JEllen in the Black Hills

New Florida Blog is Online

2011-11-01T08:47:00.000-06:00

We've arrived in Florida after six days on the road...we traveled from Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Thru Iowa, Missouri, Tennessee, and Alabama...all new states for us..
Spent a night in a great hotel on the beach at Panama City Beach in the panhandle of FL...
Spent two days with good friends and their family near Orlando...
And yesterday we landed in the area we'll be staying for a month or two
With hubby's brother until we find where we want to settle...

http://findingfloridaatfifty.blogspot.com/ ...Here's the link to my new Blog!

I truly hope you'll continue to follow me there as I explore Florida!

Moving On..and Over and Down

2011-09-25T21:02:00.002-06:00

Big life changes seem to happen in threes, don't they? They do for us anyway...

A lot has been happening the past 2-3 weeks...plenty of stress is involved, but ~ great news ~ tomorrow we'll be signing an updated real estate contract and our house will be closing escrow in a month... and we'll be moving to Florida finally! The Huz and I are hot and heavy with the sorting, packing, yard sale-ing, stressing, freaking out, etc. etc. that comes with moving long distance.

So, Huz retired in July, the house will be sold in Oct. and we'll be moving to FL in Oct. I think that's enough excitement for one year, LOL. This will be our third long-distance move/house sale in almost 29 yrs of marriage...big surprise, it doesn't get easier w/ age or experience!

We've had seven...uh, interesting years in the Black Hills...and survived seven long, hard winters, which is the main reason we must move on now that Huz is career-free ...that and the fact that we both were born with sand in our ears and miss the beaches terribly...BUT...

I discovered my love of nature photography here in S Dakota and had a wonderful time traveling the Hills capturing the birds, beasts, and botany in the area, starting in '05 when all I had was a pocket camera and a strong interest in the wildflowers when we walked our then-dog in a nearby canyon. I had especially fabulous photography years 2008-2010 and feel so blessed!

This is my last regular post for JEllen in the Black Hills and I thank all of you so very much who have been a visitor to my little space in Blogspot-o-sphere. I'll be creating a new Blog once we move and sincerely hope my regular visitors will follow me there! I'll be covering more subject matter besides nature...everything of interest that I come across in the Sunshine State is game!

I'll do one more post with a link to my new Blog, hopefully in Nov. Keep on Blogging!

Silent Sunday

2011-09-11T20:02:00.002-06:00

Summer's Last Stand

2011-09-10T10:02:00.000-06:00

Autumn is definitely in the air...we're still having nice, sunny weather in the high 70's to low 80's but it's supposed to come to an abrupt end Wed., dropping to the 60's. Autumn is very short-lived in S Dakota (sigh) before we start seeing s**w...last year we were real lucky, no white stuff until the very end of Oct. Well, not that we plan on being here for at least part of winter....

Anyway, we had company earlier this week, an ex-co-worker of hubby's and his wife were heading for Oklahoma and stopped in for a couple days. I did the tourist guide thing for them, including a drive thru the wildlife loop at Custer State Park...

It's that time of year...the bulls are checking out the females...we came upon two separate herds, both mainly females and calves, with a few bulls among them sizing up the gals for more procreating...

This bull is just chillin' with a female he seems to fancy...

...But this wiry red-haired calf isn't necessarily his offspring....junior was looking a bit nervous...I would too with a one ton hooved hunk of meat breathing down my neck...

Many of the "wild" (my ass, pardon the pun) burros have foals...they are cute but the traffic jam tourists cause due to burro gawking is slightly annoying...you can pet the burros, that's how wild they are...they block traffic looking for handouts...mom trains the foals in this fine art...

...Most of the buffalo calves have turned brown by now...

Life's rough on a sunny day in a state park...for now...little does he know, in about two weeks he'll be getting a hot iron brand pressed to his rump! The annual buffalo round-up is Sept. 26th this year.

Hazy August Daze

2011-08-22T13:52:00.003-06:00

I finally ventured out with the camera Sat., and naturally it was an overcast day...the days before and after were sunny and clear...I'm just really out of it this year...and am also trying to pretend that summer isn't winding down...but the curlycup gumweed and goldenrod are in bloom...

I meandered around the usual farmland area to see what nature had to offer...

I thought I'd found a flock of lifer birds but they turned out to be yellowy-colored house sparrows...

(Update: Thanks Hap, you're no doubt right about this being an immature or female bobolink! I knew something was off about ID'ing it as a yellowy sparrow! LOL)

Sigh...a flock of European starlings...in their winter color no less...yikes...

The wild cucumber is in bloom...this vine took a hold by a nail on the post...

The Eastern kingbirds are still around...

...Some with plenty of 'tude...

An American kestrel was out hunting...

Two bucks ran across the road in front of me, into the underbrush...I tried to get a focused shot, focused on the buck and not the grass but that didn't happen...

Sunflowers and chicory are still in bloom...the blue and yellow are pretty together, even on the side of a dusty dirt road.

Sturgis Skulls

2011-08-15T08:43:00.001-06:00

The 71st Annual Sturgis Bike Rally officially ended Sunday...it's always fun to see the bikes pouring in and it's always nice to have traffic back to 'normal', heh. Now for the four-wheeled tourist traffic to die down...can you say, Mt. Rushmore? Anyway, the Huz and I owned various Harleys for about twelve years, until '08, and before the Harleys we had other bikes...we still go to Sturgis during bike week to check out the bikes and nosh on some vendor food...this year we checked out some custom bikes...clearly skulls are a popular theme...

...There was an orange skull...

...Hard to see but the white designs all have skulls...

Skull and angels, hmm.....

...A sea creature like the one in Pirates of the Caribbean...looks skull-ish...

...Even the seat can have custom skulls carved in leather...and some foul language...oopsie...

...A charming trio of skulls....

This is what Main Street in Sturgis looks like during bike week...no cars allowed.

I haven't been out w/ the camera stalking nature very much at all this year, but hopefully I'll follow thru on the threat to get out real soon.

Mariposa Lily

2011-08-04T14:42:00.001-06:00

“And the stately lilies stand

Fair in the silvery light,

Like saintly vestals, pale in prayer;

Their pure breath sanctifies the air,

As its fragrance fills the night.”

Julia C. R. Dorr

Eurasian Invasion?

2011-07-31T13:45:00.001-06:00

The backyard feeders

Are getting a lot of exciting visitors this year,

I'm thrilled to say...

The biggest thrill factor is

A pair of Eurasian Collared Doves!

They are clearly nesting nearby...

According to the Stokes field guide,

The doves (Streptopilia decaocto)

Were introduced to the Bahamas,

And have spread to Florida,

With sightings in GA, LA, and AR,

And further expansion is expected...

According to Audubon,

which calls it the Ringed Turtle-Dove,

(Streptopelia risoria),

it was introduced in S. Calif., AZ, AL, and S. Florida...

Either way, they've made it to the middle of the country!

But which is it?

Or are they the same w/ a very minor discrepancy?

I'm an Ornithological Oaf on these things...

They certainly look the same...

When I first saw the doves,

I thought they were mourning doves...

But a voice in the back of my brain

Was telling me something was 'off' ...

They seemed really pale...

And there's that dark line on the back of the neck...

So I looked them up in the good books...

Turns out the tip of the tail is blunt also...

They are shy, polite creatures...

Below, they wait patiently for the sparrow to leave...

(More about that fellow later)...

Here's a mourning dove for comparison...

(Zenaida macroura)...

It's darker with dark spots on the wing tips...

The tail feathers come to a point...

And no collar...

This one is out in the farming community...

Mr. and Mrs. Mt. Bluebird

Have been nesting in the neighbor's birdhouse...

In June, the Mrs. was seen in our yard...

Gathering nature's tidbits for the nest...

But for the past few weeks now,

It's just Mr. Mt. Bluebird...

Who is seen daily,

Gathering grub for his brood...

He checks out the seed feeders but doesn't eat...

But he does drink water from the bird bath...

He has been very, very busy

Faithfully feeding his family...

Dashing here and there...

Until recently, we also enjoyed Mr. House Finch's visits...

His red head is a very brilliant crimson...

Here he's in one of our two apple trees...

This one now has small green apples...

Now the female finches

Are abundant in our yard...

Along with their fledglings...

Another surprise visitor, a squirrel...

That discovered the sunflower seeds...

Now we know who was sneaking out at night,

Eating all the seeds up!

It was a mystery...

How a deer --or two-- could creep in

And not leave any 'calling cards' !

The feeders come inside at dusk now...

Esq. Red was here a couple days, is gone now...

Another unusual, exciting visitor...

A black-capped chickadee!

I may not be good at ID'ing bird calls,

But I know the chickadee's unique raspy song,

So quickly grabbed the camera...

And there it was,

Yesterday and today so far...

The goldfinches that first showed up weeks ago...

Have been very scarce of late...

But one male has come back

The past couple days...

