Spring comes to GT Park

Winter is slowly, reluctantly giving in to Spring at SML.  Jackson and the southern part of the park was clear of snow a week ago.  The ice on Jackson Lake has cleared out and the mountains are again reflecting in the water.  Sagebrush Buttercups were frosted 10 days ago, they are now blooming in bright yellow.
      The Gift shop completed set-up on Thursday and opened to the public on Friday with many new items to sell. Three of last year's employees have returned, along with 4 new people.

Above is Jackson Lake frozen.  To the left is the Lake soon after ice-out.













I participated in Global Bird Count / International Migratory Bird Day on May 4.  Counting at Lupine Meadows I found 12 species to report for the event.  Chipping Sparrows had just arrived, as had Yellow-rumped Warblers.  Flickers, and Ruby-crowned Kinglets arrived before I did.  The 2 most surprising birds were a Wilson's Snipe, heard winnowing, and a Townsend's Solitaire singing from a Pine tree.
     Yesterday I visited a restored wetlands area south of Jackson and found 35 species !!  Yellow Warblers had recently arrived, and the Tree Swallows were busy investigating nest cavities.   This Eared Grebe was a pleasant surprise.

WY early May

Subaru and I arrived in GT Park on Thursday, according to schedule.  Its still winter here !  The roads are clear, the fields are snow-covered and of course the mountains are wearing white coats of snow.  
     Journey from Wisconsin to WY was one of serious wind.  I had wanted to stop for birds at one location, but not with THAT wind.  North Dakota and Montana had the worst wind.  I stopped at my friend, Kim's place, near Dillon for one night. She and boyfriend showed me some nice areas for hiking.  Its still winter in western MT, as well.
     I also stopped to visit Deborah, a former room-mate, in the small town of Thayne, WY.  Early Spring has come to this area. Meadowlarks are singing, Robins and Yellow-rumped Warblers are back.  I saw my first Yellow Warbler of the season !

Deborah took this photo of me looking at ducks on a pond.










The sky cleared and the mountains are beautiful.

off to WY again

Yes, I am again driving out to WY to Grand Tetons Park.  Old Silver Truck has retired, at over 314,000 miles.  I have adopted a Subaru from Dad's  yard for this adventure. The first 2 days of the trip were VERY WINDY.   I returned to an Eastern Mountain Sports store for help in re-attaching Dolphin kayak to the Subaru roof. They did a good job.  Fuji-bicycle is not making the trip to WY.
       Subaru and I went south, with the first birding stop at Green Swamp, a Nature Conservancy preserve located southwest of Wilmington, North Carolina.  A bright Spring morning had many birds singing,  including my target species, a Bachman's Sparrow.  I probably would not have found this bird without its enthusiastic singing.
     Trees are equally responding to the warmth and longer days with new leaves growing from their buds.  
     I did some long driving days, camped at some nice state parks, and visited the big Gateway to the West arch in St. Louis.  Its an impressive steel structure at 630 ft, located on the shore of the Mississippi River.
    This past weekend I have been visiting with my cousins and my aunt in Wisconsin.  We enjoyed beautiful weather at their land in southern WI.
  Early Spring flowers,  Dutchman's Britches,       and Trout Lillies.                            

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.