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Archive for the ‘wildlife refuge’ Category

Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge

Friday, August 21st, 2009

Stayed a few days at Henry’s Lake State Park, a little south of West Yellowstone, just so I could visit the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. I had put off visiting it before because you have to drive more than 25 miles over a dirt road. Was glad I did not try and drive my trailer over the road. Found it to be a mix of washboard, rock, and potholes…really bad. Making it hard to get to probably is a good thing. It is one of the most beautiful and remote wildlife refuges I’ve been to and being hard to get to probably helps keep it that way.

Picture above: Upper Red Rock Lake. The Centennial Mountains are seen when you look in the other direction.

Passed over Red Rock Pass and into Montana on the way to the refuge from Island Park, Idaho.

Taylor Mountain, around 9,500 feet, near the refuge. There is still some snow on it.

Part of the Upper Lake Campground. I would love to get my trailer here for a few days. You are really in the wilderness without having to backpack into it. Next year I’m going to try going through the west entrance to the refuge to see if that road is any better than the east entrance that I traveled.

Had a staredown with this marmot. Kept thinking it would run away. Finally said, ok, you win, and left. It may have been protecting a nest.

Below: Think these are prairie falcon fledglings, though I’m not good at identifying falcons and hawks. Swainson’s hawks (thanks to John Dahlke)

Posted in falcon, Island Park, marmot, wildlife refuge | 1 Comment »

Little Pend Oreille Wildlife Refuge

Sunday, August 2nd, 2009

Have been in Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge near Colville, Washington, for the past five days. It is an unusual refuge, in that it allows free camping in some designated campgrounds on the refuge and even allows you to use dead or downed trees for firewood. You can even use a chainsaw! The campgrounds are in a dry forest area where there are a lot of tall, skinny trees. There is a firefighting unit on site that helps thin out the trees at this level, to allow the trees more room to grow.

Enjoyed having a campground pretty much to myself. There is a dirt/gravel road that circles around the refuge and takes you past the campgrounds and the visitor center. A few bicyclists took advantage of this low traffic road. There are some roads off this main route that are pretty rough. Some of the campgrounds allow horses, but owners have to remove all horse manure!

The birds were generally elusive. I was lucky to find a large flock of cedar waxwings flying through the air catching bugs next to a bog. The white bugs bounced up and down over plants that circled the bog and didn’t bother me. The waxwings didn’t seem to mind me either. They were flying all around intent on catching the bugs. Once and a while there would be a shrill whistle and they would all scatter, only to return a few minutes later.

Saw an eagle and an osprey hunting over a pond.

Campsite at the refuge.

Posted in Airstream, cedar waxwing, Colville, eagle, wildlife refuge | 2 Comments »

Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge

Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

I am visiting Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, around 20 miles from the Canadian Border. The cedar waxwing, above, has some fledglings in the berry bush. The leaves were so dense, I couldn’t get a good picture of them.

On reading about Bonners Ferry on Wikipedia, found that it is near where the Ruby Ridge incident occurred. The write up on Wikipedia about this is like a novel. There are lots of places in the woods around here to try and escape society.

It is really crowded here with rv’s and motorcycles. I stopped by Glacier National Park on the way, but it was also jammed. Hope to get back there. A Canadian radio station made the comment that they just have two seasons: winter and July. This may have something to do with the crowds. It’s the best weather of the year.

Have seen this moose and calf three times. The adult always detects when people stop to watch her with the calf and she heads back into the tall grass.

Osprey. An adult was two posts down from it eating a fish.

On leaving the refuge one day, I noticed the silhouette of the back of an owl on a utility pole. I slowing walked towards it, not wanting it to fly away. Came to find it was a fake owl! Read where they were put on utility poles to keep osprey from nesting, but the osprey ended up using the fake owls in their nests.

Young deer going out into a wheat field where an adult was grazing.

Posted in Bonners Ferry, cedar waxwing, deer, geese, moose, osprey, wildlife refuge | No Comments »

Benton Lake National Wildife Refuge

Wednesday, July 15th, 2009

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.”

Posted in Fort Benton, grebe, heron, Ibis, kingbird, marmot, phalarope, sandpiper, sora, White Falls, wildlife refuge, willet | No Comments »

No Bull!

Friday, July 10th, 2009

This is the typical landscape, without the bison, that you see driving from Bozeman to Missoula, Montana. Outside of the towns, it is only lightly dotted with homes and ranches. Most offramps have signs saying “No Services”. I did not see a single highway patrol or sheriff’s car until I got to Missoula. The picture above, of course, is from the National Bison Range.

Bison calves among the big guys. The 2,000 lb bulls are imposing. The bison are moved to a different pasture each day. Wonder how it is done.

This was the only pronghorn I saw tagged like this. It would be hard to catch a pronghorn, the way they can run.

Above: A catbird at the refuge.

Below: Another beautiful view from the refuge road.

Posted in antelope, bison, catbird, Flathead Lake, St. Ignatious, wildlife refuge | No Comments »

National Bison Range

Thursday, July 9th, 2009

Traveled through Yellowstone, staying one night at their Mammoth Hot Springs Campground, then headed through Boseman, Butte and Missoula, Montana. At Missoula, turned north towards Flathead Lake. There are some wildlife refuges between the small town of St. Ignatius and the lake, one being the National Bison Range. I considered not going to the Bison Range, as I have seen bison before. So glad I changed my mind. They have a 19 mile dirt road through the refuge that rises 2,000 feet. The views are spectacular!

