Chasing Winter

Ken and I have returned from our annual pilgrimage in search of the last vestiges of winter. In other words, we spent a week Cat-Skiing the Canadian Rockies. For almost a decade now we have been driving up to Golden, British Columbia to hop on a helicopter and get dropped in the mountainous back country along with 34 other adventurous souls. Except for one year, we have always used Chatter Creek and I still believe they are the best for a whole bunch of reasons. 

The new, black Cats are bigger and more comfortable but not as photogenic as their yellow predecessors.

 One noted change this year was that we were definitely the oldest two people there - not just among the skiers but also taking into account the two dozen people working at Chatter. It was not a position I enjoyed, to tell the truth. It was pretty clear there were those wondering just what the two old folks were doing risking life and limb at a young man's sport. The other change this year was that, although there was lots of snow, it had started to warm up and instead of powder, we ended up skiing cement most of the time. That meant working a lot harder to get our turns and it also meant the potential for injury was much greater.

Over the years we have been doing this sport we have seen a few wrecks but this was the greatest number of injuries in a short amount of time. Before the trip was over we had witnessed a torn achilles, a dislocated shoulder and a blown ACL - none of which happened to any of the twelve people in our group but it did end up disrupting the day as our guides were called upon several times to join in rescue attempts.

Our Cat of twelve guests was a mish-mash of six groups of two including one other female. Several of the skiers grew up racing and some of the lines they chose were absolutely mind boggling. I really enjoyed getting to know every one of them and appreciated their support and encouragement of the "old lady" of the group!

The end of the road. It's all downhill from here!

Early morning light.

All the Cats start out together and then split to different areas.

Looking back at the group skiing down one-by-one.

Another group is visible just off the Cat road.

Thank heavens for yellow road markers. The Cat drivers are incredibly skilled at what they do. 

Collaring Mule Deer

 A little over a week ago Ken and I had the opportunity to attend a mule deer collaring operation that was a joint effort between WGF, UW and TNC. I was given permission to photograph the event and ended up with a large number of images from the day. I should have put them in chronological order but I always seem to forget before I upload them and it is difficult to rearrange them once they are in the post!

The goal of the project is to track migration and habits of a large number of female mule deer along the Absaroka and Beartooth Mountain Fronts for the next two years to establish patterns. At the end of 24 months the collars will automatically fall off. They also have a break-away in case they would get snagged on something in the meantime. The collars will transmit coordinates several times a day so the animals can be tracked in real time.

While the researchers had the animals captive and lightly sedated, they also collected other data such as blood samples, pregnancy status, samples of scat, temperature and weight. Before release, the deer were spray painted with a bright orange spot on their head so they wouldn't accidentally be netted a second time by the capture crew.

 In the image above, the animals are gently lowered to the ground by the helicopter crew. Although I didn't get to witness the actual moment of capture of any of the animals, it was really amazing to watch the professionalism of those in the chopper as they went about the delicate maneuverings.

 In most cases the animals were brought in two by two but every now and then they arrived with a single deer. Even though the animals had their eyes covered, you know they had to be thinking WTH!

The moment of release seemed to be the time of biggest danger for the researchers. As soon as the animals were out of the restraints they were up and out of there, often with legs flying. 

Spring!

The signs of spring are unmistakable! Yes, the temperature is climbing and the snow has melted but more than that, the wildlife is making the statement loud and clear. I saw my first bluebird four days ago and now it seems like there is one on every fence post. The cottontails are digging holes everywhere and carrying in lots of straw and llama wool at every chance. But the biggest indicators are the ravens. They hang around all winter and occasionally raid a rock dove nest but this time of year is when they truly spring into action (pun intended!) They suddenly become very intolerant of all other creatures - especially the golden eagles that they ignored all winter long - and they are working non-stop on their annual nest in the rocks behind our house. They are very aware of my presence even when I try my best to remain incognito so I will leave the nest alone now until the chicks are hatched and then set up a blind to try and get some shots without disturbing them. 

