still migrating

I had hoped to visit a few people this month, but that did not work out, so I kept going.  I had not seen the northern edge of the Gulf coast so I drove Hwy 10, looking at the landscape. The forest is similar with tall Long-leaf Pines, altho it seemed thin, likely a  "beauty strip"  along the hwy to hide other activities.  Many inlets from the Gulf pass under the hwy, lined with Cypress trees, looked similar to the river I paddled yesterday morning.

     Weather has very warm and humid, with occasional intermittent rain.  It seems that the clouds become so heavy with moisture they can't hold it anymore.  One evening I was driving to a camping site and watched the gloomy darkness surround the landscape.  That night it rained hard.  

     

    Alabama has very little shoreline along the Gulf coast, but they make the most of it at Gulf State Park.  One evening I walked to the boat ramp and could see Orion and other constellations.  Clear skies did not last long.  Next day dense fog lasted half the morning. I waited until the fog cleared and launched Dolphin into the dark brown water.  The water is dark brown with tannins from leaves and branches.  I paddled under a few bike trail bridges over the canal,  and past a few fishing platforms.  

Big Lagoon State Park was another very nice park. Camping facilities looked great, except that I visited at mid-day.  The observation tower had great views of the Gulf.

Hurricane Michael devastated the coastal towns south of Hwy 10 along the Florida panhandle.  Effects on the forest are visible from highway 10.  Trees are blown over,  areas where all the trees were snapped off,  guard rails are damaged by falling trees, highway signs are blown over, and big brush piles have been created as highway workers have cleared debris from the shoulders.  Large trucks collected the piles, maybe for firewood, or wood chips.

Manatee Springs State Park was fun. The springs are a deep blue color, about 25 feet deep. Like most of Florida, this area has Limestone underneath, and the springs bubble up small amounts of water thru the limestone all day.  They estimate it could be as much as 100 gallons/ day for Manatee Springs. 

Further south, a windstorm blew in.  Birds along the shore took shelter in the lee of a low dune.  Willets,  Dowitchers, Plovers:  Snowy,  Piping, and Semi-Palmated.   A few Least Sandpipers flew in.  Laughing Gulls are the standard gull.  A flock of Marbled Godwits landed, and had to share the beach with the Ruddy Turnstones. Terns are mostly Royal Terns, with an occasional Sandwich Tern.   A flock of Black Skimmers rested on the sand waiting for the windstorm to pass.

Ospreys are doing well. I have seen them perched on phone poles eating their freshly caught fish.

In this area the camera stopped working.  It does not want to turn on.  So no more photos.

Migration

I am migrating south.  The Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese in New Mexico were awesome.

Cranes are flying in huge V's and skeins, calling and landing together in a field.  Spectacular. 



                                                                               

                                                                                                                                                                  
                                                                          
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             








Snow Geese crowd themselves together.      

There are some Blue morph Snow Geese in the photo below.


















and on into Texas where this Snowy Egret shared a branch with a White Ibis.
















This Tri-colored Heron is resting after an active foraging session.  It was very successful catching small fish.











Dolphin on Calcasieu River with Cypress trees along the river.









The bird I wanted to see in Texas was a Masked Booby.  It had been absent for a week when I arrived. I spent 2 days looking for it and then departed.  Of course, it showed up yesterday afternoon, now that I am no longer in the area.

All the leaves have fallen

and the Aspens are naked.  Cottonwood trees still have their yellow leaves for a short time.  Snow on the mountains, and yellow in the trees indicates the end of the season at Signal Mt Lodge.  Gift Shop is closed, inventory and counting is finished.  Everyone says their Good-byes and we all depart for different places.  
     Silver truck and I have been going south.  I exited Wyoming at Cheyenne, and saw a herd of Pronghorns.  
Temperatures are dropping, frost is forming on the leaves.

One last Cinquefoil flower frosted with its leaves.

Lupine leaves after the flowers have faded and seed pods have formed.

Willow Flats

Glorious gold

     Fall is being a very pretty season this year.  Last year we went from summer to snowstorms in mid-September with 3 days of Fall.  Aspens are so beautiful right now, Geranium and Fireweed and Mountain Ash leaves are bright red. Bears are foraging for berries and insects,  Elk are bugling.
     Employee Art Show was held Sept 23 with some very talented employees showing their art work.  Karen's little felt birds made an appearance.  I offered bird adoption (sign up for a bird of your own) because all those on display already had homes.  I had 5 orders during the show, and 4 more during the following week.  Bird factory has been busy.  

  Alas, one employee had to leave early before his bird was finished.  With the help of a Front Desk employee and the Postal Service, he will have his Kestrel.  Later in the week, a cook from the employee cafeteria approached me. He loved the California Quail I made for

the porter, could I make one in blue ?  Hmmm.  A Google search showed there is such a bird in Asia,  Blue Quail.    

