Mountain Goat trip

Randy and I left early this morning and drove up to the Upper Stillwater Dam some distance north of Mountain Home. A long ride there and back, but we went to see the Mountain Goats event that the DWR had scheduled. Along the way, Sandhill cranes at Strawberry reservoir walking on the snow, Golden Eagles along Hwy 40, Common Loons in a pond along the way and a good sized herd of Antelope on the way home.
Big sky country when you get out on the ranges. Vast and empty except for the snow.
We did find Mountain goats - the DWR folks had two sites set up for us. The goats were quite a ways away at the first site, although you could see them. Hard to get a decent photo.
The second site, down by the dam, yielded a curious goat that got close enough for a decent shot. He first hid behind a tree, peeking out quite cutely, then came out and stood on the rock and surveyed his subjects!!
Enjoy!

Seeing a Sandhill crane against a white background is a real treat - usually they blend in so well.

Goatie watching us..

While I could make up quite a story about this - it was a stuffed goat that we stuck in the snow!!

A couple of goats from the first site..

Big sky country..

Loons along the way..

Herd of antelope - first photo is watching for us to come up over the rise, the second is their reaction to us!

Refuge Thursday

A partly cloudy sky with warmer temperatures mad a nice morning visit to the refuge. There were three pairs of Sandhill Cranes around that I saw, more that I heard.  Kind of hard not to hear them!
My first of the year Black-crowned Night Heron as well as another first - Yellow-headed Blackbirds.
Goofy GBH's at the rookery helped make it enjoyable.

Lots of Pintails..

Black-crowned Night Heron..

Yellow-headed blackbird...

Killdeer

Northern Harrier

Herons..

The big and the little - Sandhill Crane and Canada Goose..

Tree fall....

The snow storm last Friday took down a lot of branches and trees. It appears that the wet snow plus the heavier spring wood (full of water for growth) worked together to make a mighty mess.
Friends were out of town but one of their backyard trees was broken. Fortunately no serious damage was done, as the fallen part did not hit the house or any major items. But it did make for a spectacular show Tuesday as a crew removed both the broken tree and the still standing portion.
For data, 1/3 of the remaining tree weighed 8300 pounds! Incredible.
The monster crane lifted the tree sections over the house and into the road where they were disposed of quickly. There was a drone on hand to video the initial parts of the operation. And the arborists, climbing the trees safely and agilely and cutting them off after the ropes from the crane were attached, were awesome to watch.  Here's a few photos from the event!

The first two photos are what the backyard looked like after the first tree fell and before the operation began..

Ginormeous crane...

The first section of the remaining tree...

Curious bystander..

The second section of the remaining tree..

Preparing the tipoffs for the last section

At last..

Refuge Monday

Back to the refuge today, a warmish sunny day to be out in the wilds. With the long road down the dike closed off now for breeding season, I sat on top of Goose Egg Hill and watched the Tundra swans with their accompanying variety of ducks hang out in the large pool. An adult Bald Eagle watched them also - but he was a lot further away.
Red-winged blackbirds singing, Harriers harrying, Great Blue Herons flying by - a very nice way to spend part of a day. On the way out I saw three Sandhill Cranes - a long, long way away - and several wading birds..
Enjoy..

Singing away..

Tundra swans and their friends..

Sandhill cranes with Canadien geese in the background..

Beautiful GBH flyby...

American Avocet in breeding plumage..

Hawaiian memories

Looking back at photos from other trips to Hawaii I found a few that I liked but hadn't done any processing on. So I did and here they are!

A 1958 movie poster - I would have been 12 and don't remember this one...not that my parents would have let me go knowingly.

The sea turtles are incredible creatures...

A tombstone in a small cemetery along a road...

A windy day at Black Sand Beach (the old one)....

Big cat's day

Randy and I did a photo walk at the zoo Sunday morning. Good sunshine, a bit of a nip in the air and very few people! A number of the displays were closed to keep the animals or birds or tortoises inside.
The cats were on display - lions at first, the leopards, then Lynx. Plus a few juvenile peacocks, the male practicing his display. We rounded it out with the red panda and went home.
Enjoy!

Giraffes, zebras and an ostrich started us out...

The big guys were enjoying the sun!

River otter playing

Colors and shapes...

Juvie peacocks...

And back to the cats...