Al Larson Photography

A flock of Evening Grosbeaks visited our feeders a few days ago, stayed a couple of days then moved on. Here a couple of them came down for a drink. We used to have large numbers of this species stay around for many days. Now their visits seem somewhat accidental. Could our yard habitat have changed?

A rather tame turkey vulture

While traveling along a country road I came upon a flock of four turkey vultures. This one perched on a fence post just begging to have its portrait taken. I obliged.

Last Saturday, May 11, 2013 I took a trip to Sagehen reservoir on a birding trip with the Southwestern Idaho Birders Association. Sixty-six species of birds were seen. There were a number of “should have been seen” birds missing from the list. Bird migration is still underway.

Many wildflowers were in bloom.  There were fields of blue camas, hillsides covered with arrowleaf balsamroot, yellow muleear and many others. Some had already matured and withered away such as white trillium, grass widow, glacier lily. The most notable blossom of the trip was the fairy slipper. This beautiful orchid stays hidden in the forest and is seldom seen. Its bloom lasts but a few days. I consider myself lucky to find this beautiful flower.

Buttercups in Owyhee County

On April 28, 2013 I made a trip to my Owyhee Bluebird Trail. Many wildflowers were beginning to make their first appearance for the year. Perhaps the most notable species was the wild buttercup. I just had to share the above photo with you.

Zoey is visiting our daughter, Jeannie, this week. She doesn’t seem to be a bit camera shy.

Underneath most bridges across our mountain streams we can usually find an American Dipper nest tucked away among the stringers and beams. In this somewhat blurry photo you can see what looks like a new nest constructed on top of an old last season’s nest. This photo was taken on March 25th this year. An adult dipper was sighted standing in the water on a sandbar about 100 feet upstream from the bridge. This seems to be early for nesting since freezing weather is still upon us.

 

A scene looking down the driveway this winter.

With the weather warming up and spring just around the corner I think it’s safe to look back at a winter scene. Here we are after one of our light snowfalls. I had cleared the snow from the path to the woodshed. The camera lens was set to a slight wide angle which made the house seem quite far away. I like the composition. The path leads the eye right down to the house and the smoking chimney.

I’ve been looking foreward to Spring. The ground was mostly free of snow and a Snowdrop peeked around a piece of snow in the flower garden. So much for that! This morning I was greeted by five and a half inches of new snow. I broke out the snow remover and cleared a path out to the woodshed. The scene demanded a photo. Here’s one of the better ones.

While eating breakfast by the kitchen window I never know what kind of bird activity I will see next. There has been a flock of 20+ jays making regular visits to my yard this winter. This morning a marauding hawk dropped in for breakfast. This Sharp-shinned Hawk swooped in and captured one of the Steller’s Jays that was busily feeding in the area. There was a tussle for about a minute before the jay finally succumbed. I was amazed to see this small hawk tackle such a large prey. It must have been hungry too. Needless to say I did not see a jay in the yard the rest of the day.

This photo was also shot eleven years ago. Large numbers of hummingbirds swarmed around our feeders many years ago. Back then it was easy to count 75 or more as they arrived for their evening handout at our 11 makeshift feeders. These feeders were simply poultry watering dishes. These feeders were handy for orioles and western tanagers too. The timing for this photo was in the evening just at twilight. The background was blackened by the short exposure of the flash. I’m anxiously awaiting the first of these tiny visitors scheduled for around April 19th.