Geese on the wing

Last week, when Don and I were engaged in rocking in the corral, I heard the distinct sound of geese flying overhead. (Can you see the flocks?)

These weren't Canada geese, which make a distinct sound. Instead, the black wing tips identified them as snow geese.

Snow geese undergo spectacular migrations, something on the order of 3000+ miles twice a year.

The flocks can be huge, with hundreds or thousands of birds in each one.

And there below, in our humble muddy little corral, we were lucky enough to see them overhead. How cool is that?

Fall flocks

A couple days ago, I was raking leaves in the yard when I heard the distinct honking sounds of a flock flying overhead.

It didn't sound like either Canada geese or swans. The flock was enormous, too large to take in on one camera shot. But what kind of birds were they?

By cropping the photo, I could see black wing tips.

Aha! Mystery solved. These are snow geese.

Photo source: Travel Through Pictures

Snow geese are famous for their spectacular feats of migration, typically about 3,000 miles twice a year. What a privilege to see them in action during this accomplishment.

Birds everywhere

Needless to say, this is the time of year we're dripping with birds. Here are a few we've seen.

Western bluebird.

Robin. Still one of my favorite birds.

Black-chinned hummingbird.

Barn swallow.

Tree swallow (down at the lake).

Osprey (down at the lake).

Loon (down at the lake).

Canada geese (with wood ducks behind)(down at the lake).

Mallards (down at the lake).

Eurasian collared dove.

Killdeer (three of them).

Meanwhile we have a blackbird nest in the corner post of the garden.

Here's the mother, eyeing me suspiciously.

She's sitting on five eggs.

A few days later, the babies had hatched.

Bump the post slightly, and mouths pop open.

Here's the mother, scolding me with her mouth full.

Here's a male red-winged blackbird. We have numerous nests in the cattails in our pond.

As a side note, yesterday a hawk flew low over me clutching a squirrel in its talon. What a windfall for the hawk. For the squirrel, not so much.

One of these things is not like the other...

A couple days ago as Don and I were driving out, he glanced up at some approaching Canada geese flying in a classic V-formation. "That's a nice-looking flock," he remarked.

But as the flock got closer, we noticed something unusual: a white bird flying amidst the grey/brown Canada geese.

I snatched my camera and managed to get a shot. I believe the interloper is a snow goose.

Mixing species is certainly nothing unusual. A few years ago in November or December (I forget which), I was driving down our two-mile dirt road on the way to town. At a low spot, I braked to allow a small flock of turkeys to walk across the road. I had to rub my eyes and take a second look, because there in the midst of the turkeys was ... a pea hen. As in, a female peacock. In north Idaho. In early winter. Just walking calmly with the turkeys.

(Not my photo)

I guess if you're all alone in the world, you'll grab whatever company you can.

Spring walks

One of the advantages of having an active dog is he's relentless when it comes to taking afternoon walks (meaning, he makes sure we get our exercise). In fact, we joke that we'd better take Mr. Darcy out before he explodes.

Our usual walk is a two-mile circuit (one mile there and back) along the dirt road leading to our house. At this time of year, early spring, the vista is constantly changing. Come along on one of our afternoon perambulations.

The meadowlarks are returning. For some reason I have a dickens of a time photographing these melodious birds. They're cagey and don't let you get too close, which is why I had to zoom in and then crop these photos ... but wow can they belt out music.

In March, large flocks of geese are not unusual. These guys are heading for the lake.

Here some fog is just burning off, showing a glimpse of the hillside across the canyon.

By contrast, here are some sheets of rain around the butte. Despite the ominous setting, we didn't get wet since the rain skirted around us.

More rain across the canyon.

Now here's an interesting thing. See this vista?

Or this one?

In both photos, note the glimpse of flat green field in the middle distance. Those fields are early growth of winter wheat, just emerging after the snow. What's not obvious is those fields are loaded with deer.

It wasn't always easy to focus on the deer through the tangle of tree branches.

Here's some ice overlaid by mud from an earlier water flow. The mud is insulating the ice against a fast melt-off.

Being a golden retriever, Mr. Darcy is forever toting sticks along the road.

Maybe it's a guy thing, but it seems the bigger the stick, the better. I can't tell you the number of times he's tried to drag small trees along for the ride.

A pair of mourning doves.

Five cows, five calves. I am forever taking a mental count to make sure no one's missing.

So that's a walk in early spring. Thanks for coming along!