Enjoyed visiting Farragut State Park in Idaho. In 2009 when I passed through the area it was full. It’s located along the southwest border of Lake Pend Oreille, 20 miles north of Coeur D’Alene. There is a beautiful mixed conifer forrest with trails all over the place. Many intersect, so you can design your own hike. Most are fairly level, which I appreciated. The park also has a number of campgrounds, so you can choose hookups or no hookups. Now is a good time, at least mid-week, for people like me to visit. Would not want to come when it’s full (of kids…ok, I admit it).

The weather has continued to alternate between the 60′s & 70′s and cold spells with rain and snow in the mountains. There is some flooding in flood plain areas in Idaho.

Birds and squirrels are the main wildlife here. They say “Don’t feed the bears” on their handout map, but they are rarely seen. They don’t have bear proof trash cans. Mountain goats are on the opposite side of the lake. If you go out on a boat, they are supposed to be tame around people.

Above pictures: a pine grosbeak, like I saw in New Mexico. It was near the visitor center where there are trees and bird feeders. The picture below it is a gray jay near my campsite. Only the second time I’ve seen one.

Above, western bluebirds, the female with an insect in it’s beak. Below, a red-breasted nuthatch.

A Columbian ground squirrel. They were all over the campground I was in. They don’t seem to have many predators here. (update) Talked with camp host who said eagles, red-tailed hawks, kestrals, and coyotes do hunt these guys.

Just saw a few deer. Think road kill and hunters probably keep their numbers down.

Below, a trail near my campsite and Lake Pend Oreille.

Have been traveling in the Idaho Panhandle. The area has been affected by some bad weather recently. At Heyburn State Park, south of Coeur d’Alene, the water level at the lake had risen. The boardwalk to a marsh area was destroyed and some trails covered with water.

Above, an osprey and a yellow warbler (with a moth) seen at Heyburn.

Stayed along the Pend Oreille Scenic Byway for a few days. It’s a beautiful area. The lake, with its’ forest covered islands, reminded me of Skagit Bay and Anacortes in Washington.

Above, a pileated woodpecker seen along Lake Pend Oreille. The first one I’ve seen. One of the largest woodpeckers in North America, they have a very distinct call and sound like a jackhammer when drumming. The holes they drill are huge. Hope to see more of them and get a better picture.

The campground I stayed at along Lake Pend Oreille
had recently lost around 30 trees in a severe wind and rain storm. This was nothing compared to nearby Priest Lake State Park, who lost more than 100 trees, along with sustaining severe damage to one of their campgrounds. I stayed one night at the campground, in one of the less damaged campsites. The site had it’s own creek that appeared after the storm (seen above). The park is having to call some people who reserved sites for the Memorial Day weekend to tell them they cannot come. A cold front is coming through the area, so some may be relieved to not have to camp in cold wet weather.

A deer in the Lake Pend Oreille area.

Below, Lake Pend Oreille.

Finally made it to Davis Mountains State Park in Texas. A lot of people I’d seen in Big Bend also stopped here. At a mile above sea level, the landscape is made up of a oak trees, junipers, and grasses. They are in the midst of a drought and many oak trees have died in the Davis Mountains. Water is a precious commodity. Also, the two recent cold fronts that brought freezing temps to west Texas killed a lot of plants. While in a hardware store in the nearby town of Alpine, heard people say they lost most of their plants, including cactus and palm trees. During my visit, a red-flag condition was in place, with temps in the 70′s-90′s and the humidity around 4%.

The picture above was taken from a scenic viewpoint looking down at the Chihuahuan Desert near Fort Davis.

Spent a lot of time at a bird watching station hoping to see some Montezuma quail. It never happened, although some people were lucky enough to see them.

Again with the peanut butter! Although I didn’t see any Montezuma quail, was pleased with the birds I did see.  Shown above are a cactus wren, a black-crested titmouse, a ladder-backed woodpecker, a Bewick’s wren, and an acorn woodpecker.

