Light in the Valley

Morning at the feeder

2012-02-11T09:25:00.000-07:00

Morning at the feeder brings in bunnies and birds by the dozens. Today, with a snowy covering all around, nobody was too concerned with my presence. The goal was to eat what they could before the rock doves and magpies moved in!

This cottontail has some amazing whiskers. Like most animals of this type, the whiskers serve as feelers in the dark.

The pinyon jays were plentiful and colorful even under overcast skies.

In this grouping we have at least one mama and one baby. I am always surprised when I see youngsters still being fed in mid-winter but it is a common sight with the pinyons.

Here Comes the Bride

2012-02-10T15:09:00.000-07:00

On a cold, wintery day like today the best thing to do is get out on an invigorating hike! So we grabbed some gear and headed to the Clark's Fork Canyon where we met up with friends Bill and Yvette and their companion, Atticus. The destination was Bridal Veil Falls, a beautiful cascade hidden from the main trail by a few well placed rock walls.

The falls plummets about 150' or so from up in the Beartooths. This time of year it is an amazingly detailed curtain of ice with one small stream of water escaping about two-thirds the way up. Hopefully you can see it in this photo to the left.

This second shot is from a little further back. To get to the base of the falls you have to hike in about an hour from the trailhead and then carefully navigate up a frozen (mostly!) stream for another half hour or so.

In one spot we set up a rope handhold as the ground was frozen and very slippery. Poor Atticus had to rely on his toe nails for doggy crampons!

Seeing Double

2012-02-09T16:03:00.000-07:00

We probably see more golden eagles than 99% of the people in this world but I never tire of the sightings. This morning as I left for classes I was given the gift of a more unusual treat - a bald eagle sitting on a fence post.

He put up with me for quite a while but finally decided to take off for another locale. In this first photo it looks as if he has something in his talons but it is just the motion of his movements. This shot is slightly out of focus - unfortunate for me!

The shots of him sitting, however, are much crisper. Look at that beak!

Yesterday we had another visit from the usual suspect. He was being harassed by magpies as he took a rest on the ground near the llama corral.

Pinhole Magic

2012-02-08T12:19:00.000-07:00

Here are three of the dozen or so pinhole camera images I have taken to date. There is something very appealing about using a process that has been around since the early 1800's and that is so totally non-technical!

The first shot is a double exposure of a large clock and the Clark's Fork River. The only tricky part was figuring out the exposure times. Because the clock was in the shade I used an exposure of two minutes. The river, in the sunlight, was exposed for 4 seconds. Still, the river is the dominant image of the two.

The second shot is my favorite so far. I put the camera in the second story window and shot a 16 second exposure toward Heart Mountain. Amazingly, the llamas stayed pretty still during that time so they are relatively sharp in the image.

The third shot was taken directly into the sun from the garden in our back yard.
The last two shots showcase one of the best features of a pinhole - the amazing depth of field that can be achieved with an aperature of f/512.

Early Flight

2012-02-04T10:00:00.000-07:00

I don't know of anything more beautiful than a golden eagle in the sun! That is when you truly realize how they got their name as the feathers on their heads glow with an amazing light all their own.

This bird sat and watched me this morning as I fed llamas and then put out seed for the chukars. He seemed relatively unconcerned about my presence so after feeding I got out the camera and took about 50 shots of him sitting on Vertebrae Rock.

When he finally decided to fly off, he came right at me instead of the usual move of sliding off the back out of sight.

Can't we be Friends?

2012-02-03T12:36:00.000-07:00

This morning I drove to the river with my tripod and a pinhole camera to take some double exposures of water.

As I returned up the driveway I looked across to see a half dozen mule deer grazing in the pasture.

They were so concerned with me that at first they didn't notice the llamas coming over the hill to greet them. Once they realized they were the subjects of intense curiosity by the llamas they took off across the field to "safety".

This one last deer seemed more concerned with me until the llamas were almost close enough to touch noses. I'm sure Tardy (in the lead) was disappointed he wasn't able to make a new friend!

I have launched a new photo website at www.kathylichtendahl.com
I have a lot of shots that need to be uploaded in the next few days.

I hope you will stop by to see what is there!

Searching for Snow

2012-01-29T18:41:00.000-07:00

One thing that is amazing about being back in school for a degree in photography is that, so often, I am able to combine my leisure activities with a homework assignment!

For my Photo Journalism class I have a whole bunch of assignments, one of which is to illustrate a sports story. So I decided to take my camera along on a back-country ski adventure this weekend.

The day started with a drive to road's end at Pilot Creek Trailhead in northern Wyoming. The trailhead gets its name from Pilot Creek (duh!) which in turn gets its moniker from Pilot Peak - seen here in the background. This area is used almost exclusively by snowmobilers this time of year. We were no exception as, to get to a ski-able area, we needed to take our snow machines about 10 miles into Montana, up Daisy Trail to the nose of Henderson Mountain.

This first photo shows the parking lot at the trailhead.

In the second shot you can see Ken driving by on his machine, towing the sled with our skis, backpacks, poles and extra gear.

In the third shot, Ken is headed out on skis to hike up the mountain so we can ski down. Normally breaking trail is a real effort but yesterday the trail was already packed down by snow machines. This was definitely a mixed blessing - it made for an easier up but quite a bumpy down! The snowmobilers are well aware of this year's increased avalanche danger and so they are riding in the trees more than usual. Usually this type of terrain is reserved for those of us without mechanical motors!

Ken is still headed up.

The specialized bindings and boots are what make back country skiing possible. We use a randonee or all terrain system which allows us to release the heel when we climb and lock down - like a downhill ski - when we go down. These bindings are new to us this year. They are Dynafit's; much lighter than the bindings we have been using for the last two decades.

The wind was blowing and Pilot and Index Peaks were just visible from the top of our slope.

The other component of a back-country system is the skins. They have glue on the bottom which allows them to adhere to the bottom of the skis on the uphill climb. They add weight to the skis but it would not be possible without them. They are removed and stored in a backpack or inside your coat as you ski down.

Ken is finding some powder.

Enjoying the ride!

Pinholes

2012-01-27T11:37:00.000-07:00

I have two tasks on my agenda for today and it makes me smile to think of their differences.
My first chore is homework - I am to take a series of photos using a pinhole camera. For those who have never played with pinholes, suffice it to say they are about as far from cutting edge technology as you can get. Basically you have a light tight box of some kind which has 1) a pinhole that can be covered and uncovered to control the amount of time light can enter into the box (shutter speed) and 2) a slot to load light sensitive film to be exposed to the entering light.

The trickiest part is figuring out exposure time to not over or under expose the 4" x 5" film inside the camera.
The bad news is that I will not know until next week whether I have been successful in capturing anything, let alone something worth developing.

My second scheduled task for today is to work on my website which I hope to have up and running within the next week or two. I will publish the address once I have something up for viewing!

Cold Canyon

2012-01-25T11:32:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted a panorama for a while so thought I would show this vertical stitch of five shots taken one morning along Mallard Creek Trail. You can see that the trees on the bottom - behind which there is a small waterfall - never get sunlight this time of year!

Color

2012-01-22T14:25:00.000-07:00

For Christmas I received a wonderful book from my step-daughter titled "The Practice of Contemplative Photography" by Andy Karr and Michael Wood. It is an interesting and thought-provoking combination of lessons in photography and Buddhism.

I took the book with me to Yellowstone and read as far as the first project - on color. Basically the idea is to take pictures of color. You are to ignore the "what" of the item and just focus on the shapes and patterns created by the color of the object(s). They specifically said that black, white, grey, brown, beige were not colors for the purpose of the exercise and also suggested you not attempt shots of nature since the subject was more likely to overwhelm the visual design. Easier said than done in the middle of a National Park!

My first shot was taken in YNP and yes, it was in nature because that was my only choice at the time. I rather like the way the trail marker stands out in the muted colors of the forest along Howard Eaton trail.

I have been house ridden with a miserable cold for the last two days so decided to continue my pursuit of color shots indoors today. The shot above is of a colander hanging in the window in my kitchen.

Next is part of a vase in a small alcove.

I really like this shot of sunlight coming through the stained glass side windows of my front door. The colors were warmer and more intense on the tile floor than they were in the window itself.

Last up is the back of an old leather chair in the sunlight from a window.

Just a Little Different

2012-01-20T11:22:00.000-07:00

As close as we are to Yellowstone in air miles, there are major differences in the local ecosystems of the two locations. That means, among other things, differences in the bird life.

Today I am posting photos of four bird species I don't often see in this area.

First up, to the left, is a pair of Common Goldeneye. Strangely enough, it is somewhat unusual to see Common's in the park as the Barrow's Goldeneye are the usual residents. These are two females hanging out in the Firehole River.

Next up is one of my favorite rarely seen birds. The Red Crossbill is well adapted to cracking pine cones with his strange looking beak. Its certainly not hard to figure out how they got their name!

(I always assume people know how to see these photos at a slightly bigger size but just in case that is not true, just click once on the photo and it will pull up the shots in a separate window on top of the blog space. When you want to go back to the blog just click outside the photo or use your back button. )

I have to thank Ken for this third sighting. Wilson's Snipe are so well camouflaged that they are difficult to spot at the best of times. Somehow Ken caught a bit of movement along the bank of the Firehole and pointed it out to me. I took numerous shots of this guy and he is hard to see in all of them!

The last photo is of one of the iconic bird species of Yellowstone Park - Trumpeter Swans. It is always a treat to see these large, relatively rare beauties!

More Yellowstone

2012-01-18T14:51:00.000-07:00

There are two options for mechanized travel into Yellowstone in the winter: snow machines or snow coaches. We generally opt for the warmer, quieter choice of the snow coach which also has the advantage of leaving the driving to someone else so you are able to enjoy the scenery.

When you travel by coach, you get to make several planned stops going in and out. After almost a decade of snow coach travel, making the exact same stops every year, we are pretty much experts in the scheduled vistas. That doesn't mean we are tired of them, just that we get to wander as the driver goes through his canned speech at each location.

On the way out from Old Faithful, headed toward Mammoth, one of the obligatory stops is Fountain Paint Pots. The guides are quick to point out that this is a rare location consisting of all four types of the thermal features found in the Park. Hot springs can be seen, of course, as well as fumeroles or steam vents.
Mud pots, depicted in the first photo above, are always a crowd pleaser. And the classic feature of Yellowstone Park, geysers, are also in evidence.

One of the snow coaches could be seen heading north as we made our way around Fountain Paint Pots.

There are numerous small geysers in the area including some that spout water and steam every couple of minutes 24/7!

One of the givens at Fountain Paint Pots is that you will see huge ravens in the parking lot. The snowmobilers are told to make sure they do not leave any food in the packs on their machines but for some reason there is always someone who doesn't listen.

When we arrived this raven was easily undoing the zipper on this backpack. He looked quite proud of himself as he proceeded to pull out a whole sandwich which he took to share with another raven nearby.

Yellowstone!

2012-01-16T15:45:00.000-07:00

We have just returned from five amazing days in Yellowstone National Park. Heading to Old Faithful Snow Lodge in winter is an annual trek for us and one we enjoy immensely. The Park is virtually empty this time of year compared to any of the summer months and the cross country skiing is beyond compare.

Tomorrow I begin my second semester of classes so this was a last chance to get away before I am caught up in assignments and schedules once again.

