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.

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.

Headed north into Idaho. This year, took a different route, through western Idaho. From Boise, took highway 55, then highway 95, through mountain valley’s, usually along streams or rivers. Unseasonably cold weather in Boise followed me part of the way. It’s a beautiful drive, with lots of places to stay and explore.

Above, a view above White Bird, Idaho, where the initial battle that started the Nez Perce War took place.

Stayed at Hells Gate State Park in Lewiston for a few days. Above shows the Clearwater River (on the left)  as it joins the Snake River. The State Park is along the Snake River in the middle of the picture. There are lots of beautiful trees in the area that look like pictures from a plant catalog. Lewiston is just 738 feet above sea level and has mild winters. Think it gets pretty warm in the summer though. The weather in northwest Idaho lets a lot of the State Parks and National Forest Campgrounds open in May, rather than after Memorial Day.  Hells Gate State Park has one camping loop open year around.

Above, an osprey, with what appears to be a small bird in it’s talons, returns to it’s nest near the Visitor Center at the park.

Also, a wood duck near the shoreline by my campsite.

On my drive through western Idaho, all the rivers were running high and swift. This was the case in Lewiston as well. The Snake River was really muddy and swift. Wondered if that played a part in the osprey going after a bird rather than a fish.

Found that Walmarts in both Lewiston and nearby Moscow had been closed. The one in Lewiston is now a community center and the one in Moscow has a Goodwill store. Both towns are strong farming communities. That may have played a part in the Walmarts’ closing.

A young swallow let me take it’s picture.

After leaving Utah, stopped one night at a campground in the Curlew National Grasslands. On leaving, the young  hawk below let me take it’s picture.

Above, at a ranch run by Antelope island State Park, a ranger in the white truck was herding the bison away from a group of visiting school children when one bison turned on a dime and faced the truck. The ranger backed up and turned around and the bison shortly continued walking with the other two bison. He looked like he was ready to fight the truck if it had continued.

Pronghorn elk. They were concerned about some bicyclists. They take cars more for granted, but were uncertain about people on bikes. There are some very good dirt bike paths here. Many cyclists ride over the causeway to the island. I wonder about riding a bike here on bad bug days. Every day it got warmer, the bugs got worse. Along the causeway especially, there were lots of midges like I saw in the Klamath Falls, Oregon area.

A burrowing owl. It would not cooperate to let me get a better picture. (It’s in the center of the picture).

A loggerhead shrike. Often saw it hunting in the same area as the owl.

Thought the coyote (fox?) below was a domestic dog at first, it was so fluffy and was wagging it’s tail while  pouncing on prey on the ground. Think he finally captured and ate it.

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.

Stopped at El Vado State Park near Chama, New Mexico to let some spring weather systems pass. Had snow, hail, and rain. The snow melted as soon as it hit the ground. On the distant mountains, it just lasted a few hours. I have been in drought areas so long, I enjoyed the rain. Left my trailer cleaner than it’s been for a while.

Bluebird with a worm.

Have started seeing osprey nests. The osprey below looks to be a young one.

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.

Stayed in the Tucson area for a couple of weeks. Nice to see that grass front yards are 98% gone. Many people have used creative ways to continue the desert landscape around homes and business’. Saw a lot of dead palm trees and eucalyptus trees in the area.

Above is the eastern unit of the Saguaro National Park looking towards the Catalina Mountains.

Drove the Catalina Highway to the top of Mt. Lemmon. It rises 4,000 feet in around 25 miles—it’s all uphill. Lots of bicyclists were making the grueling ride to the top. It would be a beautiful place to see a sunset or escape the summer heat at 7,000 feet elevation.

Curved billed thrashers seen in an urban area.

Birds, and critter, seen at Catalina State Park in the campground: a canyon towhee with a malformed bill, a gila woodpecker, a Cooper’s hawk, and a ground squirrel. The Cooper’s hawk flew to the ground, perhaps to catch one of the many ground squirrels. Later saw it hiding in a bush stalking birds and squirrels.

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.