Posts from the ‘Nature’ category

Things in the woods

There are all kinds of interesting things in the woods…my 8 acres of woods as well as the woods at the park on Flathead Lake where Karl and I walk…

In the Woods

Bob is in the woods…

In the Woods

…and Karl

In the Woods

…and lupins. You’ll have to take my word that there are a bunch of lupins along the path.

In the Woods

In the Woods

See…lupins, really! In my 8 acres of woods…

In the Woods

And in the park by Flathead Lake where Karl and I walked yesterday morning…and they as well as the other wildflowers are a bit ahead of the things in my woods.

In the Woods

Lupins in the woods.

In the Woods

Deer in the woods – LOTS and LOTS of deer…but for as many as there are and as often as I see them, I still love seeing them. I am always awed by their grace and the power they have to bound over obstacles…except for cars. They seem to have some sort of deer dyslexia when it comes to moving objects. I had one run into my car from behind as I was going about 25 mph. That is a different story -YIKES! Karl and I startled the deer above and she lept up the cliff-like slope above the trail and then obligingly struck a pose long enough for me to get this photo.

Bob, Karl, lupins, deer, trees, sunlight, mountain and lake vistas…just a few of the things in the woods.

Heat Wave

I’m writing this on Saturday evening just after 8 p.m. and it is 75 degrees fahrenheit – a bit above normal by 10-15 degrees! This is the third and warmest day in our Montana Spring heat wave – tomorrow is to be cooler and by mid-week we are forecast to be 10-15 degrees below normal.

But today and yesterday – like summer and Karl and I walked early. Friday we walked at the State Park by Flathead Lake.

Karl at Flathead Lake

Karl is on a rocky area that will soon – maybe tomorrow (Monday) be covered. The sudden warm temperatures are melting the mountain snow pack and filling the rivers and streams that feed Flathead Lake.

Karl at Flathead Lake

The rocky shore above will be under water soon also.

Yesterday morning we walked at the Historic “Trails to Rails” walk in Somers, Montana – a walk/bike trail starts in Somers and ends miles away west of Kalispell. We walk a short bit of this asphalt trail that has view of the mountains and on a clear day, when the lake is at normal height – Flathead Lake.

Somers

I love this little “barn”? – the color of the wood, it’s narrow tall shape against the background – it is a pretty structure to my eye.

Somers

I think it is funny that Karl gets so excited when we make the turn that leads to this trailhead. It is an asphalt path and is fenced in – much more citified than our typical walking places. It is a walk, though, and maybe just the variety is intriguing…

Somers

Somers

Headed back now, the “hill” is the village of Somers.

On the drive back home I stopped to take some photos. The foothills had that shadowy look that I love and I hoped to capture it. This implement barn caught my eye also.

My favorite…

The pond

Some photos of a different type for today, Sunday, the day of rest. These come from the pond adjacent to the soccer fields in Whitefish. The soccer fields, baseball diamonds, a housing development, a condo development, North Valley Hospital (brand spankin’ new!) and multiple medical and dental specialists offices now exist in an area that used to be marshy, wetlands. They believe they have taken care of drainage issues… The pond and some surrounding wetland acreage is home to birds, ducks and whatever other critters like Montana and marshy wetlands. It is a pleasantly noisy (bird, frog, etc.) and pretty pond. Below is what Karl and I saw on Friday when we walked here between appointments I had in Whitefish.

***note added…I need help identifying the bird. I thought it was a type of warbler, but now in my house (YEA!!!) and I did find my bird book but on flipping through did not find this bird. I’m in the throes of getting settled so will take more time later…unless someone can identify for me. The photos are 2 different birds – one has more read red on the top of its head. They were about the size of a robin. And the bird of prey – I’m not positive whether that is a hawk or a golden eagle. My impression when I decided to try and get a photo was that it was an eagle because of it’s size and manner of flight. Help, please!

***5/15/2008 addition Mental Pause Mama and my friend Kris identified the bird as a Yellow Headed Blackbird. Additionally, Kris and my neighbor Mikee are the deciding votes for Osprey as the ID for the bird of prey…a difficult id as I did not get accurate color in the photo. An interesting note is that Kris reports that the local newspaper ran a color photo of a Yellow Headed Blackbird that also had a red and orange “tinge”…anomaly of light or real color ????