Yellowstone can be a photographer's paradise but it can also be a source of frustration if you are always striving to capture the perfect wildlife shot. I have learned that one way to avoid the stress is to focus in on the details of more abstract landscape features. While I managed to capture a few wonderful images of elk, bison, swans and several other species, this post will show just a few of the other kinds of shots possible in a winter wonderland!

These are "bobby sock" trees in the snow. They are lodgepole pines that have drawn silica up into their trunks through the water in the thermal features. The trees are killed off but remain standing for years with their white socks showing.

This nest - probably belonging to an osprey in the warmer months - was vacant and frosty.

The bumps, above, were seen near Lone Star Geyser. The thermal features under the snow were causing major dimpling in the surface.

This shot was taken on Howard Eaton Trail one morning. I love the texture of the sky.

Rosy Days

2012-01-11T09:27:00.000-07:00

We awoke this morning to one of the coldest days of winter so far. Quite a change from yesterday's 55 degrees!

It is always fun to see what shows up at the bird feeder this time of year. Two almost certain customers are the pair pictured in today's post.

This cottontail was not at all deterred by my presence with a camera. He gave me one good long look and seemed to declare me harmless. Funny how they know right away what is a threat and what is not.

The second photo is of a rosy finch. Sibley's lists three subspecies of these birds and it is not uncommon to see all three mixed into a flock of a hundred or more, all doing their best to clean up the seed before the rock doves move in.

The amazing thing about these birds is their range. For such a small creature they must be made of steel. The first time I ever saw one was on top of the Grand Teton almost 20 years ago. They frequent high places and we even saw a small flock on Elbert last weekend when the temperature was below zero!

Our rosies arrive when the snow gets too deep on top of the Beartooths and stay with us only until the very first hint of spring is in the air.

Day 2

2012-01-10T09:14:00.000-07:00

Day 2 on Mt Elbert was much closer to the kind of weather you might expect in January at 12,000'+. Still, with the remarkably low snowpack we had it pretty easy as far as travel to the summit at 14,440'.

In this first photo you can see Ken and Bill just starting out in the morning. The blowing snow had not yet begun to impede our views.

Yvette is just ahead and heading to higher elevation.

This third shot shows Ken, Yvette and Bill bundled up during one of our short breaks. As we rose the winds picked up, the temperature dropped and it became harder and harder to breathe easily. It is pretty amazing to experience the effects of altitude at even these elevations. Once you top 13,000' a certain amount of adjustment is required. Some of the typical effects are insomnia, headache, nausea and labored breathing. Other than the need for a slower pace to facilitate breathing, I was remarkably and happily symptom free on this hike. The others seemed to be the same - maybe our two nights at higher elevation had prepared us for the changes.

By the time we reached the summit - about mid-day - the winds were howling and snow was blowing everywhere.

Once we started back down the snow tapered off again and we made good time.

The sun even peaked out long enough to strike the nearby mountain top for a photo.

Once we got back down to the main ridge we could just see Leadville in the distance many miles below.

In this last photo the tent looks more like it should for a winter campout!

Winter Adventure

2012-01-09T13:28:00.000-07:00

A month or so ago a couple of friends asked if we would be interested in joining them on a try for a winter summit of Mt Elbert in Colorado. Elbert is not a technical climb but at 14,440' it is the second highest peak in the contiguous states and still deserves some respect, especially in January! We decided to jump in and so found ourselves headed for Leadville last Thursday.

As luck would have it, the weather was unbelievable - unseasonably warm with an amazing shortage of snow - at least on the first day. The second day, when we did the actual climb to the peak, was snowy and cold with a pretty good breeze blowing. I will show those photos tomorrow.

For today, here are the shots from Day 1 and a few distance photos, in no particular order.

First off is a profile of one of the "camp robbers" - a common and appropriate nickname for the gray jay. We had four that hung around our camp at tree line - about 12,000' - begging for scraps of food!

We got to camp early on the first day and set up the tents. To kill some time we took a short hike up the slope to get the lay of the land for the next day's push. In the second photo, above, you can see Ken and Bill making their way up the trail with a large lake many feet below in the background.

Next is Ken finding some of the scarce snow just below tree line.

This shot to the right is one I took of Mt. Elbert as we were driving to the trailhead from Leadville.

The shot above is a panorama of Mt Elbert while the one below is of the nearby Mt Massive. These two panoramas were taken on our way out of town after the climb. You can see that we received several inches of snow while we were there.

This show shows Yvette and Bill at the snow-free trailhead before we began.

I really like this shot of Yvette studying her map at the top of our first day's hike - about 12,700'.

Dawn's Light

2012-01-05T06:43:00.000-07:00

One morning during Christmas week I headed out early hoping to catch some wildlife in the light of dawn. When I arrived at my planned lookout I was surprised to discover I had beat the birds! The only stalwart fisherman was this Yellow-Crowned Night Heron. The good news was that he was magnificent. He looked like he had a spotlight on him in the low early light. And then he found this long legged crab and spent about 15 minutes trying to figure out how to get in.

After I did my morning walk and came back to the same place there were hundreds of birds fishing where this guy had been earlier.

Wood Storks

2012-01-04T08:04:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite large wading birds is the Wood Stork. As the old saying goes - they are just so ugly, they're cute!

In this first photo to the left you can see the distinct difference in bill shape of the stork and the spoonbill. The stork feeds by traveling through the water with his head down, grabbing small crustaceans, frogs, lizards or whatever else he finds.

Spoonbills have a similar diet but they move through the water swinging their heads slowly from side to side, filtering food through their distinct beaks.

In this second photo, above, you can see that this particular stork was successful in capturing a tiny fish to eat. It looks like an appetizer to me! Contrast that with the size of the fish the blue heron had that I showcased a few days ago.

Ken calls these guys water vultures and you can see why when you look at a close up of their heads. Like vultures they are basically bald.

Juveniles may have a small tuft of head feathers. Youngsters are most identifiable by their yellow beaks like this young fellow to the right. In another similarity with vultures, storks do not seem to be averse to eating carrion. In this photo the two are sharing parts of a decaying fish they have pulled into pieces.

December Babies

2012-01-03T07:58:00.001-07:00

A few days ago I mentioned I would post a photo of some great blue heron babies. The shots I have are not ideal but it was still amazing to be there this time of year and see the piles of newborn fuzz in the nests, so I wanted to share.

It seemed that most nests in the rookery near Venice Beach had young birds in them but the mothers were guarding them well so getting any photos of the babies was a matter of luck.

In this first shot no little ones are showing but it gives you a sense of just how close together the nests were. These three were lined up as if in a trio of high-rise condos!

In the second photo you can see a baby to the left of mama. There were actually three young in this nest and they were trying out their new legs by walking around mama's feet. This one has the posture of a little old man!

In this third close-up photo you can see the heads of two youngsters. Like most baby birds, it seems they will need to grow into their beaks!

America's Best Dancer?

2012-01-02T08:46:00.000-07:00

Last year when we visited Florida we had the rare and amazing opportunity to watch a reddish egret performing his "canopy dance" for about a half hour. Oblivious to us he twirled and spun, jumped and dove, never seeming to tire. I have since read that by spreading his wings in such a manner he creates his own shaded area, making it easier for him to see his prey in the waters below.

This year it was the tri-colored heron that performed for us. Apparently his methods are geared toward herding small fish into an area so he has more to choose from.

I have say that I think the best dancer award goes to the reddish egret although the heron is a close second in my rankings!

Seafood!

2012-01-01T07:58:00.001-07:00

Happy New Year!

Continuing with another of my favorite photos from the Florida trip...a great blue heron with a giant fish dinner!

I took quite a few shots of this guy, staying far enough away so I didn't stress him. Just as I filled my card, he put his neck back and swallowed this fish whole! I don't even know how it fit down his throat.

In the Pink

2011-12-31T07:46:00.000-07:00

I am always excited when I can spot a Roseate Spoonbill and especially thrilled when they show their colors, as this one did.

The morning of the new moon last week brought some of the lowest tides I have ever seen. That provided an amazing opportunity to see a wide array of species of bird life all trying to get their fill of seafood before the tide came in and the waters rose.

PDR

2011-12-30T08:37:00.000-07:00

What is the PDR, you ask? Well, around here this time of year we hear a lot about the PBR - Professional Bull Riding. This Red-Eared Slider turtle in Florida is obviously a member of the Professional Duck Riders!

This is one of my favorite strange shots from last week. These ugly plastic ducks have been placed in some lakes to ward off something-or-other. Over the years they have faded and tilted and basically turned into an eyesore. This turtle decided to make the most of the decoy as a sunny perch. I wish he had been facing the front of the duck instead of its hind quarters but it is still a fun shot!

Big Blue

2011-12-29T08:47:00.001-07:00

Although I spent only 4 days in Florida last week, I managed to fill 5 - 8Gb cards with photos! I spent hours on Christmas day as I moved through airports heading north, deleting those photos that were slightly out of focus, too far away or just plain boring. I was pretty proud of myself until I realized I still had more than 800 photos left! So now I need to get down to the real work of deciding what stays and what goes.

This shot is rather static but the beauty of the Great Blue Heron standing in a bush of red berries can't be denied. I have many shots from this location - a rookery near Venice Beach. I even have a few shots of babies I will show over the next few days.

Happy Dance

2011-12-28T09:41:00.000-07:00

Like much of the world, I spent the last week traveling to visit family for the holidays. It was a wonderful time and such a delight to experience different environments and spend time with loved ones.

Just before I left I sent a few photos off to the "Cold Snap Challenge" being sponsored by Wyofile, a state wide wire service with an on-line publication. In the Atlanta airport between flights I checked email and found a post announcing the winner - a long-time photojournalist from Cody. I looked at his beautiful image of bison in Yellowstone and it became obvious why the judges had chosen his photo. But then, as I read down the article, I discovered a list of five or six runner-up's at the bottom and I was delighted to find my name in the mix! Especially when I saw that two of the others were photographers whose work I have long admired. The runner-up photos will be published in the weeks to come. I will post a link when my turn comes around.

I sent several photos and I am not sure which ones will be published (a subsequent email from the publisher indicates that two of mine have made the cut!). The shot above is one of those I sent. It was taken a few weeks ago and shows a herd of elk bunked down out of the wind in our back pasture.

Eyelids

2011-12-19T09:48:00.000-07:00

When I went through my photos of the golden eagle last week, I had a couple I discarded right away because the sun seemed to be hitting the eyes in a strange way. It wasn't until I went back later that I discovered the amazing truth - the photos show the rarely seen (at least for me!) "third eyelid" of the giant bird!
People have one way of closing our eyes - we lower our top eyelids. Raptors have three options - they lower the top lid, they raise the lower lid or they close the "third eyelid" - the nictitating membrane - from the side like a curtain. This eyelid is transparent and can be used to cut down on glare or to keep the eye moist or even to protect the eyes when the bird is diving. Plus it has the cool effect of making them look like an avian creature from a zombie movie!

I am so thrilled I was able to capture this rare look at an amazing feature!

5 and 6

2011-12-18T07:24:00.000-07:00

Today's photos are the last two in my final presentation. Like the redpolls, they are "backyard birds". I had a half dozen photos of chukars to choose from. This one ended up winning out because of the design strengths - three birds, a diagonal branch starting in the top left leading the viewers eye to the focal point, strong lighting and contrast. Besides...they are so cute!

This photo of the lone pinyon jay is a little darker than I would like but I love the way the shadow of the pine branch lays across his back.

Also Ran's

2011-12-16T08:27:00.000-07:00

So far I have posted four of the six photos I used in my final presentation for Beginning Digital. The two I am showing today are part of the pile of "also ran's", meaning they came close but didn't make the cut.

