Isn't Winter Over Yet?

 I am beginning to think that winter is going to last forever! We have spent way too many weekends recently stuck in the house. But coming into this weekend, I was especially anxious for the weather to be decent. We absolutely HAD to get to Bozeman!

Dan and I both took Thursday off, and as we set out, it appeared that the roads were going to be a challenge all the way. Imagine my surprise when just at the point where I expected the roads to go from bad to worse, they cleared entirely! Reaching Bozeman with daylight to spare, we set out in search of eagles, and boy did we find them ~ goldens, balds, and immature balds. Eventually, we got hungry and headed back into town for dinner. 

We take every opportunity we get to take pics of our flag
and the Montana state flag was a bonus! 

Friday morning, Dan dropped me off in town and set out on his own to chase down more eagles. What? Didn't I mention that that was the plan all along? I was invited to take part in a class with a Master of Photography! What an opportunity! It was well worth the time and money. I learned a lot, despite being way behind the other participants! When Dan picked me up after class, we beat feet to Gardiner. 

When we caught a brief glimpse of this little guy on Thursday afternoon,
I thought it was a beaver.
Dan got to spend a little quality time on Friday though
with what turned out to be a muskrat. 

Saturday was a Yellowstone day. We were really, really hoping to find otters. Unfortunately, the otters remained elusive, but at least the bison, elk, big horn sheep, and coyotes were more cooperative. 

Yes, the hillside WAS that steep!

While I am absolutely sick of the snow,
it did make for a special moment in photography!

By early afternoon, we decided to wrap up our trip and get home before dark. The roads were generally pretty good, but blowing snow in some places made us very glad that we had daylight visibility. I will be so glad when winter finally bids us farewell. 

   Bonus Pictures:

DISCLAIMER: This is NOT a good picture.
This little group of coyotes was a long way off the road,
so we took the picture mostly to make positive identification.
I wish I knew how many of the other viewers went home
and told their friends that they saw wolves!

A Sliver of Blue

I love how just a sliver of blue sky takes us from

"I've got all morning" to "Are you ready yet?"!

All week long, forecasters were calling for snow this weekend, and when we got up Saturday morning, it definitely appeared that they were going to be correct. But once Dan got on the computer and saw that the radar showed that the first wave of snow had gone around us, he began pacing the house. Then a sliver of blue appeared between the cloud layers, and it was all over but the packing! 

Before long, we were on the road headed west. Dan wanted to check on a frozen "waterfall" on the Stillwater River outside of Nye. (If it looks familiar, you may remember it from  Skidding Around the Learning Curve.) It is there every winter and gone every summer, and every year, it is just a little bit different. 

All along the way to Nye, we were on high alert for eagles. Maybe it was the wind, but we arrived at our destination without ever getting an eagle in the viewfinder. We did spot two, but they were a long way off. 

The Stillwater Trail (or as I like to call it ~ the trail to Souix Charley Lake) is a favorite hike of ours. We took the cut-off trail above the gorge so that we could look down on the frozen falls. As Dan was photographing the falls, I noticed the pinecones. I switched to the macro lens and fed my obsession.

A little further down the trail, we came to a patch of melting snow on the rocks beside us. Drops of water were falling from the tips of the icicles and the blades of dead grass along the edges, and I thought once more of the macro lens. Dan waited patiently while I tried with varying degrees of success to catch the drips in pixels. 

When the cut-off trail rejoined the main trail, we decided to head back to the car, especially since we were starting to get hit with hard little pellets of snow. But all in all, we both agreed that we had had a lot more fun than we would have had sitting in the house all day. 

It's not big, but this waterfall is there all the time,
and it might just be my favorite spot on the river.

While these layers of smooth-as-glass ice
are pretty on the water in the river,
they occasionally form all the way across the trail.
THAT makes for interesting hiking.
Not my kind of adrenaline rush!

A Break in the Clouds

I am not sure what this is (an insect-caused growth or a seedpod?),
but it was about the size of a quarter. I love macro photography! 

When we got up this morning, the skies were grey and overcast... AGAIN! Assuming that it would be another "stay in and stay warm" day, I worked my way through my morning routine at a leisurely pace. However, about half-way through my exercise workout, the sun came peeking through the curtains. I bailed off of the elliptical and hurried through the shower while Dan loaded the camera gear. 

Since daylight is at a premium during the winter months, we decided to stay close to home, rather than spending time "getting somewhere." After a short period of deliberation, we drove out to Theil Road and the Sundance Lodge Recreational Area. The fickle sun had already pretty much returned to its cloud cover, but oh, well... we were at least out of the house. We were on the hunt for eagles along the river. But even before we reached the river, Dan spotted a porcupine! I'm glad that porcupines are slow-moving animals, because "hurrying" through the snow was challenging. We did get a few shots before she waddled off into the underbrush. 

When we reached the river bank, I realized why we weren't seeing eagles ~ the river was almost completely frozen over. That makes for tough fishing! As we stood watching what moving water there was, I noticed the burrs and dried leaves around my feet. Macro time! I even lost my lens to Dan for a few shots. 