His yellow is the brightest hue of sunshine...

Now, about that sparrow...

There are a couple male house sparrows...

This fellow in particular...a fledgling? ...

That are visiting every day...

Not only to eat...

But to lounge for hours on the feeder's ledge...

A safe haven til they develop their wings?

There's one in every crowd...

A few rowdy crows

Have found our Ornit Oasis,

Unwelcome new guests...

They show up in the morning,

Cawing loudly;

Who needs a rooster?

But fortunately they don't stay long.

The other unwelcome guests,

The brown-headed cowbirds,

Though pretty in their subtle way...

Have disappeared,

I'm happy to say!

Crop Magic

2011-07-25T19:02:00.000-06:00

One of the coolest things about nature photography, esp. when you're taking a photo of a subject at a good distance, is that once you get home and crop a photo, you discover there was more in your shot than you realized.....

The shots I took of this doe are a great example...I couldn't figure out why she was frozen in place. I was probably almost 100 yards from her but still, she looked like she wanted to bolt.....turned out she had a wee fawn nursing under her! :o)

Rocky Mountain High -- Part II

2011-07-18T08:50:00.000-06:00

Once we were heading north in the Rocky Mt. Nat'l Park, it wasn't long before daughter's boyfriend C. spied a lone moose just inside the treeline...Huz turned around, pulled over, and I was able to get several shots before other tourists zeroed in on the action...

Turned out, this was a young male...

Across the road from the moose was this female elk...

Another wildflower, Rydberg's penstemon...

Looking back at the valley where we'd been, during a steep climb up a mountain.....

Another view from the same turn-out as we climb in elev....

Western bistort...

The Continental Divide...

Top of the mountains, Alpine Tundra, at 11,796 feet elev. (above and below)

Purple fringe grows in the delicate alpine tundra, as well as several other wildflowers. I've always been intrigued with how wildflowers can grow, thrive even, from the most rugged, dry, rocky terrain.

I'm ready to go back to Colorado and explore more of the Rockies! Sylvia...no, we didn't do any hiking...we're in no shape to hike in the Rockies unfortunately, esp. at the higher elevations, plus we didn't have the time. I was thrilled just to get up into the Rockies and SEE them! Did I mention, I'm ready to go back? ;o)

Rocky Mountain High -- Part I

2011-07-11T11:25:00.000-06:00

It's official...the Huz is retired, as of July 1st...we houswives never get to retire, but hey the job has really flexible hours, heh heh...so 'we' are retired per se, the house is for sale for who knows how long (getting nowhere fast so far)...time to get away for a bit. Our daughter's 24th birthday was Sunday, so we headed down to Denver on the 5th. This time, I was hell-bent on seeing the 'real' Colorado......

On the 6th, we (daughter's boyfriend included) headed W on I-70, then N on Hwy. 40, to Hot Sulphur Springs Resort/Spa, just S of the Rocky Mt. Nat'l Park...we stopped to look at the area daughter and bf had camped in recently, along the Fraser River....

We stayed one night at the resort, enjoying several of the 24 natural hot spring-fed pools...too bad about the mosquitos...so far no signs of W Nile virus...this would be way better in winter when it's 20 degrees out...

The resort was scattered with lovely garden flowers incl this colorful assortment...

I managed to get photos of two birds, both at the resort...above is a tree swallow, below I believe is a type of wren....it has banded wing and tail...

Colorado's state flower is the columbine...there were several colors growing at the resort, planted there...I sooo wanted to get photos of the columbine in the wild but did not, tho I did see them at least...

I saw many wildflowers not seen in S Dakota, but couldn't get photos of most, like the Indian paintbrush, a coral-colored flower that looked like possibly a penstemon, and much more, whaaaaa...I did get this dewy narrowleaf penstemon...several penstemons grow in the Black Hills also...sigh...

Also common in S Dakota, phlox...

On Fri., we headed N. on Hwy 34, into the Rocky Mt. Nat'l Park for our first visit...the scenery did not disappoint! The Rocky Mts are as breath-taking as it gets...

These two shots were taken at the SW end of the Park. I'll post Part II of our trek soon....

Skywatch Friday

2011-07-01T08:32:00.001-06:00

Mother Nature charmed us with another gorgeous sky show, the day after my previous post; guess she was on a roll! This was at sunset, with another thunder storm rolling in.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY, AMERICA!

Skywatch Saturday

2011-06-26T09:12:00.000-06:00

Summer is finally here, and so are the thunderstorms...Friday we had a lovely show from Mother Nature; the Huz was at work (it never fails) and I had to enjoy a candle-lit evening alone while the rain poured, pea-sized hail piled up (larger hail fell elsewhere), and the power went out for about an hour. Last night, we had an even more spectacular light show, and I took photos before the rain hit....

This ray of sun before the black clouds squeezed it out...was breath-taking!

Things are getting more ominous...note the horizontal bands of clouds in front of the puffy clouds...

It looks like the lightning is hitting the house but it's hitting the Black Hills. The light show last night was just fantastic, and lasted for a couple hours.

June Wildflowers

2011-06-20T11:40:00.001-06:00

It's raining, it's pouring...it's a good thing I finally got out for a drive with the camera Sat., because the break from the wind or overcast weather was short-lived. It doesn't feel like late June! Not that we aren't having sunshine...but to have sun and only a light breeze at the same time is rare so far. Have you ever tried to take wildflower photos in the wind? I drove along Elk Creek on the E edge of the Black Hills, and then further E just beyond the foothills....

I was pleasantly surprised to find a few black henbane plants along Elk Creek; I didn't see them last year in this area and the only place I have seen them would cost a small fortune in gas to visit. Black henbane is from the Potato Family, and is poisonous (foliage and seeds).

Stemless hymenoxys, a.k.a. butte marigold, grows abundantly in the Hills...from a distance or certain angles it does appear to not have a stem....from the Aster Family...

Dame's rocket is also common, and it is mostly not this purple color, it's a 'red' color that my cameras refuse to capture accurately...it's from the Mustard Family...

Goatsbeard, or yellow salsify, another aster, is frequent in the Hills...ok, I refuse to use the four-lettered word "weed" to describe any wildflower..."weed" just means that a plant grows abundantly on roadsides...

Blue penstemon, a.k.a. smooth beardtongue, is one of five penstemons growing in the Hills; they like the rocky roadsides like this red clay landscape. They're a figwort. A poultice of the leaves was used by some Native American tribes to treat snake bite, and tea from the leaves was drunk to inhibit vomiting.

Elk Creek from a cement bridge that crosses it along Bethlehem Rd....

Dalmatian toadflax, another figwort.

Hound's tongue, or gypsyflower, is from the Borage Family...not hard to figure out why it's called hound's tongue...

White campion is, confusingly, from the Pink Family, and a real headache to get a clear photo of (like many wildflowers)...

One of my favorites, red (or wild) columbine, is a buttercup...my BH field guide says they're frequent at low to mid elev. in the E Hills but I would disagree. I know two places they grow. Certain Native Americans used crushed seeds as a perfume and love charm. :o)

Now I've reached the dry, rocky landscape E of the Hills...where the white milkwort grows. The Sioux used it to treat earache, and was traded among Plains Indians as a medicine.

Wouldn't you know, W. South Dakota doesn't have the brilliant red paintbrush, it has downy paintbrush (above) and sulfur paintbrush (pale green). Oh well, it's still an interesting, unique flower. Yet another Figwort Family member. Downy paintbrush is common in native grasslands across the N. plains.

Yellow wild buckwheat is one of two attractive buckwheats that grow in this area. Its flowers are supposed to be excellent for honey production.

Lambert crazyweed, a.k.a. purple locoweed, is from the Legume Family. Lots of legumes grow in the Black Hills and surrounding areas...this is the most common crazyweed in N. Plains grasslands.

Found outside of the actual Hills, desert plume, or golden prince's plume, is not noted in my BH "botany Bible" as I call it. Another plant I had previously had to travel several miles to find, this one in the S region of the foothills, so I was happy to find it last year close to home along a farm road. It's a mustard.

Butte candle, from the Borage Family. These are just a few of so many wildflowers that grow in this area. June and July are the main months that they grow. A few grow in April, May, and Aug., and by Sept. they're all gone. Ugh.

Around the Pond

2011-06-04T14:14:00.001-06:00

So much for spring...we had a whole month of colder-than-usual, wetter-than-usual spring weather for the month of May and this weekend we've jumped right into summer with temps some days in the higher 80's F. Not that this is unusual here in S Dakota (at least not in the past seven years)! The plains winds are as wiley as usual so it makes it hard to get out w/ the camera despite the nice temp. I'm having issues with my Blog right now, but hopefully it'll resolve itself soon...anyway, thank you for the recent comments, I do really enjoy and appreciate them!

I was asked if the mariposa lily grows in the Badlands...not that I've seen, but the gumbo lily does.