The first photo, to the left, is of a red-breasted nuthatch. This is one of those strange photos that I love but no one else gets excited about. Yes, I know it is a photo of the back side of a bird but it is such a classic nuthatch pose! I love the open space at the bottom but others find it too stark. I still think I will print it out at 16" x 20" and hang it on my wall.

The second photo is of a Sharp-shinned hawk in a tree in Lander on a very cold day. He is pretty fluffed up trying to stay warm. It is a beautiful bird but the branches were just too distracting for him to make the final six of the presentation.

Wyoming Winter Birds

2011-12-14T06:36:00.000-07:00

Two final exams down and one to go before Christmas break!

Here are two more photos of birds that winter in Wyoming that I used for my final presentation in Beginning Digital.

To the left is a black-capped chickadee. They are so delicate and I loved the way this guy spread his tail, reflecting the shape of the bent branch above.

My prof was not happy with the fact that you can't distinguish the bird's eye but the truth is they are so black that I don't think even Ansel Adams could make them stand out from the "black cap".

This second photo shows three redpolls right outside my door. This one almost feels like cheating since I was out feeding llamas when they all showed up. I ran back in and grabbed the camera and took a few shots with this being my favorite of the bunch. Very little effort was expended! This photo has turned in to my Christmas card for 2011.

Winter Raptors

2011-12-12T13:54:00.000-07:00

I have been preparing my final project photos for the last few weeks and am now getting ready to take my final exams this week.

For my Beginning Digital class I elected to present six images of bird species that winter in Wyoming. Things were going well and I was happy with my selections as I was getting them finalized last week. Then, on my way to classes on Wednesday I came across this bald eagle staring down at me from his high perch. He seemed quite content to let me take shot after shot and so I amended my final selection by dropping a finch and adding him to the mix.

Then, on Thursday, I met up with this regal looking golden eagle! He ignored me totally as I stood ten feet away and captured image after wonderful image. That day the photo of the nuthatch was scrapped so this guy could take his place.

I will post the other images as well as a few that didn't make the cut in the next few days.

Let it Snow!

2011-11-19T06:56:00.000-07:00

In all the years I have lived here, this is only the second time I have been snowed in! With a driveway more than a mile long it is not an option to shovel the snow. The good news is that it is a weekend, the power is on and I have enough food to survive about a year. The temps are predicted to be in the 50's by early next week so I just have to wait until it all melts away.

In the meantime, it has been fun to try and capture images of all that whiteness. I got bundled up and hiked to the gate and back yesterday - not an easy task when the snow is up to your knees. Today I am committed to wrapping Christmas gifts so they can be delivered to family over Thanksgiving.

This was the scene just a few days ago as

this young mule deer lounged in the back yard. I mentioned that one of the differences between white tail and mule deer is the huge white tail of the white tail (duh!). Another difference is in the size of the mule deer's ears. They are amazingly big. This gal has beautiful black accents on her ear edges, making them even more obvious.

Sharing the Trail

2011-11-13T08:30:00.000-07:00

On Friday I hauled Ken off to the Beartooths (it didn't take much persuading!) in a quest to capture more bird photos as well as to set the scene for another photo assignment, a self portrait.
A lucky situation was that the road between Pilot Creek and Cooke City was still open - a rare event for this time of year. The road is not plowed in the winter, which comes early at that elevation, so it is often impassable by the end of October. Not this year! We decided to spend Friday night in Cooke City and make one last foray into Yellowstone Park from the NE entrance this season.

As it was, it snowed heavily Friday night and so we were lucky to get back through on Saturday but I'm still glad we did it.

The beautiful fox above was spotted just outside the Park entrance. I got a couple shots - most pretty blurry - before he hightailed it into the woods.

On the Beartooth hike on Friday we not only managed to find lots of birds but also found ourselves sharing the trail with a few other creatures. These grizzly tracks were very fresh - obviously made that morning - so he was close by.

The other animals we thrilled in watching from a safe distance away were the mountain goats. We saw two separate groups; one a twosome and the other with four in the herd. I will post those shots another day.

White Tail

2011-11-08T12:37:00.000-07:00

One of the final assignments for my beginning photography class, due in mid-December, is to capture 6 images of birds that winter in Wyoming. (We got to choose our own topics.) This weekend I spent a little time walking through the brush beside a nearby creek searching for unsuspecting feathered friends to shoot. While there I surprised these two beauties. We rarely see white tail deer on our place as they prefer riparian areas. Mule deer are much more common to us and the two species seem to keep their distance.

People who do not have a lot of deer nearby will often ask how to tell a white tail and a mulie apart. There are quite a few differences but the most obvious one is the feature that gives this species its name.

The little spike didn't wait around for his companion - he threw up his warning flag and took off!

Panorama

2011-11-02T15:49:00.000-06:00

So today's lesson was about putting together panoramas from your landscape photos. What a blast! I have made pano's before but not through Photoshop which allows me to keep such resolution. I started with a combination of 7 photos from this weekend's hike in the Clark's Fork Canyon. It looks great but I decided to not post it here since it is more than 200MBs!

Instead I am posting a combo of two vertical shots of the canyon from above. It may not be the most beautiful shot but it points to the endless possibilities of using this technique. If I printed this out it would be 12" wide by 30" high.

Coyote

2011-10-29T09:01:00.000-06:00

Wow! If someone had told me two months ago what the last eight weeks would be like, I would have dove under the bed screaming and covered my head. I truly believe that was the busiest and most diverse episode in my life. I gave two lectures in different parts of the state, I attended several quilt shows, I sold my greeting cards in a vendor's booth, I traveled 1500 miles to attend a week of meetings, I lost my FIL to complications of aging, I participated in several Search and Rescue incidents including one that required more than two weeks of intense searching for a missing hiker, I received my Wilderness First Responder re-certification, I had dinner with the governor at his residence in Cheyenne and I had an article published in a national quilting magazine. All this and much more took place while I was attending my college photography classes on a daily basis (although I will admit to playing hooky many times to accommodate the crazy schedule).

The insane pace is my first excuse for not posting for some time. The other excuse is one I totally did not expect - as I am taking more and more photographs for my classes, several things are taking place: 1) All my images are now being shot in RAW, meaning they are 25-30MB each. That means lots of editing and downsizing before I can post them on my blog. Most of my editing work is being done at the college on the Mac's; meaning I also have to figure out how to transfer them home to my desktop before use. 2) Many of the photos I am now taking are those required for school projects and are not those I would normally take for the blog. For instance, I have about a hundred shots of an egg. Yes, an egg. That was to teach us how to shoot portraits in different lighting situations. Fascinating for me but not, I suspect, for readers wanting to see pictures of wildlife!

I promise to try and do a better job. I may not be posting daily as before but I do intend to try and post at least twice a week going forward.

I am starting my revival with the two photos above of a coyote hunting rodents in Yellowstone. He was amazingly productive as he brought out mouse after mouse and consumed them before moving on to try again. The funny thing was that the bison seemed to be totally uncaring of the fact that this predator was strolling among them.

A Time for Everything

2011-09-01T07:22:00.000-06:00

Just as most of the wildflowers are calling it a season and the prairies are pulling on their coats of gold, one unobtrusive plant is making its first stand of the year. The Arctic Gentian is a beautiful flower that takes over the Beartooth tundra in late August and early September.

The first photo shows the plants getting ready to bloom.

From the top.

There is a sea of the white and purple-blue blooms that will remain on the ground for the next few weeks.

I started back to college this week. I am working toward my 5th degree - this one in commercial photography. My posts will, no doubt, be less consistently regular but I hope my shared photos will improve in quality over time.

It is interesting being back in class after 20 years - especially when everyone there is about 35 years my junior! So far I have been welcomed with friendliness and not a little bit of curiosity. I am looking forward to this two year journey!

Early Heart

2011-08-31T07:04:00.000-06:00

Choppers

2011-08-30T08:20:00.000-06:00

After arriving home yesterday to a sky seemingly clear of all signs of fire, we awoke this morning enclosed in smoke yet again. Last night's incredibly strong winds not only created power surges that fried my main computer - a mini disaster, to be sure - but also gave new life to the dying embers of the Hole in the Wall fire.

Today's post shows some of the helicopter photos I have taken over the last week plus a few shots from above the fire. Ken and I hiked up to the top of the Beartooth Plateau on Sunday and made our way to Line Lake so we could look down on the blaze. When we arrived it seemed to be well under control. By the time we left, after the winds picked up, the fire had found new life - much like last night. This thing seems to have more lives than a cat!

The obligatory photo of Heart Mountain with a chopper above!

This shot is from atop the Plateau, looking out at the action.

Here you can just see plumes of smoke rising from below.

In this photo you can see the smoke increasing as the winds pick up.

Leftovers

2011-08-28T11:40:00.000-06:00

Here is the last batch of photos from the Beartooth camping trip.

Looking down on the Cloverleaf Lakes from above. There is still lots of snow in the area.

I loved the look of this sole Wyoming paintbrush on the edge of the lake.

There were several beautiful waterfalls viewed along our day hikes.

Just as Heart Mountain is the defining feature from our property, so are Pilot and Index Peaks the identifying landmarks in the northwest corner of the state. Pilot, on the left, is often called the "American Matterhorn". It looks like the classic kid's drawing of a mountain!

Meanwhile...

2011-08-26T13:47:00.000-06:00

Meanwhile, back in the Beartooths on our camping trip last week, I took photos of our day hikes, including the one to Trail Lake - pictured here.
Trail Lake is often ignored by anglers; maybe because it just seems too easy. After all, as the name suggests, it is right off the main trail. Of course you still have to hike 11 miles from the trailhead to get there so that rules out those people looking for a day excursion.

I have always had good luck there and love catching the big cutthroat trout. I only ever fish until I have dinner and with these big guys, one is enough to feed two people easily.

Dinner! Cutthroat are really good eating fish - not oily at all and the meat is firm and tasty.

A view of the campsite from above with the falls in the background. Rusty, Pancho and Hobbit can be seen relaxing around the tent.

This shot shows a view of Kidney Lake from above. Nearby are Heart Lake and Liver Lake.

Ken with Rusty and Capola.

Here at home the helicopters continue to fly overhead hauling buckets of water to the fire. It has moved quite a bit further north and the wind is carrying the smoke away from us. It is almost easy to forget there is a mountainside burning just a few miles away! With additional resources pouring in over the last two days I really think they will have the blaze completely under control in the next few days.

End of the World

2011-08-25T08:47:00.000-06:00

What a week this has been! It may not be the end of the world but there are times when it has looked like it! For one thing, we have had one search and rescue call after another - it seems like people are now making up for the slow start to the season. Add that to the Hole in the Wall forest fire that refuses to behave and it makes for an unsettled atmosphere to say the least.

I took some photos of the fire as we made our way home from a SAR call near Cody yesterday afternoon. The top photo is from about 25 miles away. We could see that the fire - which had looked like it was under control when we left yesterday morning - had found new life and was moving north.

As we turned toward Clark from the highway we were able to get a shot of the firefighter camps set up in the valley with the fire in the background. To the left in the photo is the Clark Firehall. To the right is the community center with yurts and tents set up in the fields. There are now almost 200 firefighters battling this blaze.

As we got closer to home we were able to get a clearer idea of the size and direction of the fire.

Just after dinner Ken suddenly called me to come quickly and look out the windows. The wind had picked up and shifted and we had a wall of smoke and ash aimed right at our house. I took the photo above while standing on the back porch.