While we never did find eagles, we enjoyed the afternoon. It was so nice just to be outside! 

Sure you want to chase that, Dan? ;)

This little feather caught on a group of burrs
was about the length of half of my index finger. 

A New Spot on the River

We now return you to your 

regularly scheduled program. 

It is not uncommon at our shows for someone to say, "You should come out to our place and take pictures." It is unusual, however, for us to take anyone up on their offer. But yesterday we did just that, and were we ever glad that we did! 

Don't scroll down looking for the awesome pictures we got, because we didn't! What we did discover, though, was huge potential. 

As we pulled onto the property along the Yellowstone River yesterday afternoon, we spotted a pair of bald eagles waiting to welcome us. Unfortunately, by the time we got all the gear unloaded and were ready to shoot, the eagles had given up on us and flown across the river. One remained in sight... a quarter-mile or more away. As we waited patiently along the river's edge, one did eventually fly overhead. 

Shortly afterward, our host came out to join us on the river bank. He pointed out the branch where the eagles always perch (where they were when we first pulled up), where the foxes have their den every year, and where the beavers come and go from the riverbank. He suggested that we get some waders and a ground blind and he invited us to come back anytime. 

The clincher in this whole deal came hours after we left. Our host texted us this message:

"You left too early!!! Bald eagle on the ice

eating a fish. Watched it for the better part 

of 30 minutes. Not far from where you were

originally set up." 

Yeah, we'll be going back! 

What's A Girl To Do?

While we are primarily nature photographers, here in Montana, it is currently cold and dark! But we just picked up my new macro lens, and I want to play! So what's a girl to do? Find indoor objects, of course. 

I spent several hours this evening playing with various small objects, but what I really learned is that, like all branches of photography, this is going to take some practice. But I did get a few shots that I really liked. 

Now to get it outside. C'mon, Spring! I want flowers and butterflies! 

No Better Place

Between work and shows, I have not been outside to play since we got home from vacation a month and a half ago! YIKES! So when Dan found a decent rate for a room in Gardiner, I couldn't have been happier! There was truly no place I'd rather spend my birthday weekend. 






I nervously watched the weather reports all week, but nothing developed to keep us from going (not even the cold that I caught). Friday was windy, but sunny. Our first photo op of the day was a golden eagle. He even stayed put while we turned around, went back, and got a few pics. That's pretty rare for a golden. We  were almost to Gardiner when we spotted a bald eagle ~ the first of the season. 

Considering winter's short days, we decided to head right into the park. Since we only had a few hours of daylight, we saved any hiking for Saturday and drove out to Lamar Valley. It was a good day for coyotes. We saw four! 

As darkness fell, we returned to Gardiner, checked into our room, and gave thought to dinner. Since the only restaurant open was just two blocks away, we walked. I was not, however, expecting to run a gauntlet of wild animals! The little doe drinking from a curbside puddle wasn't much of a threat, but the three elk made me a bit more nervous. But we avoided any conflict, and I very much enjoyed my prime rib dinner. 

Saturday morning came earlier than I wanted when I was awakened at 5:15 by voices from the room next door. **SIGH** Oh well, I actually wanted to be in the park for sunrise anyway. Unfortunately, the low, dark clouds hid all but a few whispers of pink ~ not the picturesque sunrise I was hoping for. 

We headed straight for Trout Lake, hoping for otters. There was just enough snow to mute the entire world around us. The lake was frozen over, and the only fresh tracks in the snow were ours and the animals'. Sadly, none of the tracks were left by otters. We hiked all the way around Trout Lake and over to Buck Lake without seeing anything. 

No otters, but some pretty reflections

Our next jaunt came when Dan spotted what he thought was an elk skylined on a hill above the valley floor near the Yellowstone Picnic Area. Upon surveillance with his binoculars, he saw that it was actually a big horn ram. He asked if I wanted to climb up and see if we could find it, and I think that he was a bit surprised when I said yes. (My cold was sapping my energy, but he was very patient with me.) I had always wondered what was over that hill anyway. So we ascended the most gradual side, circumnavigated the entire plateau, and cautiously picked our way down the other side without encountering anything other than a solitary buffalo. 

We decided to call it a day and start meandering in the general direction of home. We took the Old Yellowstone Trail on the other side of the river and drove through herds of elk and antelope. Our whole demeanor changed, though, when a small group of big horn sheep snapped us to attention. Were we finally going to get some "sheep action"? We watched two different groups, each with their own dominant ram. Each group also had a smaller ram who was interested in the ewes, but neither was big enough to challenge the dominant one. So, we got "action," just not the kind that we were anticipating. 



Oh well, all in all, it was a great birthday outing and a wonderful way to close out our 2017 Yellowstone season. 

BONUS PICS

This was one of a pair of small coyotes. Maybe this year's pups?

The photo does not do justice to this beautiful fox!

I'm not quite sure what the expression means...

Back off, Youngster!

The other side of the road