This is the final photos from my recent drive E of the Hills, out around the farms/ranches...I left off near 'the pond' that I was heading for via the backroads.....

Another bird commonly seen in the grasslands, in summer, is the lark bunting...they're always seen in groups, paired up on the wires (below)...the male is black, female light brown...these birds will follow you down the road if you're driving slow trying to get photos....they keep flying away, landing, flying away...

The upland sandpiper is a lot less skittish; it's hell-bent on doing its head-bobbing ritual (mating display?), like a robot moving in slow-mo...I still can't get over how out-of-place this bird looks, far from any shoreline...

At the pond, the yellow-headed blackbirds are back for the summer as well...they nest in the tall pond grasses along the water's edge...

The same goes for the eared grebes...last yr they built nests on top of the marsh grasses near the shore by the road but this year the dead reeds were all chopped down...but nice to see them anyway (see side bar for last yr photo of nesting grebe).....

Both sexes look the same but I'd guess the more pronounced crest belongs to the courting males...

Esp. looking at this photo (above), it looked like a really popular female (2nd from rt.) got to pick from a trio of suitors.....

Also seen on the pond, a blue-winged teal pair.

Happy early summer, everyone! Hopefully I'll get out w/ the camera again soon...I've got a mental list of places I want to go this summer...gotta pick and choose due to these gas prices...

A Fowl Moment

2011-05-31T08:10:00.005-06:00

The sun is out and I'm sooo tempted to go for another drive but the wind is blowing pretty good, supposed to get 40 mph gusts today...welcome to the high plains...I do have two more sets of photos to post from my previous drive out E of the Hills among the farms and ranches, a few days ago...I was heading for what I refer to as 'the pond', tooling along southward.....

...when I spotted this fellow flitting about in a small tree...I took several photos as it bounced around, ignoring me, but none of them came out real sharp, doesn't it figure?? The yellow warbler isn't one to pose nicely...but I did get my best shots so far...

...I just love birds on a wire...they're even neater when one discovers they've never actually ID'd one before...all the sparrows I've seen in the grasslands that look like this, I've ID'd as the grasshopper sparrow, but lo and behold, we also have the vesper sparrow here, easy to ID by the clay-colored patch on its wing, as you can just make out on the right side here...if it were singing I'd of known better too, cause the grasshopper sparrow gets its name from the fact it sounds a lot like a grasshopper (really cool but weird!)

...then there's cows between wires...I also love the sarcastic look that the cattle seem to have as they eyeball me as I pass by...Calf #952 was munching a dandelion...

...Seen thru the wire, 'two' does near a crop of trees by a farm...as it turned out, there were several does...they all got up in alarm when I stopped for a photo...

...The male meadowlarks are still defending their territories...I think this is the closest I've been to one and got photos...he wasn't backing down..."Just move along sister!"

WHAT THE...???!! Ok, I've driven down this lane past a particular farm house several times...it's where I spotted my first/last lazuli bunting...and I'd never seen THIS bizzare bird! I knew right off it had to be from some other country...I saw two in a corral area, two on the road I had to wait for to move out of the way...

...A face only a mother could love, huh? I surfed the web and found out this is a helmeted guineafowl from Africa...brought to the US to control ticks...my dad would love those body feathers for fly tying...

The 'fowl' farm is near Elk Creek Rd., which 'the pond' is on...the bobolinks like this area and I was expecting to seem them...they're very hard to get photos of...they're only here in summer...

Near the pond, the killdeer are also back...last year I got some good shots of a killdeer that actually came towards me...this one gave me the cold..uh..'shoulder'....

Next I'll post Part III of my last outing, birds around the pond....

Birds on a Wire...and Other Things

2011-05-27T09:29:00.005-06:00

We're having a cold, wet spring, ARG! The weather improved late morning yesterday, so I grabbed the camera and took a drive, a sort of long, narrow '0' circle north thru the Hills and south-ish thru the grasslands/farming community just E of the Hills...this is bird season to be sure so I was hopeful...the weather fluxed between sunny and cloudy...

First up, a black-billed magpie on a post...then it flew to a nearby wagon...no problem 'Finding Nemo' here, Nemo's a small, rustic town in the E Hills...no clown fish in the creek but the magpies seem to enjoy this spot...

Just outside of Nemo is the S entrance to Vanocker Canyon...I stopped along Elk Creek at a bird-loving spot (very skittish birds but I keep trying)...the creek was gushing hard due to all the rain we've had. I spotted this elusive American redstart, along with a BC chickadee, and nearby a flitty female common yellowthroat...

A willow flycatcher posed nicely for me...this could also be a W wood peewee but they're larger of the two so I'm guessing this is the WF, which is very common in the US...both are tyrant flycatchers...

Further into the farm grasslands, I quickly discovered that there is a great abundance of both kingbirds this year...last year I hardly saw any of the W kingbirds (above) at all...

The E kingbird doesn't mind posing, too bad it wasn't the right light...

The mourning doves were out mourning.....

Preferrably alone...oops, my bad....

There's always an abundance of Brewer's blackbirds...easily ID'd by the yellow eye...

Thru the wire...a trio of mallards near the farmhouse where I saw my first/last lazuli bunting last year...this year I discovered a bizzare lifer at this farm, that is far from its native land....stay tuned!

Good Day, Goldie!

2011-05-21T08:38:00.003-06:00

First of all, please ignore the changes to my Blog design...I got to playing with things and I cannot get the header photo to appear right...it's huge and off center so I've had to remove it. Sigh! Shrink-to-fit is not doing its job!

Anyhow, we had a nice surprise at the feeders yesterday...several goldfinches descended upon our springy green back yard, and chowed down. My first set of photos were mostly a bust, taken thru the glass on top of the late afternoon light, but the 2nd time I got this lone male, below, when the light was better....

Three males and two females...

Not a sharp photo but you can see the pretty wing pattern before this boy shoots down to the seeds...

We get plenty of house finches at the feeders, but they seemed leery of the goldfinches...and the dang blackbirds and cowbirds are spooking all of the smaller birds...

A female brown-headed cowbird at the bird bath.

The house sparrows are really scarce this year so far, but I do see one male and female once in awhile.

We also have a Mt. bluebird pair nesting in a neighbor's bird house, that make an appearance at the back neighbors' fences, but I haven't seen them at the bird bath as yet.

The Pasqueflower Promise

2011-05-13T19:27:00.000-06:00

The sun finally peeked out of the clouds today around 11 AM, so I called a friend who's off work a few weeks recouping from back surgery (a second one, ARG!)...and we hit the road for Hwy 385 (the only paved route that runs the entire length of the Black Hills), taking a round about way to the Sugar Shack, our favorite burger joint. My friend J. mentioned she tried to find the pasqueflower recently but didn't see it. The flower is significant to us both because it's the state flower, and it's pretty much the first of the more showy early spring flowers to bloom after the looong winters here. I told her I'd found pasqueflowers last year on the hillside right at the turn-off for the boat launch area at Pactola Lake, so, stuffed to the brim with burger, fries, and soda, we waddled back to the car and headed further south to the point of interest. The flowers were there, the wind was blowing, but I managed a couple ok shots. The pasqueflower seems like proof, or a promise, that summer is finally on its way!

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-07T17:56:00.000-06:00

I wish all of you moms out there a very Happy Mother's Day; may it be joyful and filled with love! Hubby gave me yellow roses, I just love them! We also celebrated yesterday to beat the crazy crowds, enjoyed an early supper out, no crowds, no waiting. :o)

Spring is Seeping In

2011-05-05T13:01:00.001-06:00

The sun is out, the birds are chirping...no sign of the aggressive robin that has been terrorizing the neighborhood...I have video to prove it...fellow was attacking our front window, or more likely the strange intruder robin he saw looking back at him from 'inside' the house...the neighbor reported the same crazy behavior at her front window. The starlings, brown-headed cowbirds, and Brewer's blackbirds are taking over the feeders and fallen seeds/bath, much to my dismay...sheesh...

I rode Tatanka Blanca to Hot Springs and further south to the very southern tip of the Hills a few days ago, to Keith Park along Cascade Creek. I saw goldfinches and a spotted towhee but no photos...

I did get shots of this slightly natty-looking mourning cloak...

...and a Milbert's tortoiseshell...those 'eyes' are downright freaky...

...On the way back N., I went thru Wind Cave Nat'l Park and made a stop at the picnic area, where a trail runs between the loop and the cave...birds were heard but not seen, but I did find Nuttall's violets growing in the area....

I thought this was interesting...a new pinecone had artfully fallen onto an old cone...

The prairie dogs were looking healthy, shiny-coated as they went about their spring cleaning.

