So nice to have 2 days off in a row. After having 3 midnights last week - I was ready!
Don was off on Thursday but he had to hang around and see if a customer was coming in so I ran up to Market Lake in the morning. Still so quiet up there. Last year at this time I was seeing the Northern Saw Whet and the Short Eared Owls but neither of those are showing up this year. Believe me! I've looked!!!
Usually the hawks are spooky and you can't get close enough to get any shots of them but I spied one down the road and I guess I snuck up on him! Pretty sure this is a male Northern Harrier.
Sandhill Cranes were near the road this morning so I stopped for them.
Another vehicle at the trees when I pulled in and I could see the people further north down the path. I walk slow - checking for any kind of bird I can find. Which today were few and far between. Robins and Magpies were about it.
The other people weren't moving very fast so I finally got close enough to see that the lady was Elsa Seidel and the man with the camera had to be her husband, (my facebook friend) Bob. When I finally caught up to them I realized it was Bob but the lady who I tho't had white hair like Elsa was actually their daughter, Joy, wearing a white hat!!
We chatted and I showed them the rabbit in the tree that they had missed. Can't blame them - who would think to look for a rabbit in a tree??? And he was once again in the one next to the owl nest.
They said they had seen the Porcupine and I finally spied him - he was really high today.
They had seen the male Great Horned Owl and he had spooked and flown further down the path. Today was the first time I had seen more than tail feathers on the nest - she had her head up for a change. We kept walking north and almost to the end the Great Horned Owl spooked and flew before any of us even saw him. But eventually we found him again and this time he stayed where he was at for a few photos. Unfortunately he was hard to get a clear shot of.
We met a lady headed north as we made our way back to the cars - she eventually passed us again and as she came towards us she spooked a 2nd owl so that was good for us! At least this one we could get somewhat better shots of.
When I got back to the car I called Don and he was free the rest of the day so we decided to run up to Alpine to check for Mountain Goats. On the way home I stopped for a Kildeer.
Don and I loaded up and headed to Alpine. We were hoping for Mountain Goats low and close but as we headed up the canyon all we saw were very far away. We went on and Don decided to drive on and see what the road looked like that seems to be sliding away. It was way further than we expected! Almost to the round-about at Hoback Junction.
I watched the sides of the road for animals and I spied this water coming off the mountain so we stopped for some photographs. All I can say is - Wait until it Really warms up and the snow starts melting!!
We're headed back thru the areas we always watch for Mountain Goats and suddenly there's one on the side of the hill right by the road. How did we miss him the first time???
We had to park in a safe spot and walk back. It's very rare that animals are bothered by us - we couldn't think of many times that we have made an animal move - but this guy maybe had some bad experiences because he was NOT going to stick around to get his photo taken. And we weren't even close to him!! Did manage a few shots.
Up Up and Away he went.
We decided since we'd driven all that way to stop for the other ones that were far away.
And I still don't have to go to work today so instead of staying home and doing laundry I ran up to Market Lake this morning. Laundry can wait - right??
I don't know where the males were but the female Red-winged Blackbirds were on the cat-tails this morning.
Had the trees to myself this morning. It was more of the usual.
The Tree Swallows are back
Found a bunny.
And the Porcupine was still high in the tree.
And a Squirrel.
The bunny was in his tree again.
And without too much trouble I spotted the Great Horned Owl.
The Snow Geese were headed north but I couldn't find a quick way out of the trees to get some shots of them so I had to make due with a few as they flew on north.
To end my morning I spied a Chipmunk! He was quick and there was too much sagebrush for many shots of him.
Time to go home and do some laundry!!
Yes, it's that time of year again when I start running up to Market Lake. Every Chance I Get!!! I've already been 4 times but the first 2 trips there was nothing happening. Oh! I did get a shot of a Squirrel.
So then I waited and went back out yesterday morning before work. More birds are showing up and I'm always happy to see - and hear - the Sandhill Cranes. These first two were south of Market Lake and I had to slam on the brakes and back up for them.
Then these two were close to the road when I actually got to Market Lake. Sat and listened to them calling. Can you hear them??
Lots of Canada Geese everywhere you look and the ducks are starting to arrive. Most of them were too far from the road for photos but I did get a few shots of the Red-winged Blackbirds who like to perch on the cat-tails.