An overabundance of white-winged doves were present. Their call sounds like “Give us this day” to me. I will definitely recognize a white-winged dove by it’s call from now on.

Above: a dark-eyed junco and a canyon towhee.

In Big Bend you were warned not to leave food out at night because of the javelina. Didn’t see any while I was there, but they did come around at night here. The javelina and the deer both visit the bird feeding stations for water (drinking all the water meant for the birds). The javelina trump the deer—the deer gave them wide berth when I saw them both there at the same time.

The deer above has it’s head in an oak tree.

Seen below, the campground at Davis Mountains State Park. The park was established in 1933/1935. The white structure is Indian Lodge, originally constructed in 1935 by the CCC. It’s a beautiful building. There’s a trail up the mountain nearby where you may see mountain goats.

Falcon State Park is located near Falcon Dam at the southern end of a 60-mile lake created by a dam on the Rio Grande River. The park sustained damage from flooding secondary to Hurricane Alex, but some brushland areas seem to have benefited from the flooding. There are more birds here than I have ever seen before.

The murder of a man on a jet ski here last October has not affected visitation, at least by winter Texans. The park is nearly full and there are lots of boaters.

Berry war: There is a large flock of great kiskadees enjoying the berries on some bushes (top picture). They are continually being attacked by territorial mockingbirds. Usually one mockingbird will chase one shrieking kiskadee. Kiskadees are a little larger than mockingbirds, but that doesn’t seem to make a difference. While I was taking pictures a hawk tried to chase down a kiskadee, but was unsuccessful. Maybe the practice of running from the mockingbirds helps keep them in shape to run from predators.

Berry update: Went back to the bush with the berries where I took the above pictures. All but a few of the berries are gone!

I’ve had three bobcat sightings, but just one picture. The above guy came to the edge of the brush near my rv, but quickly escaped back into the brush when it saw me.

A male (foreground) and female bobwhite.

A pyrrhuloxia. Falcon State Park is the main place I see them.

I put out grapefruit for the birds. Orange-crowned warblers are the main takers as well as being one of the more numerous birds here.

A deer surprised me by eating one half-grapefruit whole. When she returned later in the evening she didn’t want another one, but the young one ate part of one.

Highway 64 starts a short distance from the El Vado Lake State Park and heads east through Taos to the town of Raton, near the border with Colorado. You go through Carson National Forest, with golden aspen trees this time of year. Then there is a stretch of desert before Taos, where people are building some interesting underground homes with decorative roofs. After Taos, you head back into the Carson National Forest. There follows the town of Eagle Nest, with Eagle Nest Lake State Park at 8,200 feet elevation. Cimarron Canyon is next, with it’s own state park and wildlife management area. You then drive through a dry grassland area to reach Raton.

This is just a beautiful drive. I took it in 2007 and managed to run out of gas in the Carson Forest. The first and only time (so far) I’ve had this happen, although there have been many close calls. In subsequent years, it has been either too early or too late in the year to travel to northern New Mexico by the time I reached the state. This year I may well stay in north-central New Mexico until it gets to cold.

Above, some healthy looking pronghorns near Raton. There were even some on undeveloped land in the city limits.

Cotton from cottonwood trees seen in Taos and Raton.

I stayed in a BLM campground in the Colorado River Gorge next to Taos one night. Saw the bird above, which I believe is a canyon towhee.

Stayed at Sugarite Canyon State Park near Raton for a few days. It is on a site that was a company built coal mining town in the first part of the 20th century. There are two reservoirs there that are popular fishing spots. The forest is made up of cottonwood, oak, and ponderosa pine trees.

Above, a black-capped chickadee. Below, while birdwatching came upon two mule deer. Turned around and let them have the trail.

Below, Carson National Forest at the start of the west end of Highway 64. Cattle graze in the cleared grass area.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

Harris’s hawk

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.

Mule deer grazing with the cranes in the late afternoon.

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.

Wanting some treats.

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.

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.

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.