The forecast is for temps in the 60's...not quite making it to 70 except maybe one day in the next week, but hey we're getting there...I ventured to trade the flannel sheets for reg. cotton ones so let's hope I didn't put a 'spring snow' hex on things! Yeesh. The huz and I took a walk this morning and I saw some bladderpod and phlox growing in a vacant lot...wildflowers are finally coming up. :o)

Mumblings...and The Meadowlark Invasion

2011-04-30T13:05:00.000-06:00

Thanks for all the comments, dear visitors...keep 'em coming! If you've been with me for awhile, you may recall my mentioning the Huz's upcoming retirement and our tentative plan to move SE, possibly to Alabama. We nixxed that idea months ago, long before the recent tornado disasters, and have been focused on retiring to Florida. Trading tornados for hurricanes, right? Oh well, there is so much to see/do in Florida, not the least of which is birding of course :o)) Huz grew up in Florida from the age of five, left at 19, will be coming full circle it would seem...anyway, the plan is to stay with Huz's bro on an extended vacation...until our house sells and we can get an apt. ...we'd been planning to leave in Sept. but realistically once Huz retires the 1st of July, we're going to be wondering what the hell we're still doing here....so maybe sooner...

My point? After seven years, this will be the last spring/summer that I'll be doing my photography in the Black Hills. Once we do land in Florida I'll be starting a new Blog and I really hope that my followers will follow me to the new Blog...it will be a focus on feathers and flora and I'm very excited at the prospect of all there is to find in such a tropical setting, where there are hundreds of state parks. Knowing this is my last year of photography here in S Dakota makes this season bittersweet, but honestly, I am sooo ready for a change of scenery! We're excited about down-sizing and living somewhere with so much to see and do...and eat, ha! :o} So, big changes are coming, and I hope you'll stick with me.....ok, back to the present...

I went for one of my drives a week ago, where else but to Custer State Park...the meadowlarks have been back for a couple-three weeks now, and I love hearing their warbly call. It isn't hard to get a photo of a territorial, love-seeking male this time of year...some are brave enough to stare me down vs. taking flight...

I seem to be finding squirrels a lot lately...it took me a long time to figure out that their 'chirping' wasn't a bird...

The bison are still holding down the fort in the park...

I saw a lot of American kestrels during my drive, including this pair many yards away...

I also saw some red crossbills...

...Another kestrel...they're sure hard to get a good photo of, due to their small size and the distance required before they'll fly away from a human invasion.

We had a slight dusting of snow overnight and the wind is blasting up to 55 mph...sigh...

The Pacific Redwoods (N. Calif. Part III)

2011-04-27T11:18:00.003-06:00

One place to visit that should be on everyone's bucket list...the redwood forestry of the Pacific NW...and the NW coastline in N. Calif. and Oregon along Hwy 101....while visiting my Oldest Sis and family earlier this month, OS and I traveled thru the redwoods both N of our hometown and S of our hometown...

...Heading N. (when we visited our brother in S Oregon), we stopped in the redwoods to shoot the Western wake robin, a trillium, from the Lily Family....

Further NE, heading away from the coast on Hwy 199, runs the Smith River...

This is a manzanita shrub...not in the field guide...we found this at the botanical wayside where the pitcher plant grows, that I posted previously...from the Heath Family.

While visiting the redwoods S of our hometown, OS and I found more wildflowers...the stream violet (aka pioneer violet, smooth yellow violet) is blooming under the forest canopy...I didn't realize until I cropped this photo that there were water drops decorating the leafs' edges like tiny gems...

False Solomon's seal grows abundantly in the redwoods...also from the Lily Family...

We saw plenty more trilliums...most of the pink ones were past their prime...

...Speaking of pink, best guess here is Andrew's clintonia...again my field guide is failing me, am having to hunt online...

Now this I knew was a sorrel w/ its distinct clover-like leaves... it's Redwood sorrel...

...Western bleeding heart...from the Fumatory Family...

...OS walking in the redwoods...these trees by the way are fairly small (circumference) for redwoods...young un's...you really need to see the redwoods...I'm just sayin'.....

Ferns growing from the moss on a redwood tree...the ground is covered in ferns also.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fast forward a few days...on the drive home to S Dakota from the Denver airport, I finally got a photo of this sign...Lost Springs is in E Wyoming...according to Wikipedia, there are only four towns in the US with a population of one! According to the 2010 census, the town actually has a population of four. Guess they haven't gotten around to ordering a new sign.

Out And About: N. Calif. Part II

2011-04-24T10:10:00.005-06:00

While visiting my family in N. Calif. earlier this month, Oldest Sis and I traveled to S. Oregon to visit our brother and his girlfriend, plus I got to catch up with a childhood friend I hadn't seen in 11 years...along the route there, we stopped to pay our respects to the female Roosevelt elk herd at "the little red schoolhouse" near Orick, CA...the elk hang out there often. We didn't see any bulls...

That old fire engine has been there for who knows how long...

Next we stopped for lunch in Crescent City...if the town name rings a bell, it could be because the recent Japan quake's tsunami waves hit this town and tossed fishing boats around like toy ducks in a tub, and the town was in the news...it's 80 miles from my hometown...

The pier that the sea lions and harbor seals lounged on in the harbor near the restaurant was destroyed in the storm, so the critters have taken up residence on the short land ramp, also near the restaurant...

Also seen in the harbor, white-winged scoters...I believe I've seen these before, at a distance, but hadn't taken decent photos...

We stopped at the Botanical Garden heading NE to Oregon...

wild Western azaleas were just beginning to bloom...

The stars of the loop trail, the pitcher plants, which look like cobras...nesting in a bog...

A couple days later, back near home base, Oldest Sis and I walked the loop at the Humboldt Bay NWR...it was a blustery day and the birds were scarce, but we did see an American kestrel...

And a Savannah sparrow...

We discovered, back at the garden by the parking lot, this plaque honoring a local Fish and Wildlife employee who gave his life on the infamous United flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001. We'd never realized that someone from our hometown had been on that flight and, needless to say, it was a very emotional moment for us both.

On another day, OS and I made our way to a favorite beach, Trinidad Beach, where we had a picnic and enjoyed the view once again...above is Trinidad Memorial Lighthouse, overlooking Trinidad Bay...

The rock in the foreground is covered with mussels, and a few purple and orange starfish.

I'll have one more post with photos from my CA trip before getting back to SD posts...I went for a drive yesterday, first one since getting back and first one in our new vehicle, which we have named Tatanka Blanca (White Buffalo). I was dismayed to find that there are NO wildflowers in bloom, and it's almost May!

It's sunny today at least, nice out... Happy Easter everyone!

Jolly Giant Creek

2011-04-21T11:41:00.002-06:00

I've not only been out of pocket in general, I've been to N. Calif. for twelve days and just got back to S. Dakota on Monday. The main reason for the trip this time was to see my oldest sis while she was visiting the folks from the UK. One day we visited the Arcata Marshes, which included walking a loop trail and standing on a small bridge over Jolly Giant Creek, which is a run-off from the Pacific Ocean...clearly someone had blown the noon whistle...

During the loop walk, we witnessed many long-billed marsh wrens hopping about in the dead cattails...love was definitely in the air everywhere around the marshes...

...Anise swallowtails were flitting about as well...

...Male buffleheads were displaying their machisimo on one of the ponds...

From the bridge at Jolly Giant Creek, Oldest Sis and I discovered several awesome water/shore birds, including three Western grebes that were fishing...

...Successfully...

A green-winged teal pair was just hanging out...

...I managed to capture the female's green wing...

April 14th to 20th was the local annual Godwit Days...this was day one and we saw many of the marbled godwits in the area that week, including this one fishing on the creek's edge...

Also fishing, the great egrets...as we stood there watching one egret, three more eventually arrived...

...This great blue heron flew in for lunch as well...

...Also successful...

...Also near the shore was this willet, still in winter plumage... (best guess) ...

...A double-crested cormorant joined the lunch-time crowd...it was very busy diving and nearly impossible to get a shot of....

Just when we thought it couldn't get more exciting, down came a snowy egret to get in on the action...

Back on the trail, we spied a few golden-crowned sparrows...

And a couple black phoebes...

...and yellow-rumped warblers, Myrtles (white throat)...

Back to the pond we started out from, a Northern shoveler pair was floating by.

My hometown area was, as I expected, very green and lush, w/ many spring flowers in bloom...and, as I expected, when I arrived back home snow was falling...2-3" fell that night. Much has melted but the landscape is still mostly brown and blah. To me it isn't spring until the snow season ends, which would be after the first week of May. ARG. Anyway, I am looking forward to wildflower and birding season here in the Black Hills, soon! This will be my last spring/summer here (I hope; according to plans)...so I'll try to make the most of it.

Spring's Trying to Get Sprung...

2011-03-26T21:36:00.000-06:00

What a difference a day (or four) makes...like I predicted, the snow is back...3 to 4 inches to be exact...so I'm glad that I got out for another drive in the Hills a few days ago to check for any signs of spring...

First, In my own backyard, one sure sign that spring is technically here is the return of the house sparrows...

Checking around at my usual stops along Sheridan Lake Road, I found this big mushroom several feet up on a tree along Spring Creek...

