Have visited Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge south of Missoula, Montana several times in past years. It has usually been in a drought. Not this year. Above you see snow still on the Bitterroot Mountains. The parking lot for a trail along the Bitterroot River was flooded and water was flowing over the main refuge road.

A bobolink.

Above, an eastern kingbird and a juvenile robin.

A muskrat in a marsh with clouds reflected on it.

Below, wild male turkey’s.

Have driven on three scenic byways the past couple of weeks: the White Pine Scenic Byway, the Northwest Passage Byway, and the Gold Rush Historic Byway. A logging boom appears to be present in all these areas. The Gold Rush Historic Byway was my favorite, along Idaho 11 up a steep grade to the village of Weippe. This is where Lewis and Clark first met the Nez Perce Tribe.

Above, Musselshell Meadow in the Clearwater National Forest just east of Weippe. The bottom picture is a camas flower. Nez Perce Tribe members have the legal right to come into the forest to harvest the roots of the flower. There were some beautiful meadows filled with the blue flowers.

A Eastern kingbird and a flycatcher of some kind in the Musselshell area. There were a number of common snipe’s nesting in the area, but I didn’t get any pictures of them.

Weippe is half a farming/ranching town and half a logging town. Their backroads are like a roller coaster ride and fun to drive. Although they are gravel, they are good roads. Think the logging companies keep them wet to keep people from complaining of dust from the logging trucks.

The red calf above has to be one of the biggest ones I’ve seen. It wasn’t happy with the amount of milk it was getting from it’s mom.

On driving the backroads, I was about to take a picture of a ring-necked pheasant when a woman in a truck blocked my truck. She thought I was a real estate agent and came up to me saying “We don’t want to sell our land, if that is what you’re taking pictures for!” When I explained I was bird watching, she was very nice, even telling me about a nearby pond where you could see elk in the evening.

Hope Weippe stays a small rural village. Let the rich people stay in Sandpoint.

A Swainson’s thrush seen in the Giant White Pine Campground. Have frequently heard their unique call, but it’s hard to get a picture of them in the trees.

Since I was in the area, thought I should visit Dworshak State Park. It’s one bear of a drive there from the town of Orofino. Uneven two-lane road with sharp turns and no turnouts to let people pass. The park is more for boater’s and fishermen. Seeing cedar waxwing’s there, however, made the trip worthwhile. The bottom picture shows what they were eating. Not sure what kind of tree it is. There are also lots of berry shrubs in the area that will provide berries for them in a month or two.

Below, view of the Northwest Passage Scenic Byway along the Clearwater River as seen from the road going up to Weippe.

Finally made it to the Bear River Migratory Bird Wildlife Refuge in Brigham City, Utah. They are just completing paving a 12 mile dirt road from their Visitor Center, near the I-15, to their old Visitor Center near a 12-mile unpaved loop around a freshwater impoundment. That makes a 36 mile auto tour route, counting the return trip back over the paved road. It really is an incredible refuge.

Above, a series of pictures of part of the grebe courtship ritual. Grebes carry their young under their back feathers while they swim around.

While some birds are just starting to nest, saw some young American avocets and killdeers.

A huge number of pelicans nest on an island on the Great Salt Lake. They come to the fresh water marshes at the refuge for food and water.

There was intermittent rain, along with snow in the nearby mountains my first few days at the refuge. The swallows (cliff I think) were swarming to get mud and build nests.

The rainy weather alternated with temps in the 70′s, causing concern for flooding from snow melting and adding water to the already saturated ground.

The warm weather also brought lots of bugs. After just driving the paved road during the rain, ventured out on the dirt road loop when it warmed up. Wanted to take a lot of pictures, but my truck was always surrounded by hoards of midges. Locals drove with their windows down and laughed at out-of-towners unnerved by the bugs.

Saw dozens of Western kingbirds. The kingbirds and swallows should have no shortage of food (bugs).

Muskrats are supposed to be a sign of a healthy marsh.

On an off-topic, happened to watch the movie Hereafter. While I didn’t really care for the movie, was surprised when the character played by Matt Damon was shown to like to listen to Charles Dickens’ books. I have just about gone through all of this prolific writer’s books, either listening to a free download read by my Kindle or to an Audible edition on my iPod. A lot of the same themes run through the books and they have happy endings, or at least you are told what happens to all the characters. People in England during this period seem to have drunk a lot of alcohol and eaten a lot of meat.

