Christmastime Birding near Seattle

The Christmas Holiday season is always busy and birding usually takes a seat behind other commitments and activities. This year, Kathy and I headed west to spend the holidays with our daughter Melissa and her family. They live on a heavily wooded 2-acre lot south of Seattle. On previous visits to their home, I have placed bird feeders in several locations to see what bird species I could attract. Various species usually find the feeders within a day or so, but because of a lack of time, the feeders are usually not refilled on a regular basis after we leave.

Shortly after our arrival last week, I managed to sneak out of the house and fill the feeders with sunflower seeds. Amazingly, within several minutes, chickadees began using the feeders! Both Black-capped and Chestnut-backed Chickadees were surprisingly abundant and fun to watch. Other feathered visitors included several Bewick's wrens. They were much more secretive and mostly stayed on the ground gleaning sunflower seeds that had been scattered from the feeders. Groups of Bushtits were also frequently noted in the vicinity, but they pretty much confined themselves to working on the suet block that I had placed nearby. During the 5 days that we visited, I ID'ed about 20 bird species on this 2-acre area. Not bad for winter birding and the limited time I spent looking. The Western Redcedar, Western hemlock, Douglas-fir, and Bigleaf maple that dominate this landscape should provide for a nice variety of breeding birds this spring - which I look forward to documenting! In previous visits, Steller's jays had used a large platform feeder I had erected but in the intervening months, the squirrels had taken over the platform and it was taken down. People often ask me what my favorite bird is, and I usually struggle to come up with just one. But on this trip, that question was easily answered. It was a little bird named Railey, our 20-month old granddaughter who was overwhelmed by the first Christmas she was able to enjoy!

Eastern Montana: Images of Recent Man's Habitation

Scattered across the prairies and breaks of eastern Montana are the relics of European peoples relatively recent occupation. To me, these artifacts provide a great opportunity to document the history of the area through digital photo images. Much of what you see in the following photos are "artifacts" that are mostly less than 100 years old, and in many instances no more than about 50. But whatever the age, they document the progression of habitation by man as he eked out a living on these relatively dry and sometimes severe landscapes.

The family ranch buildings we visit each year sit unobtrusively in a draw fed by a spring that once provided sustenance and a natural campsite for Native Americans. Even in times of severe drought, the clean, pure waters have continued to flow. These days, the spring provides water for several families, livestock, and gardens and landscaping. And the draw - or "coulee"as these landscape features are sometimes referred to in Montana - along with its cottonwood, boxelder, and ash trees provides relief and protection from summer suns and winter blizzards. The homesteaders of the early part of the 20th century lived in much more austere dwellings. This home - below - on the ranch was occupied by a family of 6 until the mid 1900's. Old barns frequently continue to house remnants of important transportation means of the past - horses. And many ranchers still depend on these animals for certain needs of modern day ranching. Of course, farm machinery and vehicles have also changed markedly with the times. And what was once accomplished with wagons is now the venue of continuing improvements in petroleum propelled vehicles. This old GMC pickup was once the vehicle of choice to transport my wife to the local one room school house she attended through early grade school in the 1950's. Uh oh! Am I in trouble with her because some of you are now mentally calculating her age?? When I first viewed some of these relics in 1969, they were not all that old. In the dry climate of these northern Great Plains regions, many or most of the relics pictured here will likely still be around late into this 21st Century. At least I hope they are so that future generations of the family will be able to explore some aspects of the history of the ranch - by just walking over the hill!

Eastern Montana: The Natural and Cultural

Almost every Thanksgiving Holiday for the past 40+ years, we have headed east to "The Ranch", not far from the N. Dakota border, to spend time with family. In most years, winter has already arrived and the landscape is covered in white. This year, there was no snow and the temperatures were in the shirtsleeve range. These eastern Montana landscapes, while not as physiographically spectacular as the mountains of the western part of the state, have grown on me over the years and they beckon me every day spent there for daily bouts of exploration.

The early winter landscapes are muted in color and contrast compared to other seasons but on close inspection, the wonders of nature reveal themselves to the camera. No, this is not another blog about birds! By this time of year, the diversity of birds is rather minimal and I only saw about 12 species during our stay. But I did find some landscape features that I had not encountered previously, and I will focus on them in this epistle. I also revisited some of the cultural history of he area in the form of relics that recent inhabitants have scattered over the landscape. Some folks might refer to these as junk or trash. I prefer to think of them as photographers' treasures. A pictorial essay of these relics will be posted in a followup blog.

From a distance, these "rough breaks" landscapes effectively hide many of their unique features. Remember to click on the images to enlarge them. But a closer look often reveals remarkably diverse and sometimes moonlike features! OOOPPS! Nineteen month old grand-daughter Railey slipped in here so I guess I'll just leave her to explore on her own! Cap-rocks are a fairly common feature of these breaks areas. A probable bison leg bone protrudes from an eroding bank. Many millions of years ago, large trees occupied these landscapes as evidenced by this petrified tree stump. And then there is "gumbo". Most Montanans are familiar with this stuff. For others who are not, they should experience it at least once. It is as slick as ice but it sticks to shoes or tires or whatever and makes foot or any other type of transportation virtually impossible. Wildlife are an integral and abundant component of this natural landscape. And if you really do want a little more color to heighten your enjoyment of the eastern Montana winter landscape, an occasional brilliant sunset will sometimes fill the bill!