The top picture is looking from the refuge towards the town of St. Ignatius and the Mission Mountains. The picture below it shows some of the refuge road going uphill, with Flathead River in the background. I don’t even have any pictures of bison so far. They haven’t been that interesting.

A lazuli bunting. The first one I’ve seen and gotten a picture of. In trees along one of the streams that goes through the refuge.

A sage grouse came out onto the road, then rushed back into the brush when It saw me.

House wren

A bighorn sheep seen while it was raining.

Pronghorn with a baby looking over it’s neck.

I stopped by a small rv park near the refuge to check their prices. The owner showed me a pair of swans that have nested in one of his ponds for the last six years. The red band around the neck of the adult is a Fish and Game banding.

Posted in bison, bunting, elk, Flathead Lake, grouse, sheep, St. Ignatious, swan, wildlife refuge | No Comments »

Camas National Wildlife Refuge

Thursday, July 2nd, 2009

Top picture, a young antelope. The only one I’ve seen. It stayed perfectly still as I drove by. Have also seen a lone moose, but it was too far away to get a picture.

Second picture, a porcupine was plodding along the road on one of my morning visits to the refuge.

Eared grebe with a baby on board, literally. I had heard grebe babies ride on a parent’s back. This is the first one I’ve seen.

Have seen quite a few ibis’. They are like ducks though, they tend to take off when they see you approaching.

Coot smackdown. Pre-fight posturing in top picture. They use their feet in fighting, holding onto the other bird with one foot and slapping with the other, along with pushing with the beak. The goal is to push the other bird onto his back. Think this fight was over a female coot. The bigger coot won.

Another picture of the owl, this time on the ground.

The pictures below were taken by my rv site in Rexburg: baby robins in the first pictures and a Wilson’s warbler in the second. A parent robin was calling to the young ones today, trying to get them to fly to the ground.

The rv park I’m staying at is a family farm/rv park/bed and breakfast/cabin rental/and gift shop. There is a for sale sign out front, so the owners may have over extended themselves. They are really nice people and work really hard. There are lots of birds and, so far, no mosquitoes. Cotton, from all the cottonwood trees blows around in the air. I decided to stay here through the 4th of July.

Posted in antelope, coot, grebe, porcupine, Rexburg, robin, wildlife refuge, Wilson's warbler | No Comments »

More from Southeast Idaho

Monday, June 29th, 2009

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.

Posted in Bureau of Land Management, coot, grebe, National, owl, Rexburg, ruddy, State, swan, tern, wildlife refuge | No Comments »

More from Grays Lake Refuge

Saturday, June 20th, 2009

First sighting and pictures I’ve gotten of trumpeter swans. Thought they were pelicans from a distance.

There is a very large colony of breeding Franklin’s gulls. I’m not seeing as many blackbirds as I have been. Wonder if the gulls are taking over spots that would otherwise have had blackbirds.

Western tanager. First one I’ve sighted and gotten pictures of.

Common snipe. First one I’ve seen and gotten pictures of.

American kestral. Have seen quite a few, but they are quick to fly off when you approach.

Tree swallow. There are bird houses for them on a lot of fence posts.

Think this is a Swainson’s hawk. There are lots of red-tailed and Swainson’s hawks here. Hard to tell them apart.

Came upon some horses walking down the middle of the refuge road. A rancher in a pickup soon drove past me, turned the horses around, and herded them back by me into a corral. There were only 4 horses in his pasture the next day. The others were probably sold.

The day after the horse event, further down the road, I slowly passed a few cows in the road. In looking in my rearview mirror, saw lots of cows joining the few that had been in the road and they were following me! I had to speed up to get them to stop.

Talk about butting heads! These two were affectionately pushing against east other to see who was the strongest.

Red, yellow, and blue wildflowers in foreground. The beige near the top are bulrushes in Grays Lake marsh. This was the one and only cloudless sky I had (for part of the day).

Posted in gull, hawk, horse, snipe, Soda Springs, swan, tanager, wildlife refuge | No Comments »

Grays Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

Grays Lake National Wildlife Refuge is in a high mountain valley (6400 feet) in southeast Idaho. It is a large, shallow marsh, rather than a lake. Water that should go to it is diverted to farms. This is where sandhill cranes and many other migrating birds pass through or stay in the spring migration. In the fall, it is a staging area for birds migrating south.

The weather has been more significant here, with clouds and intermittent rain. My mud shoes have been put back into use. There has been a 4 or 5 hour window of sunshine every day that has allowed me to go to the refuge. Visitors are not allowed into it’s interior, but can circle the periphery on a dirt road. One article I read said the refuge is a great bird habitat, but not so great birding spot because of this. I have had great luck though. As the summer goes on, however, the grass will get taller and birds will be harder to see.

The sandhill cranes above were seen on ranchland adjacent to the refuge. The second picture shows courting behavior. In the bottom picture there is a crane fledgling between the two adults.

I can hear and sometimes see cranes in the refuge, but you really need at least a 600 mm lens to get pictures of them.