Yesterday evening I drove to the Chester Wetlands Wildlife Management area to hike the mowed trails through it. With a mostly cloudy sky and a heavy rain the night before, the colors were fresh and the bugs were out in force. But I had a wonderful time walking and observing things. The ponds had ducks, flowers had bees, trees had birds and the most interesting was finding an endangered orchid in the tall grass. Here are a few of the photos I took.
The wetlands have 16 ponds that are managed for waterfowl and shorebird nesting.
Here a Great-horned owl peers at me on a low branch hiding in some stinging nettles. It says, "You are close enough."
Here is the endangered orchid, the Ute Ladies Tresses. In Idaho it is only found on the South Fork of the Snake River and at Chester. It is only found in nine states and in British Columbia in Canada. A very beautiful and interesting plant.
