Sage Grouse and migration day

I started early this morning looking for Sage grouse leks and about froze my tail off waiting to get enough light to take pictures of America's largest grouse.  I was parked near a ridge so the first pictures were silhouettes of the grouse in the frosty air.

 

Then as the sun came up, warming both the birds and I, the males started showing off to the ladies.  But the girls stayed only a minute or two and then flew off - a little too early for any serious relationship.

 

The boys did not stay long either, so off I went to Camas NWR to see if the water was in the ponds.  The Big Pond was about a fourth covered but most of the action was in the air.  Here a Short-eared owl was encouraging a Rough-legged hawk to go to the Artic Circle where most of the others had gone.

 

Two Northern harriers decided to play tag over the Big Pond.

 

I saw my first Sandhill cranes of the year.  There were several flocks that came in.

 

 

And the Snow and Ross's geese made their grand appearance off and on throughout the morning and early afternoon.

 

Just a slight breeze - warm sun - and many of God's creatures prepared me for meeting the taxman to settle up with Uncle Sam - and he treated me fairly good.

Oh, the Wildness of Idaho in the Great Outdoors.

Spring has Sprung

With the warm February that we have had here in Idaho, the animals and birds are starting the migration and dating early.  Yesterday was very overcast, but I still went looking for action.  Too early for a good picture, I caught these two Golden eagles dating.

Then in mixed flocks of waterfowl, I found these two Canada's playing "wings" as they kept flirting with each other.

 

The flocks of waterfowl were joined by the first flight of Snow and Ross's geese that are about two weeks early from their normal migration here.

 

About 130 snows joined other waterfowl to eat the leftovers from the digestive process of a herd of bison west of Market Lake.

 

There were seven pair of Northern Harriers doing their mating flights over the still frozen ponds of Market Lake.  Here I caught a female harassing seven Long-eared owls in a windrow of thick brush.

 

It appears that six of the seven owls have chosen their partners for the nesting season while one needs a dating service to find someone before Valentine's Day.

Its beginning to look like a love fest has started in the wilds of Idaho.  May Cupid smile down on you during this time of new beginnings.

Weird Tuesday at Market Lake

There were some weird sights and actions at or near Market Lake today as I spent the day watching and photographing birds as the ice is melting fast.

The first weird thing was what appeared to be a racial relationship.  This snow and Canada goose appeared to be a couple. But every time the couple got close to a flock of Canada geese, they were chased away. Eventually the two flew off together only to come back about an hour later.  It seems that even some geese engage in racial prejudice.

The goose in the air was trying to steal the mate of a Canada gander.  As he was attack and tried to fly over the pair, the gander leaped into the air, grabbed the foot of the intruder and pulled him back into the water and the fight was on.

With the receding ice some winter-killed fish draw eagles to feed on them.  This mature Bald appears to be leucistic with one pure white feather on the left wing, two on the right wing with a white chest and belly that extends over the front of the wings.

This pair of Canadas are practicing "agnostic aggression."  Usually geese practice this with intruders, but after driving off the intruder, the gander flies back to his mate who in a submissive pose.

She holds that pose as he slides up to her in his domineering pose with wings out stretched. 

He then shows more dominance by raising his head and honking several times. 

She remains in the submissive pose until he starts leading her away to the bull rushes they have been protecting for their nesting area.

Just another interesting, weird and educational day in the wilds of Idaho.

Snow geese show up

The snow geese showed up about two weeks early, but we only have about 5000 that I have seen and last year we had about 70,000 come in.  But we have plenty of time.  The first flock I saw was only 33 birds.

Three days later a large flock came in but some Golden eagles flushed them six time in a morning,  Here a Golden eagle harasses the flock.

Sometimes you could not see the eagle as the sky was covered by the geese.

There were also a small flock of 6 Greater White-fronted geese that joined a large flock of Canada geese near the snows.

Just a few days enjoying the wildness of Idaho.  Happy beginning of the bird migration through Idaho.

First Snow Geese of the year

Saturday was sunny and calm, so I left early looking for new arrivals from the bird kingdom.  I was not disappointed.  In a shallow pond I saw my first sandhill cranes of the season before the sun came up in the rising mist on the cold morning a Camas National Wildlife Refuge.

At Big Pond a white-tailed deer ran through the shallow pond, but it was ignored by the few waterfowl there.  The deer was one of 31 I saw on the refuge.

The male Great-horned owl was enjoying the warm sun as I finished my 3 hour tour/hike at Camas.

On my quest to try to locate some snow geese, I passed a cattle feedyard where calves were being born.  Seven Bald and one Golden eagles were cleaning up the after-birth from the recent births.

At Mud Lake I could hear the Snows long before I could see them.  They were dropping out of the sky thousands of feet in the air and joining their migrating compatriots.

I sat on the edge of the ice covered in the bright sun watching the waves of geese fly in.  Here a lone Great White-fronted goose leads the formation of some snows.

After two hours of watching the action of Mud Lake, I left.  As I got back to the truck I heard the whole flock of 4000 to 5000 take off.  The cloud you see is one of geese as they fly out to eat in the area fields.

Just another wild day in Idaho.

Snowy spring break.

Yesterday and today was my spring break from school.  WOW - time for birding and looking for some bikinis.  No bikinis; not many birds, but enough to keep me interested.

Here a female Great-horned owl protects her eggs as the night snow covers everything.

Common mergansers fly along the shore of Mud Lake.

A Western Meadowlark tries to bring some warmth to the cold day by singing.

A Red-breasted Merganser hunts for fish for lunch.

Meanwhile nearby a Hooded Merganser also hunts for lunch.

A flock of snowgeese join others on Mud Lake.

And in a evening snowstorm, a pair Sandhill cranes walk down the dike near Mud Lake.

A great way to spend spring break in Idaho.

Big birding day.

This morning I left the house at 6:30 with two goals - find the snow geese and see if I can find some sage grouse.  The roads out to the sage grouse leks are still blocked but as I pulled into Camas National Wildlife Refuge three grouse were flying over the pond.
The ponds are filling with water, but the snow geese have not found it yet.  The trumpeter swan and pintails have.

Did not find any snow geese at the refuge, so I headed for Mud Lake.  This Red-tailed hawk was hunting in a field where about half of the snow was gone.

About two mile east of Mud Lake I finally found the snow geese.  There were not a lot of them, but they were a sight for sore eyes.  They were coming in on small waves.

One group had a White-fronted goose with them.  It is only the third one I seen.

At Mud Lake I found this nesting in a bunch of Russian olives. 

For my last stop I headed to Market Lake.  It was still ice covered, but west of the freeway the fields were flooded by melting snow and covered with migrating Northern Pintails, Widgeon, Mallards and Northern Shovelers.

Nine hours of birding produced 49 species of birds and seven species of animals.  A great way to spend a wild day in Idaho.

Geese for Friday, Fish for Saturday

Had a great two days in the Great Outdoors.  With only about a week to enjoy the snow goose migration, Friday evening I went back out to Camas NWR to visit.  The snow geese were in and out with a large flock flying around.

By evening, the geese were all out in the fields feeding but a small group.  But they wer joined by a lot of both Tundra and Trumpeter swan and flocks of ducks.

Then Saturday morning I headed to Henrys Lake to check on the spawning activity (see my fishing blog).  The sun was beautiful coming up over the east and creating a golden glow with all the fog.  Here the glow colors the Henrys Fork by Ponds Lodge.

At Henrys Lake the fish filled the run entering the spawn house.  This is a promise for a great fishing season for this year.

More wild days in Idaho for a guy who loves wildness.