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.

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.

Spencer, Camas NWR

On Monday I drove to Spencer, Idaho to do research for an article about the fire opals that are found there.  Instead of going on the main roads, I went cross-country and covered two scenic byways, the Fort Henry Historical Byway and the Lost Gold Trails Loop.  My first major sighting was this Belted Kingfisher that had been hit on the bridge crossing the Henrys Fork of the Snake River.

 

A little farther down the road, I flushed a Great Blue Heron hunting frogs and mice in the tall grass.

 

 

Once on the desert any water even the mud puddles attracted birds like this Sage Thrusher and sparrow.

 

This buck Pronghorn in a pasture on the green grass, but keeping a fence between him and the cattle.

 

 

 

Not far from the pronghorn was this young Red-tailed hawk hunting mice in a meadow.

 

Once in Spencer, I visited all four shops, interviewing many people.  Spencer fire opal is a precious gem and is found in layers of common opal.  This picture shows the layers of the rock.  The story about the opal, stores and mines should run in the on-line newspaper, the East Idaho News, next week.

 

One of the stores has a mini-mine where they bring rock and put it in a pile to allow would-be miners to hunt for pieces of opal.  I spent about two hours there and found a few pieces.

 

On the way home near Dubois, I found this young Burrowing owl hiding behind the sagebrush near a burrow.

 

My last stop of the day was at Camas National Wildlife Refuge where this White-tailed buck was hiding in the tall grass.  He would only lift his head high enough for me to see his eyes when I whistled at him.

 

 

 

Just another day spent in the wilds of Idaho.

Elk Battle

I had another fantastic day out in the wilds of Idaho yesterday.  I met another photographer out at Camas National Wildlife Refuge to see if I could get the pictures I missed on Wednesday when my photo card malfunctioned.  The White-tailed deer did not cooperate by fighting, but other things were better.

As I topped a ridge I saw a herd of bull elk sleeping on an open dried up marsh about a quarter of a mile away.  The only way I could get to them was to crawl on my belly behind a small patch of sagebrush.  Crawling I did, even bumping into some prickly-pear along the way.  But finally I made it.  Most of the 29 bulls in the herd was not large, but were very interesting to watch.  Some would stretch out as if they were dead, probably because their antlers are heavy.

 

After about a half hour, some began standing up and some even started sparring with their "light sabers."

 

Then off to the side two bulls got into it with a serious fight. 

 

The rattling of antlers filled the air as I shot pictures of the epic battle through a sagebrush.

 

After an hour of watching these beautiful animals, my phone rang - they were up and gone.  On my way back to the truck, I saw 14 whitetails.  I jumped this buck out of some sage.

 

It stopped to look back at me as it topped a ridge in a pose that said, "ain't I beautiful."

 

Walking through the tall grass near the truck, I spotted this pheasant sneaking through the weeds.

 

Just another day for a wild man enjoying the wildness of Idaho.  I will turn my phone off the next time - Monday.

Whitetails, coyotes and fun

I spent most of Monday and today in the wilds of Idaho, mostly near Camas NWR, Market Lake and areas between.

Monday morning I watched a White-tailed buck chasing a doe out near a patch of high sage brush, so being the sneaky fellow that I am, I decided to surprise them.  That I did.

The buck jumped out of the sagebrush, then he started chasing the doe.  For safety or for something that has a greater pull than safety.

 

I flushed a Northern Harrier on the way back to the truck.

 

The rest of the day was hiking about seven miles with very little excitement until the evening when I flushed a Long-eared owl with very poor light which equals poor pictures.

This morning I was on the desert long before the sun rose in the east.  Jackrabbits were all over the place, but no Golden eagles to chase them close to me.

 

The White-tailed deer appeared to be thicker than the jack rabbits.

 

I watched 14 bull elk about a mile away from me, but as I dropped over a ridge, nine White-tailed  were working a far ridge and were more concerned what was in the tall grass than they were of me.

 

Four coyotes were spread out through the marsh hunting.  It appeared two adults were teaching two pups how to hunt.

 

The coyotes flushed as Snowshoe hare out of the marsh grass and it ran right between two deer that were more concerned about the coyotes than they were of me.

 

I followed the deer over the hill and then I had a card in my camera malfunction.  I thought I was still shooting pictures of five bucks chasing a doe in heat, but nothing was recorded.  I am heading back on Friday to try to get those bucks sparring and fighting; but it was an experience of a lifetime that was missed.

 

After I realized the card had gone baaaaaad, I headed home and replaced the card.  To make sure it was working, I headed for the river bottoms and ran into this beautiful Saw Whet owl.  I ran back and got my wife and grandchildren to see it.  A rare find to be sure.  I will take Lady Luck anytime.

 

Just a couple of days in the wilds of Idaho for a wild retired old bald man.

Eagles have Landed, Camas NWR

This afternoon I ran out to Camas National Wildlife Refuge to see if the eagles had showed up. Yesterday there were only 14 there and today the migration had begun with 38 showing up. I also saw Northern Harriers, Red-tailed hawks, Rough-legged hawks, Kestrels, Merlins, Northern Flickers and even a Golden eagle.

In this tree alone there are 8 mature Bald eagles and one immature Bald eagle.


Here two mature Bald eagles play tag in a very cold strong north wind.

As the sun set I located these six white-tailed deer as they came out of the cattails and started feeding.

Just another wild day in Idaho.