This shot was taken through the dining room window. Right after this it went dark as we were engulfed by the smoke and ash. We shut the house up as tightly as we could and packed our bags in case we would need to evacuate quickly.

After a couple hours the wind shifted again and the smoke headed north. It is still hard to breathe outside but we are no longer worried about falling embers - at least for the moment.

The fire has grown to almost 4000 acres and they are now concerned it will follow the plateau all the way to the town of Red Lodge, Montana.

The last three photos were taken this morning and show the smoke hanging in the air. The whole sky looks like it is on fire!

Hole in the Wall Wildfire

2011-08-23T09:10:00.000-06:00

We interrupt the regularly scheduled series to bring you breaking news of the Hole in the Wall Wildfire. Ignited by a lightening strike on Sunday evening, the fire has now reached a size of approximately 600 acres. Today's good news is that the winds have calmed somewhat and so there may be a chance to get the beast under control before it does any damage to man made structures. The calm also means that the smoke has settled in the area and so it is hard to see outside, let alone breathe! That is not a comfortable situation when it is almost 100 degrees and we have no air conditioning!

Yesterday we watched from a ridge on our back pasture as the wind stirred the flames and pushed them northward.

If you click on this photo you will see the Forest Service helicopter surveying the extent of the fire yesterday morning. The area is very rugged and dangerous to fire fighters. Chances are they will let it burn as long as it is not threatening homes in the area. There is a public meeting tonight where we will learn more about the Forest Service plans.

This shot shows the fire blowing up yesterday morning behind our bunkhouse. It is not as close as it looks in the picture.

Here you see our home and the bunkhouse in front of the fire. There are at least three miles of sage brush flats between us and the flames.

Last night we had a search and rescue call and didn't get home until midnight. It was amazing to see the entire mountainside glowing in the dark. Each tree seemed like a separate collection of red embers and it looked like a cheerful village shining in the black night instead of the destructive force we know it to be!

Spogen Lake

2011-08-22T09:24:00.000-06:00

Ken and I decided to take advantage of a week without obligations and head for the hills. Our destination was Spogen Lake, a favorite camping spot about ten tough miles in from the Clay Butte Trailhead. The funny thing is that the Lake sits at about the same elevation as the starting point - but in between is 4000' of vertical in peaks and valleys!

Our plan was for a five day trip but we got chased out a day early by the mosquitoes. Never have I seen the bugs this bad this late in the summer. Ken and I were okay with our bug nets but the poor llamas were pretty miserable during the warmer daylight hours. We spray them down but can't do their faces (they don't understand they need to close their eyes!) and that is where the mosquitoes attack.

I will post a few photos of the trip over the next few days. The first shot, above, was taken on the way in.

This is the view from the highest point of the hike - 10, 400' - just before you drop down to Spogen. I did not want to carry my heavy Canon 7-D camera into the back country so these were taken with an older Rebel. I am amazed at the difference in picture quality from the newer camera..

Most people camp at one of the two lakes above Spogen or right at the falls. We prefer the southern end because it has a pretty good pasture and it provides the best view of the falls.

Our campsite was at the end of the lake where it drops into a tight stream and heads down about a quarter mile to Whitcomb Lake. In the photo to the left I was able to place myself below the level of Spogen Lake, creating a mirror pond from my vantage point.

We were surprised by the hordes of mosquitoes - especially since we had frost each night. This last photo was taken the first morning. Hobbit seemed fascinated by the falls. You can see the frost on his back.

Jumpin' Horny Toads!

2011-08-18T11:13:00.000-06:00

The title is a quote from Yosemite Sam. The funny thing is they don't jump and they aren't toads! They are, of course, lizards, and they are one of two types of lizard common to this area.

The first type- left - is a Sagebrush Lizard. In the second photo you can see how they got their name as they ran to hide in the sagebrush every time I got close with the camera.

They are really pretty reptiles with blue bellies. The underside is not obvious in these shots but I see it quite often as the lizards seem to be the one prey Frank the cat loves to hunt. He is very gentle in picking them up and bringing them to show me so they usually recover once I take them away from him and release them out of sight.

The second type of lizard we have is the aforementioned horned toad. These are fascinatingly prehistoric looking creatures. They blend in incredibly well to their surroundings, making them tough to see unless you are looking for them.

They come in a wide range of sizes. The animal in the top photo is almost as big as the palm of my hand while the photo below, taken on this morning's run, is of a creature about the size of my thumbnail!

Harvest Time

2011-08-17T12:25:00.000-06:00

It is not hard to tell when the pine nuts are ready to be harvested! All of a sudden we are "blessed" with the screeching voices of numerous Pinyon Jays and Clark's Nutcracker's as they return from higher elevations. I am not sure how they choose the date but when they arrive, they arrive by the busload, it seems!

Look at the bill on this Pinyon Jay, above. Doesn't that look like it is the perfect tool for digging seeds from pine cones?

In pine cone heaven!

Upside down is a classic position for the Pinyons during harvest.

The Clark's Nutcrackers tend to be more solitary most of the year but they are willing to be social not only with other Nutcrackers during harvest time, but also with the Pinyons.

This Clark's Nutcracker - above - has a pine nut in his bill. He will probably stash the seed for later consumption. If he can't remember where he buried the seed it may well turn into a new pine tree instead of a meal.

Working hard!

This guy almost looks like he is eating in bed!

There are lots of nuts to go around. At least for the next week or two!

Speed Kills

2011-08-16T08:53:00.000-06:00

Note: Violence and death in the bird world is contained in this post!

I mentioned yesterday that one way the pigeons are kept in check on our property is by the hunting falcons. We have several species of the fast moving birds in the area but one of the most common is the Prairie Falcon. These photos were taken last year but we see them chasing pigeons at least once every couple of weeks. It is just not often we get the chance to capture the experience in pictures!

Yesterday Ken and I saw a falcon take out a nighthawk not ten feet in front of us and right at eye level. It happened so fast that all we could do was stand there with our mouths agape asking each other what had just happened! More than once I have hit the deck in reaction to the sound of something big and fast flying by my ear. That is often the first indication that the falcon is hunting in the area.

In this sequence of shots the prairie falcon swooped in and knocked a pigeon out of the air. The pigeon landed on the ground in front of the big tree in our front yard, still alive but badly dazed. The falcon wasted no time in flying down to finish off the injured bird - they do this by chopping off the prey's head with one quick snap. It looks like it has been cut off with scissors.

In this case the magpies thought they would try for their share of the spoils. The falcon defended his dinner for quite a while but eventually flew off and left the remains to the magpies.

Survivors

2011-08-15T09:15:00.001-06:00

Most people are familiar with Pigeons or Rock Doves. They are often thought of as city birds and many attempts have been made to get rid of them in urban environments.

In their more natural habitat they live in rock caves and shelves. We have a small but steady population that hangs out in the nearby sandstone cliffs year round. Their numbers are kept in check not only by the availability of food and water but also by the resident population of Prairie and Peregrine Falcons who feed on the smaller birds.

During the day the rock doves often lounge on Vertebrae Rock. I took a shot of some with the barely waning full moon behind them this morning.

For a number of years Ken and I raised a few chickens in a coop located in the llama corral. But the truth is we rarely eat eggs and keeping the coop clean was a never-ending chore so we gave all our birds away two years ago. Within a week a mama pigeon had moved into the shelter by digging a tunnel under the door. Since she immediately layed two eggs we decided to let her be until the babies hatched. Ha! Two years later and she and her mate are still there and still raising two chicks every two to three months. I am almost certain it is the same pair and they are quite territorial of their space; often chasing any other pigeon that attempts to share the huge area.

I have learned quite a lot about the birds by watching this pair week after week.
- They always lay two eggs and both have always hatched and been raised to fledgling status.
- Mama and Papa both live in the coop and both have duties but mama seems to be the one who always feeds the chicks.
- Mama feeds her babies by regurgitating food. They stick their little heads down her throat and feed from her gullet.
- She is shy about the feeding and will often lead the babies into the box for that task.

- Weather and temperature do not seem to matter. Last winter mama layed her eggs in temperatures well below zero and still managed to raise two youngsters.

These two are growing fast. They are about 5 weeks old now and will probably fledge in the next few weeks at which time mama will almost immediately start over with two more eggs!

One thing about pigeons is that they can carry human diseases so I always wear a mask and gloves when I am in the coop.

To the right is mama (with freshly regurgitated food on her chest!) and to the left is papa, the enforcer, overseeing the feeding operation!

Night Owl

2011-08-14T08:59:00.000-06:00

I discovered early on that because we live in a rather unique micro-climate, I sometimes have to look outside the usual sources when trying to identify plants. One of my most valuable resources over the years has been a book about wildflowers of the Texas Plains. When my usual tomes of Western or Rocky Mountain flora don't yield the needed information, that is where I turn.

One plant identified that way was the Stick Leaf or Sand Lily. This plant is really very nondescript during the day and may even get confused with a type of thistle. Its leaves are very sticky, as you would expect from the name, but not sharp. The closest thing I can compare them to is velcro - or maybe a really sticky cat tongue!

They are one of the group of plants that blooms at night. Pollination is achieved with the help of night feeding moths which is why they hide their beauty during the day.

If you time it just right you can get photos of the open blooms in the half hour or so before sunset.

It is really amazing to suddenly see a bare ridge come to life with hundreds of beautiful white blooms!

These plants seem to prefer the driest, rockiest, most unlikely soil as their home!

Full Moon

2011-08-13T08:42:00.000-06:00

Knowing that the full moon would be visible this morning and that the weather forecast was for clear skies, I set the alarm for 4:30 am and headed for Powell with my camera in the early morning darkness. My timing was perfect - even with the hour drive - my location good, but my planning left a little to be desired. I remembered the thermos of coffee but forgot my tripod! So I ended up with one or two usable photos of the moon setting behind Heart Mountain but not the shots I was really trying to get.

On the way home across the bench I looked over and saw a herd of antelope running across the prairie with Heart in the background.

As I turned in my drive about 6:30am I glanced at one of my favorite rocks and saw a big cottontail lapping up the sun. I took a couple shots of her before I realized she was not alone. In the photo above you can see a rock wren sitting on the left side of the picture and below you can see the baby bunny seated to her right!

The real bonus came when I neared the house and saw the eagle sitting on a bush just off the drive. He has been around just about every day for the past week but in the distance as a silhouette. This morning he had apparently been hunting bunny and may have trapped one in the bush below.

Stranger than Fiction!

2011-08-12T09:23:00.000-06:00

Today's post is about worms and bugs and a true tale that is stranger than fiction!

The background story: One of the first things Ken and I did when we bought this property almost 20 years ago was to build a small pond in the back yard. It is tiny but has served as an important oasis for wildlife since its creation. This year the liner sprung a leak and we realized the only thing to do was to drain the pond and start over. It was really a great chance to clean out all the accumulated dust and debris of two decades.

The day after cleaning and re-filling the pond we noticed two seemingly unrelated objects in the water: the first was a dead Jerusalem Cricket - known locally as a Death Baby for some unknown reason - and the second was a really disgusting looking worm of about 10" - 12" in length. The crickets are quite ugly and appear ferocious when you come across them on the prairie. They are almost transparent which adds to their otherworldly appearance. They are also quite large as you can see from these photos taken on a piece of white paper beside a dime for scale.

