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.

Beauty in a Frosty week

"What a dreary day," commented a person I was talking to.  With heavy fog and frost covering everything, from the inside of buildings it may look dark and dreary; but from the outside it is really alive and beautiful.  All wildlife needs to eat to survive as they do not have a fast food joint to stop by to pick something up.

This muskrat and several others were pulling water plants to fill its daily needs

 

Here a Sharp-shinned hawk wait patiently for a hapless bird to come along.

 

A natural flocked fir tree shows which direction the breeze is blowing as it stacks up the frost crystals on the needles and cones.

 

A beautiful Sharp-tailed grouse has been picking up gravel and grain from the side of plowed roads but runs to safety in a snow covered field.

 

A Red-shafted Northern flicker appears to be shivering in a tree where a breezy has removed most of the frost.

 

A beautiful Long-eared owl looks through a frost-laden tree waiting for darkness to gather its supper. 

 

An Evening Grosbeak brings a lot of color to my backyard as he comes in to feed on the sunflower seeds.

 

And this pheasant hen is far from where she should be.  She and her friend, another hen, were found roaming the banks of the Henrys Fork of the Snake River between St. Anthony and Ashton.

 

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," and sometimes you must leave the confines of buildings to see it.  Just a couple of days in the wilds of Idaho during a "dark and dreary" week.  Thanks, God, for sending all this beauty for us to enjoy.

Great Saturday

Had a great Saturday chasing birds all over Southeastern Idaho.  First I went to the upper area of the Moody area looking for sharp-tail grouse.  I was able to find a lek of seven, one male and six females.

In the early morning sun, a Western Meadowlark was singing its lungs out.

At Market Lake WMA, the Great-horned owl has hatched the chicks, but hides them under her wings when we come around.

A Great Blue heron leaves as I pull up to watch him fish.

 

An American Avocet flies over and is just one of about a hundred working the shallows at Market Lake.

On the way home, I stopped by the Texas Slough and found large numbers of Willets and Greater Yellow-legs.  Here a pair of each compete for hidden food.

And finally my first Osprey of the season.  The male was helping the female remodel and spring clean their house.

A great way to spend another Wild Day in Idaho.

Methuselah - The Sharp-tailed Grouse

A person quarried the other day about my header - Is it a grouse?  The two fighting cocks are Sage Grouse.  Another person asked if we have Sharp-tailed grouse.  We do and I also take thousands of picture of them each spring.
In 2006, I located a banded Sharp-tailed grouse on and lek and watched him all season.  This is the story I wrote for the newspaper about him.  These pictures are all pictures of him. 

Methuselah – beating the odds. (June 2006)

Not many game birds live longer than two to four years, but one smart Columbia sharp-tailed grouse is beating the odds.

This spring while photographing sharp-tails and sage grouse on their leks, I noticed one male with a band on its left leg. I also noticed that its habits were totally different than the other male sharpies. After several calls and research, I discovered the last banding program on sharp-tails was in the mid 1990’s.

“I believe the last sharp-tails banded in the Upper Snake River Valley were in 1994,” said Justin Naderman, a wildlife biologist for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. “I really don’t think that it would be a migrant bird. So it is either an old bird or someone has banded it without our knowledge.”

I nicknamed the bird “Methuselah” and worked hard to study his habits and to get pictures of him. Thirteen mornings were spent near his spot on the lek observing and photographing him. His habits were foreign to those of most male sharp-tails.

I would have to get there early before the birds flew to the lek. If I was a little late, other grouse would fly off the lek, only to come back a little later. Not Methuselah, he would disappear into the sagebrush he used as a roost and I would not see him again.

When I beat him to the lek, he would walk into his area, park behind the sage and wait for the sun to come up. His life seemed to be centered around a single sagebrush. Most days he would not display much and would climb up into the sage that he had shaped a bowl in the middle of. From time to time he would climb off the bush to defend his territory or to display. But most of the time he would crouch low in the sagebrush, even appearing to fall asleep there.

Most grouse when hawks would attack would fly off the lek. Not Methuselah. He would dive into the sagebrush and stay there until others returned and started displaying. Out he would come, display once or twice and climb back onto the bush. Most mornings this would happen eight or nine times.

To me the most interesting habit he had was when I was ready to leave, I would get out of the blind and he would dive into the bush. He would not flush from there until I walked by it several times, always flushing behind me after I walked past him.

Hopefully he will survive the summer, fall and next winter. (He did not.)

I would love to study him again next spring; I hope old age gets him. Long live Methuselah.

 

Answers to Questions from Comments

As I looked back over comments on my posts, I felt I should clearify a few things and answer some questions.
Some of you noticed that I did have pictures of my cute grandkids on some of my posts.  As a family we decided I would not post pictures of them for safety reasons.  On my article, "Where have all the fathers gone," I realize how important fathers and mothers are to children, especially girls.  I have four of them and our one-on-one time with me has been some of the most memorable times we have spent.  I attended every activity they were involved in while growing up.  I have also been invited into the delivery room of some of them - I declined - that is their husband's job!!!

A question about fly fishing lakes was brought up.  I have guided fly fishermen on lakes for 36 years and have fly fished them for 56 years.  We use a sinking fly line and fish within a foot of the bottom.  This is usually done in water less than 20 feet deep.
On the question, "Do I ever fish with bait?"  Yes, only when forced to.  Grandchildren need to fish and cannot fly fish.  The other time is when I ice fish.  I love to ice fish and use bait all winter long. 
I fish an average of twice each week.  My wife makes me!!!!!  We love to eat fish, but our favorite are the small kokanee salmon that I catch in the winter.  My wife will suggest we need some fish to eat many times during the winter.  That is what I call a magical woman!!!  We are blessed to live in an area where I can be fishing within five minutes of home.  Our home is located next to the Teton River and between the Henrys Fork and the South Fork of the Snake River.  So going fishing for an hour or two is not a large undertaking.  I do fish for "stocked" trout from time to time but prefer the wild ones.

On the question, "Is my header picture a grouse?"  Yes, it is a sage grouse.  Each spring I visit the leks (breeding grounds) of both Sage and Sharp-tailed grouse.  They dance, fight and breed.  Each year I take thousands of pictures of them.  The above picture is a sage grouse displaying for a female.

The above picture is of a Sharp-tailed grouse displaying on a lek to attract females.  Their showing off, dancing and strutting reminds me of men doing the same thing.  As with their human counterparts, the females chose their partners - and sometimes it will be different partners each day.

Have a great day.