At the next stop, I heard this red-tailed hawk before I could locate it...

At the south end of Sheridan Lake I found a Mt. bluebird pair...the male took off before I could get a decent shot...hopefully sometime later this year I will...

I came back home via Hwy 44, stopping at Canyon Lake...is this the same squirrel I photographed during my last visit there? Poor guy had an injured ear...did a dog attack it? Hmm...

Another sign of spring....a wood duck pair was spotted on the lake.

Checkin' the Critters at Canyon Lake

2011-03-19T08:45:00.001-06:00

Western South Dakota is currently enjoying above-normal temperatures; most of the snow is melted BUT I'm not fooled in the least...winter is not over, and the countryside is still completely dead, UGH. There's no point driving very far unless I'm gathering vitamin D, so I took another drive over to Canyon Lake to see if there were any newcomers about......

Walking the path by the lake, right off I found a curious squirrel....it started up the tree, then came down for a better look....

...It eventually had enough of the paparazzi treatment and headed upward...

Nearby some Canada geese wobbled away....

The ice on the lake had amoeba-like cracks.....

I didn't realize at first that I had this one shot of an exciting visitor...that's a hooded merganser in the center! Looking at both a local reference and the field guide, I'm not so sure it's supposed to be here...definitely a lifer for me!! :o)

The common goldeneyes were about as usual...

Another new (to me) visitor, a snow goose! Not a lifer...That's a bufflehead in front of it....

Back at home...the European starlings arrived two-three weeks ago...3-4 of them sing every morning from the top of the poplar tree outside our bedroom window. The robins are back too, so spring must be near....we won't start seeing green until May however.... SIGH......

A Tale of Two Lodges

2011-03-07T14:13:00.002-07:00

So, Part II of my wintery drive through Custer State Park recently...the park now has five lodges, and I passed by three of them on my route. The first one, the Game State Lodge, didn't have the icy decor I was looking for, so I continued on to Blue Bell Lodge...

Where I found what I was looking for...icicles...

Some covering an upstairs window...some, reaching for the ground...

In the summer, Blue Bell Lodge provides a nightly Western Chuck Wagon Cookout that begins with a hay ride to a secluded canyon and includes a sing-along w/ Western entertainers...I'm hoping to enjoy the outing this year...

Moving on towards Legion Lake Lodge, this coy gal showed off her beautiful white tail...

Across Legion Lake, a bridge, accessable from the parameter...

Legion Lake Lodge was also adorned with an impressive crystal fringe...

A paw print inside a human print....raccoon? Fox? No...I have yet to ID this but I have certainly tried...

Human tracks that I was following in to the edge of the lake...several inches deep...I didn't wear my snow boots cause they're hard to drive in, but did have my hiking boots on...

The fence posts around the Lodge had lop-sided snow caps...

A Black Hills (white) spruce by the Lodge, covered in cones...it's South Dakota's state tree.

Images In White

2011-02-28T17:58:00.002-07:00

This February may have been the 2nd snowiest one on record, but a person still needs to just get out of the proverbial fever-inducing cabin for some fresh air and change of scenery...I meandered through Custer Park in search of blue sky that lay south from home...very elusive blue sky, but behold, a winter wonderland....

French Creek.....

Male antelope resting....

Female antelope, up close and personal....

A lone pine on a slope....

A very pregnant buffalo (ctr.), a sharp contrast against pure white snow...

Snow-capped oak, a spidery network of bare branches...

One of a flock of wild turkeys bobbing along...

A distant Northern shrike....

And a white-tailed doe peering at a passerby from between saplings....

Stay tuned for Part II ....

Duck, Duck...Eagle!

2011-02-07T15:09:00.002-07:00

Friday the weather was permitting, so I hit the Hills, but started with another stop at Canyon Lake on the W side of Rapid City, to see what wintering ducks were about...

A few ring-necked ducks were hunkered down on the edge of the ice closest to the shore...

Several redheads were on hand...the photo below is the only shot I got of a female redhead (r.)...

I think this is the first time I've seen a male (bottom) common merganser! Before I'd only seen 1-2 females... I saw a female with her chicks on Box Elder Creek 1-2 yrs ago...below is the male up closer...the male has a deep forest green head, the female's is cinnamon...

A female lesser scaup? ...she was hanging w/ a male redhead...they do look just like a female redhead except for the light colored spot by the beak...

There were still plenty of common goldeneyes, in their crisp white turtlenecks...below is a female (bottom of photo)...

I somehow only got one shot of a bufflehead (bottom), there weren't many...the female bufflehead is at the top of the photo. That's a female common goldeneye near the male bufflehead.

Pheasant under glass? Naw, just mallard on ice...

After leaving Canyon Lake, I headed W on Hwy 44 to Hwy 385, where I headed S, stopping at Pactola Lake despite the blustering wind...to take a few shots of the ice fishermen...and below, the American flag that flies on top of a small rock island in the lake near the Hwy side...

Further S on Hwy 385, up ahead I saw a dark shape on the road and thought it was a crow eating roadkill...as I got closer the bird flapped its wings and I saw flashes of solid white...! The bald eagle flew up to the trunk of a broken off tree and I was able to get some shots in before it flew to a pine branch blocked from view, and then hit the sky and disappeared. Once again, nature left me speechless!

Winter Blahs and Brrrr's

2011-02-03T19:18:00.000-07:00

The winter blahs have had their hold on me...it's been too cold to go running around w/ the camera for the most part and when I did go out about a week ago, I didn't get any good photos but thought I'd check in anyway...it was 40+ today, should be tomorrow too anyway...thanks to those who have visited for the first time recently and for your comments, I really appreciate it! Think spring!!

Recently we experienced what the news called 'fog ice' which left ice crystals on everything again...this is one of two poplars in our back yard...late Jan.

More recently (a couple days ago) the thermometer on the front porch looked like this in the AM...more than just that one day, too...fun fun...

I did go for a drive E of the hills over a week ago, saw my first bald eagle of the season but it was too far to get a decent shot. Ho hum!

Winter Woes, Winter Wows

2011-01-18T15:14:00.003-07:00

Talk about cabin fever...after being holed up for over two weeks, it was great just to get in the car and get out in the Hills on Friday, despite the overcast sky. I decided to look for bald eagles along the two Park borders where I've seen them before....

Taking the dirt road (which was covered in snow about a foot deep between the tire ruts) that heads SE and then S of Custer Park, down thru Wind Cave Nat'l Park, I didn't see any baldies, but I did come across four elk. They took off as I neared so this was the best shot I could get...

I saw this shrike at a good distance in a pine...to me it looks like a Northern shrike, not the loggerhead. If it's a No. shrike then it's a lifer for me. (Update: I forgot to check the migration map; this would be the No. shrike, while the loggerhead shrike is a summer visitor.)

This big fella was standing in the same upper grasslands area that I saw the elk...he wasn't alone but I thought he looked the coolest...

I checked out the picnic area at Wind Cave, a good birding spot...this peek-a-boo pine grosbeak IS a lifer! Wish I could've seen all of it but it refused to cooperate...a winter visitor to the Dakotas...

While traipsing around Wind Cave, I spotted a doe above me on the hillside before she spotted me...yet another deer making a face at me...she was followed by two more does...

A Townsend's solitaire (I'd labeled this a willow flycatcher but again, wrong time of year...T's solitaire is not in my eastern ed. field guide but I was aware of them)...was up in the Rocky Mt. juniper surveilling any movement below...

The snowy trail from the picnic area to the cave...the sun was finally breaking thru the clouds...

A dark-eyed 'white-winged' junco on stone steps near the cave...

A black-capped chickadee amid a tangle of Rocky Mt. juniper branches...

The red-breasted nuthatches were busy around the cave, pecking at bark...it sounds like mini woodpeckers hammering.

Wanda, my thoughts are with you and 'herhusband' at this time, hope he is recovering well...

February 2010 ~ Favorite Moments

2011-01-13T12:01:00.000-07:00

Sigh...I haven't been out with the camera since Christmas Day, when I took the photos of the ice crystals in my backyard...and even that doesn't really 'count' since I didn't go anywhere...the head cold is gone, the ugly cold sore scabs are too, finally (I honestly looked like a rodeo clown w/ road rash all around and on her nose)...the skin underneath is still a bright red...anyway, I do hope to get out soon, I need to...but the light today isn't good...in the meantime, I thought I'd post photos from last year's favorites, starting with two particular days last Feb. Both days were when I took a drive through Custer State Park...

Feb. 10th, 2010, I came upon a herd of buffalo by the side of the road, including this wary youngster...

And further down the wildlife loop, this clean, healthy-looking antelope, seeming a bit less wary...

And further yet, a black-billed magpie took flight from a pine tree when I tried to get a shot of it perched...but then, I like this shot in motion. The magpies like this one particular area of the loop road; I have no idea why...

