Archive for the ‘deer’ Category

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Glacier National Park

Sunday, July 4th, 2010

Have been in the St. Mary area of Glacier National Park for almost two weeks (without hookups). It is really incredible, lots of waterfalls and wildflowers. Coming at the end of June this year, it seemed less crowded than last year. Part of this is due to roadwork on Going-to-the-Sun Road, where access over Logan Pass is closed at 9 p.m. There was very little traffic on the road at 7 p.m.. There is still snow at Logan Pass. People were using their skiing gear on my first visit there. The snow is melting fast though, creating waterfalls everywhere

The first two photos above were taken on the way to Logan Pass. The third one is from Many Glacier. It’s the first time I’ve visited that area. Wish I could stay at the campground there, but my rv is too long. The bottom picture is the Two Medicine area. You can see the variety of weather I had.

When stopped near Logan Pass waiting to drive through a one lane road where work was being done, saw the sheep in the top picture. On another visit the sheep in the bottom picture was in the Logan Pass parking lot. He was licking the pavement. Perhaps salt was there from snow removal. There were people all around him taking pictures and he was oblivious to them. It was just when some people let their two dogs out of their car that he looked up.

Sharp-tailed grouse

On one drive down Going-to-the-Sun Road passed people watching a black bear. Went back the next evening thinking it would probably return, and it did. This time park rangers were also on hand. The ranger above was going to shoot it with a rubber bullet and aim a firecracker over it’s head to scare it away, but I think the bear got away that night. I didn’t go back the next night.

A white tailed deer was grazing while keeping an eye on the bear. The bear eventually gave a half-hearted lunge towards the deer and it took off.

The large variety of wildflowers at the park is amazing. There are a mix of prairie and alpine flowers. Bear grass (beargrass?) is shown below in an area hit by fire in the past.

Wikipedia:

X. tenax is an important part of the fire ecology of regions where it is native. It has rhizomes which survive fire that clears dead and dying plant matter from the surface of the ground. The plant thrives with periodic burns and is often the first plant to sprout in a scorched area.

Posted in National, St. Mary, bear, deer, goats, grouse | No Comments »

Gentle rains in Oregon

Saturday, April 24th, 2010

Have been in Oregon, south of Eugene, for the past two weeks. Wanted to stay someplace I could get UPS deliveries directly and get some work done. Have been putting off organizing and backing up my photos for a long time. Found the frequent gentle rains here conducive to staying inside and working. While the weather in Tulelake was often cold and windy, as soon as I got back on the I-5 in Oregon things settled down. The temperatures have pretty much been in the 40′s at night and the 60′s during the day. It has never gotten down to freezing.

Above, two male turkey’s. They may be common in most of the U.S, but as a Southern California native, I love seeing them.

Posted in Sutherlin, deer, turkeys | No Comments »

More from Choke Canyon

Thursday, December 10th, 2009

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vermilion_flycatcher4

Still at Choke Canyon State Park. It has been cool, but not freezing. Have not had to use much propane. I am the only camper in my section of the campground, which is nice.

Have not seen the bobcat again. It has been to cool to sit out and watch for him.

Above, scissor-tailed flycatcher and vermilion flycatcher.

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Green jay with an acorn. Looking forward to seeing lots of green jays in the Rio Grande area.

javelina

In South Texas’ thorn forest it is easy for javelina and bobcats to hide.

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Beautiful young white-tailed deer. Deer graze all around my rv. Enjoy watching them.

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Egret with mouse. Have also seen heron’s hunting for them.

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harris_hawk_flying

Harris’s hawk

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Posted in Calliham, State, caracara, deer, egret, flycatcher, green jay, hawk, javelina | No Comments »

Into the corn

Friday, November 27th, 2009

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cranes_and_corn

Went back to Kiva RV Park & Horse Motel for a few days. The cranes and geese have finally arrived in force at Bernardo Waterfowl Management Area that is right across from the park.

Cranes usually will not go into a corn field because of the threat of predators. Corn stalks are pulled down for them, sections at a time. This year at Bernardo, however, the cranes were going into one field in a mass assault. This is disappointing for photographers in that you can’t see the action. The cranes are most active and photogenic when they are eating. When standing around just outside the corn stalks they are resting and not very active.

Geese joined the cranes in the morning, but not in the afternoon.

I went into one corn field out of curiosity. The ground is bone dry and the stalks break like dry twigs. When I walked out of the field, some cranes across the road were watching me. After I drove down the road they walked over to check out where I had been. This was a small group waiting for the stalks to be pulled down.

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Mule deer grazing with the cranes in the late afternoon.

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Have become very fond of the horses and donkeys at the rv park. The horse on the right is the alpha horse of that corral. I was visiting with the donkey next to him and he came over and bit the donkey on the neck to make him run away. The donkey’s have their own weapon. When I walked fast along the fence, the donkey started to run in my direction while kicking his back legs to keep the horse away. There are 3 or 4 other horses and donkeys in that corral who always stay in the background and don’t want to mess with the alpha horse. The little male donkey, however, takes his place right  along side of him.

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Wanting some treats.

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Posted in Bernardo, deer, donkey, horse, sandhill crane, snow geese | No Comments »

Back in Sutherlin, Oregon

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

airstream_woods

Have been at the Escapee park in Sutherlin, Oregon for a couple of weeks now. Needed to do a lot of maintenance work on my truck and rv. Have gotten the most important tasks done.

Loved my site at the park, right against the woods. After spending most of the summer in high desert areas, really appreciated the forests in western Oregon. The weather has alternated from clear and warm to overcast and cool. Have not had to use my air conditioner once, as I was always in the shade snug against the trees.

