Elk and Steller's Jay

Back teaching has cut into my outdoor time and blogging, but I am having some evenings and Saturdays to get out.  Yesterday was one of those unforgettable days.  I started out by looking for snow geese and found about 1000 of them but these two antelope were feeding near the field the geese were in.

Next I headed for Camas National Wildlife Refuge to see what I could find.  On the way there I found a pair of Burrowing owls.  They might be the same couple I saw last year as they are just 100 yards from where a pair nested last year.

At Camas there were not a lot of waterfowl and I did not find the Great-horned owls, but I saw my first Steller's jay that kept me entertained for an hour.  They are very pretty and very noisy. 

On the way to Market Lake I hiked some back roads and found 19 head of bull elk; all still wearing their armor.

At Market Lake I searched for a Long-eared owl but did not find it.  The Russian Olive trees were filled with Cedar and Bohemian waxwings eating the berries.  It was a lot of fun.

Just another unforgettable day in the wilds of Idaho.

Wildlife at Howe

On my way home from fishing Mackey Reservoir ( see http://billschiessfishing.blogspot.com/ for that story) I spent about 30 minutes looking at the raptors and other wildlife near Howe, Idaho.

Several people feel Howe may support the largest number of raptors during the winter in the state of Idaho or even the nation.  In 30 minutes I counted 78 hawks and 12 eagles.  The most numerous were the Roughlegged hawk that have just migrated from the Artic Circle.  Here is a beautiful one working a hay field.

Golden eagles were perched on hay stacks and sprinkler lines while Bald eagles were feeding on a few sheep and antelope carcusses around the area.

Herds of antelope filled  the fields along the road.  I estimate there were about 1000 pronghorns in a nine mile stretch.

A great way to end another wild day in Idaho.