Even Further South - Adelie Penguin

Adelie Penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae)  Fish Islands, Antarctic Peninsula 2008

Torres del Paine National Park

Another older photo. This time from the southern end of South America in Torres Del Paine National Park, Chile. I sure miss this place, this landscape, and my friends that live there.

Guanaco (Lama guanicoe) in Torres del Paine National Park, Chile

Winter Hawk

This photo isn't that old, but I just didn't get around to posting it earlier. This was taken earlier this month during a walk along the Yellowstone River.

Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
Yellowstone River, Montana

Winter Eagle

I have been going through older photos lately and finding some that I hadn't processed before. I plan on sharing a few here as I go through them. This is the first one - taken on my weekly commute through the lonely and beautiful stretch between Fort Peck and Billings a couple of winters ago. My drives were time lapse snapshots of a landscape in transition as it slowly blended into spring from one of the harshest winters in many years. The Golden Eagles starting to become more prevalent in late February and their gargoyle shapes topped many on the buttes and rocky outcrops along my route.

March is a Tease

l took advantage of the recent lack of snow and headed north of town to explore a new area around Lake Mason National Wildlife Refuge. The west-of-the-divide reports of a wide variety of waterfowl migrating through the Flathead Valley got me itching to go see what I could find on the eastern plains. The answer was - not much. I checked out a few areas of native prairie I plan to return to later in the spring and then headed towards the wetland portion of the refuge. I wish I could have got there. The road turned to a slippery sinking mess well before I could get to the refuge boundary so rather than tempt getting stuck I turned around with plans to get back after it dries out a bit. Horned Larks were setting up territories throughout the drive and there was a number of large flocks of Canada Geese tacking north against the strong west wind. One small flock of Tundra Swans flew over me and a few Mallards littered the occasional puddle. I also found scattered herds of Pronghorn along one stretch of road. There was a lot of standing water north of Billings in the Broadview flats and maybe more waterfowl will start to arrive in the next couple of weeks. Guess I will just have to try it again.

Eastern Montana Birding Tour - Naturalist Journeys

If anyone is interested in joining Woody Wheeler and me for a week long birding and nature tour through some of my favorite places in Eastern Montana check out this opportunity here. If you would to go directly to the report of our trip last year click here.

We had a great time last year with a bunch of great folks and I am looking forward to doing it again this year. We have lined up a few new treats this year for our guests including a couple of home cooked meals delivered in the middle of some great birding. I really enjoy showing other interested people my favorite corner of the world which includes great birds, interesting history (prehistoric on up), grassland ecology research and management, and even some discussions on pertinent literature relating to the places we visit. Come join us.