Got to stay at Antelope Island State Park in Utah. When I passed through the area last September it was full.

The second picture above is Bridger Campground where Bison sometimes roam. Opened the door of my trailer one morning to find a bison 10-15 feet away.  You just ignore them and they move along.

The bottom picture is the causeway from the suburb town of Syracuse out to Antelope Island.

There are lots of chukars on the island, but they don’t come out in the open a lot. I heard lots of them in the bushes near my campsite, but never saw any. It was just by luck when driving around, that I came upon the one above sunning itself.

A woman went walking up the hill next to my site early one morning. When she got to a ridge where she was somewhat hidden, I saw a bunch of heads bobbing up and down. Later found that it was a group of jackrabbits that had been surprised.

Meadowlarks are all over. You hear them all the time, but they, like the jackrabbits, don’t tend to stay still for pictures.

Have seen a number of coyotes. One evening was sad to see one go into the bushes where the chukars were.

Started seeing magpies as I got close to Utah. The one above is a young one.

Above, a horned lark. The first one I’ve ever seen.

Barn swallow at the Visitor Center.

The way here: Stopped a  night at a Manti-la Sal Forest campground near Blanding, Utah. Next day drove through Moab for the first time. It has to be the “Yellowstone” of Utah. It was so crowded. I had hoped to stay at a BLM campground along the Colorado River near Moab, but no such luck. All the campgrounds were full. I had been watching the weather in Salt Lake City and when I saw that good weather was forecast and there were campsites available on Antelope Island, I changed course to Salt Lake City.

Below, sunset on Antelope Island. Least I should paint the island as idyllic, it can be very buggy. Depending on the weather, time of day, location, and other factors there are varying number of nat like bugs.

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 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.

Have wanted to visit Carrizo Plain National Monument for a long time. One hundred miles north of Los Angeles, it encompasses an area 50 miles  north to south, bordered by the Temblor Mountains on the northeast and the Caliente Mountains on the southwest. It is managed jointly by the Bureau of Land Management, California Fish & Game, and The Nature Conservancy. The San Andreas Fault travels through it and the area is supposed to be one of the best places to study it.

Top picture, flowers seen driving over the Temblor Mountains to get to the Carrizo Plain.

Second Picture, dirt road looking back at the Temblor Range.

You don’t just happen upon the monument, you have to plan your visit. You are warned not to use a GPS. There is currently only one reliable road, Soda Lake Road. Eighteen miles of the road is paved, the remainder is dirt. The dirt road ranges from very good to areas of mild to moderate washboarding.

I stayed one night at their KLC Campground. A lot of people brought their horses and donkeys to ride. As usual, I managed to visit on a holiday weekend. It was not crowded, but I’m sure there were a lot more people than usual. Many were here to see the wildflowers in bloom.

You could hear meadowlarks all over. Saw one pronghorn elk, which are being reintroduced into the area.

The west entrance to the park (where I exited). The road on the left is Soda Lake Road. In the middle of the picture is Elkhorn Grade Road. The San Andreas Fault runs right next to Soda Lake Road here. The fault is supposed to be clearly visible near Wallace Creek, which I didn’t visit. Now that I know my way here, plan to return, hopefully in a less rainy year and not on a holiday weekend.

The way here: A blog I follow happened to mention a way to bypass a lot of Los Angeles Freeway traffic by taking the I-15 to the Cajon Pass, getting off on California 138 west to connect to the I-5 near Gorman. As it was the Friday before Easter, this was a good choice. As a bonus, it passed the poppy reserve in the Antelope Valley (picture below).

Stayed at Black Rock Campground in Yucca Valley for a few days. Not sure when the next time I will be in the area during the prime winter, early spring time frame, so wanted to take advantage of it. This campground has great Verizon evdo coverage. Not sure when I’ve had a faster internet connection.

Ten miles south of the campground is Big Morongo Canyon Preserve. It is on an earthquake fault where a spring comes to the surface for a short distance. It is just beautiful and worth a visit. Their land borders on Joshua Tree National Park and is managed by the BLM. They have a goal of making a large corridor for wildlife, so they are not boxed into a small area surrounded by developed areas.

Talk about developed areas, houses have been built right up to Black Rock Campground. So glad Joshua Tree National Park has their land. Otherwise, you know houses would have been built all the way through the park and up to the hilltops.

An antelope ground squirrel.  Have wanted to get a picture of one of these small squirrels for a long time. This guy had a burrow under a yucca plant next to my campsite.

Black tailed jackrabbit.

Cactus wren

Male and female Gambel’s quail

Scrub jay. Also saw a large flock of pinyon jays. They are the only jay that travels in a flock. Didn’t get a picture. Drats!!

A titmouse, either a juniper or oak titmouse, not sure which.

Noticed that it became very quiet after around 3:00 pm most days. That must be predator time. A coyote walked through my camp one day during this time.

Stayed at Salt Creek Campground on the Salton Sea prior to coming to Joshua Tree National Park. Not many pelicans there yet. There is a 10-15 degree temperature difference between the Salton Sea area and Black Rock Campground at 4,000 feet elevation.

Have been at the BLM Page Springs Campground at the base of Steens Mountain in Oregon for about a week now. It is right next to the southern edge of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Have spent most of my time visiting the refuge, but have also driven Steens Mountain Loop. Steens Mountain Cooperative Management and Protection Area was created rather recently, in the year 2000. The BLM is also doing a study on how to deal with the development of western juniper forests that have developed because of fire suppression. They have cut down a lot of juniper trees and will burn them after it snows.