The worm looked like something intestinal and moved in a disturbingly active way. We removed it from the water and put it out of its misery after making suitable sounds of disgust over its appearance. And so the story ended, we thought. Until the next day when we went out to the pond and found another drowned cricket and another worm! After some intense internet research I discovered that the persistent nematode is a Horsehair Worm. And here is where it gets creepy. They are parasites of - what else? - crickets! But the insidious part is what they do to their host. The worms mate and lay their eggs in water. The eggs get carried to the pond edges where they are consumed by crickets and grasshoppers. Once the worm grows inside the insect it changes the makeup of its host and creates an insatiable desire for water. It basically compels its host to commit suicide by drowning at which point the adult worm bursts out of the insect and goes in search of another worm with which to mate. Now is that better than science fiction, or what?!

For the first time in my life I actually feel sorry for the Death Babies!

The small node on the end of the worm seems to be used to grab onto things, allowing the rest of the worm to move into position where it pleases.

Babies

2011-08-11T07:53:00.000-06:00

Chukars are always the last birds to have their babies around here. Just when you have convinced yourself they have all been eaten by the bobcats, you hear that wonderful "chuck, chuck, chuck" and it suddenly seems there are small grey balls of feathers everywhere. There is good reason for their tardiness - the bird's main food source is seeds and they are not usually ready until mid-July at the earliest.

This group is our largest so far. There are fourteen chicks visible in the first photo but we have counted 20 in the brood!

Mama does a good job of looking after them. Typically we see two adults with each group of chicks but this collection always seem to travel with just one. She keeps watching until her entire brood is over the hill and out of sight.

I saw two other babies yesterday - this small mule deer fawn...

And a very young cottontail!

Sssssnakes

2011-08-10T08:46:00.000-06:00

There are two types of snakes we see regularly on our property: bulls and rattlers. The bullsnakes tend to be much larger than the rattlesnakes and they are non-poisonous so we welcome them for their rodent hunting skills.

The biggest bull snake I have ever seen was in our garden this spring. He is trying to look ferocious in this photo to the left but he is really quite harmless. I love the smooth, cool feel of these reptiles but I try not to harass them by picking them up unless they are in danger's way.

We have not seen the big guy all summer but we assumed he - or a friend - was near as we have had less issues with pack rats this summer than is usual. Then, two days ago, we discovered the skin above in the garden. It is in perfect shape and almost 6 feet long! What an amazing feat to be able to shed your skin once it is old and dry. Don't you wish you could do that?!

Yesterday while jogging I ran into the other, less welcome variety of snake. This rattler was kind enough to shake his tail at me as I went by - causing a Michael Jordon, mid-air windmill moment - but then he pulled in and tried to hide from me as I aimed the camera. He is a pretty good size as well. You can see his rattles tucked under his left side but I was not able to count the actual number. His head is just visible under the small sage plant on the right.

Look at these scales - aren't they beautiful?

Whistler Flora and Fauna

2011-08-09T09:00:00.000-06:00

My last post about the trip to Whistler contains a compilation of several of the photos I took of flora and fauna in the area.

With a few exceptions, most of the flora is similar to what you would find in the Yellowstone area. One notable difference is the height of the plants! The Whistler area receives a lot more rainfall in a year than does this area so everything is very green and lush.

To the left is a shot of Bladder Campion.

The daisies were everywhere.

To the right is Hardhack or Steeple Bush. It is one of the few prevalent plants with which I was not familiar.

This flower has a great name: Pipsissewa. I have seen them in Wyoming in the Jackson area but not up our way.

Ken took a photo of me standing by a Fireweed to show how huge they were!

On the waterfall hike we watched a family of Mergansers feeding in the river.

This Tiger Swallowtail was considerate enough to land on the Firecracker Lilies in the hotel garden.

The Whistler area is notorious for its black bears. They are plentiful and much too habituated to humans. This fellow was munching on plants below us as we traveled the chair lift but we saw others in parking lots around the hotel and one that took over a bus stop one evening as we were headed home from dinner!

Whistler Events

2011-08-08T09:20:00.000-06:00

Each year we attend these conventions we are asked ahead of time to pick a daily activity. There are usually 15 - 20 choices and we always try to select those that provide a little exercise. This year we chose the Waterfall Hike on day 1. It was a beautiful excursion with lots of great company but it was certainly more waterfall than hike. We may have walked 2 miles total to view the two waterfalls which were both certainly worth seeing.

On the second day we chose the Pedal and Paddle which included an 8 mile bike ride and a 2 mile canoe around Alta Lake. It was also lovely but a very slow bike ride to accommodate the less experienced riders.

Day 3 was the day we opted for Monkido - the aerial obstacle course. I can honestly say that in almost 20 years of field trips, this is the most fun I have had! There were four courses in sequence: green, blue, red and black. As you advanced along the obstacles got longer and higher until in the black course we were 60' - 100' of the ground. People were able to climb down after each color stage if they wished to stop and several took that option. I really wish we had one of these courses around here - it was a blast!

In the first photo, above, I am performing the Tarzan swing from one tree to the next. When you hit the net on the far side you had to let go of the rope and grab the net and then climb up to the next platform to continue.

Extreme monkey bars!

Waiting on a platform for the gal in front of me to finish so I could cross on the swaying logs. Only one person was allowed on an obstacle at a time for obvious reasons!

Travel between several of the obstacles was a zip line!

Peak to Peak

2011-08-07T07:57:00.000-06:00

Ken and I spent the last week at a conference in Whistler, British Columbia. Wow! What a great spot to spend some time! I have always thought of Whistler as a winter destination but I would not hesitate to go back for a summer holiday.

One of the many activities in which we participated was the Peak to Peak gondola ride. Much of the mountain infrastructure was created for the winter Olympics a few years ago and everything is first class.

To begin the Peak to Peak experience you take a chair lift to the top of one of the two peaks. We decided to start on Blackcomb so we could hike once we got to Whistler.

After the first chair lift you walk a short distance to catch the gondola.

This is truly a marvel of modern engineering. It spans the longest distance of any free spanning gondola in the world. The total distance is just under 3 miles with the longest unsupported span measuring two miles.

A view looking back toward the town of Whistler.

At its highest point the gondola sits 1427 ft above Fitzsimmon's Creek. This is not a ride for anyone who does not like heights!

Once off the gondola you take a second chair lift to the top of Whistler Peak. From there we hiked about three miles back to a spot where we could catch another chairlift back to town.

A great view from the top of Whistler Peak.

Leftovers

2011-07-30T04:10:00.000-06:00

More leftover photos from the last week. Most are from the Beartooth hike with one early morning photo of Heart Mountain thrown in.

First up - the view looking south from our campsite.

Next is the view to the north from the campsite.

One of the first Elephant Heads of the season. These are my favorite wildflowers!

To the left is a Pygmy Bitterroot. These are about a tenth the size of the normal Bitterroot.

This little guy was "hiding" in the grass as we went by. Doesn't he look fierce?

There were two types of Puffballs prevalent on the Beartooth tundra. These misshapen globs were everywhere.

And last, but not least...Heart in the morning!

Feelin' Blue

2011-07-29T11:40:00.000-06:00

I mentioned that we did not see any other people on our Beartooth trek, but that doesn't mean we were alone!
One of the visitors to our camp was a big blue grouse. She was very calm and hung around for a couple hours, sunning herself on a rock near our tent. She seemed totally unperturbed by us or the llamas.

As I was taking photos of the big bird I suddenly noticed movement in the background through my lens. Sure enough, a closer look revealed at least five chicks playing the grass around her feet. Can you see the small ball of feathers against the rock to her left?

Talk about a camo-bird!

On Top of the Beartooth

2011-07-28T07:33:00.000-06:00

This summer has been so busy that it seems the days are flying by and fall will be here before we know it! We decided at the last minute to take a couple days and go llama packing in the Beartooths while we could.

There is still more snow on top than I have ever seen at this time of year. Many of the snow banks will not melt before new snow falls in October. The temperature got down to below freezing at night and the puddles from melting snow were frozen in the morning.

The natural snow sculptures were plentiful and unique! Ken decided to test the strength of one small bridge. Rusty was not convinced it was a good idea.

You can see in this picture why we decided to go around the snow fields when we could. You never knew when it might be hollowed out underneath and falling through would not have been fun for the four llamas we had along.

Spring is just arriving on much of the plateau and the wildflowers are out in all their glory!

We camped on a bench overlooking the plains. We did not see any sign of other humans on our trek. The southern (Wyoming) side of the plateau gets much less traffic than the north (Montana) side - probably because there are no trails so you need to have some map navigation skills to get where you want to go.

I took a couple photos of Heart Mountain from the top but the air over the plains was really hazy so it looks like the picture was taken through waxed paper!

Easy ID

2011-07-26T07:02:00.000-06:00

One of the easiest birds to identify has to be the seemingly ubiquitous red-tailed hawk. They almost always are kind enough to flash their tail in the viewer's direction, allowing for an easy ID.

We don't see a lot of them around our place - they are like the turkey vulture in that they are occasional visitors.

This guy's sound is as distinctive as his looks. I never tire of hearing their scream when they are hunting the area. The funny thing is that it is probably the most abused sound there is. I can't count all the times I have heard it used in a movie or on the radio as an "eagle" call!

Just dropping by...

2011-07-25T10:54:00.000-06:00

Once or twice a year I will look up at a large silhouette, expecting a golden eagle, and realize it is a very different bird indeed!

I am not sure why we so rarely see turkey vultures here when they are very common just a short distance away. The first two photos were taken in Cody last fall when the entire vulture clan was hanging out in a tree, soaking up warm sun rays.

The last two shots were snapped a few days ago just down the road. He looks pretty bedraggled in the first photo but they are still impressive birds for their size alone!

Lazy Days of Summer

2011-07-24T11:31:00.000-06:00

People often ask if our llamas are bothered by the winter cold since they are South American animals. In reality they are used to lower temperatures at high altitude and they seem happier in snow than they are in the middle of July heat. We try to shear them before the summer sun becomes unbearable and, during those two weeks or so of mid-summer when it is unpleasant for all creatures without air-conditioning, I try to hose them down at least once a day.

Their most common defense against becoming over-heated is to do nothing. They are a lot like humans in that way. What I think of as the meditation pose for llamas is called a "kush". It is the pose in which you are most likely to find a relaxing llama whether it is resting on the trail, sleeping at night time or just trying to avoid heat producing activity at mid-day. The photo above shows the grand dame of our herd, Jake's Girl - Jake for short - in a classic kush. Jake is 27 years old and has just begun to show her age in the last six months or so. She has always been a class act and it hurts me to see her struggling to work out the stiffness every time she stands or jumping in fright because she has apparently lost her hearing.

The younger llamas are more likely to lie on their side in the heat of day with their belly and legs exposed. The llama above is Cashmere; one of Jake's great-granddaughters, in a casual moment. You would never see Jake in such an undignified pose!

And then it seems we always have one llama in the herd who is totally uncouth! Here is Rusty in his bare-all, I-don't-give-a-damn-what-the-world-thinks-of-me pose. If he was human he would be the guy sunbathing naked in his back yard!

Coneheads

2011-07-22T07:13:00.000-06:00

This time of year the "coneheads" seem to take over the prairie! Pink Prairie Clover and its close cousin, White Prairie Clover, are widespread and abundant. The flowers and leaves look nothing like the more recognizable red and white field clovers with their magical lucky leaves.

The other cone shaped wildflower we see a lot this time of year is the Prairie Coneflower. The other name for this plant is Mexican Hat. I wonder if the hombre who owned the hat below had two heads!?