Feb. 24th, 2010, was a very special day I won't forget...I came upon two bald eagles perched in a dead tree at the border of Custer State/Wind Cave Nat'l Parks...one eagle flew off when I turned around and went back, but one stayed put and allowed me to take photos for several minutes. Probably, it turns out, because its left claw was deformed...

On the opposite side of the road from the eagle, a coyote trotted by...

At a picnic area in Wind Cave Nat'l Park, I got this interesting shot of a white-breasted nuthatch as it skittered up and around a pine tree, and dug out what looks like a seed...

Is anyone else sharing their favorite shots from 2010? My laptop was down for over a week...I had my photos moved to an external drive by the Geeks but some folders were missing and I was worried I'd lost them...a Dell tech came yesterday and replaced the motherboard and a RAM card and my computer's working again (thank heavens for warranties), and my photos are all still on the hard drive...talk about relief.

Finest Holiday Crystal

2011-01-03T17:07:00.001-07:00

(I wanted to do this post earlier but I have been sick with a nasty head cold.....)

On Christmas Day morning, I stepped outside to take these photos of the 3-day old ice crystals that had been 'growing' on the dormant plant life and other objects...The beautiful crystals were at their peak Christmas Day morning and gone later the same day...

On the poplar tree branches...

And below it, the cinquefoil shrub...

A house finch up in the crystal lined poplar...the sunlight meant the phenom was doomed...

Will this leaf stay attached until spring?!

The neighbor's chainlink fence...a whole wall of this is pretty cool-looking!

A very Happy New Year to All of You!!

Merry Christmas to All!

2010-12-24T08:21:00.004-07:00

This is what the back yard looks like this morning...

We had freezing rain yesterday,

And light snow last night,

Leaving my favorite winter element,

Beautiful ice crystals, all over

The wintery outdoors...
And an even more beautiful Northern Harrier
Came calling and I almost missed it,
But oh what a lovely blessing

On the morn of Christmas Eve...

* * * * *

May All Of You

Have a Very Peaceful, Joyful Christmas,

And a Wonderful, Exciting New Year!
Thank You So Very Much
For Stopping By in 2010!

Winter Gatherers

2010-12-17T10:12:00.001-07:00

The sun was out yesterday and it wasn't too breezy, so I grabbed the camera and headed south to Custer Park, driving E to W on Hwy 16A to the town of Custer...then driving home via Hwy 385 N and Sheridan Lake Rd.....

I stopped in a turnout along French Creek near the Game Lodge area in the park, as I could see birds flitting about...this white-breasted nuthatch landed on the pine tree near the car for a few moments...

I stopped to eat my lunch (in the car) at Legion Lake, a real small lake in the park, which was frozen and covered with a layer of snow...I got out of the car when I saw a flash of movement over 100 yds away at Legion Lake Lodge...I took a shot hoping I could at least ID the bird...as I suspected, it was a gray jay, so they are back (winter migrators) and I have hopes of getting a decent photo this year, having only discovered them last year and not getting any good shots to date...

Out of the park and N on Hwy 385, the bighorn sheep were back at a favored spot, the junction for Sheridan Lake Rd. The male on the right obviously has a hokey rt horn...the sheep on the left appear to be yearlings...there were more adults there but all had their behinds to me, grazing...

I had to do my usual stop at Spring Creek picnic area...where I barged in on a squirrel at its pinecone 'factory'...it froze for minutes and I was able to take several shots but for some infuriating reason, none of them came out sharp...ARG!

The pinecone pit at a different angle...

Well hello again! I was walking along the road when I realized Mr. Squirrel was watching me from a tree near the roadside...he allowed me to take photos, which came out better...

What a cute poser...

Spring Creek at a different spot I frequent...

The creek's opposite edge, looking a bit chilly....

I could hear a gurgling sound so I investigated...the creek's current against the edge of the frozen surface was somehow creating this bubbling phenom...bloop!

Rough-legged Hawks

2010-12-10T11:05:00.002-07:00

This time of year, the birds of prey are abundant...I've seen my first bald eagle in this area recently, and the other day a hawk swooped up from the ground just a few feet from my car as I whipped by...it had been feeding on a carcass I'm sure...so the other day I took a drive out in the grasslands (farmland) to have a look and to soak up some rays.....

My best shot of the day came first, of this rough-legged hawk...I saw several RL hawks as it turned out...they are only seen in S Dakota during winter or migration and do not breed here...

I'm pretty sure this is a golden eagle..it was a good distance and it was big...same general area I'd seen the golden eagle last year...

I came around a bend in the winding gravel road and found three RL hawks on the road...they flew off to a nearby dead tree as I neared...they were reluctant to leave the area so I wonder what they were so fired up about...probably a fresh kill...

It's not uncommon to see hawks perched on top of hay stacks...like this RL hawk...this one allowed me to get fairly close and take photos but they all came out crappy due to the sunlight angle.

Yesterday and today the weather has been unseasonably warm, 50+ F / 15 - ish C ...right now the therm. on the porch says 60...! Feels like late Sept. weather. Still have patches of snow from the last snowfall but it's wonderful to be able to sit out on the porch and read, soak some rays up, and it's almost mid Dec.!

New Season at Canyon Lake

2010-12-07T12:08:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I visited the lake, expecting to see some ice on the surface...I did...I ate a picnic lunch in the car, with the engine running so that the heater also ran...I'd expected to lunch like that...light wasn't good but oh well...it wasn't cold out at least, as I walked along to see what I could snap...

A coot on ice along the edge of the lake shore...

Mallards swam to the icy shore to see if I had edible handouts...I did not...so off they skittered over the ice back into the cold water...

There were plenty of rock doves, this one w/ an interesting color variation...and a lack of fight-or-flight instinct apparently...I got quite close unlike w/ any of the others...

...More rock doves on the bridge railing...

A few wigeons were sighted...

And some common goldeneyes...winter migrants...

...As well as the buffleheads...this male had a more white head...

Than this (left) and most of the other males...right is the female bufflehead...

The gazebo on Gazebo Island...mostly buffleheads in the water.

Last Shots of Autumn

2010-12-06T12:49:00.000-07:00

It's awful early to be in a winter doldrums frump, but I confess that I am...sigh...the sun's out today so I'm thinking I need to high-tail it over to the pond to see what's about.....anyway, I never did post the photos from my last two outings before the trip to CA/first snowfall, so now's a good time to get that caught up with too.....

In late Oct., I took a drive to Bear Butte Lake, but there weren't any migrating water fowl as yet except a few Canada geese...I did get shots of some song sparrows, tho...and this empty bird house...

One of those song sparrows on fencing...a golden tree in the background...

A closer shot of the same sparrow...

Under foot, a late thistle and its visitor...

Another song sparrow...or the same one?...seeing me off at the gate...

And the same one, having moved as I crept along past the gate towards the road...

Later still in Oct., I made a trip to Custer State Park...

Not far beyond the E entrance there's a picnic area w/ French Creek running thru it...I found this squirrel gathering food...

Bulrush growing beside the creek...

A chipmunk with a full mouth spiraled around a tree as I followed it...

On to the wildlife loop road, a female antelope basked in the sun...

...Timing...I came upon five large bull buffalo meandering towards the road from across a field...

Three of them closer up...they headed south and out of sight before reaching the road...

Another stop along French Creek where there's a foot trail...and this beautifully textured oak tree...

Whose leaves were all blanketing the creek's surface.

Multnomah Falls, Oregon

2010-12-02T09:47:00.000-07:00

On the return road trip from N. Calif., the Huz and I stopped on 11/18 along the Columbia River Gorge, to look at Multnomah Falls, one of several falls in the gorge. We've seen the falls before, years ago, but it's worth another look-see...the gorge is between the Oregon/Washington state borders and you can drive on either side...I've never been on the WA side...it's impossible to get a photo of the river to do it any justice...let's just say, the river is amazing, the scenery fabulous...a drive along I-84 is worthy of a spot on your bucket list...

The view of Multnomah Falls from across the highway...there's a path that leads under the traffic to the falls...as you can see, it wasn't a sunny day...you can see a wisp of a 2nd fall to the right of MF...the bldg. below, hidden in the trees, used to be Multnomah Lodge but is now a gift shop and restaurant.

We didn't walk the steep path to the bridge, having done that our previous visit...

The view below the bridge...there are people on the bridge in this shot...

There were large yellow and smaller, bright red maple leaves all over the paved viewing area below the falls. We smuggled a big yellow leaf home... :-}

Multnomah Falls is a 30 min. drive E of Portland...the top tier of the Falls is 542 feet long and the bottom tier has a 69 ft drop, or a total of a 611 ft drop. Benson Bridge is named after the man who owned the falls but gave the land to the city of Portland before his death. The falls doesn't dry up in the summer. Rain water, snow melt, and an underground spring feed the falls year-round.

