Wanderings

Magpie Nests, Mud Lake, ID 2010

Tuesdays and Thursdays I drive Kevin and Ethan to school on my way to work. In order to take Kevin to school I drive past the Rexburg Temple. On Tuesday the fog was really thick and I could just make out the temple from a couple hundred yards away. I decided to stop and make a few photographs. The snowy field and fog seems to clean up a lot of the foreground clutter. Anyway, enjoy.

Rexburg Temple in Fog, Rexburg, ID 2010

Spring has almost arrived in SE Idaho. The snow is melting, the temperatures are bearable, the days are getting longer, and new birds are beginning to show up.

Over the last few days I’ve heard Robins and Flickers singing. I’ve seen a few Snow Geese and Mountain Bluebirds, Trumpeter Swans and Pintails are really on the move. This is by far my favorite time of year.

Here are a few bird photographs from the last few days.

Mountain Bluebird, Fayette, UT 2010

White-crowned Sparrow, Fayette, UT 2010

29 Northern Pintails, Menan, ID 2010

Trumpeter Swans, Menan, ID 2010

We went down to Utah this weekend for a couple of reasons. Reason one – it was my 40th birthday and I thought it would be nice to celebrate with family. Reason two – Susan’s grandmother isn’t doing very well and we thought it would be nice to see her before she gets worse.

So, we spent Friday night at my parent’s house in West Jordan. We went out to dinner and then came back to celebrate with cake and ice cream. My mom made my pound cake (my favorite cake). We had a nice visit and my sister gave me clever presents and even wrote me a story, all of which dealt with getting old.

Saturday morning we went down to Fayette (Susan’s hometown). I’m glad we got to see Susan’s grandmother, she was in good spirits, but we’re not sure how much longer she has. A couple of Susan’s sisters also came down, so Grandma Bartholomew got to see a few of her grand children and great-grand children. It was neat. We then came back up to West Jordan, had a nice visit and dinner with my brother and his wife. Did a little shopping at Cabela’s (I got a sweet waterproof day pack). Spent the night at my parents house Saturday night. We then got up, went to church, had a nice dinner with my folks and drove home.

It was quite a whirlwind trip, but it was great to be around so much family.

Pound Cake with Candles and Sparklers

My Sister Carrie

Jacob visiting with his Great Grandmother Bartholomew

Yesterday I took a trip to the Idaho National Laboratory to photograph a building they’re demolishing. I arrived a little early so I quickly (like 65 mph) photographed three dormant volcanoes along the highway in the area.

East Butte, Middle Butte, and Big Southern Butte, Idaho 2010

I then took a detour home through Arco, ID. Arco is a small farming community whose two claims to fame are:
1. It is “The first city in the world to be lit by nuclear power”
2. Its proximity to Craters of the Moon National Monumnet.

It’s a cool little town. I made a few quick photographs of the hand-decrorated signs and building in the city.

Mountain Mural, Arco, ID 2010

Wrap Around Mural, Arco, ID 2010

Arco Christian Mural, Arco, ID 2010

Hand-Painted Bluebird, Arco, ID 2010

Susan’s brother Andy and his wife Kat were in town this weekend. We all went down to Idaho Falls to have dinner with them and then we all went bowling at Bowlero, a sweet bowling alley in Idaho Falls. We had a good time and I liked the light in the bowling alley. I did more photographing than bowling.

Bowlero Cafe, Bowlero Bowling Alley, Idaho Falls, ID 2010

Bowling Balls, Bowlero Bowling Alley, Idaho Falls, ID 2010

Ceiling Fan, Bowlero Bowling Alley, Idaho Falls, ID 2010

Susan

Kevin

Ethan

Jacob

Andy, Jacob, and Kat

Ethan, Kevin, and Jacob, Bowlero Bowling Alley, Idaho Falls, ID 2010

I spent a good portion of Monday driving around Howe birding and photographing birds. This area is known for its large concentration of hawks in winter (particularly Rough-legged Hawks) and it didn’t disappoint.

Rough-legged Hawk (Male), Howe, ID 2010

Rough-legged Hawk (Female), Mud Lake, ID 2010

Rough-legged Hawk, (showing nicitating membrane) Mud Lake, ID 2010

On the way home I also photographed a couple of cooperative Horned Larks

Horned Larks, Mud Lake, ID 2010

On Saturday, Steve and I decided to drive over to Teton Valley to look for Great Gray Owls. They often come down from the mountains to hunt voles in the valley in winter. There really haven’t been many reported this year, but we decided to give it a shot.

Kevin had a basketball game in the morning, so we all went to watch his team get slaughtered, but it’s not about winning right? Anyway, he did a good job and the game was entertaining. I then drove up to see if I could find a Lapland Longspur amongst the hundreds of Horned Larks on the bench. It took a while, but I did finally found one as well as a Snow Bunting.

I met Steve and we drove over to Teton Valley. Since the owls don’t usually come out until dusk we drove around town looking for other birds. We both needed a Black Rosy-Finch for the year, so we drove around neighborhoods with feeders and eventually located two birds mixed in with a few more Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches. We then drove around looking for other birds. We found a Merlin, several eagles and hawks and other common stuff. We also found an obliging Porcupine.

As dusk approached we started driving along the wooded creeks in the valley hoping to stumble across Great Gray Owls. The problem was that the fog rolled in and visibility was horrible. We did find a few Great Horned Owls, but we never could locate a Great Gray. It was a fun night and I may try again before spring.

Snowmobile Tracks and Power Lines, Walker, ID 2010

Rosy Finches,  Driggs, ID 2010

Porcupine, Driggs, ID 2010

Fog, Tetonia, ID 2010

In my previous post I mentioned that “In the late afternoon I took my favorite winter drive up in the farm fields SE of Rexburg. The light was spectacular. I made a few photographs of the landscape and of Horned Larks”.

Here are the some of the landscapes:

Potato Cellars, Walker, ID 2010

Snow and Sky at Sunset (with crusty snow from snowplow in foreground), Walker, ID 2010

Snow and Sky at Sunset (without crusty snow from snowplow in foreground), Walker, ID 2010

Snow and Sky at Sunset (with Power Poles), Walker, ID 2010

Sick of bird photographs yet?

We had a sunny day today and it was warm (for Rexburg), a pretty unusual combination around here in early February. It was really a gorgeous day. Jon and I tried to fish, we got skunked, but it was still fun. There were 6-8 Bald Eagles in the area and I managed to get pretty decent photographs of four of them.

Bald Eagles in the Shade, Burton, ID 2010

Bald Eagles in the Sun, Burton, ID 2010

In the late afternoon I took my favorite winter drive up in the farm fields SE of Rexburg. The light was spectacular. I made a few photographs of the landscape and of Horned Larks, maybe my favorite bird.

Two Horned Larks (profile view), Walker, ID 2010

Horned Lark (front view), Walker, ID 2010