Morning Hike

2011-07-18T11:33:00.000-06:00

For the last five days I have been tied up with Quilt Wyoming, the annual convention of the Wyoming State Quilt Guild. It is always a fun event and a great chance to catch up with friends that live in other parts of the state. The convention travels around five designated regions and this was the year for Northwest Wyoming to be the host. That meant that we all had lots of work to do and now we get to enjoy the next four years as other regions are in charge.
My one disappointment from the event was that my new little Nikon camera let me down. I took dozens of shots - or so I thought - but found an empty card when I got home last night!

One of my favorite quilters, Vikki Pignatelli, came from Ohio to teach at the conference and she and husband Denny then came to stay with us for a few days before traveling on to another teaching engagement later this week. This morning we went on a short llama trek to look at the scenery. Denny was leading Hobbitt - above - who decided he needed to stop and eat some wild onion. Who knew a llama could have onion breath?

On the way up to the lookout.

Ken, Pancho, Rusty, Vikki, Capolla, Denny and Hobbitt pose for a photo.

Views

2011-07-13T06:37:00.000-06:00

Most of my photos are of fauna and flora but I occasionally take shots of the beautiful landscapes in which I find myself.
As I get ready to head out the door to Quilt Wyoming for the next few days, I thought I would show a sampling of a few shots from the trip to Montana and back.

The first shot above shows the view from Ted Turner's back deck with Spanish Peaks in the background.

The second shot is also on Turner's ranch. Everything is so green this year!

The third photo was taken on our hike in Lamar Valley in Yellowstone National Park.

This shot is from the Lamar River Trailhead and showcases the sticky geranium in the foreground.

And, of course, the obligatory picture of Heart Mountain. This view is from the west as you come down Chief Joseph Highway.

Dog Days

2011-07-12T09:59:00.001-06:00

On our way to Bozeman on Saturday we had to go by the Greycliff Prairie Dog Colony State Park (not quite the right name - but close). Not only was it a sunny day, but we actually had a few minutes to spare so I talked Ken into taking a short detour.
I get such a kick out of watching these social creatures in action!

Left - "Don't you hate waiting for your nails to dry after a manicure?"

Mama on the lookout while her youngsters play.

Right - The guy who sounds the warning when intruders like me show up!

Social hour.

Taking it easy!

Four Bear-ance

2011-07-11T10:05:00.000-06:00

On Saturday we attended an event hosted by Ted Turner on his bison ranch in Montana - more about that another day.

Because we were so far from home, we decided to spend Saturday night near Big Sky and then drive home through Yellowstone Park on Sunday. We debated where to stop for a hike in the Park and decided on a trail along the river in Lamar Valley. This is a hike we have done dozens of times before and one we always enjoy.

When we crossed the bridge over the Lamar we realized we were going to have to change our plan a bit. Not only was the low ground where the trail crosses very marshy from recent rains, but the bison were strewn across the bottom land blocking access without putting yourself in danger. So we decided to bushwack a little and take a route we have taken in the past that leads more to the east toward a large band of rock. We did not do this trek at all last year because the area was closed all summer due to bear activity.
We are always very bear aware and perhaps even more so this week since the tragic mauling death of a tourist by a grizzly bear near Canyon.

About two miles into our hike, as we were approaching the rock wall, I heard a noise and saw a flash of black fur running through the brush toward a big tree. Ken was behind me so I turned and yelled "bear" to warn him. He came up to me and we both had our bear spray in hand as we tried to assess the situation.
The conversation went like this:
Ken: Where is it?
Me: In that big tree. I think he climbed up.
Ken: I see him. It looks like a cub.
Me: He is really cinnamon colored! I thought he was black.
Ken: He is black.
Me: OMG! There are two bears in the tree!

Sure enough - there were two bears in the tree; one cinnamon colored and one black. We were pretty sure they were black bears but we didn't want to take the time to try to figure it out for sure at that moment and we sure didn't want to underestimate a mama bear of any kind. We started to continue on our way but quickly realized that was going to take us even closer to the pair and could be construed as a threatening move on our part. So we backed out slowly the way we had come, keeping eyes and ears open for any sign of pursuit and keeping our bear spray firmly in hand.

I did click off a few shots as you can see but I want to emphasize that 1) I took the shots during those few seconds we were deciding what to do - we did not linger or try to get closer for a better view and 2) I was using a high quality 400mm lens and have since cropped these photos. We were not anywhere as close as you might think from these shots!

All in all we saw four bears on our trip through the Park - almost certainly all black bears. I am just happy we did not see a fifth in this pair's protective mama!

Bald Ridge Beauty

2011-07-09T06:57:00.000-06:00

Bald Ridge is an area about three miles to the south of our property that is made up of both BLM and National Forest land. It is critical wintering area for much of the area's big game species and it is a wonderful place to hike for some great views.

I was not fortunate enough to have blue skies on my recent visit but that didn't ruin the day.

This tree always makes me think of an African landscape.

Western Tanager (top) and Green-Tailed Towhee (right)

Another view of Heart Mountain on the return trip.

Friday Leftovers

2011-07-08T07:06:00.000-06:00

Everybody should have a "Leftovers" day: a day when you don't cook and don't think - you just grab whatever is in the refrig and make a meal. This is kind of like that. Below are a group of random photos taken over the last week or so that really don't have a place of their own in the blog-o-sphere.

First up is the Lark Bunting. We have a group of half a dozen or so that are hanging around our lower field for the summer.

Next is Ms Ladybug making her way up a yucca bud.

The prickly pear are in full bloom.

And the female Yellowheaded Blackbird may not be quite as striking as her mate, but she is pretty colorful all the same!

All in the Family

2011-07-07T07:47:00.000-06:00

Here we do not witness the large pronghorn migrations that they get in the southwest part of the state involving hundreds of antelope. But we do have a pretty healthy resident population that hangs around for much of the year. In the winter they will gather in bigger groups but this time of year we see individuals or small family clusters. It has been a real treat to see quite a few young this year. Still - seeing this group of two mamas with five youngsters yesterday was wonderful!

If you click on this photo you will see the youngsters exhibiting the "warning" behavior of fluffing up their white butts even though the mamas seem pretty calm. I am not sure if it is more a sign to warn others - like a white tail deer does when it throws up its tail - or an attempt to make them seem bigger than they are - like a cat.

And, of course, I had to include a shot with Heart Mountain. Two of the babies had wandered off a little ways in this photo.

Ken and Allmon (our grandson) took a three day trip to Deep Lake and back, arriving home yesterday. I have to share this shot Ken took at Deep Lake of a snowshoe hare in the middle of his transition from white winter wear to brown summer garb. I wish I had seen it!!

Unexpected Consequences

2011-07-06T07:35:00.000-06:00

No one predicted that bringing the wolves back to Yellowstone would be good for beavers. But that is exactly what happened. As the wolves thinned out some elk herds and dispersed others, willow began to re-grow in stream beds and the beaver had food to eat once again. Now, for the first time in decades, beaver are making a come-back in the Park.

On a much more local level, we did not foresee the changes that would come about when ravens decided to move into our yard this spring.

The biggest loss has been the daily sightings of the golden eagle. It seems the constant harassment was just too much and so the big bird has decided to hunt elsewhere for the time being. We will see, now that the baby raven has fledged, whether the eagle makes his way back to his old stomping grounds or not.

The other unexpected consequence of having the ravens was that they chased most of the magpies away from the area of our house. This is not a bad thing. Magpies are brutal in their destruction of nests of smaller birds and we have seen one example after the next over the last few years of birds building nests and laying eggs only to have the eggs or even the baby birds killed and consumed by marauding magpies.

One of the small birds I am thrilled to see return this year is the rock wren. They have a nest in our garden - 10 feet from the back door - and it is such a treat to watch them fly in and out all day long.

They are pretty, they have a beautiful voice and they eat bugs. What's not to love!

The rabbit brush is starting to turn yellow.

And then there were three...

2011-07-05T11:45:00.000-06:00

Mama bluebird (top) brought her youngster out to show off this morning.

Papa sat on the light post nearby and watched over them both.

I love this shot of papa launching himself off the tree branch!

Canyon View

2011-07-04T11:04:00.000-06:00

It was such a beautiful morning that I decided to take a drive down to the canyon with a short hike up Little Rocky Creek as a side trip. The view above is Heart Mountain with a little piece of Bald Ridge in the foreground.

This shot is looking back at Flat Iron from the south.

I love the look of the red rock from the Chugwater formation that pops up all along the Beartooth Front.

As I drove back in my driveway I caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of my eye. I stopped for a closer look and caught this baby cottontail - about the size of my fist - frozen in place in hopes that he was invisible!

Happy 4th!

Running Experiment

2011-07-03T09:33:00.000-06:00

I don't know how many times I have said that I wish I could carry my camera on my morning run. But when you shoot a 10lb Canon 7D like I do, even walking with it is a commitment! I think Ken got tired of my whining because he came home from Billings yesterday and handed me a Nikon Coolpix S8100. From March until November each year I run with a butt pack so I can carry my bear spray. The Nikon fits easily into the pack and I don't even know I am carrying it.

It is definitely a compromise. The colors are not as true as with the Canon nor is the resolution anywhere close (as one would expect with this type of camera.) But that is a small price to pay. Bigger issues are getting used to the lack of a view finder and the extra time I am now going to have to allot for my daily run!

My first subject this morning was a buck antelope. He let me know he was there with his usual huff. They sound so insulted when they snuffle at you! But instead of running away from me, he ran across in front and ducked under the BLM fence, putting him much closer than he had been to start with.

I was able to take a shot of Heart Mountain with a yucca foreground.

At the turn-around in the northeast corner I heard the familiar tch,tch, tch that makes my heart pound. You may have to click on the images to get a good look at the first rattler of the year. Usually by this time we would have seen a dozen or more but they have been scarce this spring. The poor photo quality has nothing to do with the camera. Even though I like snakes and even though my brain tells me there is no danger from this one, my body reacts with a visceral response every time I hear a rattler. It is tough to take a steady shot when your already exercise-elevated heart rate suddenly gets an extra shot of adrenaline!

Near Misses and Follow-Up

2011-07-02T09:48:00.000-06:00

Near Misses

The problem with photographing wildlife is that they don't always want to sit still and pose. I was outside last night when I was surprised to see two cedar waxwings land on a tree nearby. Surprised because we rarely see them this time of year - they are usually fall visitors. By the time I ran inside to get the camera they had moved to a ground wire on the roof of the garage. My only photo is of a pair of beautiful birds in a not-so-beautiful setting!

Near miss #2 happened this morning. I looked out the window to see two mule deer bucks posing perfectly in the light of the rising sun. By the time I got in position there was one buck left and he was standing in the shade. At least he waited in the middle of some blooming yucca!

Follow Up

A couple days ago I asked if anyone could help identify this bird I observed near Bondurant. It was driving me crazy so last night I pulled out the Roger Tory Peterson book of western birds for another go. By chance (??) when I set the book down it fell open to the page on Buntings. Eureka! Meet Mrs. Lazuli Bunting. Not to be sexist but I wish I could have also seen her strikingly colorful mate!

Follow-up #2
I said I would post a photo that better depicts the 3-D nature of my challenge quilt "Seven Billion and Counting". So here it is.

Year of the Yucca

2011-07-01T12:57:00.000-06:00

As mentioned many times over the last few months, this year's spring rains have afforded lots of opportunities to admire wildflowers. But in reality I never really think of the prairie as being in bloom until the yucca and the prickly pear burst forth. This is that week! Suddenly our land is a sea of white blossoms.

