Wildlife & Related

[Hummer]

Nice captures, especially of the bobcat. I also like seeing the Abert's squirrels. Their preferred habitat is some distance from our property but we get wanderers through our place every year, both black and gray.

This morning we saw a Pine Marten move through the forest across the river from the house. We saw it yesterday, too, and again two weeks ago. From the size I think it's a female. Martens breed in June-July and have their young in March-April. I always keep a camera handy so maybe I'll get lucky one day.

Here's some interesting videos of Pine Martens:

[Hummer]

Looked out to see a cow and bull calf walking through the yard, as if this was their own private moose trail.

The bull is a yearling, probably shed it's antlers in December and will soon grow new ones. He will likely split with mom pretty soon, in April or May, before she bears new young.





The were munching on the sweet spring branches of aspen and mountain mahogany.

[Hummer]

One of my favorite birds is the American Dipper. It is found along mountain streams where it dives and swims into rushing water to catch aquatic insects and small fish. They have feet adapted to walk along the bottom of a stream where they will turn over rocks to take mayfly and stonefly larvae. I've seen them take trout up to 4.5 inches.

The American Dipper is a small gray-brown bird related to wrens, about the size of a starling, and with a loud melodious song much like that of a Northern Mockingbird. I've sometimes heard them singing from a third mile away over the roar of a rushing river. Dippers are named for their habit of bobbing or dipping up and down on their legs which probably helps them to see in the environment of moving water.

Great birds! I'm fortunate to see or hear dippers nearly every day from our house.

[Bailey Guns]

Very nice!

[Hummer]

[Bailey Guns]

I've tried for weeks to get a picture of one of the herons that stop by to fish on our creek. Finally spotted one thru the brush. They're very skittish. He took off right after that shot.

[Hummer]

Nice! It's usually tough to get close to those guys. It was the Great Blue Herons that spurred my interest in learning more about birds. They look like ancient archaeopteryx birds with their 4.5 foot wingspans.

[Hummer]

He had to scrape the ice and snow off the flower ports this morning.

[Hummer]

Another visit from the yearling bull moose chomping willow by the river. Apparently the young bull has separated from the cow. He's been through here daily. We walked by him again this evening. It's pretty neat to have moose around. I first found tracks of moose on the property in late winter 2008. Moose visits have been more frequent in the past few years. They may become more common here than mule deer which are mostly summer residents.

The cats got to watch from a safe distance as a mountain cottontail ran from the moose. There are bigger critters out there.

[Irving]

I've never seen a moose in person and I've lived here all my life. I'll have to go up to Tabernash or Grand Lake this summer and see if I can find one. Never seen a bear in the wild either.