Posted in Cabinet Mountains, Conservation, Environment, Flowers, Montana, Nature, Outdoors, Photography, Photos, Pictures, Wildflowers on May 31, 2007 | 2 Comments »
All flowers aren’t, well, just flowers. These unusual blossoms will, a little later in the summer, turn into wild currents.
And these will become large clumps of tiny, steel-blue colored Elderberries.
The grouse will be pleased when these little Kinnikinnik flowers turn into bright red berries, one of their favorite foods.
Just recently the Indian Paint Brushes have [...]
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Mountain Bluebells Mertensia ciliata.
Various light conditions produce interesting displays, and the subtle blend of colors fascinates me. It makes them look as though they are out of focus.
Scarlet Gilia Gilia aggregata.
The only spot near here where I have seen these grow is on a sandy and rocky little area of river bank, where they provide [...]
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Posted in Cabinet Mountains, Conservation, Environment, Flowers, Hiking, Montana, Nature, Outdoors, Photography, Photos, Pictures, Teepee-Spring Creek roadless area, Wilderness Bill H.R. 1975 on May 28, 2007 | 6 Comments »
From six feet up, the tiny 3/4-inch white triangle didn’t look like much, but through the miracle of a lens I found a new favorite wild flower. Near the start of a hike today on USFS trail #372 into the Munson Creek drainage in Western Montana’s Cabinet mountains, it was pleasing to see the [...]
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Posted in Montana, Reflections on May 27, 2007 | 8 Comments »
It was cloudy and cold that day in the late fall of nineteen hundred and forty four as a small boy stood with his family on the windy concrete platform of the old Milwaukee railroad station in Missoula Montana awaiting the departure of the train bound for the west coast.
The boy of three-plus years stood [...]
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After about a dozen casts, this evening’s fishing was interrupted by an old favorite visitor, a beaver. I enjoy watching beavers under any condition, but they’re especially fascinating when swimming in the open water of the river, where there are varying currents, rocks, pools, eddies; anything but smooth water. Beavers know how to negotiate all [...]
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Nests made by hornets and wasps, especially paper wasps are common and easily recognizable. I’ve seen hundreds of various types, but never one like this 2 inch by 6 inch masterpiece that hangs about 5 feet above the ground not far from a trail in a deep canyon near where I live:
While I am curious [...]
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Not everyone agrees on exactly what one should call a “flower”. After looking all over to identify this yellow one, I found it is classified as a weed; Leafy Spurge, Euphorbia esula, and a noxious one at that. It has interesting blossoms,
and a stand of it certainly provides a splash of color on the landscape [...]
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Posted in Animals, Bald Eagle, Birds, Environment, Montana, Nature, Outdoors, Photography, Photos, Pictures on May 20, 2007 | 12 Comments »
Photographing small birds is something I don’t seem to have a knack for, but sometimes I can catch a large one.
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The wild flowers of May are far from completing their blooming cycle. I think Mother Nature spreads out the timing to provide a constant supply of nectar for the hummingbirds and bees and to even out the workload of the insects that are in charge of pollination.
During the past week, the Sticky Geraniums have begun [...]
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We have had chipmunks as co-residents of our place for years now and always enjoy watching them, but have not made any attempt to tame them. We do keep a water dish full and a good supply of sunflower seeds in an area near our woodpile for them and a dozen different species of birds. [...]
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