Lobsters are for the birds

The Common Loons, all 22 of them were feasting on Rocky Mountain lobster - crayfish, crawdads, whatever you want to call them.  They were so fun to watch them with their lunch.  Common Loons are not so common here, but right now they are migrating through and they are a sight to see and their mournful cry that we usually only here in mountain lakes around Yellowstone Park.

Saturday was one of those birding days you dream about - start early, end late and during the middle of the day you mow the lawn with snow hiding under the bushes and trees.  Maybe not mowing the lawn with snow falling - but it needed to be done.  But the birding on both ends of the day was superb.  With 56 species indentified and some pictured for the first time.  But the day started out visiting the birds that got me into birding - the Greater Sage grouse.  These  eight pound birds trying to attract the ladies.  Here one puffs out his chest just as the sun came up.

One of the special birds was a Ruby-crowned Kinglet that I photographed for the first time.  What a beautiful bird that flitters through the willows, making it difficult for me to catch.

One of the spring birds I love to watch are the beautiful Eared Grebes.  There are about 30 on one pond where I have set up my blind. They are a lot of fun.

What a great day as I spent over eight hours out in the wilds of Idaho.

Beula Lake - What a treat until....

Beula Lake, just a two and a half mile hike from Grassy Lake on the Yellowstone Park border, is a beautiful lake visited by many different animals and birds.

Saturday as I topped the ridge above the aqua colored lake, I was stopped short as I heard loons on the lake being answered by two spike bull elk trying to answer the loons.  It sounded like a bunch of fourth grade students on the first day of band class.

As I got the the edge of the lake, I was greeted by a rain shower creating a faint rainbow in the west.

The fishing was super in the early going, and you can read that report on my other blog, http://billschiessfishing.blogspot.com/.  Soon one of the loons decided to visit me to see if it could help me.

It spooked the fish for a few minutes and I was unsuccessful, but they soon started hitting again.  After enjoying my solitude, a group of friends arrived just as two troops of Boy Scouts also showed up.  Dogs brought were turned loose to run around and it was time for me to leave.  It was time for more hiking and taking pictures of flowers.

Here are a few of the flowers I saw and got pictures of.  Can you name them?

Just another wild day for an old, bald man from Idaho.

Cascade Creek and Indian Lake

The southwest corner of Yellowstone Park is known as Cascade Corner with many waterfalls and cascades as the creeks drop several hundred feet in just a few miles.  This is the home of many birds and animals during the summer, but most migrate out when the heavy weather of winter sets in.

Cascade Creek runs into the park from the bordering Targhee National Forest.  Here the creek cascades over the rock in the canyon formed by the rushing waters.

Indian Lake is a small lake near the Yellowstone border just inside the Wyoming state line.  It is home to both nesting trumpeter swan and Common Loons.  One of the few area lakes where both nest.

This area is the summer home of many birds and animals but most, like this Hairy Woodpecker, migrate out of the area when the hard winter weather sets in dropping from 10 to 20 feet of snow here.