Birding on the West Coast

2010-11-30T09:18:00.000-07:00

Did I mention we're in full-blown winter here in western South Dakota? Only five-and-a-half more months to go too...SIGH...am already missing my hometown, but posting the 2nd half of my photos from that visit will have to do...do plan to get out with the camera today, I haven't been out since getting back home almost two weeks ago......the sun is out, the blizzard is over (a mild one except for the blasting winds).....

One day, on the W coast, the Huz and I went to Trinidad, where my favorite beach is...it was too windy and cold to beach walk, tho, so we watched a wetsuit clad kayaker take off from the marina...better him than I...

This Calif. gull seemed undaunted by the frigid ocean water....then again, it isn't exactly smiling...

From the dock I briefly watched this Western grebe bobbing in the choppy water...before high-tailing it back to the car and out of the harsh wind...

The day my sis and I went birding together, we stopped along Humboldt Bay so I could take photos of shore birds, too far for good shots but I believe they're marbled godwits...

We took the H. Bay Bridge to the marina to enjoy lunch there...on either side of the road between the bridge and the marina there is fenced in wildlife preserve land...this was the first time I saw anything in those two small areas...on one side, this lone buck...

On the other side, a couple of black-tailed does...

And a great egret...

For every beautiful moment that we witness in nature, how many countless other ones do we miss?

Black Friday, Bah!

2010-11-26T15:53:00.003-07:00

Today is what we in the U.S. refer to as Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year...the day after Thanksgiving, which Weight Watchers refers to as the beginning of the 'Bermuda Triangle'. You know, Thanksgiving is the first holiday, then Christmas, and then New Year's Day, where we get sucked in, to eat, eat, and eat some more, never to escape the cycle...anywho, I never go out on Black Friday...these days my family gets photo-related gifts, take it or leave it....so now, back to the Huz's and my trip to N. Calif. earlier this month, which was mainly to celebrate my parents' 60th wedding anniversary with them...while there, my sis and I did some bird stalking back at the Arcata Bottoms, where we'd gone before this past June when I'd last visited.....

The marsh isn't just an ideal spot for water birds to hang out...on land there are shrubs, trees, briars, etc. for perching birds to enjoy as well...like this cute golden-crowned sparrow...a lifer!

This lone grebe was in the marsh waters where we first followed on foot along an area of the marsh...I'm guessing, as my sis did, that this is a pied-billed grebe with winter plumage...

Further along, I spied this American bittern 'statue'...the first time I saw a bittern, it stayed frozen for the duration of my gawking...this one, however, began creeping along in slow mo in this thick mass of marsh greenery...

We found a large flock of American wigeons further along in the waterway...

The scenery at Arcata Bottoms...snaking water, green pond algae, water plants...in Nov. no less...

A Northern harrier appeared, soaring and scanning over the marshes...we did see it swoop down and catch prey, but couldn't make out what it had in its claws...

Some coots were cruising around in the muck...

Back on land, off in the distance, we spied a white bird perched on a small barren tree...I became excited, certain it could be something new to me....my sis said it looked like a kite...she was right, it's a white-tailed kite, a lifer! :o)

I couldn't get a clear shot due the distance and lack of good light (doesn't it just figure?), but you get the idea...

The kite got tired of being scrutinized and took off....

Back near the parking area, a couple dark-eyed Oregon juncos were eating on the ground.

I have more photos from this outing that I'll share next time...I hope all my American blogger friends had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We actually had two, an early one with friends and their family, and a quiet one on Thursday, just us two...and rosemary chicken w/ sour cream sauce, stuffing, mashed spuds, green beans, and of course, a pumpkin pie. Leftovers tonight!

Birding Around Ye Old Homestead...

2010-11-20T13:40:00.000-07:00

...My parents' house (for 46 yrs) that is...I didn't need to go anywhere to find a nice collection of birds, while the Huz and I were visiting my parents and sis in No. Calif. We left the 8th, got back home the 17th...Sis and I did go birding one day, I'll share those photos next....

I don't recall gulls hanging around ye old homestead before, but this one was perched on the power pole one house down from my folks' front yard...it probably has something to do with my dad feeding the crows out front every morning...

The robins love these berries in a tree near the driveway in back....

...One of the crows that swoops in after Dad throws bread or bacon fat out...this crow was beating whatever it had on the top of the post (about 2-3 posts down from the seagull's perch) like it was trying to crack something open, but it looks like a piece of bread, which it dropped as I snapped...

The hummingbirds like another tree by the driveway in back of the house...I watched this fellow zip straight up high, then zzzzzzing back down several times...I believe this is an Anna's hummingbird.

The yellow-rumped warblers like a particular tree in the front yard...

...Back to the posts out front, I heard this flicker calling before finding it clinging to the same post that the seagull had been on...my real old version of a W. fieldguide says there's 3 common flickers: red-shafted, yellow-shafted, and guilded...newer E. fieldguide says there's two Northern flickers, the red and yellow shafted, and that they interbreed...well this fellow was out West and I think it's a red-shafted flicker...esp. if it refers to the feather shafts, as you can see below...

Well, this looks like a female white-crowned sparrow...N side of the house in neighbor's tree...

Only got one (blurry of course) shot of this...lifer! A female Townsend's warbler!

Also seen: dark-eyed Oregon junco, chickadee.

Blue, Eared, and Pied-Billed

2010-11-11T18:14:00.001-07:00

Right now I'm in Calif. at my parents' house...made it out of Bozeman, Montana Tues. morning ok...W Montana is mountainous, but the forecast had been clear...oh well...just 2" of snow, no biggie...we spent Tues. night in The Dalles, Oregon in the Columbia River Gorge...left early AM so didn't see the Gorge really...but we've seen it before...

I'll be posting photos from Calif. soon...in the meantime, thought I'd share more from S Dakota...below is the blue jay that's visiting our sunflower feeder every few days...

I took a drive through the Ft. Meade Rec Area again recently...at the time, the sumac (above) was deep red still...

I saw one cluster of blue asters still hanging on...

I visited 'the pond' E of the Black Hills also, the growing eared grebe chicks are larger yet, but still no red eyes like the adults...they're grey...

There were a couple pied billed grebes too, possibly juvies.

The birds here around my parents' house are pretty interesting, compared to what little I see at my own house...course it's mild and humid here, and we're having sunny nice weather. I hope to at least do one birding drive while here, to one of the nearby refuges.

Autumn Hangs On Yet

2010-11-06T12:44:00.001-06:00

This is a post of more photos from Oct. 13th and a drive along Sheridan Lake Rd./Spring Creek...signs of the time of year include....

The bighorn sheep appearing near the roadsides in the Black Hills in their usual 'hot spots'...I came upon three ewes and one kid where Sheridan Lake Rd. meets Hwy. 385...

A floppy fritillary on fading common tansy....

Goldenrod, and many other wildflowers, now look like this...gone to seed...

And oak leaves are falling by the millions...

Spring Creek's coloring isn't as lush green...

...More tansy hanging on to its yellow...still attracting sulphurs...

The same goes for these two thistles and a checkered skipper...

Once in awhile, I unwittingly sneak up on mallards when I approach Spring Creek...this time I interrupted a group of ladies just chillin' on a nice autumn day...

A few prairie coneflowers were also hanging on to their color...it helps that S Dakota has been experiencing unusually warm weather for over a month now.... yessssss! Ok, it's supposed to come to a crashing end on the 10th, but boy has it been a wonderful break from the usual early winters here....

Admiral and Presidents

2010-11-03T12:18:00.001-06:00

I took another drive to Mt. Rushmore, in hopes of finding a Mt. goat or two nearby to take photos of, three weeks ago. On the way there I took a favored back route, detouring briefly onto an off-road trail to look around...

A red admiral posed nicely on the bark of a ponderosa pine...this was all I took photos of in that spot...

On to Mt. Rushmore, I lucked out...this female Mt. goat and her kid were nibbling their way along the side of the drive to the parking area...mum's got a radio collar on...

I've never shared this perspective of The Prezes...George, Teddy, Thom, and Abe...The Avenue of the Flags leads to the Grand Terrace, below the monument....some interesting facts:

Sculptor Gutzon Borglum began drilling into the 5,725-foot mountain in 1927, at the age of 60.

Creation of the Shrine of Democracy took 14 years and cost a mere $1 million.

Each head on Mt. Rushmore is as tall as a six-story building.

More that 800 million pounds of stone were removed from Mount Rushmore while carving the presidents.

Each president's face is as tall as the entire Great Sphinx of Egypt, measuring 60 feet from the chin to the top of the head.

The president's noses are 20 feet long, each mouth 18 feet wide and the eyes are 11 feet across.

The Presidential Trail loops below the monument...you get a pretty close look at George's 20 ft. nose...

Part of panoramic view from the parking platform in front of Mt. Rushmore...as you can see, the cursed pine beetle is wreaking havoc on the Black Hills...

Driving another back country route, I saw a few deer, including this spiked fellow in someone's front yard...

