Archive for the ‘Clark’s nutcracker’ Category

West Yellowstone 2011

Monday, July 4th, 2011

Above, the Grand Prismatic Spring in the Midway Geyser Basin.

. . . and the buffalo do roam. Took around two hours to go from West Yellowstone to Madison Junction one day because of bison. First there were a group of females with young ones, then two young males walking down the center of the road. I should clarify that the bison were for the most part not causing the traffic jam–it was people wanting to get pictures. Later in the day, back in West Yellowstone, a young woman with children said her family just turned around and came back to town. Being in a car with young children would make the wait more difficult.

Gneiss Creek trail has two trailheads: one along the Madison River between West Yellowstone and Madison Junction, and another a few miles north of West Yellowstone. You can walk the whole 13 miles if you want! I just went maybe a mile along the Madison River and saw a number of birds, including the Clark’s nutcracker above. The trail is closed a lot of the year to allow for a bear habitat. Probably not a trail you should walk alone.

Pulled into a pullout for no particular reason and was surprised to see a family of sandhill cranes. Could not get close to them, but was thrilled to see the young one.

Near the campground I stayed at, along the Madison River, I was watching some osprey nests when I saw something stick it’s head out of the water. Found it was two river otters swimming upstream. They intermittently stuck their heads up out of the water to keep track of each other.

Posted in bison, Clark's nutcracker, marmot, National, otter, sandhill crane, West Yellowstone | Comments Off

Sangre de Cristos Mountains

Friday, April 15th, 2011

Stayed at Hyde Memorial State Park in the Sangre de Cristos Mountains, just 8 miles above the historic Santa Fe district. The campground is only open when the snow melts. This year it was gone in April, usually it’s May.

The road to the campground continues on 8 miles to the Santa Fe ski basin. The top picture above is from an overlook there. A sign says aspen trees grew in after a fire in 1880 and fir trees will eventually replace them. If they haven’t been replaced in more than 100 years, guess they will be there for some time.

Sculptures at the Ghost Ranch building in Santa Fe.

Above, a white-breasted nuthatch and a Clark’s nutcracker. The nuthatch appeared to be collecting nesting material.

Also stopped at Manzano Mountains State Park, southeast of Albuquerque. It is a small park that is closed most of the year because of snow.

Above, a picture taken as I was leaving and an Abert’s squirrel in a birdfeeder.

After I left Bandelier National Monument, stopped in Albuquerque for a day. Saw there was a wind advisory and possible thunderstorms forecast for the next day. Subsequently headed to Elephant Butte State Park to wait it out. Not sure if that was the right choice, as I was buffeted by severe winds for 4 days. However, saw that most of the southwest had weather problems during this period.

After leaving the Elephant Butte area, stopped at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in Socorro. The sandhill cranes are gone, but there are still plenty of other birds there.

Posted in Clark's nutcracker, nuthatch, Santa Fe, squirrel, State | Comments Off

Utah Rocks

Sunday, September 19th, 2010

Drove UT 191 through Monument Valley and Blanding, Utah. Monument Valley makes me think of Thelma and Louise. Know John Ford made a lot of western’s here too.

The village of Mexican Hat’s name is based on the rock formation on the left side of the picture. There is a rv park in town with great views and hookups.

Valley of the Gods. There is a dirt road that goes through it. Didn’t drive it this visit.

Gooseneck State Park near Mexican Hat. It is a viewpoint of the formation created by the San Juan River seen above. Morning would have been a better time to get a picture, but late afternoon had to do.

Took the time to visit Natural Bridges National Monument. It’s a beautiful park with a scenic drive that allows you to see it’s three rock bridges. The top picture above is of Sipapu Bridge. The picture below it is of Owachomo Bridge. It looks to be the most fragile one. My eyes showed my age, as it was hard for me to find Owachomo Bridge. Some young European tourists came up and found it right away.

There are trails through the park and a small campground (for small rv’s).

Utah 95, that goes by Natural Bridges National Monument, is a scenic byway. In the center of the top picture you see the where the highway goes through a long rocky ridge. The picture under it is the passage as you go through it on the way to the Monument.

Stayed at a campground in the Manti-LaSal National Forest above the town of Blanding. At 7,100 feet, in a juniper and pinyon pine forest, it was a lot cooler than Monument Valley and Mexican Hat. There were lots of birds too. Below is a scrub jay that just pulled some kind of treat from the pine tree, a pine nut? A large flock of pinyon jays flew through the campground in the late afternoon. They were too fast for me to get a picture.

The bottom picture is of a Clark’s nutcracker.

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North Rim of the Grand Canyon

Thursday, September 16th, 2010

Visited the North Rim of the Grand Canyon for the first time. Above is Angels Window. The Colorado River can be seen through the window. The tiny specks on top are people. There is a paved pathway out to the viewpoint.