Don and I had made a quick trip out and walked the trees on February 19 but I didn't see the Great Horned Owls that time. But yesterday I happened to spot tail feathers in a nest so I'm hoping we'll have babies one of these days! And if there's a nest there has to be a male Great Horned Owl close by and I was lucky and spotted him - he was sitting quite low - and as soon as I spotted him I came to a stop and he took off down the row of trees. Means I'll have to walk by him to get out of the trees!
And as I made my way back south I spotted him again. This time he stayed put and I snapped a few photos and moved on.
And I got lucky and spotted some Snow Geese flying over.
I'm off today so I decided to head back to Market Lake and try my luck again. Couple of Sandhill Cranes but they were far from the road. Lots and Lots of Canada Geese. Coots. And I was surprised to find a Great Blue Heron.
He didn't seem interested in moving so I drove on. Red-winged Blackbirds were on the cat-tails again.
And out to the west I could see Northern Shovelers.
Something fun to see was this Cottontail Rabbit - sitting in a tree!! Thanks to Patti Pickett for posting this first - I knew to watch for him! He's just there below the red " V ".
Closer shot.
I'm not sure what he's thinking - living up in the top of this tree from him is the nesting Great Horned Owl !!! CrAzY Rabbit !!
Today I knew to watch for the male Great Horned Owl when I got further down the trees and he was in the same spot as yesterday. Today he didn't take off and didn't seem to be bothered by me being there.
Can you see him? He's there in the center of the photo -
We'll get a bit closer -
There he is -
As I'm leaving the trees I spy another rabbit -
Lots of Ring-billed Gulls - wonder if this is some kind of mating dance they were doing?
Heads down -
Heads up -
And finally a flyover by the Trumpeter Swans -
Even slow I had a great time!!
Thanks for looking!
I'm so glad I asked for the day off - I actually got it!!! It's been a month since I had a day off with Don - I'm going to have to ask more often!
Only bad thing about today is - it's that darn Spring Forward! I can't even think what time we should get up - we lose an hour and we're getting up early - Just Tell Me How Much Sleep I'm Going To Get!!!! Then when the alarm goes off I have to find another clock to see if the phone (I use for my alarm clock) has Updated because there have been times when it hasn't until later in the day!!! >sigh< But it all worked out and we were on the road a little after 7am.
We tho't about mixing things up and heading out past Kelly first but in the end we decided to just do the same old thing we always do. Worked out great! First up - we made our way to the back side of the Elk Refuge to find some Big Horn Sheep. Our trip just about ended there - boy is that road Rough!!! It just looked like a bit of water on the road but the water seemed to be hiding this one huge hole!! Don was sure we'd broke something but everything seemed to be Ok. Whew!
We went on by the few sheep - these were females and we were hoping for some males instead. Picky Picky! Down the road we passed some Pronghorn.
Then down around the corner we stopped and I got out the binoculars - 4 Coyotes were traveling across the snow.
When another car stopped and got out to walk their dog the Coyotes stopped to watch.
We turned around and now more Big Horn Sheep have appeared. This group had some nice males in it so we stopped and got out.
Nope - pretty sure the next one is probably a female.
We headed north out of town and just after turning down the Gros Ventre Road we find the first Moose laying really close to the road. I was glad to finally find one that wasn't hiding in the bushes!!
Seemed to be nap time so we loaded up and just a bit further we find another Moose. He's real close to the road also Plus we're above him which is always nice.
He's eating branches and we get some great shots before he moves closer and behind a bush.
Just for fun I checked to see if I could find myself in the reflection in his eye but I couldn't make out anything that looked like a person standing there!!
After that it was just a whole bunch of driving. We drove up to Moose and checked all the usual places - plus an extra spot - and didn't see any animals - very few people either!! We just knew they were all somewhere secret taking photos of something Spectacular!! Then we went a different way back to town and Still Didn't See Anything!!!
We grabbed some lunch at Dairy Queen and headed to Alpine to check for Mountain Goats. Along the way we did see 3 more Moose in some of the closed-buried-under-snow campgrounds. And much to our surprise we also found some Mountain Goats!!
Five of them were high up but here right in front of us we had 2 down low. Lucky us!!
I can't believe it's almost the middle of March and these are the first shots of Mountain Goats I've gotten.
Where we see the Mountain Goats - we call that The Canyon. That's the Snake River down below and all along - even on our side of the road - you can see lots of snow slides. Scary!! (Yeah - I'm just an amateur at taking Phone Photos - that's my finger!!)
And that was our day. I think it was a pretty good one!!
Thanks for looking!!