Yucca plants provide protection and food for a number of species. This lark sparrow is enjoying having a perch with a view.

Yucca leaves and seed pods are edible and in years of poor forage the deer and antelope will often munch on the buds. This year there is so much else to eat that it is only the ants and aphids that seem to be harvesting the yucca sugar.

The plant to the left is so laden with blooms that it can't stand straight!

Each plant has multiple stems this year, taking advantage of the excess moisture to make lots of seeds.

Some flowers have much redder coatings than others, providing a little bit of color in an otherwise white world!

Southwest Wyoming Pics

2011-06-30T12:53:00.000-06:00

On the way home from Rock Springs we took the scenic route so we could stop by my in-law's place near Bondurant for a day. From there we headed north through Jackson and then Yellowstone Park to make our way home. These are just a few of the photos from those days.

To the left is Silky Phacelia. Doesn't that sound like it should be a name for a stripper?

Green gentians are huge plants with beautiful flowers that are easily overlooked because of their color.

Mission bells (right) are members of the lily family.

Tree swallows have taken up nest on the barn.

If anyone knows what this bird is, please tell me. The beak says sparrow or maybe finch family but I am at a loss as to the identity.

The ground squirrels are plentiful this year.

Chipmunks love the wood pile.

Sleeping Indian is still sleeping!

Passions

2011-06-29T13:59:00.001-06:00

Like most people, I am passionate about my human family, my animal family and my friends. Beyond that, I don't think it would surprise most people, even those blog readers who have never met me in person, that my passions are for fabric art, photography and the environment - not necessarily in that order on any given day. One of the many ways I express the latter is by serving on the Board of Wyoming Outdoor Council (WOC). This weekend was the date for one of the group's quarterly meetings so Ken and I got in the car and drove to Rock Springs. WOC has designated certain parts of the state as "heritage landscapes". These are areas of particular environmental concern in which we feel protections are necessary to ensure the lands are preserved for wildlife or wildland habitat for future generations. We are making an effort to hold our meetings in the areas of these special places so that board members from all over the state can get a sense of the incredible values they contain.

As we headed south last Friday morning it was sunny and a wonderful 84 degrees. Then just past Cody we saw a large, dark storm cloud moving in and all of a sudden we found ourselves in the most violent hail storm I have ever witnessed! The hail was only about dime sized but it was relentless and plentiful. Driving was not an option so we pulled off the side of the road as did the vehicles behind us. The temperature dropped instantly to 40 degrees and the land became white. After about 20 minutes things calmed down and we went slowly on our way until the hail melted and the day brightened once again.

Meetings were held on Saturday but Sunday was a time for exploring the amazing lands slightly west and south of Rock Springs, in particular the area around Little Mountain.

We were able to take a great group hike of several hours to a lookout point that gave us a vista of vast lands of incredible scenic and wildlife value.

The flower to the left is sulfur paintbrush.

The pronghorn were plentiful and we enjoyed watching one newborn race circles around and around its mother at dizzying speed.

The view from the lookout was vast and breathtaking.

Fledged!

2011-06-24T08:15:00.000-06:00

We looked out the window this morning and saw the ravens hopping around on the ground. For a minute we wondered what was going on and then it dawned on us that there were three birds in the group. The baby has fledged!
I could not get a family portrait but mama and papa are still both on the ground in the area encouraging junior to spread his wings.

Actually, spreading his wings does not seem to be a problem. Getting off the ground, on the other hand, is proving to be a scarier concept. He keeps running to the top of the sandstone rock, flapping like crazy and running back down again. I am sure it is only a matter of time before he has the flight thing mastered.

In the third photo you can see a closer shot of the youngster. Like all baby birds he has a beak that seems too big for his growing body.

I am including a shot of Heart Mountain taken last night from Cody. It looks backwards to me since I am used to looking south at the big rock and this is the view looking north.

Evening Primrose

2011-06-23T08:09:00.000-06:00

Several years ago I created a quilt titled "A Week in May" that chronicled 7 days in the life of an evening primrose plant. It showed the cluster of green leaves on day one and evolved through the formation of buds, blooms and wilted flowers, all accomplished within the time period specified. This year I would be forced to change the name of the quilt - not because the cycle time is any different but rather because, for the first time I can remember, the evening primrose did not bloom until mid-June. Photos of these beautiful blooms must be taken early in the morning as they turn pink and wilt with the sun.

The common variety on our place is the "Gumbo Evening Primrose" which grows directly from the sandstone in tight clusters with short stemmed blossoms.

Besides changes in timing the other result of a spring of mega moisture and cooler temperatures is that we are seeing plants we have never seen before. I can only assume the seeds have been dormant for decades awaiting the perfect combination of weather events to suddenly burst forth and make their presence known! One such plant is another variety of evening primrose - the Prairie Evening Primrose shown below. It is not nearly as pretty as the Gumbo, in my opinion, but it seems to be a little more tolerant of the sun as the blooms stay visible all day.

As I walked out his morning to take these shots I was joined by a cottontail who seemed much more concerned about getting his fill of cheat grass than he was about me or my companion, Frank the cat.

Beautifully Bitter

2011-06-22T11:02:00.000-06:00

One of the plants that shows its beautiful face for a very short time in late spring is bitterroot. The plant is actually there for several weeks but until the flower blooms it is easily overlooked. The first photo shows the leaves at their best.

As the flowers develop the leaves seem to shrivel and disappear and the plant is truly near invisible on the rocky ground. Then - overnight, it seems - the flowers unfurl and there are beautiful pink blossoms everywhere!

NQA Show

2011-06-21T13:17:00.000-06:00

Today I am posting just a few photos from the NQA Annual Show in Columbus, Ohio. I look forward all year to attending this event. Great quilts, wonderful friends, inspiring classes and fun-filled events: what's not to love?

One of my favorite events of the show each year is the Little Quilt Auction. Several hundred people donate quilts that are auctioned off either in the daily silent auctions or in the rowdier Friday night live auction. I have participated by donating a quilt for the last two years and purchasing quilts for the last three. I was delighted when my entry - "Shooting Stars" - went for more than $200 this year. And I was even more excited to bring home the beautiful piece above, "Cabins and Roses" by the very talented Fran Kordek.

I could not resist signing up for a class by Esterita Austin on adding depth to your quilt. Esterita provided the pattern and guided us on using our fabrics to emphasize light and shadow. I was especially pleased to use my own snow-dyed fabric, along with a small piece of batik, to create the still life above. A small amount of paint was added to bring out the high and low lights of the fabric patterning.

Another highlight of the show was winning a ribbon for the second year in a row in the Sew Batik Challenge. There were about 70 entries this year. This is a terrible photo of my entry. Terrible because I took it face on and the whole thing with this piece is that it is 3-D. The theme was log-cabin and I created 49 houses 2.5" x 2.5" x 3.5" high. The sides are all log cabin blocks and the base of each building is Timtex. I think I can honestly say that this "quilt" generated more interest than any I have made. Every time I went by there was a crowd gathered discussing how it was constructed. I don't think anyone thought it was a beautiful piece - they were just enthralled by the "how" of the creation! Once "Seven Billion and Counting" makes its way home I will post another photo from the side showing the 3-D nature of the piece.

The last photo for today is a shot of the entire length of 21 quilts in the "Sky-Lines" exhibit. These are quilts created by members of TAGY out of Cody, Wyoming and WAV based in Billings, Montana. One of the advantages of helping to hang the show is that I was able to get a shot of the exhibit with no people around and before the name tags were hung. I received lots of good feedback from viewers about this exhibit which will now go on to show at Quilt Wyoming before finally making its way back to the artists.

Contest Results and More

2011-06-20T08:31:00.000-06:00

I returned home yesterday evening from a week in Columbus, Ohio at the NQA Annual Quilt Show. It was an amazing, exciting, creative, exhausting time! Who would believe quilting could involve so much hard work? I will post some images from the show in the days to come but today I wanted to follow up on the contest I presented before I left. If you remember, the challenge was to come up with a more imaginative name for the flower pictured than its official handle of "Golden Weed".
I received five entries with alternative suggestions. Because of the small number and because I really like them all better than the current name, I have decided to award the prize - a three pack of Light in the Valley greeting cards - to all five. Please send your mailing address to me at kathylich@yahoo.com and I will put your prize in the mail.
The five entries were:
Honeydrops by Janice PD
Sunnyside Ups by Sylvia Weir
Sun Spots by Lera Cavanaugh
Prairie Paddle Star by Linda Mac
Sun Wheels by Karen M
Thank you all for participating!

Meanwhile...some things never change. Shortly after I arrived home I looked out the window to see the two adult ravens harassing the golden eagle. I cannot believe the eagle chose his perch on top of the blooming evening primrose! Too bad there wasn't better lighting but I really appreciate the eagle's attempt at composition!

Contest!

2011-06-10T11:45:00.000-06:00

I have decided to post my first ever blog contest - but you have to work to win a prize!

Some wildflowers have wonderfully creative names that allow a listener to envision the plant without ever having seen it. Gayfeather, Elephanthead and Miner's Candle (pictured left) are just a few of my favorites. Then there are those poor flowers that suffer from the ego of their discoverer: the delicately purple, very feminine Douglasia comes to mind.

But worst of all are those flowers whose names display a distinct lack of imagination. The lovely plants below grow in abundance on our place in late spring. Their name - Golden Weed. Really? That was the best they could do?

The contest is to come up with a better name for these flowers. Perhaps something that signifies their sunny nature. The person who comes up with the best alternative - as determined by me and a few of my friends - will win a three pack of my Light in the Valley greeting cards. I leave tonight for the National Quilting Association Convention in Columbus, Ohio and will be away from my blog for the entire next week. That means you have 10 days to come up with the perfect moniker and save this plant from further disgrace! The winner will be announced upon my return on June 20.
To submit your entry just leave a comment on this post or send an email to kathylich@yahoo.com with your name, your suggestion and the words flower contest in the subject line.

Since I will be gone for a while I wanted to provide an update on the raven babies. I have been trying to leave them alone and give them time to gather strength. I figured with the crazy weather - 65 mph winds, torrential rains and record breaking cold for this time of year, they probably had enough stress to deal with. I keep thinking I can hear two distinct baby bird voices at feeding time but I can only absolutely verify one chick alive, well and hungry as of yesterday.

Rock Stars

2011-06-09T08:05:00.000-06:00

I love living in the middle of a giant rock garden! It is inevitable that some of the formations are eventually given names depending on their appearance. We have both big and small outcroppings that have earned that honor.

The two biggest identifiable rocks are Vertebrae (above) and Tower (below). The first is about 30' high and 200' long. Not only does it sit in approximately the center of our land - like a backbone - it actually looks like a spinal column.

Tower Rock can be seen from quite a distance and is often the first thing people comment on when they visit because of its relative isolation from other large formations. It is about 100' high.

Almost all our rock is sandstone which means it changes over time. Especially with the amount of rain we have had this year.

My favorite smaller rock formation is the three spinsters to the right. Can't you see their faces and each unique bonnet they are wearing?

Ken calls the rock below the Snowman. I always think it looks like one of the statues from Easter Island. I can't imagine his hat is going to survive for too many more years before toppling.

And the last rock in this group is Rooster. He even has a lichen colored comb!

Where's the Beach?

2011-06-08T08:42:00.000-06:00

I always get a kick out of seeing shore birds in Wyoming. Maybe it is because I grew up on an island but I always expect things like herons and pelicans to be hanging out on the coast - not the prairie!

