First Snow Geese of the year

Saturday was sunny and calm, so I left early looking for new arrivals from the bird kingdom.  I was not disappointed.  In a shallow pond I saw my first sandhill cranes of the season before the sun came up in the rising mist on the cold morning a Camas National Wildlife Refuge.

At Big Pond a white-tailed deer ran through the shallow pond, but it was ignored by the few waterfowl there.  The deer was one of 31 I saw on the refuge.

The male Great-horned owl was enjoying the warm sun as I finished my 3 hour tour/hike at Camas.

On my quest to try to locate some snow geese, I passed a cattle feedyard where calves were being born.  Seven Bald and one Golden eagles were cleaning up the after-birth from the recent births.

At Mud Lake I could hear the Snows long before I could see them.  They were dropping out of the sky thousands of feet in the air and joining their migrating compatriots.

I sat on the edge of the ice covered in the bright sun watching the waves of geese fly in.  Here a lone Great White-fronted goose leads the formation of some snows.

After two hours of watching the action of Mud Lake, I left.  As I got back to the truck I heard the whole flock of 4000 to 5000 take off.  The cloud you see is one of geese as they fly out to eat in the area fields.

Just another wild day in Idaho.

Cold but no snow

I spent Tuesday evening looking for birds and fishing for perch at Mud Lake.  The fishing was slow with only three perch, and even the birding was slow.  It has been very cold with no snow and the winter birds have not showed up yet.  I did find this Northern Shrike that posed for me.

Then as the sun was getting ready to set, the ice started popping and cracking, forming pressure ridges on the lake.  The last open water had frozen over the day before.

Trumpeter swan looking for open water to sit on for the night kept coming in, but had to land on the slick ice.  What a funny show I watched with my binoculars as the inexperienced swans would slide across the ice crashing into each other or taking a tumble.  I wish I would have been closer and with more light to get some pictures of the skating party.

What a great way to spend another wild evening in the wilds of Idaho.

Snowy spring break.

Yesterday and today was my spring break from school.  WOW - time for birding and looking for some bikinis.  No bikinis; not many birds, but enough to keep me interested.

Here a female Great-horned owl protects her eggs as the night snow covers everything.

Common mergansers fly along the shore of Mud Lake.

A Western Meadowlark tries to bring some warmth to the cold day by singing.

A Red-breasted Merganser hunts for fish for lunch.

Meanwhile nearby a Hooded Merganser also hunts for lunch.

A flock of snowgeese join others on Mud Lake.

And in a evening snowstorm, a pair Sandhill cranes walk down the dike near Mud Lake.

A great way to spend spring break in Idaho.

Big birding day.

This morning I left the house at 6:30 with two goals - find the snow geese and see if I can find some sage grouse.  The roads out to the sage grouse leks are still blocked but as I pulled into Camas National Wildlife Refuge three grouse were flying over the pond.
The ponds are filling with water, but the snow geese have not found it yet.  The trumpeter swan and pintails have.

Did not find any snow geese at the refuge, so I headed for Mud Lake.  This Red-tailed hawk was hunting in a field where about half of the snow was gone.

About two mile east of Mud Lake I finally found the snow geese.  There were not a lot of them, but they were a sight for sore eyes.  They were coming in on small waves.

One group had a White-fronted goose with them.  It is only the third one I seen.

At Mud Lake I found this nesting in a bunch of Russian olives. 

For my last stop I headed to Market Lake.  It was still ice covered, but west of the freeway the fields were flooded by melting snow and covered with migrating Northern Pintails, Widgeon, Mallards and Northern Shovelers.

Nine hours of birding produced 49 species of birds and seven species of animals.  A great way to spend a wild day in Idaho.

Week of Birding

Starting last Saturday, I have had an awesome week of birding.  I have birded with some of the top birders of Idaho, learned a ton, saw rare birds, saw odd behaviors and recorded several lifetime birds.  Thanks has to go to Robert, Cliff, Harry, Steve, and Darren for teaching me and helping me identify birds I have never recorded before.

Rain and wind kept me off the water and fishing, so I traveled around Southeastern Idaho . I birded in Camas NWR, Mud Lake WMA, Market Lake WMA and Moody Creek area.   Here are a few pictures of some of my birds.

This Great Blue Heron had speared a catfish and couldn't flip it in the air to eat it.  Hopefully it was able to get it off for dinner.

Here is an Eared Grebe trying to entice a young lady to set up housekeeping with him.

Here is a Yellowheaded Blackbird flirting with a bunch a females showing one of his better sides.

One of my rare finds was this Lewis's Woodpecker that at first I thought was a Robin.  But what a beauty.

And of course, not week would be complete for me without an owl or two or three or four different species.  I saw Burrowing, Great Horned, Great Gray, Short-eared and Long-eared owls.  I guess that makes five species.  Here is a picture of some baby Long-eareds - yes, they can fly.

What a great week to get soaked many times in the wilds of Idaho.  By the way, I leave tomorrow morning for a week in New Orleans, so I will see you then.

Snow, Snow, snow

Three days of snow slowed the birding during my Spring break, but did not stop it.  I encountered some old and new birds.

Between snow storms I located the Long-eared owl nest without disturbing the female.

While the male circled and kept an eye on me.

The snow started to fall on Thursday after I left the owls and the sandhill cranes, teal and coots did not seem to mind.

But then on Friday, the ground was covered and I slipped out at 5 a.m. to see if I could find my first Sage grouse of the season.  I found them on a lek, but only seven males and no females showed up.  I was able to get a few pictures, but they did not stay long as they preferred the sage rather than the bare snow covered breeding ground with no breeding to be done.

                                      

With snow showers and wind up to 40 mph, the ice on Mud Lake started to break up exposing winter-killed fish.  On the edge of the ice 54 eagles, mostly immature Balds, gathered to feed.  That evening, I hid in some large cottonwood trees and photographed the eagles coming into roost.  The grey skies did not make for great shots, but it was exciting to watch these birds fight the wind to find their roost for the night.

                                     

Even in the snow, it was a great way to spend two days in the wildness of Idaho.  Happy Easter.

Fishing-Birding at Mud Lake.

The fishing was horrible at Mud Lake - but if a fishing trip is a failure it is your own darn fault.  The wind and no fish did not stop the beautiful sunrise over the frozen lake.

And after two hours in the freezing north wind, I decided to hit some of the Russian Olive groves looking for birds and animals.  Two moose flushed as well as about 20 Northern Flickers.  But the find of the morning was an onery Great Horned owl.

And a beautiful Downy Woodpecker, that would get a Russian olive and then pound it against a branch or a tree to open it up.

I did go to Roberts Pond on the way home and caught some perch and some little trout.  So I did not get skunked.

Then on the way home, I found an old potato field with over 200 trumpeter swans feeding and resting.

Not a bad way to spend another wild day in Idaho.

Wind created sunset

This week wind gusts over 60 miles per hour hit the desert around Mud Lake some 25 miles west of Rexburg mixing a lot of dust, smoke and sand in the air.  As the sun set I travelled to Mud Lake to work some pictures of the sunset.  As the sun set, the Sawtooth Mountains in the west caused the light to reflect into a "U" shape. The colors were absolutly stunning.

Just another end to a wild windy day in Idaho.