Picture above: Surprised a great horned owl while driving through the refuge late in the afternoon. There is also an owl that perches near the visitor center. Wondered if they bribe it with mice to get it to stay there for visitors to see.

Have had four coyote sightings. They really look healthy.

Common merganser.

Top: male California quail. Below: a young quail.

Have surprised quail with a lot of young ones several times. Each time the male flew up to a bush to supervise while the female corralled the young ones into the brush.

Birds seen but not pictured: Three trumpeter swans, large flock of white pelicans, lots of great egrets, magpies, ring-necked pheasants, vultures roosting on an old fire lookout tower and a few sandhill cranes.

A rattlesnake decided to sleep in the middle of the road by the campsite next to mine. Bad choice. The camp host came over with a shovel and decapitated it. Talk about nerves of steel!

There is a long history of Basque sheepherding on Steens Mountain. When I was driving past the ones above, they started to cross the road in front of me. A sheepherder and his dogs quickly came into play and returned them to the area they were supposed to be in.

There are four u-shaped gorges on Steens Mountain. Above is Kiger Gorge with a little patch of snow.

Getting here

Stopped at Lake Walcott State Park in Idaho on the way here. They water the lawn by the campsites one hour a day, 5 days a week. This, along with the naturally occurring water, makes it very buggy.

Noted a number of changes in Grays Lake National Wildlife Refuge from my visit in June. Snow was gone from the mountain tops, the lake/marsh seemed to have more water, most of the wildflowers were gone, and the marsh had a copper color. There are a lot more sandhill cranes visible, often with juvenile cranes. Most nesting birds have moved on. Did not see any Franklin gulls. They are most likely on their way to South America.

Stayed at Blackfoot Reservoir Campground this time. It is a beautiful BLM campground about halfway between the refuge and Soda Springs. The first night discovered there were lots of flying bugs there. The same “midgies” that I saw in Klamath Falls in August of 2007 that were brought from France because they eat mosquito larva. To their credit, there were not many mosquitos! Also, there were a huge number of swallows nearby that seemed to appreciate having the bugs to eat.

Saw lots of hawks and fledgling hawks in the farmland around the refuge.

I am around 50 miles from Grays Lake, but I took the long way around to get here, going through Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. Yellowstone was extremely crowded (what a surprise). They were also doing road work in two areas that made you sit in your car for a half hour or so before being allowed through. Had planned to camp in Yellowstone, but the campgrounds were full. Exited via the south entrance and headed to Harriman State Park, only to find they don’t allow camping. A mile or so south of Harriman, there was a sign for Riverside Campground in the Targhee forest. Was surprised to see nice paved campsites along Henry’s Fork River that could accommodate the largest rv’s.

Stayed 4 days at Riverside Campground. The first two days were beautiful, but the next two it became mosquitoland. Went hiking at Harriman Park after spraying myself with OFF! It worked pretty well.

Moved a little further south to Rexburg, Idaho to see Camas National Wildlife Refuge. Was pleased to see Camas has a stream and canals that create a lot of wetlands for birds. The land south of it is desert managed by BLM.

The waterfall above is Upper Mesa Falls seen on the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway.

A beautiful night heron seen at Harriman State Park.

A male, breeding ruddy duck seen at Camas. All the photos below were taken at the Camas Refuge.

Eared grebe.

A baby coot being fed by a parent.

A black tern. First one I’ve ever seen. My bird book says they are uncommon. They remind me of nighthawks, the way they flitter around. A weasel ran down the refuge road and a black tern dive bombed it. Weasels eat birds, among other things.

A short eared owl. They are also uncommon and are less nocturnal than other owls. The picture was taken around 6 p.m. Not a great pic, but it’s all I got.

Saw a few sandhill cranes and trumpeter swans.

The Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area in Southwest Idaho is managed by the BLM. It is supposed to have “one of the world’s densest concentrations of nesting birds of prey”. The World Center of Birds of Prey is located nearby in Boise.

Above, the Snake River near Swan Falls Dam in the conservation area. There is a dirt/gravel road (shown in the picture) that goes 4 miles along the river with pullouts for camping. The dirt/gravel road is pretty good, but the pullouts in the sandy dirt have been damaged by rain. I didn’t see any rv’s, just tents. Also, the road down to the river has one mile of, at the minimum, an 8% grade.

A hawk (not sure which one) with chicks on a telephone pole in the prairie above the river valley. I could see and hear hawks in the cliffs on the right side of the river, but they were so far away and blended in so well with the cliffs, I couldn’t get any pictures.

There are the largest squirrels along the river. When I first saw one, thought it was a beaver. They are really large and lumbering in their movements.

Fellow travel blogger, Lloyd, with a wonderful site at wandrin.us, is probably right that the above rodent is a yellow-bellied marmot.

In the parking lot at the Birds of Prey Center saw the above bird. Came to find out it’s a chukar. When I was at the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge, their refuge map said chukar hunting was allowed at the base of the mountain. Chukar’s are not native to the U.S., they were brought in as a game bird for hunting. Don’t see how anyone could shoot one, they are so cute.

Below, a bald eagle on display at the Birds of Prey Center.