Al Larson Photography

Several tom turkeys come into the yard and strut around. I often wonder what is on their mind. Are they just establishing a ranking in the group or are they trying to attract the attention of a female? Sometimes they just seem to be herding each other around.

I snapped this photo from some distand away. There were a couple of hens present but there seemed to be no other reaction among them. Some times a lone male shows up and struts around in the yard and no female is in sight. Is he just a self-centered egotistical individual that likes to show-off?

The Boise river is flowing high again this spring. Reservoirs are nearly filled to capacity. Water is wasted to maintain a comfortable storage space behind the dams. Here we see water flowing out of the original outlet at Lucky Peak Dam. It’s called the rooster tail for obvious reasons. The Army Corps of Engineers open the floodgate once a year to create this spectacular view. Thousands of people flock to this site in awe to witness and photograph this rare sight. Before the power plant was installed this was the only way to release water from the reservoir. It was then a common sight. Passing motorists would have to turn on their wipers to clear the windshield of the spray over the highway.

Yesterday I was on a fieldtrip to the Southwestern Idaho Birders Association “Bluebird Trail” which is located a few miles east of Jordan Valley, Oregon. At first the weather was a little bit chilly but as the day progressed the sun came out and one could be comfortable in shirt-sleeves. There are 33 nestboxes on this trail and there was evidence of activity in all but 2 of them. There had been a severe rain storm two days previously. Many of the nests were still moist from rain blown in through the entrance hole. Several boxes contained 6 warm eggs. Other boxes had lesser amounts of eggs some of which were cold to the touch. Probably the female had not completed her clutch and had not yet begun to incubate. Hopefully the temperature was not low enough to kill the unattended eggs.

Occasionally I find a pair of birds that stay relatively close as I inspect their nest. These I call my photogenic birds. They pose for me as you can see by the accompanying photos. Soon there will be baby birds to photograph.

Sandhill Cranes leave their roost on the sandbars in the river and fly out into the farmlands to glean the fields for dropped grain, tender plants, rodents, insects etc.  They put on fat to fuel the remaining flight to their nesting grounds in the Arctic.

When the cranes rise from the sandbars in the river in early morning the skies can be filled with clouds of the magnificent birds. This photo represents only a portion of the migrating flocks. Sandhill Cranes roost along many miles of the river near Kearney, Nebraska.

Tens of thousands of Sandhill Cranes roost on the sandbars in the Platte River in March.

While waiting for Sandhill Cranes to come in to roost for the night we were treated to this gorgeous sunset over the Platte River near Kearney, Nebraska.

This is a scene that shows what may happen beneath the snow in winter. This is the work of a rodent, perhaps a vole. What we see is tailings left behind as the critter forages for food. Aparently it is after the tastey crowns of grass. What is discarded is left behind filling the tunnel in the snow. The grass soon recovers when new growth occurs in the Spring. When these guys work in non-grassy areas the tunnels may be backfilled with dirt or soil leaving a trail of twisted, winding ridges of earth after the spring thaw. When my children were growing up I called these ridges “lennuts” which is tunnels spelled backward.

Here’s a pair of Trumperer Swans photographed at Crescent Lake NWR in Nebraska. There is a Northern Pintail in the upper left background. There are many wonderful things to see if you will leave the freeway and explore the back country.

I looked out the window this rainy morning and was greeted with this scene.