Ice fishing on Ririe Reservoir.

Here is my latest article from the East Idaho News.

http://www.eastidahonews.com/2016/01/228260/

Howe, Idaho, Christmas Bird Count

Getting up with the temperature at a balmy minus 13 degrees and heading out to Howe, Idaho, with four other people to do the annual Christmas Bird Count, can be very exciting.  As we entered the small town, the temperature had dropped to a minus 22 degrees, and what did we do?  We started wading in snow up to our knees looking for owls.  They were not to be found - but we found some later in the day.

In the car I was in there were three of us; Kit, Justin and myself.  We were assigned the northern section of the count area and found a total of 43 species of birds.  Two of them I had never taken pictures of.

There were five Virginia Rail chasing each other in a warm creek.

 

A White-throated Sparrow with a lot of other sparrows at a farm.

 

Also at that farm was about 30 California quail.

 

We ran into several coveys of Gray Partridge.

 

A Merlin was in the same tree with about 20 Eurasian Collared doves.

 

Three Belted kingfishers worked the warm springs near the rails.

 

Hundreds of Horned larks worked the straw and weed patches.

 

Known for it concentration of raptors during the winter, the Howe area is the winter home of the Rough-legged hawks.  We found 41 of them there.

 

Jackrabbits were everywhere.

 

We found the Common Redpolls throughout the day in small and large flocks.

 

It was a cold, but rewarding day spent in the wilds of Idaho.

Baby - it cold out there

With the temperature a minus 18 degrees, the trees were covered with frost but the birds and animals still had to eat and stay warm, so out in the wilds of Idaho I ventured.

The Red-tailed hawks were trying to keep warm but still had to go out and hunt for food.

 

This Black-capped chickadee was picking of frozen sap from the spruce trees.

 

The Cotton-tailed rabbits fluffed out their fur but stayed close to cover to escape the hawks and owls.

 

White-tailed deer ventured out looking for some grass poking out of the deep snow.

 

This porcupine uses its front paw to pull in a branch to strip it of nutrient-rich bark.

 

And then this Black-capped chickadee next to the Henrys Fork of the Snake River was picking buds of willows to survive.

 

Venturing out in the cold wilds of Idaho can be a very interesting activity.

Wildlife in the snow

Yesterday we got from 8 to 10 inches of fluffy snow on the desert, so I just had to spend the morning out looking for animals.  I was not disappointed except I wanted to see the elk migrating down from the mountains, but did not see them.  I was able to photograph a while Long-tailed weasel - only the second one I have been able to in my life.

The first animal I saw was a cow moose.  Later I would see four more, but no bulls.

 

The Tetons were beautiful in the morning haze cause by the zero temperatures.

 

Sharp-tailed grouse were roosting and feeding in the chokecherry bushes.

 

I saw about 30 mule deer and probably another 50 saw me as I was busting through snow drifts up past my headlights.

 

On a pile of rocks, I saw two black eyes looking at me.  It was a Long-tailed weasel.

 

I watched and photographed it for about an hour as it hunted through the rocks.

 

I did not see it harvest any rodent, but enjoyed it just the same.

 

It finally had enough of me and off it went in a hurry.

 

Just another great morning in the wildness of Idaho.

Here is my latest column from the East Idaho News:

 http://www.eastidahonews.com/2015/12/fire-at-sand-creek-pond-2-becomes-a-winner/

Hope you enjoy it.

Great Gray owls

Here is my latest column for the East Idaho News.  It is about Great Gray owls - I hope you enjoy it.


http://www.eastidahonews.com/2015/12/218260/

Backyard birds

After going through a major surgery at the University of Utah Hospital, my doctor's told me to take short, slow walks - perfect - to my bird feeders.  Hopefully I will be able to get in the truck to explore other areas in about a week or two.

Here are some that I found yesterday at my bird feeders.

A Mountain Chickadee -  There are several with one of them very dark, but elusive.

 

A Black-capped chickadee, one that will sit on my hand and eat sunflower seeds.

 

The American Goldfinch are one of the most numerous.

 

The House finch that keep their distance when I am out there.

 

Had to show you this picture of an American goldfinch leaving it roost and headed for a niger seed sack.

 

Four of the invasive Collared doves that waste a lot of seed.

 

A Downy woodpecker that was hard to photograph because it was continually pecking and blurring the pictures. 

A great way to spend a little time in the semi-wilds of Idaho.

Hiking in moose country.

This afternoon I was hiking a ridge as the hunting season closed yesterday and I ran into this big bad boy and his girlfriend.

 

I don't think he saw me until the cow saw me as I was backing up away from the bull.

 

Then he saw me but I was close enough to the trees that I stopped worrying.

 

 

Even though we do not have a lot of snow, the deer are starting to migrate to the lower lands.

 

The sunset was colorful as I come out of the mountains.

 

A great way to spend a few hours after a windy cold morning in the Wilds of Idaho.

Big Walleye captured

Here is my latest column on the EIN.  I hope you enjoy it.

http://www.eastidahonews.com/2015/11/huge-ririe-walleye-captured/

Bull Moose Battle

This morning before daylight I headed into the mountains.  I saw a couple of deer and a cow and calf moose in the early morning mist and light snow.  Then I saw a big bull moose standing behind a rock.  It was way too early to get good pictures, but sometimes you have to take what you can do.

 

Next another bull showed up, but it only had one antler as the other one appeared to be broken off.

 

The two of them head toward the cow and calf.

 

The third bull was a small one that stayed away from the larger bulls.

 

A fourth showed up with very long eye-guards with smaller palms than the first bull that I saw.

 The three large bulls were walking down the ridge when the one with long eye-guards poked the one in front of it in the butt with it antlers.

 

The fight was on as the one with one antler acting as a referee - until it located me climbing the opposite ridge to get better pictures of the battle.

 

The rattling of antlers for about 20 minutes as the two big bulls battled each other.

 

I finally noticed that the one antlered bull was headed down the ridge toward me - with his tongue hanging out.  I quickly headed back to the truck, keeping it between me and the bull.  I must have been less threatening as I did not have any antlers.

 

I missed the most of the rest of the fight as I was too low to see them clearly.

 

To get rid of the one-antlered bull, I banged on the hood of the truck and all the bulls headed over the ridge. 

 

I don't know if any hooked up with the cow, but it was one of the most exciting times I have had in the Wilds of Idaho even with the poor light conditions.