Summer Returns To The Centennial

While I may not always notice the wildlife's departure in the fall, I certainly relish their return in the spring. Of course many critters remain in the valley year round. For some winter is life as usual (with a few extra challenges thrown in). For others it is the ultimate nap. For others it is travel time - from summer grounds to winter grounds and back again.

One way or the other, the onset of winter and the arrival of spring affect the valley wildlife. One of my favorite times of year is spring. If you have never lived in snow country, it may be hard to imagine the metamorphosis which occurs.

As the snow melts, brown grass is revealed. With the departure of the beautiful white snow, everything appears drab, dead, and lifeless. Then the sun's warmth works its miracle. As if by magic the brown grass turns green. Slowly the sun coaxes vitality into the bare, lifeless tree branches, and soon we are surrounded by varied shades of green. Next come the first wildflowers. Sprinklings of yellow (Early Buttercups) and blue (Leafy Bluebells) and white (Phlox) are the first to appear.

Then I start looking for the animals. Of course some have been trickling in for the last few weeks, seemingly on the trail of the first tender shoots of the new, green grass. However, once the landscape has undergone its dramatic change, the animals just seem to appear - back in their old haunts.

The mule deer on the hillside above the spring. The elk on the higher ridge tops. The pronghorn on the valley floors. Bear scat on my hiking trail. A wolf kill just south of the lake.

With each new arrival my heart leaps a little higher. It is as though I am enjoying a visit from well-loved friends. The first elk sighting cannot help but stir my blood. Stumbling across my first fawn, hunkered down and oh so still against the forest floor can bring tears to my eyes. Seeing the first pronghorn young bouncing gaily beside their mothers on legs resembling match-sticks always brings a smile.

However, before I enjoy these anticipated summer pleasures, I revel in the birds and squirrels and chipmunks which appear even before the summer is in full swing. Regardless of the weather, I know summer is here when I wake to the Tree Swallow's chit and chatter. Being serenaded by a House Wren while I hang fresh laundry - ahhh, what could be sweeter. The rat-a-tat-tat of a Woodpecker or Yellow-Bellied Sap Sucker punctuates my hikes. The thump-thump-thump of a grouse tells me the game birds have returned. The familiar tunes of a fat, red breasted Robin perched in a nearby willow. The sweet chorus which begins before the sun caresses the hilltops and continues until it has long passed below the horizon. These are the sights and sounds of summer!

This past weekend we were privileged to host a group from the Montana Audobon Society. A group of 23 people were here for the sole purpose of enjoying the Centennial Valley's beauty and serenity and wildlife. While they spent much of their time in the wide open spaces which make up the Red Rock Lake's National Wildlife Refuge, they also enjoyed traversing the local hillsides seeking glimpses of the many birds (and the various game) which spend their summers in our backyard.

And, while they managed to hear and / or see over 120 species in their day and a half search, I stayed home and enjoyed the birds which came to visit me. I do believe both of us were equally blessed in our encounters with nature.

One of the leaders, Bob Martinka, has a passion for birds (and even insects) and a great hand with the camera. You might enjoy reading his rundown of the weekend as well as perusing the photographic images he captured during his stay in the Centennial. His blog, Bird Man Bob, is fairly new but very interesting. Check it out!

Well, I must run. There are birds to listen to and animals to watch and a brief summer to enjoy to its fullest.

Lady of the Lake

The Hard Push

It's that time of year - time when we're constantly thinking of the upcoming season. Of course, we're thinking about our guests. We're thinking about the fun (and work). We're thinking about friends we will soon see. We're thinking about a LOT of things - but mostly, at this late date, we're thinking about how we're going to get everything done in time.

What that boils down to is a lot of long days and short nights. But, we're starting to see a glimmer of light at the end of this long tunnel. And, although we hit the bed tired every night, we're also pleased to see our projects coming together.

But, the highlight of the last two weeks (yeah, I know, I've failed to update this thing for two weeks. However, it isn't my fault! If they'd only advance our computer technology so I could just 'think' it in, it would have been on time.) was an ATV ride we took the other day. No, we didn't have time. But, it was fun - and we saw a TON of wildlife. It was definitely a nice breather.

Oh, and did I mention we saw a TON of wildlife? Lots of moose, over a hundred antelope, two fox, one badger, a large variety of birds including numerous sandhill cranes, and oodles of elk. To borrow a new phrase (to me), "The hills were lousy with elk." It was absolute the best elk viewing I've ever enjoyed, hands down. Never, even in the Park, have I seen so many elk. It seemed like every hill had a half-dozen or more.

Anyone who has read my blog for any length of time knows I appreciate having the Wildlife Refuge in my backyard. But, I must admit the elk, antelope, and moose don't seem to see it as anything special.

To listen to (and read) all the "hot air" expended by some environmental groups (or as I prefer to call them - eco-emotionalists), one would think that any kind of development is all for the worse. Any kind of 'management' is resulting in some kind of harm to mother nature. Anything but 'hands-off' and 'people-locked-out' is for the worse for all forms of nature.

However, they forgot to tell the wildlife. After driving nearly an hour through the refuge, we turned off into private and state lands. The private lands, of course, are grazed, as are the public lands. As far as I know, the private lands are also logged, on occasion, as are the state lands. However, it wasn't until we began our trek through the private and then the state lands that we began to see wildlife. And, like I mentioned above, there was a LOT to see.

So it leaves me wondering, "Just who do they think they're fooling?" Obviously not the wildlife!

Lady of the Lake

It's DONE!

Finally, after literrally months of work, I've finally got the new and improved version (or at least updated and enlarged version) of our web page up and running. It has been an effort - and not a lot of fun sometimes - but there is an incredible sense of accomplishment having reached this point.

Of course, if I'd known it would take this long, and be this hard - well, to be honest I wouldn't have started. However, even though I'm still working out the bugs, it is a pleasure to be able to look at it and know I did it - for better or worse - I'm responsible! Check it out!

Okay, to the weather news: Today is sunny. After several days of spitting snow and clouds, the sun is shining, the sky is blue, and life's good! Days like this I wonder how on earth anyone could live anywhere else.

And, wildlife: yesterday was a ridiculously slow day. I can honestly report I saw as many moose as I did people. Two of each. The moose (at least the one) were definitely harder to get along with.

In fact, yesterday afternoon we looked out our sliding door - from upstairs - and here is a moose! If I'd been on ground level we would have nearly been nose-to-nose! It was definitely in a BAD mood! It was licking its lips, stomping its feet, and pinning its ears. Craig had to snowball it (there was a little moisture in our recent snow fortunately) to get it to back off. I tried yelling - it just gave me the evil eye.

Thinking back to our first year and our first experience with moose always makes me laugh. Yesterday was too similar to that first encounter. Here we are - an agressive moose in the yard. Everytime (for several days) he shows up, the kids run for the house. The dogs run for the deck. So, what does one do?

Craig calls the refuge and asks the biologist how to discourage his overzealous attention. "Throw rocks at him."

Throw rocks at him? Nice idea, but there's 2 feet of snow covering all the rocks. So, Craig decides to try snowballs. Well, if you've never experienced winter in Montana, you might not immediately suspect the problem with the plan. In Montana, the snow usually has a very low water content, i.e. it's dry. Dry snow doesn't stick together. So, no snowballs.

Now what? Well, to make a long story short, in the end they cut up potatoes and threw them at Mr. Moose (it was a bull, by the way). He finally takes the hint and leaves - I suspect only to return as soon as we were out of sight and feast on the potatoes we threw at him. Oh, well, moose are moose!

Lady of the Lake