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This is a good time of the year for the deer here. A lot of people are away, and fruit from their fruit trees are falling on the ground. The young buck above enjoys an apple. Have also seen deer eating figs from a fig tree.

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Top picture: Roadus Endus. Parked behind this rv one time and admired how neat the elderly couple keep it. They grow vegetables behind their rv.

Bottom picture: Thought this homeowner, a few blocks from the rv park, must be using the Cadillac as decoration. But it doesn’t look like he has a garage.

The flowers below are sprouting up all over the park.

bulb

Posted in Airstream, Escapee, Sutherlin, deer | No Comments »

Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge

Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

I am visiting Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, around 20 miles from the Canadian Border. The cedar waxwing, above, has some fledglings in the berry bush. The leaves were so dense, I couldn’t get a good picture of them.

On reading about Bonners Ferry on Wikipedia, found that it is near where the Ruby Ridge incident occurred. The write up on Wikipedia about this is like a novel. There are lots of places in the woods around here to try and escape society.

It is really crowded here with rv’s and motorcycles. I stopped by Glacier National Park on the way, but it was also jammed. Hope to get back there. A Canadian radio station made the comment that they just have two seasons: winter and July. This may have something to do with the crowds. It’s the best weather of the year.

Have seen this moose and calf three times. The adult always detects when people stop to watch her with the calf and she heads back into the tall grass.

Osprey. An adult was two posts down from it eating a fish.

On leaving the refuge one day, I noticed the silhouette of the back of an owl on a utility pole. I slowing walked towards it, not wanting it to fly away. Came to find it was a fake owl! Read where they were put on utility poles to keep osprey from nesting, but the osprey ended up using the fake owls in their nests.

Young deer going out into a wheat field where an adult was grazing.

Posted in Bonners Ferry, cedar waxwing, deer, geese, moose, osprey, wildlife refuge | No Comments »

Moving On

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

Finally finished up all my maintenance issues and am ready to move on from Sutherlin, Oregon.

Above, where I’ve been parked for two weeks. Below that, leaves on an alder tree emerging.

Below, deer doing what they tend to do…eat plants. Gave one young one a carrot. Know that’s a no-no.

Posted in Airstream, Sutherlin, deer | No Comments »

Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge is the only refuge I have come across that has campsites where you can boondock (free) for up to 14 days. I stayed there for 4 days and was the only camper I was aware of. It was very quiet. Hunting season just ended, so maybe hunters scared all the wildlife away. The weather was perfect. It was in the 70′s during the day, did not have to use my fans, and at night it was in the 50′s, so the furnace was not needed.

The area is a semi-desert grassland with lots of mesquite trees. The refuge is trying to restore it to the way it was before cattle grazed here. They want to encourage masked bobwhite quail and pronghorns to return.

Airforce jets practice over the area. One day I had my back to the window, something made me turn and look out. Saw a Airforce jet coming right at me, I could see the pilot! By the time I ran to the door, it had done a 90 degree roll and was gone. It happened so fast. There were a lot of jets in the area the next day. Maybe the jet that flew over me was just checking out the area because of this.

This area is called “cocaine alley” because of all the drug smugglers that enter the United States through here. That may be why there is a helicopter landing pad on the refuge and a strong presence of border patrol. Also, I got the best internet connection I’ve had for a long time. A communications tower was nearby, out in the middle of nowhere.

Mule deer in a no hunting area of the refuge.

Saw what I think is a western harrier at Arivaca Cienega on the refuge.

Getting here

After leaving the Benson, Sierra Vista area, stopped at Patagonia State Park. There were a lot of pipevine swallowtails there (above). The park was crowded. You have to get there early in the day to get an electric spot. A lot of people were on a hunt to see an elegant trogon. Unfortunately, I never saw one.

Black phoebe.

While Big Bend and the Buenos Aires Refuge are trying to repair damage caused by cattle grazing, Patagonia State Park allows ranchers to graze cattle at the east end of the lake, near some marsh and the Sonoita Creek (prime birding area). People swim and catch fish in a lake that cattle go into. Along with going into the lake, the cattle eat and trample tree saplings. You would also not want to walk along the trail at night, with cow droppings all over the place.

Sleeping bull, with muddy feet.

Posted in Airstream, Arivica, National, Northern harrier, Patagonia, State, cow, deer, phoebe, wildlife refuge | No Comments »

More from the Arroyo City area

Thursday, January 8th, 2009

Riding my bike I came across these male turkey’s preening and flexing their feathers.

Two different osprey.

Catbird

Brown thrasher

There is a small harbor near the park where night herons nest during the day and egrets nest at night.

At the refuge, saw two bucks fighting over a female. Could not see them as much as hear their snorting and their antlers clicking.

Posted in Arroyo City, County, catbird, deer, osprey, thrasher, turkeys, wildlife refuge | No Comments »

Tule Lake Wildlife Refuge

Friday, October 17th, 2008

I’m here in Tulelake, California, with hunters and coyotes, at the Tule Lake Wildlife Refuge, where migrating birds are arriving.

Seeing a few sandhill cranes.

An eared grebe with a small fish.

Northern shoveler

Canvasback

Next to the refuge, there is a ranch house with a fenced garden with pumpkins and other squash. Don’t know if the owners wanted the mule deer inside their garden!

A parent western grebe giving its’ young one a small fish. The young one swallows it whole.

Posted in Tulelake, canvasback, coyote, deer, grebe, hawk, northern shoveler, pelican, ring-necked pheasant, sandhill crane | 2 Comments »

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