many years. The bottom hole is large enough for a person to walk through.

The second photo is a close up of the kissing pig and turtle, another favorite formation. The image below is a longer view of the same cliff with the Beartooth Mountains in the distance.

As we hiked around we were amazed to see field after field of large snow balls. Apparently last night's wind lifted small snow balls off the top of the ridges and they gathered more and more snow as they headed down hill until they lost momentum and came to a stop.

One Winter Day

 Yesterday morning I complained to Ken about the fact that it was much harder to be a nature photographer in Wyoming in the winter months. The wildlife and birds are limited in variety and don't seem to travel as much. Yellowstone is closed from this direction and there is just so much snow everywhere!

Then I looked out the window and saw a coyote standing on the rocks. I grabbed the camera and began snapping as another dog moved into the frame and then a third. I know from experience these canines are sensitive to the slightest sound and movement so all my shots were taken from inside the house but what a thrill to watch them hunting cottontails!

We have a family of four coyotes that has been living on our place for three to four years now. This is the group that has a member with only three legs that I believe is the mother. I am a little concerned that I haven't seen her since the start of the heavy snows about six weeks ago but I am hoping she is just saving her strength while the rest of the pack hunts.

A few hours later I headed over to Powell to teach a class at Northwest College. Along the way I passed a field where I counted 5 Ring-necked Pheasant cocks and three hens. Like the coyotes, they are incredibly quick to flee once a vehicle so much as slows down anywhere nearby but I managed to get at least one good shot of a male before he ran away from me.

Hanging in there

I have been photographing this tree on my property for about twenty years now. It doesn't seem to get any bigger but it still appears healthy and I am always amazed at its ability to hang on. I know there is a great caption there, somewhere!

Winter Beauty

I love that I live in a place where I can walk out the door for an afternoon stroll and come back renewed by a sense of awe at the beauty that surrounds me. Tower Rock brings a feeling of joy every time I look at it - which is many times a day. There is rarely a morning when one or both of our resident Golden Eagles are not sitting on the top watching over their territory in search of a meal. At some point the Common Raven pair comes along and harasses the bigger birds until they give up and retreat to a further ridge but we continue to see them throughout the day and the next morning they are back in place again.

The tracks that are visible at the base of Tower belong to both bobcat and coyote. Somehow they manage to avoid each other most days although occasionally their paths will cross and then the bobcat usually has the upper hand (paw?) despite his smaller size and being out numbered.

Heart Mountain is about 20 miles away but its form dominates the horizon in a way that pleases my sense of balance.

This is home.

Inauguration Day

Yesterday seemed like a good day to put on the skis and get out into the wild. The endless discussions and coverage from Washington were a constant reminder of the dysfunctional family that America has become over the last year or so. I chose to go to my healing place in nature which is a much more peaceful environment and doesn't involve people trying to talk over each other in an effort to make their opinion seem the most valid. 

This doesn't mean I am sticking my head in the sand. Like many others I have fears about what is to come in this country, particularly as it affects this beautiful world in which we live and its many inhabitants. But yesterday, for me, was about spending time gathering strength from the beauty around me and appreciating the natural world in all its glory. 

 Above, the view looking east from Yellowstone's east entrance.

This swing, left, was a discovery made as we returned to the car parked at Pahaska. I don't know who put it there and it is probably illegal but its presence tickled my fancy as a symbol of innocence and fun.