Mornings have been clear and beautiful so I have been out and about.  Black bears eating chokecherries in the tree canopy along Moose-Wilson road caused quite a  "bear jam."   I was lucky to see these bears before the rangers arrived.

Some Aspens have a slight genetic difference and turn orange at the top, instead of golden yellow on the entire tree.

What's doing ?

"So what are you doing in the Park now ?",  my friend asked.  The busy tourist season at the Gift shop is over, now its time for the retired people to come.  Campground is still full, cabins are still full, and the retired people tend to stay longer than one or two days.  The store is less busy, they buy less stuff for themselves and a few postcards with postage stamps for their grandchildren.  Labor Day holiday brought some big sales.  One customer bought 4 pieces of Native American jewelry, spending nearly $ 2000.  Those transactions help the monthly sales numbers.
     During my weekends I rarely leave the Park because there is so much available inside the Park. Last weekend, however, I went to Idaho to look for migrating birds.  Camas NWR is north of Idaho Falls, and has a good auto tour route.  I was surprised to see most of the ponds are dried up.  A few ponds still had water, and birds.  I was happy to see a Wilson's Phalarope still present.  That afternoon I drove to Soda Springs.  In the morning I visited Blackfoot Reservoir by driving on a well-maintained gravel road to a location mapped by Ebird.  Western Grebes were calling to each other, and Brewer's Sparrows flitted in the bushes.
     Grays Lake NWR is indicated on the Idaho Birding Trail map as SE 30.  The area is closed with a locked gate.  I hope they are protecting the birds and not the hunters.
     Twice I have taken Dolphin-kayak to Yellowstone.  The first time I launched at Grant Village and paddled past West Thumb.  It was a gray cloudy day, and quite windy on the return trip.  The second time I drove up Yellowstone Lake had serious  "white-caps"  from strong winds.  I did not launch.
     Today I drove to Spaulding Bay at the south end of Jackson Lake and paddled for about 3.5 hours.  Common Mergansers and Canada Geese are still swimming around and foraging.  I found 2 Spotted Sandpipers on a sandy beach, and a family of Bald Eagles. 

 Above photo of Grand Teton and Mt St Johns. 
Photo to the left was taken from Jenny Lake earlier in the season.

Photo to the right was taken by a fellow adventurer.  We sat on a hillside at dawn watching thru my 'scope for a family of Wolves to appear.  No Wolves were seen.

Return of the mountains

For 3 - 4 weeks we had grey smoky skies, the mountains barely visible, and even the trees across the road were gray and hazy.  I did not want to go hiking because the views were obscured.  Monday a strong rainstorm moved in, bringing heavy rains to Tetons Park and snow to Yellowstone and the high country.  Tuesday the mountains returned, and the clouds drifted away.  Bright blue skies were amazing today.
                   Grand Teton is here somewhere.

         Death Canyon is visible thru the smoky haze.
                                                                   
                                                                                                         

Mt Moran's outline can be seen from the Marina.





Last week's Full Moon rising thru the evening smoke.  No filters, no Photoshop, or anything fancy.  Just smoke in the air.

This morning's photos:  Grand Teton has some fresh snow,  (photo to the right)  as does Mt Moran. (photo below).

A co-worker took this photo yesterday morning (Tuesday).  
After the strong storm on Monday, the mountains have returned.

late Summer

Wildfires are becoming an unfortunate reality of summer in the West.  Smoke from fires in Idaho, California, and other states drifts over the Teton range and obscures the features of each mountain.  Its very sad to hear of the forests burning so hot, and so intensely.  

    July has been hot, with above average temperatures. Summer wildflowers are fading.  Fireweed and Salsify have created fluffy seed heads, Lupine and Coralroot have put their last energy into dangling pods.  Along the lower trails, Asters, Goldenrod, and tiny Sunflowers continue to bloom.  Upper mountain meadows still have bright red Paintbrush,  Sticky Geraniums, and Louseworts.  
    In June, Kinglets, Robins, Thrushes, Western Tanagers, and more were singing in the forest near the Lodge.  Its very quiet now.  I hear an occasional Chickadee or Nuthatch near the dorms.  Juncos flit across the trail to the store.  Yesterday I visited a set of ponds just south of Jackson to watch ducks of several species.  Mallards, Gadwalls, and Coots all had half-grown ducklings swimming with them.  A few Ring-necked Ducks, Lesser Scaup, and Redheads have already started into eclipse plumage.  Below photo of Trumpeter Swans who successfully raised 3 little ones on Flat Creek in the Elk Refuge.  
Photo of Mt Moran at sunset thru the smoke.

I was very happy to find these 2 Moose today. I have not seen one since May.  The male in the background is a young animal with only small knobs for antlers.