This spotted sandpiper on the left seemed to be perfectly happy digging around in a puddle off the Green River. I saw several of the birds on my morning hike.

Killdeer seem to be at home in many environments but they always look like they should be on a sandy beach somewhere.

One of the treats I had on my hike along the river was the opportunity to see four different types of swallows: Barn, Cliff, Bank and Violet-Green!

More Birds of Green River

2011-06-07T07:09:00.000-06:00

Two of the birds I saw in Green River that I am unlikely to see at home were the Bullock's Oriole and the Catbird. The first is a strikingly beautiful bird that stands out like a beacon in the brush.

The catbird, on the other hand, has a more subtle beauty. Unless you look closely you might not notice the black mohawk or the reddish butt. Understated elegance!

Bird Break

2011-06-06T09:55:00.000-06:00

To get to Green River from here you have to go up and over South Pass. As you climb the steady incline to almost 8000' where you eventually cross the Continental Divide, there is a view to the west of which I never tire.
It almost looks like I have the camera at an angle but if you focus on the Wind River Mountains in the background you will see it is the earth that is tilted, not the photographer!

For some reason Green River seems to be the perfect environment for the Wyoming Ground Squirrel. These surprisingly cute rodents always seem willing to pose for the camera!

Gifts

2011-06-05T11:20:00.000-06:00

The original plan was to continue posting about the birds and scenery of Green River but sometimes life presents you with unexpected gifts and it is best to accept the offering!

Yesterday I noticed movement in the honeysuckle bush. When I looked more closely, I was amazed to discover an adult male MacGillivray's Warbler perched on one of the branches. Never heard of it? Neither had I! And, more amazing, neither had Ken! The giveaway is the white around the eyes, giving it a somewhat devilish look. Not only are these birds uncommon, they are normally found in deciduous patches near water (according to Sibley). I suspect the recent high winds may have had something to do with his apparent detour.

What a treat!

The garden flowers are finally starting to bloom. The columbines will be in full riot this week.

Speaking of nature's gifts, I was given yet another this morning. I saw something on my morning run I have never seen before. As I approached the SE corner I suddenly realized there were two giant jackrabbits nose to nose on the trail in front of me. This is amazing for a number of reasons:

- I have never seen two jackrabbits together before.

- They tend to be nocturnal so when I do see one it is almost always in the headlights of the car.

- When you are used to seeing cottontails everyday, seeing even one jackrabbit is like seeing Godzilla when you are expecting a sand lizard!

The pair saw me at the instant I saw them and took off in opposite directions. The one on the left looped off like a normal jack. The one on the right began pronging on all fours - just like a fleeing mule deer or a happy llama. Every prong took it a couple feet in the air before all four legs touched down and it pogo-ed up again. It was a truly wondrous sight to behold!

Commoners

2011-06-04T07:44:00.000-06:00

I just returned from judging a wonderful little quilt show in Green River, Wyoming. I love traveling to that city as they have a great river walk where I always manage to see birds I wouldn't see at home.

Even though all these shots were collected along the Green River, the robin is obviously not an uncommon bird anywhere in North America.

People do not get excited about seeing photographs of robins, which is too bad because I love taking them! Not only are they beautiful birds, they are amazingly human-tolerant, which means I can get closer to them than I can to many species.

Warblers

2011-06-01T07:31:00.000-06:00

Like everything else this year, the warblers have been later than usual in passing through. They are now making up for their tardiness in sheer numbers. Almost all the tiny fliers we have seen have been members of the same species: the aptly (but not so elegantly) named Yellow-rumped Warblers.

Heart in the Clouds

2011-05-31T08:52:00.000-06:00

This morning we woke to sunshine for the first time in days! With all the humidity we have had, Heart Mountain looked like it was wearing a skirt.

In the closer photo you can see the new snow that has fallen in the last 48 hours. The meteorologists are predicting warmer weather later this week so maybe the spring snowmelt will finally begin.

A few days ago I mentioned that we try to stay away from the solitary female elk this time of year as they get ready to calf. Ironically it seems that every year there is at least one mama who comes to us when the big day arrives. Maybe they sense they will be safer from lions, bobcats and coyotes closer to our house. This mama has been pacing our back field for two days and left for higher ground with her newborn calf this morning!

Fisherman

2011-05-30T07:21:00.000-06:00

On a grey morning a few days ago I saw this fellow fishing in Bennett Creek. Ospreys are fascinating birds; built exceedingly well for their purpose.
- They are the only raptors that dive head and feet first into the water after their prey.
- They have unique talon features, allowing them to not only grip slippery fish but also to turn them so they can fly aerodynamically with their meal in hand.
- Their eyes are huge, letting them see fish swimming beneath the surface of the water below.

There was an article in last week's Jackson Hole Guide talking about the effort to tag three osprey in Grand Teton Park with radio transmitters last summer. Of the trio the youngest went to Texas for the winter and is still there. The second bird wintered in Mexico and is already back in the Park. The third defied all common sense, current knowledge and logic and went to Cuba for the winter. He has now returned to his summer home on the Snake River!

Look at those eyes!

Weekend Hike

2011-05-29T08:59:00.000-06:00

Yesterday's plan was to do a short hike and then get something done. Somehow, between breakfast and walking out the door, the plan changed to a longer trek somewhere in the vicinity of North Bennett Creek. Eight hours, fourteen miles and 2200 feet later, we returned home - tired, sore and hungry!

Elk are not the only hoofed mammals heading to higher elevations this time of year. This male pronghorn was up at about 6000', enjoying the new grass and the relative isolation.

Once we reached our turning point we had a great view across the valley and all the way to Heart Mountain. On the right side of the photo you can see the rocky ridge that runs up to the plateau at the top of Flatiron. It is a good view of the hike we took a couple weeks ago. What looks like a road at the bottom is really the remnants of the fire break they cut in four or five years ago when a forest fire went through the area.

Just as on Flatiron, we saw quite a bit of Kelseya on the upper part of this hike. These plants seem much older than the ones to the south. They are also further behind in their development as they receive less sun.

On the return portion of the hike I came across the first Prairie Smoke I have seen this year. This plant is in its flowering stage. The species does not get much attention until the fruit is visible - beautiful wispy strands that dance in the wind - looking like little puffs of smoke blowing across the prairie!

Pick your Poison

2011-05-28T07:43:00.000-06:00

In my mind, weeds are those invasive plants that are introduced to an area and then try and take over. Everything else is a wildflower. But just because it has a nicer label doesn't mean it can't still be dangerous to stock and wildlife. These four plants grow in abundance on our property and are just a small sampling of the plants that could do serious harm if consumed. Lucky for us - and them - both llamas and wild animals seem to have a second sense for what not to eat and, as long as they have adequate feed available, they will stay away from those things that might hurt them.

The first plant is dock - Rumex Crispus - a very pretty flower that blooms early in the spring and then disappears. It only grows on our place in the sandiest of soils.

Death Camus - Zygadenus spp. - is a lovely flower with a deceptively delicate bloom. The most dangerous part of the plant is below ground. I have never seen a crop like this year - they have taken over most of our front pasture. The biggest danger with this plant to humans is that if you are not careful it can be mistaken for wild onion or wild garlic, both of which are just starting to bloom as well.

Silvery lupine- Lupinus Argenteus - is a common sight in much of the west. The seeds are especially toxic.

Loco weed - Oxytropis spp. - can be a real problem for horses in particular. Llamas don't seem to care for it but I have heard stories of horses becoming addicted to it and refusing to eat anything else. It causes locoism in the animals which attacks the motor and nervous systems.

Noisemaker

2011-05-27T11:29:00.000-06:00

I was reminded this morning that there is actually a baby bird with a voice more obnoxious than a magpie! Clark's Nutcrackers are regular visitors to our place, although they spend most of their summers higher in the mountains. They have their chicks very early, probably so they can be ready to head up as soon as the snow melts.

These birds are instrumental in propagating the white bark pine as they stash seeds which turn into trees if not collected.

Can't you tell that his beak is ideal for breaking into pine cones and extracting seeds?

The tree below is a fir - not food for the Nutcracker - but you can tell by its new growth that this is going to be a year of great cone production - at least at this elevation!

A Slight Reprieve

2011-05-26T08:40:00.000-06:00

We decided to take advantage of a short break in the inclement weather yesterday by hiking to the high point in our back pasture. I was able to see Heart Mountain for the first time in days as the cloud cover lifted.

We are very careful when hiking this time of year to stay as far away from the mama elk as possible. It is tough to do as we have many that use our property as a maternity ward. In the winter months they gather in numbers of up to several hundred. This time of year the females tend to be solitary as they search out remote, quiet areas to give birth. This one is keeping a close eye on us even though we are across a deep ravine from her spot. We saw about a dozen lone females in the distance on our three hour hike.

We also spotted another LBB, or little brown bird. I had to look this one up when we got home. It turns out he is a summer visitor that usually winters in South America called a Swainson's Thrush. I don't know who Swainson was but he has several birds named after him!

Building an Ark

2011-05-25T08:30:00.000-06:00

The photo above shows what it looked like yesterday on our place. For several days we have been hearing how all previous records for rainfall in the area have been shattered. And it is not over yet! Just for the record, we do not normally have a waterfall in our back yard!

Our only real rain gauge is the llama bowls. Usually we are happy if we see 1/4" in the bottom. After all, our average annual rainfall is about 6" - that includes snow melt. Yesterday we emptied the bowls twice, each time of approximately 3/4" of water. Then this morning we discovered what you see in the photo; an additional 2 1/2" or more!

I feel bad for the llamas and the baby birds and the baby cottontail and everything else that can't really get out of the rain. They are predicting a short break today followed by several more days of moisture.

Quatro (above) seems to be taking it all in stride. I think we may rename Dusty (below) and start calling her Muddy instead!

And one more makes three...

2011-05-24T08:37:00.000-06:00

A few days ago I talked about the chipping sparrow and the lark sparrow. Last night a third member of the family stopped by - the white-crowned sparrow. He is not as colorful as the other two but has some beautiful markings nonetheless.

He sang a song as he sat on the fence post, unimpressed by the fact that both Frank the cat and I were within a few feet of his perch!

Stately Birds

2011-05-23T08:42:00.001-06:00

The meadowlark is the official bird of six states, including Wyoming. It is not surprising when you realize it has both good looks and a great sound in its favor! Add that to the fact that it is a symbol of warmer weather - at least in this state - and how could it not be given such an honor?

I may be one of the few people who enjoys looking at the back of a meadowlark as much as the front. I think the complexity of the black and white patterning is beautiful. And the surprise of discovering the bright yellow front when he raises his head to sing is just a wonderful bonus to an already incredible viewing.

This is the classic meadowlark pose for photos. What a work of art!

Isn't it surprising how much he blends in to the branches, even with the beacon on his chest?

Yesterday I had the amazing experience of seeing a pair of red-naped sapsuckers down by the irrigation ditch. That was a first sighting for me and maybe the only one in my life of that particular species. Unfortunately the only photo I got was totally out of focus - it had just enough detail for Ken to confirm I saw what I thought I did!

Its a Boy...

2011-05-21T15:07:00.000-06:00

or a girl...or a boy and a girl and another boy!! I count three heads begging mama raven for food. No wonder they were so testy yesterday - they had newborns to protect.
I can't overstate how blessed I feel at having the opportunity to witness this amazing event. Naturalists will tell you that seeing baby ravens in a nest in the wild is almost unheard of. The only other time I was so lucky was twenty years ago in Yellowstone Park. And this pair chose our front yard!