The view here is towards the Navajo Indian Reservation.

View from the Visitor Center and lodge.

I was really impressed more by the forest here than the canyon views. The South Rim, at 7,000 feet elevation, has a forest of ponderosa pine and junipers. The North Rim, at between 8,200 and 9,200 feet elevation, is made up of quaking aspen, blue spruce, and white and Douglas fir trees.

Aspen trees thrive after a fire because of their extensive root system. Their roots send out new shoots within weeks of a fire. In the second picture above, the aspen trees are providing protection for young spruce trees.

Arizona 67 passes through meadows on the Kaibab Plateau on it’s way to the Canyon. There are holes that retain water from rain and snow in the meadows that draw animals and birds out from the surrounding forest, mainly in the early morning or evening. I saw a fox one time, but it was too fast in getting back into the woods, so I didn’t get a picture.

Crane Lake has a fence around it to keep cows from accessing it. It is really just a marshy pond at this time of the year. Saw a number of birds come out from the woods in flocks to get water including:  Clark’s nutcrackers, Northern flickers (shown below), and robins. Black necked stilts and ducks were also in the pond.

This area is one of the few places where there are still California condors in the wild. Lead bullets that hunters use has been keeping the condor population down.

Posted in Clark's nutcracker, Jacob Lake, National, northern flicker | Comments Off

Yellowstone National Park

Monday, August 17th, 2009

Stayed at the Mammoth Hot Springs Campground in Yellowstone for 5 days. Got there around 11:30 a.m. and got a good spot. It filled up shortly thereafter. Yellowstone was really crowded. Read where attendance was breaking records. Saw license plates from all over the U.S., as well as lots of foreign tourists. Right after I got settled I drove towards the Canyon Village area. Driving anywhere in the middle of the afternoon is a mistake. The road from Mammoth through the Tower-Roosevelt area and Canyon Village is narrow and uneven and to drive it when it is really congested is bad. People are sightseeing and cross over the double yellow lines a lot. After this experience, just went out early in the morning.

Top picture: The upper Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces. The clouds provided good lighting.

Second picture: There are lots of waterfalls in Yellowstone. I just visited the Lower Falls in the Canyon Village area. First took a trail down to the right side of the falls in the picture. From there I could see stairs going down the side of a mountain on the other side of the falls.

Third picture: Stairs on Uncle Tom’s Trail that you go down to view the Lower Falls at a good angle. They are really steep stairs. Someone has posted a video of the stairs on YouTube.

The Canyon Village area would be a good place to stay. There are paved trails along the rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. You are also close to Lamar Valley and Hayden Valley that are supposed to have lots of wildlife.

Top picture: What you are warned not to do, get close to wildlife…especially a grizzly bear! Park authorities had not arrived here yet. They use a lot of manpower to keep people at a certain distance from animals. In Mammoth Hot Springs the elk know they are protected and go where they want. At least one park employee follows them and puts out yellow cones that people are not supposed to cross. Passed one young black bear eating grass by the road. Across from him a park ranger in full dress uniform (hat and gloves) was waving to keep traffic going. Would love to have gotten a picture of him and the bear, but there was no place to stop.

The bull on the left appeared to be the head bull. He went around checking on a small herd by a pond and grunted the whole time. You could not really see the details of his face because of the fur, just heard continuous grunting.

The tail end of a coyote near Canyon Village.

Birds seen near my campsite. A red-breasted nuthatch (top) and a Clark’s nutcracker. There was a small flock of the Clark’s nutcrackers. They are the first ones I’ve ever seen.

Getting here: From Glacier National Park went back to Fort Benton, near Great Falls, to wait out a rain storm. From there, drove through Helena, and stayed one night at a free campground in the Canyon Ferry area. Then stayed two days at the Missouri Headwaters State Park where three rivers join to form the Missouri River. It is a good birding spot. Both at Fort Benton and the State Park, saw lots of cedar waxwings, gray catbirds, and osprey. One time I thought a cat was in a marsh, only to find it was a catbird. That’s the only time one has fooled me.

Cedar waxwing fledgling in Fort Benton. Note the orange tail feathers instead of the yellow that an adult has.

A chickadee on a bulrush at Missouri Headwaters State Park.

Heard sandhill cranes both at Missouri Headwaters State Park and Yellowstone, but never saw them.

Below: Campsite at Mammoth Hot Springs. Rain threatened several times, but only got a few sprinkles. Was sad to leave Yellowstone, but I’ll be back.

Posted in Airstream, bear, bison, cedar waxwing, chickadee, Clark's nutcracker, coyote, National, nuthatch, Yellowstone | Comments Off