Have been enjoying traveling in Montana. The scenery along the I-15 from Idaho was incredible. Went through Helena and then the Great Falls area, where I visited the Benton Lake Wildlife Refuge. With fresh supplies and a full water tank in my trailer, headed on to Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Montana. The refuge helps protect the area around the Missouri River so the landscape is much like what Lewis & Clark saw (sans the buffalo, Indians, etc). It’s isolation reminds me of the Big Bend area in Texas. No internet access here. Miles and miles of rolling prairie.

Stayed at James Kipp Recreation Area run by the BLM. It is just off US Highway 191, where it crosses the Missouri River. The no-hookup campsites are in a large grove of old cottonwoods that were full of birds. A 20 mile auto tour route through the west end of the refuge starts on the other side of the Missouri. The dirt road is seen on the right side of the picture above.

Cliff swallows and an eastern  kingbird seen along the tour route. The bird in the bottom picture was seen in the campground. Finally identified it as a yellow-breasted chat. Also saw some cedar waxwings.

View of the Little Rocky Mountains in the distance, as seen from the tour route. They are an “island mountain range” that allow wildlife uncommon in eastern Montana to live. After leaving the James Kipp Campground, headed to the tiny village of Zortman to stay at Camp Creek Campground, also run by the BLM. It is filled with aspen and pine trees along a stream. Again, the trees were filled with birds. Just beautiful. Saw a wild turkey as I was leaving.

A catbird and a  flycatcher.

A beautiful church in Zortman.

Meadolarks are the state bird of Montana.

Visited the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area near Boise, Idaho. In the picture above it was sunny where I was, but there was snow and rain in half the sky, towards the mountains.

A Say’s phoebe (top) and a Brewer’s sparrow (bottom) near Dedication Point.

On the plateau above the Snake River there are “extraordinary numbers” of Townsend’s ground squirrels because of the unique soil and abundant food. Above you see a homeowner’s nightmare: all the light colored areas are squirrel burrows. There are miles and miles and miles of them. These are the small squirrels that run into the road in front of your car and then stop and maybe turn around.

The largest concentration of nesting prairie falcons in North America occurs in the NCA and feeds mainly on ground squirrels. When summer’s heat drives the ground squirrels into their burrows for summer hibernation, most prairie falcons leave the NCA in search of other prey. (Text from a sign at Dedication Point.)

I heard gunfire while I was at Dedication Point. On looking at the NCA’s web site found that target practice using squirrels is ok in certain areas. Urban sprawl from the Boise suburbs is inching very close to the NCA. Wonder if that will change the policy of allowing gun use.

Western kingbird seen along farmland on the way to the NCA.

Young male and female California quails near where I stayed along the Snake River. There are a lot of them in the area.

Below, a Western tanager. Not a great picture, but I see so few of them, wanted to post it.

Birds seen but not pictured: juvenile northern harriers, red-tailed hawks, swallows, kestrals, tundra swans, an osprey with a fish in it’s talons.

Yesterday kept intermittently hearing a strange sound that didn’t sound like birds. Finally stepped out of my rv to investigate and saw a bobcat in the brush. It looked at me briefly and then went about it’s business of looking for prey.

When I arrived at my campsite, there was a resident vermilion flycatcher hunting there.

Scissor-tailed flycatcher. First one I’ve seen.

Osprey diving into the water. Didn’t get the fish.

A kingbird, either a tropical or Cassin’s, both uncommon.

Crested caracara

Have been at Rancho Jurupa Regional Park in Riverside for about a week. Have been surprised at the wide variety of birds I have been seeing. There are the regulars that I have seen in the past, as well as some new ones.

Do not recall seeing a kestral (above) before.

Have seen a number of black-crowned night herons, as I have in the past.

Blue herons and egrets are here as well. Saw a blue heron hunting for gophers this morning. The park has finally hired a gopher control professional who is putting some type of gas into the gopher tunnels.

It’s funny how a blue heron, a night heron, and a great egret will stand side by side next to the water, but will usually get territorial and chase away their own species.

Black phoebe (top) and a Say’s phoebe (lower).