 In the photo, above, I didn't even realize the one bird was in the nest until I began photographing the second one as he landed and then saw the one low in the back hand up a stick to be re-placed elsewhere. I can just imagine the conversation about furniture placement in the nursery!

 I captured the second photo this morning as the raven dive bombed the Golden Eagle who was sitting quietly minding his business and waiting for a bunny to pass by. As always, the eagle pretended he didn't care that he was being buzzed by a screeching black demon.

Just a few minutes after the raven went after the eagle, I heard him making a ruckus on the other side of the canyon. When I looked through my lens, I saw him confronting a coyote who didn't seem too happy with the interruption.

Spring has definitely arrived!

Around the GYE - Continued

One of my favorite Wyoming winter birds is the Crossbill. What an evolutionary marvel to have a beak that has been perfected in such a way to allow access to their main food source!

We don't see this species in the high desert - occasionally I have been lucky enough to spot them in Yellowstone on a winter trip and, in this case, he landed in the trees along the road. I would have preferred shooting him in a little sunlight but I will take what I could get!

 The photo below shows the sight-seeing wagon heading out onto the National Elk Refuge in Jackson. Even though I have concerns about the health of the herd under these man-made conditions, I have to admit this looks like a Christmas card to me.

 It is March so love must be in the air for this pair of Common Mergansers. Their coloring seemed especially intense, which I suspect is due to the mating plumage.

Sleeping Indian Mountain was sleeping in early one morning as we headed north to ski Shadow Mountain. 

There were actually three coyotes in this hunting pack, below, but I only captured two as the third had already moved off to the right. The lighting was beautiful both on the animals and the Teton Range behind them. 

 We decided to take a quick drive back the Gros Vente one morning on our way to a cross country ski trail. For miles along the road we followed wolf tracks indicating a pack of at least five animals. At one point Ken got out and took a shot of his foot next to one of the large wolf prints. About five miles in we came around a corner and caught sight of two wolves scurrying up a snowy slope near the road.  The first one had a muzzle covered in blood so they must have been dining on a carcass near by. The second one had just a hint of pink around its mouth.

 It is always a thrill to see the big dogs, even if they are quite a ways away.

Around the GYE

For some time Ken has been suggesting a "round the GYE (Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem)" ski tour. We decided this year to finally do it during spring break from my teaching job at the college.

We set out for Jackson Hole last Thursday, spent four days there, then moved on to Grand Targhee for one day and then to Big Sky, Montana for three days, arriving back home late yesterday afternoon. 

The goal was to ski the mechanized hill at each location but also to take advantage of our cross country gear and explore a little bit at each place. 

I didn't take a lot of photographs along the way but I feel I have enough for two posts on what we saw, most of which was in the Jackson-Grand Teton NP area. 

 Never have I seen as many moose as I did during our few days in Jackson. We estimated a dozen different animal sightings, a thrill for sure. Many of the moose we saw were bulls but they have lost their antlers so are not nearly as imposing looking as they were a couple months ago. I have to wonder if it is a relief not having to carry around all that extra weight. Or is it stressful knowing that one of your weapons is no longer available?

 We spotted this female walking on the road as we headed back the Gros Vente. With so much snow this year (more than 500 inches in Jackson!) even the moose are opting for easier travel ways. I didn't take a shot of her on the road but when we came out an hour or so later, she was on a hill beside the road with the sun on her. This is one of those shots where I am sure someone is going to accuse me of superimposing the moose but it was just a beautiful setting with lovely lighting.

Willows are a primary source of food for moose in the winter time. You can clearly see the scars of where this animal's antlers were before he dropped them not too long ago. 

 We drove to Flagg's Ranch one day to ski Flagg's Canyon. The snow was perfect but very deep as you can see in Ken's shot of me leaning on a stop sign at the entrance to Yellowstone Park.

I always welcome the opportunity to photograph Trumpeter Swans in Jackson in the winter. The bird above performed multiple flaps before settling down after its preening. 

The final shot is called "The Hokey Pokey" for somewhat obvious reasons!

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!