American Goldfinch - GBBC

I am right in the middle of the Great Backyard Bird Count.  Tomorrow I will spend most of the day photographing and observing birds - but if the weather is good and a little warm, I have promised a grand-daughter a fishing trip.

The last two days I have set up my blind in the backyard to take pictures out of.  The American Goldfinch can be difficult to get close to, but a blind usually solves the problem.

American Goldfinch are one of the few birds that molt most of their feathers twice each year.  Here is one that has started getting its summer plumage even though it is cold.

There is always a lot of fighting around the niger sack when they meet to feed.

Here some also battle the larger Housefinch over the sunflower seed feeder.

My favorite picture of the day is a goldfinch artistically leaving the feed sack in a style good enough for the Olympics.

Just another enjoyable wild day in Idaho.

SkyWatch Friday - Frosty sunrise

Tuesday morning as I headed to school, the sun was just rising and a bank of fog almost filtered out the sun.  This is one of my favorite sunrise pictures I have taken.  The colors were stunning.  Hope you enjoy it.

If you enlarge it, you can see the frost and the sliver of the Teton River reflecting the yellows of the sun.  Just the beginning of another wild day in Idaho.

Check out other beautiful SkyWatch pictures at http://skyley.blogspot.com/.

Great Horned Owls - Market Lake

This evening I ran out to Market Lake Wildlife Management Area to see if I could find the Great-horned owls that usually nest there.  They were easy to find as the magpies were attacking them.  The pair were roosting on the same limb, but the male quickly attack only to pull up short, but came within a couple of feet of me.  He was not a happy camper.

Here is the male after the attack.  He would try to ignore me and then would fly away.-h

Here is the smaller female.  She never flew but watched me very closely.

                                        

Here she is as the sun was setting.

                                                  

Here is a Rough-legged hawk that kept buzzing the male Great-horned owl.

                                         

Just the end of another wild day in Idaho.

SkyWatch Friday - Sunrise

This morning as I was getting the firewood for the day from the backyard, the sun was just below the skyline.  I quickly hurried back to the house to grab my camera only to be a little late for the most beautiful picture.  The sun was peeking over the horizon as I got this shot - not the best, but a great start of the day.

Later as I was coming home from school, I interrupted a kestrel snacking on a gopher.  As I stopped it flew off and I was able to get this beautiful picture of it flying off with its lunch.  It was overcast with a few snowflakes falling and did not make for a great background, but I was pleased with my luck.

Just the beginning and end of another wild day in Idaho.