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 […]
Blue no longer, the Dusky Grouse
I still have to stop myself from calling them Blue Grouse. The former Blue Grouse was split some time ago into the Sooty Grouse of the Cascades, Sierra Nevada, and Pacific Coast, and the Dusky Grouse of the Rocky Mountains. The Dusky Grouse inhabits the dry forests and foothills, and during the spring, male Dusky Grouse […]
My little secret Short-eared Owl spot
We all have our own secret little birding spots, those nooks of habitats that we find so magically. One of my spots is a little dirt road on the north side of the Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge. So many times I have crept along this road as the dust settles from one of the occasional […]
First Gophersnake of 2012
This past Saturday the US Fish and Wildlife Service had opened the Red Sheep Mountain Road within the National Bison Range. We went with the intentions of seeing the unbelievable scenery and, of course, birds. The pleasant surprise of the road was a Gophersnake along side of the gravel road. When I was a child, […]
Mission for Snowy Owls
Before I could bear to watch the Green Bay Packers lose to the Giants, Tom and I went up into the Mission Valley on a Snowy Owl mission. We initially checked around the Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge and the surrounding agricultural lands, and we turned up nada. No Snowy Owls or much else, other than […]