I left the house with my camera by my side in the pick up truck. Shortly after I left, on the Grove Creek Road on the way to Fishtail, I spotted the mallards, stopped the truck and took the first pictures, not far from there were the Western Meadowlarks. Had I told you I was on my way to Fishtail or shown you the next picture, it would not have been a difficult decision determining where I took the duck pictures. Yes, it is spring in Montana, and almost every pasture has calves in it. These were not totally dependent upon their mothers and were assembled in the sun near the hay.
There are pigeons everywhere and I have not been fortunate enough to get close enough to get a good picture. That day as you know by now was a good day for Clint the photographer and guess what was waiting on a fence post along the road. I have to say, it was a great picture.
One of the signs of spring is the arrival of the cranes. It is usually late March or early April that they arrive. They come in pairs as the "sand hill cranes" mate for life and before fall they have hatched at least 1 if not 2 or 3 young ones. They leave when the young ones can fly and we wait for spring for their return. I had seen them and heard them for at least a couple of weeks, but it wasn't until I got closer on my trip to Fishtail that these 2 posed for me. I was also fortunate to have my 400mm zoom lens.
and what else do we see in the pastures in the spring? Baby lambs. Number 55 was only a few days old. You could tell that by it's size and shape. Another give away as to it's age is the fact that it still has it's tail. The tails are removed, the rancher calls is docking, to prevent the lamb making a mess in it's wool when it goes to the bathroom. This one is a cutey as they all are.
I had to get out of the truck to get the picture of the lamb. As I was walking by some trees along the road, a very small bird started jumping from limb to limb. It was not the least bit intimidated by my presence and allowed me to take a series of pictures, this one being my favorite. At this point in time all I knew about it was that it was small, black and white, and let me take it's picture. When I got home, I had to get my Audubon Rocky Mountain field guide for birds to determine what it was. After several debates with Marty, we determined it was a Black-capped Chickadee.
Needless to say, it was one of the most fun and fulfilling 5 miles drives I've had in a long time. Hope you enjoyed it as well. I also saw deer and rock chuck and smelled a skunk. As you can tell I'm having fun with my new camera, more to come.
Needless to say, it was one of the most fun and fulfilling 5 miles drives I've had in a long time. Hope you enjoyed it as well. I also saw deer and rock chuck and smelled a skunk. As you can tell I'm having fun with my new camera, more to come.
As I had completed taking a series of photographs, this being my favorite, I was fortunate to capture this guy as he tried to evade my camera. However, I was ready and I got him as he tried to escape. Yes, I was lucky, but this picture is as much a function of my new camera as it is the photographer. Luck enters the equation as well. Where do you suppose I was standing when I took this.
Okay, the next picture is a Meadowlark. It was taken the same day as I took the photographs of the mallards. It is quite obvious that this bird was sitting on a barbed wire fence, of which we have none on our property. Here's perhaps another hint, the Western Meadowlark is the state bird of 6 different states in the west. Could I have been in Oregon, maybe Kansas, or do you think maybe Nebraska, you say that is too far away, perhaps North Dakota, or Wyoming. The sixth state is Montana, but where you would find mallard ducks with the surroundings that you have seen in these pictures in Montana. 
If you have been reading about the wolves in Lamar Valley, you will not be surprised that Rick McIntyre and and wolf watchers were within a couple miles of Mammoth Hot Springs, not in the valley that once sported 37 wolves. Competition destroyed part of the numbers and now the mange was about to eliminate them completely. I'm sure, as fertile a hunting ground as Lamar has been, it will not be long before some new blood enters to establish a name for themselves. But in the meanwhile, guess who has taken over. As we drove thru Lamar, we saw no wolves but we did see several coyotes and then we saw a fox.
Yes, in their favorite spot on top of a rise near the Soda Butte was a group of Big Horn sheep. They are still in the lower parts of the park until spring returns the lush pastures to the higher elevations. If you look back on the blog, you will see a picture of only the horns of a Big Horn. This time I got the whole thing.
Several days ago, I started hearing a pounding noise on our bay windows, at first I thought it was one of the dogs scratching or gnawing on something. Then I followed the noise to one of our large picture windows to discover a robin flying into the window. He could have been telling me they had returned for the spring and summer but experience tells me he saw a reflective image in the window and was either attacking it or trying to get in the house. Here he is in a resting position before his next attack.
The other site driving down the roads are herds of deer. You will see in this photograph that the girls have accumulated around the "man of the hills". You should also note that there is only one of these guys with the antlers. For now this is his harem, and you better not mess with his women.
There are calves, birds returning from their winter habitat, the female deers have selected a mate to share with their lady friends and there are many other critters starting to show up. If they have been around, they have found a warm comfortable place to stay, not to far from food, but now that it's getting warm and the snow is about gone, they are venturing out. This one was walking down the middle of the Grove Creek Road as I headed home the other day. I gave him a wide berth and waited for him to realize that I needed to get past him before I proceeded home.
As the days are getting longer and daylight savings time means it's darker later, we know that there will be at least another snow and that summer is next.
Grandpa did share, what a happy boy. The fit could have been better but the expression on John's face tells it all. For those of you who follow our blog, you may remember about 6 weeks ago John had his tongue out as a result of unhappiness. I didn't want to see the tongue, and look what I got. He's coming to Montana this summer. I'll have to find him a pony to ride and perhaps we can find a baby deer in the pasture.
I agree, you probably can't see what's unique, in fact, I had to look several times after Marty told me what she had seen. The real question will be not what it is or where she got it but how it became hooked on her dog blanket under her neck.
If you still haven't figured it out, it is a bone from most likely a deer carcass, most likely a front leg and from the joint there are 2 bones that have created a hook that is lapped over the top of the dog blanket under her neck. Whether she was rolling on the carcass or the bone, it was most likely the way it got bound on the blanket.
This may be the best angle to see the bone. Barlo was either not interested or had been told by Kenya to stay away from her bone. Ultimately, when Marty took off the blanket the bone was deposited in the trash barrell. But that was just the morning scenario. We took them for an afternoon walk towards the mountains, turned around at the gate at the Johnson place and as we started back towards the house, guess what. Kenya had found another prize.
It was obvious what she had found this time. It was the remains of the head, neck, and some of the pelt of a deer. Whether the morning find was related to this part, we will never know. The close up will give you a better perspective of this prize.