Pond

Pond

Pond

Pond

Pond

Pond

Pond

Park by Flathead Lake

When I have errands in Bigfork, Karl and I usually take a walk in the state park that sits between the village of Bigfork, Bigfork Bay and Flathead Lake. There are several trail loops of different distance, but our favorite is a combination of 2 that take us from near the park entrance, up and over a hill and then down to the lake. We putz around the lake front and then loop on the road back up the hill, around the far border of the park and finally back to our starting point.

Today was the second time we walked in the park since returning to Montana. I was thrilled to find these little purple-magenta wild flowers – they are a favorite of mine. I think they are called “common blue-eyed grass” and they are like a mini-iris. I love iris which may explain my love of these beauties. Now, if someone sees these photos and says to themselves, “Oh for Pete’s sake, those are ….whatever” – feel free to leave a comment with the correct name… ***Reader Montucky from Montana Outdoors supplied the correct name: Shooting Star, from the Primrose family (Dodecatheon pauciflorum). Thanks Montucky!

mini iris

mini iris

mini iris

The sun was out, but there were also clouds throwing shadows on parts of the lake. The lake has been “drained” a bit…it always amazes me how much water they must let out to drop the level of this large lake this amount – see the sand and the islands? – the sand bars will be covered with water leaving the trees on small islands as soon as the mountain snow melts and the lake fills to its normal level. There is concern about flooding this year as the snow pack is so heavy and spring has been cool. A sudden warmup will melt the huge snow pack quickly sending more water than the rivers and lake can handle. Flathead Lake is the largest fresh water lake west of the Mississippi – larger than Lake Tahoe – that is a LOT of water.

Lake

Lake

As we finish the loop walk, Karl is getting a bit warm. We’ve been in the sun for about 1/2 of the last loop. Even at 50 degrees – full sun on a black dog…he gets hot and the tongue comes out. There is water in the Jeep and we make for that.

Karl

Karl

A nice walk in the park by Flathead Lake on a beautiful day…

The woodsy part of the walk

The spectacular mountain views posted a few days ago are from the eastern edge of my property as well as a loop Karl and I walk at the start of our twice or sometimes 3 times daily walk from home. That mountain view loop is on an adjacent “sub-division” – 5 and 10 acre parcels that have been sold but nothing built – and I hope they stay that way for awhile!

We complete that loop and then come back across the southeastern edge of my property and begin another loop that circumnavigates the edge of the 40 acre parcel of state land that is adjacent to my southern border. The state parcel is landlocked which means that access is across all the properties adjacent – all 6 of us. I have seen one “neighbor” on this land once. It is a beautiful piece of land – mostly flat but two of its borders have magnificent valley and mountain views. Karl and I usually walk the logging tracks that run inside the border by a bit. We have peek-a-boo views of the mountains beyond but it is mostly a woodsy area.

When I first moved here and walked out on that parcel, I scared myself silly – got disoriented as to which direction was “home”. For a while I activated the navigation system on my cell phone so I could see my position in relation to my house. Gradually, though, I came to know the various “stands of trees” – they are all familiar to me now and I know where I am. There is a group of 5 ponderosa pine – 4 form a diamond and the 5th is the center cross point. I wish I could capture that in a photo but there is no way save from above. There are several pretty copses of small trees and evergreens. Other places there are just trees that I recognize. There are several downed trees from windstorms that occured since I’ve lived here. There is the place that last year I found wild orchids – I’m keeping watch as now I know how to use the camera functions to get those miniscule blossoms in focus.

For now, though….this Glacier Lily….and a bit of the walk and places that Karl and I know:

Above, one of the logging paths that make it easy for me.

The end of the loop – the return to home.

Hello the horses

I had a quick visit with the horses in the photos below. They live near where a friend is living temporarily and belong to the owner of the cabin she and her family are renting. The horses are obviously used to people and probably used to the people having horse treats as they came over to see Karl and me immediately – snuffled my neck and shirt trying to find something horses like. Karl loves horses – at my previous house there was a horse pasture and round corral. My neighbor rotated her 3 horses through my pasture so I had the fun of watching and petting them without the expense of food and vet – plus I didn’t have to have the pasture mowed! Kelli wanted the horses to be okay with dogs so we worked together – me training Karl to not approach from their rear and Kelli working with the horses to be calm with Karl. Karl would take a toy out to them mornings – repeatedly baffled that they would not play. All 3 of the horses were “lay-down” nappers – Karl liked to join in that activity also. I have photos from then that I will find and post when I get a chance.

But today’s photos – the horses at my friend’s…

Horses

Horses

Horses

Horses

Horses

Horses

This is their view….poor horsies…