A stop at Sheridan Lake on the way home...I found a motley duo...molting?

And among some coots, a female bufflehead with her splash of white rouge...

Canyon Lake in Autumn

2010-10-27T14:45:00.003-06:00

Today is a good day to post more autumn photos...it's day 3 of 40 mph wind gusts and the first day of snowfall, UGH. Really it was just snow 'dust' blowing sideways and barely visible, seems to be gone now...if only the wind was too...word is somewhere above us in N Dakota there's 8" of snow on the ground...sigh... Anyway, on the 9th I took a drive over to Canyon Lake in W Rapid City, as someone had mentioned the autumn colors there...I have mixed feelings about using the lake as a photo op since it's a man-made one, but hey the trees and water fowl are still real...it was overcast so the colors didn't turn out the best...

The lake is surrounded by many different types of trees, including maples which we all know produce gorgeous colors, like deep coral and gold...

This tree had bright green leaves and shiny bright red berries...

Another tree with golden high-lights...

I was excited to find that American wigeons are visiting the lake, a migratory stop...here's a male and female couple snacking together...

Wood ducks are at the lake year-round, but this day all I saw were the females...

In the designated duck-feeding area, this lone sunflower was looking prime...

More bright shiny red berries...

The butterfly garden was looking pretty good considering it was October...

A scabious flower? Another blogger recently posted what appeared to be the same flower so I wrote down the name...Googled it, seems the same (of a variety)....

The cosmos were doing well, fucshia and white...

Another wigeon shot...looking pretty 'fluffy' there...

I went back to the lake days later, when the sun was out, to get better shots of the wigeons...this is one of them....

Looking at a snoozing mallard, from the bridge above...I liked the stepping stone pattern around the duck...

The Canada geese were at the lake, no surprise there....

Dark burgundy leaves...

A tree was covered in these pretty orange berries, it was amazing...

Trees along the lake shore, with a bench and two small piers in the distance. I had quite the enjoyable visit!

Spearfish Canyon

2010-10-22T21:56:00.001-06:00

On the first day of October, I took a drive down Spearfish Canyon even though I knew I was a little late to view the autumn colors at their prime there, which is in late Sept. You might think, what difference does a few days make...us locals know, it does matter, because the prairie winds find their way into the canyon and give the dying leaves a good thrashing, pretty much daily...but I did find some color yet intact...

But first things first...I stopped at the N end of the canyon, at a spot I like to look around...the creek was bone dry, a surprise...some creeks in the Black Hills do tend to drop underground...last time I looked, the creek was running above ground here...anyway, I was able to walk in the creek bed, where I discovered a chipmunk busily stuffing ticklegrass into its cheeks...

...And the poison ivy was a pretty deep coral color...

And the Western virgin's bower was still in its fruit stage...heads of achenes with silky, feathery beaks...

...Further S., I made a feeble attempt to shoot Bridal Veil Falls, knowing the light was all wrong...

...And further still, patches of sumac could be seen, a brilliant red...

At the Roughlock Falls area, the Motherwort was in bloom...a mint...

The woodbine was pretty shades of wine...

And the forget-me-nots were scattered all over as usual...

Below Roughlock Falls from the bridge, looking further downstream...

Heading back, along the road to the Falls, which is in Little Spearfish Canyon.

Badlands National Park

2010-10-18T10:53:00.003-06:00

Yesterday my friend Jayne and I hit the back road route, Hwy 44E, for a visit to the Badlands NP and Wall Drug...having NO clue it would turn out to be the most rewarding visit to date, excluding the hazy overcast weather. Near the town of Scenic, I took Forest Service Rd 590 (unpaved) N and then, entering the park, E along Sage Creek Rim Rd., which eventually connects with the paved loop road that travels W-E along the eastern half of the N Badlands area......all photos enlarge...click the photo, then click the back arrow to return to my blog...

We knew there are 'supposed' to be buffalo in the BNP, but had never come close to seeing any before Sun. Our first sightings, however, at the NW corner of the park along that dirt road, were in a landscape that did not have the Badlands formations...

We both thought, wouldn't it be fantastic to see buffalo IN the Badlands landscape? And we both thought it wouldn't happen...

However, it did! We came across this lone fellow amid the more yellow/pink mounds...

...Typical Badlands formations...I took a shot of the two guys walking out on a mound (bottom right) for perspective...

We came across female bighorn sheep and a lamb...

The youngster was just way too cute...it came towards me and I had to keep backing up to keep some distance between us...

I almost didn't see the sheep on top of the mounds across the road from where I parked...another female and her lamb...too far for great shots...

Moving along...The yellow mounds area...when these are wet they are brilliant...

...another perspective shot...see the tiny car in the upper center area?

...Tooling along, we suddenly came upon a coyote...at first it ran, but I knew that they always stop and look like deer do...

...But we sure didn't expect the coyote to stop and lay down! We think there must've been a good reason...nearby prey, carcass, young 'uns?

...And more badass Badlands scenery...then it was on to Wall Drug for lunch and one of their 'famous' homemade badass donuts...mmmmm...

FYI...The Badlands NP loop road is approximately an hour's drive E from Rapid City, right off I-90.

Awesome Autumn

2010-10-15T09:55:00.000-06:00

The autumn colors in the Black Hills are already fading, but there are still patches of brilliant golds and reds if one looks around...and you know me, I really enjoy looking around...recently I took a drive up Nemo Rd. and Vanocker Canyon...

First, a somber note...Heading out of W Rapid City on County Rd 234, there's an area known as the Westberry Trail Fire...autumn colors have returned here, but there are dead trees standing vigil over the eerie landscape as a reminder...

...And there's a rest spot with signs explaining the fire, which burned from July 26th to 31st, 1988, charring 3,840 acres and destroying 15 homes...the firefighters stopped the fire 500 feet from another 440 houses and outbuildings. Not a big wildfire, but due to the proximity to so many homes, it was a very frightening one nonetheless.

Moving north up Nemo Road, I made my usual stop along Box Elder Creek...gold is softly reflected on the water's surface...the swallows are all gone now from the canyon's rocky face above the creek..

This small Ponderosa pine on the other side of the creek looks like it's half quaking aspen...

Further along the creek I stopped to capture some brilliant red and gold...but first, a chippy was checking me out...

I couldn't get a photo of the creek and the colors due to angle...the creek is below that rock wall in the background...

Another usual stop at Steamboat Rock picnic area...deserted and silent...

Heading up Vanocker Canyon, the quaking aspen always look beautiful this time of year on the Meadow Bruch ('brook') property...

A closer look at a lovely aspen by the gate...

A single ox-eye daisy still holding on, by Elk Creek in Vanocker Canyon.

North to North Dakota

2010-10-11T12:24:00.007-06:00

Three Saturdays ago, the Huz and I were both itching for a quick getaway...first choice was a very long day's drive to NW Montana and Glacier Nat'l Park...well, make that more than a day's drive no doubt, so we had to nix that idea...instead we headed N and into N Dakota for the first time, to visit Lake Ilo NWR. I knew the time of year wasn't the best for bird migration but I hoped to see a few water fowl anyway...and hey we were well aware there isn't a heck of a lot to see in ND, but when someone says 'roadtrip' I say that I'll be packed and ready in 30 minutes...

We crossed the border at 9:30 AM ...

We reached Lake Ilo at lunchtime, about a five-hour drive...the area was deserted...didn't seem to be anyone home at this bat house either...

There wasn't a single water bird on the lake!! Talk about disappointment...we could hear Canadian geese on the opposite shore but couldn't even see those. We did see a few cedar waxwings in the trees along the shore trail...I'm assuming these aren't Bohemians but what do I know...can't see the telltale variations in these distant shots...

...Another ? bird...a warbler? It wasn't cooperating...the lighter color has a pale yellow tinge...my guess would be the pine warbler but it would be accidental in W No. Dakota...

A chickadee was checking me out as we ambled along the trail thru the trees...it took off right as I snapped a shot and ended up looking like a birdie angel...

...What we did see a lot of were mushrooms...

...Some looking like steps up a tree...

These were growing out of a knot in a tree stump...

Along the trail, under the canopy, pale orange 'shrooms on a fallen tree...

...More pale orange 'shrooms, in a mossy bed...

A very big, flat mushroom...

My hubby's large hand for comparison...

...back at the picnic area, a pretty orange gilled 'shroom on a tree...

...And more at the base of the same tree...

...'shrooms looking like slightly toasted marshmallows! When's the last time you had some? It's been ages for me...

Another of the step-like 'shrooms (or is this another type of fungi?) ...do squirrels use these for easier climbing? They should, don't you agree?

Back on the road heading home...we pass lots of fields of sunflowers, future sunflower seeds...

And back in South Dakota, I made sure to stop and get a photo of this hilarious sign!! You say toe-may-toe, I say toe-mah-toe...? Hmm, which town do I want to visit? Pfffft.