The Weather picture in Fishtail

In case you haven't been keeping up with the weather in Montana, we have had a very wet spell, primarily snow and it still hasn't stopped. The current snowfall started a couple days ago and is supposed to continue thru noon today. There has probably been 8 to 12 inches. I went out with my camera this morning, took a picture of the arena and sent it to a lady in Helena who has been trying to get here for the last 4 weeks to see Rafiki. While walking back to the house, I got this picture of Kenya - it says it all. Spring started a couple weeks ago, you'd never know it if you were here.

and then there were wolves

On the eastern trip through the Lamar Valley, we were focused on other things as we missed the buffalo carcass. We turned around at Soda Butte and were blessed with a fury of activity. The highlight of our visit was a wolf couple who first chased another wolf away and then turned around to howl. Howl they did, it was loud, entertaining, and perhaps intimidating. I captured their image as they sang and soon they were on their way as if they were strutting off the stage. These 3 pictures captured the moments.

Paradise Gallery in Gardiner, Montana

Yesterday, we loaded The Paradise Gallery in Gardiner with Clint's Photographic Art. There are 16 different photographs, most are 8.5 x 11 and some are 12 x 16 and a couple are in Rich's Rustic Frames with wood from the "Old Faithful Inn". There are also note cards with envelopes and post cards. Finally, there are 8 different rocks with Clint's photographs on them, including the latest one, the Mountain Blue Bird. Clint's photo's are also featured on the web site: http://www.theparadisegallery.com

After the delivery to Carol Newbury Howe, the owner of the gallery, Clint and Marty spent the next 4 hours in Yellowstone National Park. It appeared to be an uneventful day until they started to return to the entrance and came upon a pack of wolves enjoying dinner at a carcass. The Yellowstone pictures will follow.

Another sign of spring

The arrival of the birds, after being gone all winter, tells us that spring is just around the corner. As you have seen by some of the pictures, there are some that wish they had not made the trip so early. We have had several of these couples over the past 10 years, this year they have decided to park at one of the neighbors. What we used to have was a pair, I found these four together at the neighbors and there were 2 other pairs as well. What are they? They are sand hill cranes, they mate for life also, and during their stay, mama sits on the eggs until they hatch, and they all leave in the fall.

The Lady posed for me

If you have been reading the blog, we spotted the male Mountain Blue Bird a few days ago as he returned for the spring and summer. I haven't seen him again when I had my camera, but yesterday, guess who was in the tree near their bird house. The lady - and I'm sure when you see the photo you'll wonder if I know what I am talking about. The female does not have the brilliant blue that the male does. The female usually has more blue but the sure sign was the white around her eye. There is a little blue around her wing, if you look closely.

I saw the male this morning, he looked just as cold as she did yesterday, it was 20 degrees and the sun had not appeared yet.

Price of "rock art" goes up

Saturday night, March 28th, was the 19th annual Absarokee Art Auction. The income from the auction goes toward college scholarships for the Absarokee High School graduates. Clint donated a framed 11 x 14 print of the Red Tail Hawk in flight and the Golden Eagle on a rock. This was really a test of the marketability of the rocks, even though they have been in a couple galleries, this was the test. The eagle sold for $110 which was very encouraging. Go to the March 2, 2009 blog to see the birds. This is what the eagle looked like on the rock.