Fall at Camas

Many times when it is raining in Rexburg, the weather at Camas is great for observing wildlife.  Last Thursday that was the case.  Fall waterfowl migration is an exciting time to visit the national wildlife refuge.  Local birds and animals are getting ready for the winter that is just around the corner.

Both the Tundra and Trumpeter swans are migrating south and resting at Camas.

 

"Love thy neighbor" came to mind as I watched two pair of Tundra swans in a argument on Big Pond.

 

Canadas, sandhill cranes and thousands of ducks join the swans in the migration.

 

Sandhill cranes are flying out to the area stubble fields.

 

The surprise of the day was a three foot Gopher snake I ran into on a road closed to motor vehicles.

 

In the evening five whitetails came out of the bulrushes to get a drink.

 

A great way to spend an afternoon in the wilds of Idaho.

Mule deer and Turkeys - Happy New Year

At a minus 15 degrees this New Years morning, it took me a little while to get rolling this morning.  But once it got above zero I was on my way to the wilds of Idaho.  After searching about 500 horned larks I finally found a Snow bunting, but it was shy and I did not get a good picture of it.  But in a draw I found nine mule deer with these two small bucks.

 

Then this Ring-necked pheasant was sitting in the sun with its feathers fluffed up, trying to keep warm.

 

This was a very interesting experience as 33 wild turkeys were moving from one feeding area to another one.  All the hens and young ones started working toward me so I waited and waited.

 

Soon the lead hen worked right next to me and was picking grass stems.

 

The four toms that followed about 200 yards behind the flock finally made it to me and began feeding on rose hips and dried leaves and buds.

 

Three of the toms had long beards that touched the snow when they were in the deep snow.

 

On the way home I saw this Trumpeter swan that had flown into a power line and broke its neck.  A home owner in the area said that 12 had been killed since Christmas along the Texas Slough since the cold weather had hit.

 

A bitter cold day enjoyed in the wilds of Idaho to celebrate the New Year.

Valentine owls - GBBC

For the last two days I have been enjoying the Great Backyard Bird Count even though we are having a lot of rain and fog on top of two feet of snow.  It won't last long with all this warm weather.

Here is my favorite picture of the two days.  I found these two Great Horned owls celebrating Valentine's Day the day after.  Or maybe it is a real relationship as it is time for them to pair up and start nesting.

The Deer Parks WMA west of Rexburg now has about 500 trumpeter swan, 400 Canada geese and 400 mallards working the stubble field and starting on the corn patch as they are migrating in.

Even though it is still frozen over, Market Lake WMA has been invaded by waxwings.  Here is a lone Bohemian waxwing joining a flock of Cedar waxwings there.  They are feeding off the Russian olives.

At the Teton River bottoms and Henrys Fork of the Snake River, I am still finding the rare Great Gray owls.  They will soon start moving back up the the mountains to nest and raise their young.  My 2014 Bucket List includes to find a Great Gray owl nest this spring.

Camas NWR is the roosting place for about 40 bald eagles and here are two that are working the calving and lambing operations within a few miles of the refuge.

Just another couple of days in the wilds of Idaho.  Have a great day.

Trumpeter swans invade Rexburg area

In the snowless fields around Rexburg this year, there are hundreds if not close to a thousand Trumpeter swans feeding on rotten potatoes and wasted grain in the stubble fields.  In one field alone I counted 443 trumpeters and one Tundra swan last week.  On two sides of the field are power lines and at times these wonderful birds crash into them like the one below.  Each casualty has been reported to the authorities.

Last week we had a tagged trumpeter show up and am waiting for its life history from the feds.  We do know it was banded in Canada in 2003.

We really need some air flight controllers as I have seen several mid air collisions during the high winds.

There are also some interesting pictures as the swans come in to feed.  Here two geese flying together looks like a single with four wings.

Here two of four fly in unison and it appears as one swan has two heads.

I spend one or two evenings each week, counting, taking photos and enjoying these fantastic birds alone or with a friend or grandchild.  Just enjoying the wildness of 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.

First Ice Fishing trip

About 8:30 I decided to skate my way 70 miles to get to Henrys Lake for my first ice fishing trip of the season.  The roads were slow going, but I made after two hours on ice and packed snow.

There were a few fishermen at Staley Springs, but I told a friend I would fish the County Boat Dock area, so I met him there.

Gary was in the process of landing this nice cutthroat  when I arrived.

After a couple of hours of slow fishing, catching four and breaking off two, I landed this large brook trout.

On the way home I watched the waterfowl, especially the Trumpeter swan.  With the water so deep in the river, ducks and geese would swim behind the swan picking up the plants to eat the swan picked loose.  Stealing food.

A great way to spend a wild day in Idaho.

Last ice fishing trip?????

Yesterday I may have finished my ice fishing at Ririe Reservoir for the year.  The ice is still a safe 12 inches deep, but it is starting to crystalize and the four wheelers have broken the ice at the docks for about 12 out from the bank.  That along with a three-day seminar that I am incharge of next weekend, may cause me to put up my gear for the year.

It was a great day, as I was able to land about 15 kokanee and ended up with my limit.  They will taste good.

On the way home, just outside of the town of Ririe, I saw flocks of Trumpeter swan and Canada geese that were using a pond created by the melting snow.  In the spring waterfowl will feed heavily in these stubble fields before migrating north.  We should have snow geese showing up any day now.  When the snow geese come in, it is one impressive sight.  I will keep you posted.

Just another great day in the wilds of Idaho.

Trumpeter swans on the Henrys Fork

Yesterday while coming back from ice fishing Henrys Lake, the Henrys Fork of the Snake River was full on migrating trumpeter swans.  Here two adults (white ones) tend a flock of seven young ones.

Groups from two to nine continually drop in to join the 200 already on the water.

Here four come in for a landing.

Two pair of adults start arguing over the you five juveniles.  Reminded me of some divorced humans fighting for custody.

A lot of yelling, flapping of wings and raising all heck.

The fight finally increases coming to blows and bites while the kids start sounding off.

Other adults arrive to calm the situation as the two pair are separated.

A half hour was way too short to watch this great action movie, but it was a great way to spend a little time in the wilds of Idaho.

Wafterfowl returning.

Yesterday after my church meetings and before the weekly family gathering (all of our local kids and their families come to our home for Sunday dinner), I was able to visit the Burton area looking for birds.  The waterfowl have started migrating through as I saw hundreds of geese, ducks and swans.

This was rather funny for me as a European Starling flew right in the path of flock of Trumpeter swans.  No, this was not planned - I only discovered it when I got home and was looking at the pictures.

The swans were absolutely beautiful.  Here I was taking pictures of a pair of swan when they flew between me and the sun filtering through the thin clouds.

Many of the swans had reddish-orange stains on the bodies and necks.

Other interesting pictures I captured of birds include a flock of Common Mergansers.  How many do you see?

A Red-tailed hawk.

A pair of Collared doves.

A even a pair of Killdeer feeding on some mud flats.

A great way to spend a couple of hours in the wilds of Idaho.

White on white

Last Saturday I was involved in the Rexburg Christmas Bird Count. On New Year's Day, it had snowed eight inches and it was still snowing a little. So everything was covered with snow and was almost postcard like. I was with a group of five and we counted 38 species of birds.

Here are some white-on-white pictures I got during the count.

White berries covered with snow.

Here the trees and ground is covered with white snow.

And here are some Trumpeter swan flying against a foggy white sky.

Just another wild day in Idaho.