Not sure what kind of woodpecker this is. Doesn’t look like any of the pictures in my bird book.

A lot of birds are here as part of a flock. These include Western kingbirds (top), Western bluebirds (middle), and Cedar Waxwings (botton). I have never seen cedar waxwings here before. Also have had first time sightings of Western meadowlarks, but haven’t gotten a good picture yet.

A few more photos from the San Diego Zoo. Above is a Turkmenistan Caracal, an endangered cat found in the Middle East and Africa. At the zoo it is located next to the polar bears. I was watching the polar bear cam the other day and saw the outline of the cat’s ears in the background. If you didn’t know better, you’d think it was an antelope or deer.

Below, Frank the one-year-old male gorilla, is watching an adult female gorilla eat a green pepper. Parts of it is in her right hand and her left foot. Frank had tried to get some of it, but she wanted it for herself.

Benton Lake National Wildlife Refuge is near Great Falls, Montana at the western edge of the northern Great Plains and 50 miles east of the Rocky Mountains. It has many of the birds I saw at Camas Refuge in Idaho, with a few differences.

Above, eared grebe with offspring. Still seeing some young ones riding on a parent’s back. The other parent dives for food for the baby during this time. Have seen some young ones like the one above, start diving. The just stay under water a few seconds though.

Breeding sora in the marsh.

Ibis

A standing yellow-bellied marmot. Have also seen a muskrat.

Upland sandpiper

Willet

Long-billed curlew

Phalarope

A night heron carrying a black bird in it’s beak, with the black bird’s significant other chasing after them. The heron disappeared with it’s prey into the marsh foliage.

A pair of western kingbirds are nesting near the refuge visitor center. They fuss at you when you pass by. Have also seen eastern kingbirds.

When I first got to Great Falls, I stayed two nights at Walmart. During the day, I took my trailer to the refuge. One night, there were around 25 other rv’s staying in the Walmart parking lot. After two days, I moved to Fort Benton. It is an unusual small town, in that it’s in a canyon made by the Missouri River. Lewis and Clark thought this area was paradise when they stopped here. It later became the last stop for steamboats from St. Louis and then a major railway stop. The fort was built to protect people from outlaws and indians.

In looking on the web for information on the Upper Missouri River Breaks, found that cattle have caused a lot of problems here, as they have elsewhere.

“The BLM reports that past grazing management has resulted in almost complete elimination of important woody shrub species such as red-osier dogwood, chokecherry, serviceberry, currant, and gooseberry – all of which are highly important as food sources for mammals and birds. Another grazing related problem is the impending demise of riverside cottonwood forests. Presently almost all of the cottonwood trees along the river germinated from seed in the 1880s, before grazing was occurring on the river. As cattle grazing became an entrenched use on the river, cattle have systematically eliminated virtually all young cottonwoods, leaving no replacement trees to take the place of the old and dying mature trees.”

Have been staying at Lake Walcott State Park in south-central Idaho the past few days. The park is unique, in that it is located within the Minidoka National Wildlife Refuge. This allows parts of the refuge to be used by the public for boating, fishing and camping.

The weather has been nice. It usually ranges from the 50′s at night to the 70′s in the day. Clouds and light rain blow through at least once a day, but does not stay long. Have not had any thunder or hail yet.

Above, the old main highway that runs parallel to the Snake River (and the refuge) and the new I-84. Had the good luck to see the hawk while driving the road.

There is a large flock of white pelicans here. The one above is diving for a fish in an area of rapids on the Snake River.

Bullock’s oriole. Have also seen a cedar waxwing.

Eastern kingbird.

Magpie fledgling. There are five of them perched inside a small pine tree near where I am camped.

Robin fledgling following one of it’s parents around.

Think this is an Eastern kingbird fledgling.

The way here: Stayed two days at Bruneau Dunes State Park. It has sand dunes, small lakes, and an observatory. C.J. Strike Wildlife Management Area is also right next to it and has no hookup camping areas. I found some nice areas in the wildlife area, but no place I’d want to take my trailer. Really got my truck muddy driving through parts of it and had to use my 4-wheel drive at one point. Made me thankful to have it.

Western (top) and eastern (bottom) kingbirds seen at Bruneau Dunes State Park.