Chaffin Butte – Is It a Summit???

Chaffin Butte or the “C” Hill stands above Corvallis and is accessed via an easement through private property. The flanks of the hill are covered with big sagebrush and scattered stunted ponderosa pine. The soils are rocky and dry, and the plant life can be likened to those communities found in the Big Hole Valley […]

First Wildflower of 2017 – Sagebrush Buttercup

Woke up this morning with a vision of a buttercup in the snow. I rushed out to Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge, and intensely survey the areas under ponderosa pine. And what did I find? That’s right a Sagebrush Buttercup, and as one of our earliest bloomers, it is generally my first wildflower of the […]

Smokey morning at the National Bison Range

On Saturday, we went to the National Bison Range early in the morning. The object of the quest was the bugling elk in full rut, but alas, this scene alluded us. We were able to able see plenty of the other ungulates though. Large antlered deer of both species and Pronghorn all posed nicely for […]

Brilliant Moon over the Bitterroot

The brilliant moon travels upstream under the bats and over the leaping trout yellow sunset becomes blue twilight eight deer cross at the shallows i used to think that the moon followed the car now i know that it follows the Bitterroot is Dilgo in the moonbeams?

Miraculous skies in the Big Sky

Thunderstorms Angry, dark, clouds, they fill the sky, The roar of their voices so low and loud, The rain they drop, so heavy at times, Tears are flowing, from the heavens so high, Why do I love them, I do not know, So dark, so dreary, yet mystifying at least, I watch in amazement at […]

Auspicious Rainbow over Montana

July has been a month of rainbows. Rainbows appeared during several practices of the 30-day Ewam Stupa Consecration Retreat. This rainbow foreshadowed a swift moving thunderstorm.

Arlee Fourth of July Rodeo

Yesterday afternoon, after spending too little time at the Garden of 1000 Buddhas, we take in the Arlee Fourth of July Rodeo with family. The rodeo is in its 30th year, and the bleachers show every year being faded gray and the planks slightly rotten in places. Most of the cowboys were local, which made […]

Blessed morning on Lolo Creek

Yesterday morning stated with a mellow sunrise through a cottonball sky. The clouds hung high until they gathered in a solid cover that lowered until it rained. IN the shrubs MacGillivray’s Warblers sing and did the Fox Sparrows. Along a small oxbow, Willow Flycatchers called and defended their territories of willow and red-osier dogwood. The […]

Glen Lake in the Bitterroots

On Sunday, I undertook a “short” hike up to Glen Lake in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area. I was told that the hike was 2.5 miles, but it is closer to 3.25 miles and bit more uphill than I had anticipated. Almost the entirety of the trail takes you through the post-fire environment left by the massive […]

Plethora of Pied-billed Grebes

This year I have seen more Pied-billed Grebes than I can ever remember seeing before. The ponds of the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge seem to have at least one pair in each of them. The following images come from April and May (I know I am very late in posting them).

Cassin’s Vireo from Mount Sentinel

Harsh questions and answers resonate through the Douglas-fir and ponderosa pine. The first note is always an upward, plaintive infliction, and the following an answering second, upward note. This questioning is relentless as if I am being grilled in a Turkish prison. The Cassin’s Vireo is one of three members of the former Solitary Vireo, which was split into […]

A furry kind of day with Columbian Ground Squirrels

Yesterday afternoon, I went out to the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge for some birding and, fingers crossed, a little bird photography. Upon arriving at the Refuge, the season’s first Cinnamon Teals were feeding along the margins of the cattails. I waited for them to come within range of the 500mm lens, and they never […]

Sciuridae Thursday

As the temperatures continue to climb towards comfortable levels, the squirrels are starting to emerge. The first Columbian Ground Squirrel of 2012 Last, but not least, the ubiquitous Red Squirrel. The only squirrel is a reliably seem throughout the winter months. The Great Horned Owl – terror of squirrels

Can you believe it, another afternoon at Lee Metcalf

Spent yesterday afternoon at Lee Metcalf NWR, and as always it was a spectacular time to be there. I was able to spot the female Greater Scaup again, and again without an image. Along the Kenai trail, Northern Shrike and American Tree Sparrow were among the visitors from the north. The surprise of the day […]