We went up to Theodore Roosevelt National Park's North Unit to see what was shaking there. There was a group of 10 mule deer all traveling together near the Juniper Campground, and some bison bulls sparring. One of the bison went cantering across the meadow, bleating that awful, hellish sound they make, just to pick on another young male.
Also, I can take brown creeper off the lifetime bird list.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
A Whiff of Spring
The first spring arrivals have begun to appear in Medora. A strong south wind helped some new arrivals on their trip north. In the past couple of days, I have seen the first mountain bluebirds, some dark-eyed juncos (none wintered here), and some sparrows too plain and quick to identify. A couple of visitors have commented that they have seen bald eagles in the area, too. That makes sense, since the ice on the river is starting to break up. Amber and I saw a beaver in the river the other day.
I had a good intelligence report that there was a golden eagle nest near the park's loop road. I found it, and there was even an eagle sitting on it.
Now, if I could only get the birds to stop at my feeder...
I had a good intelligence report that there was a golden eagle nest near the park's loop road. I found it, and there was even an eagle sitting on it.
Now, if I could only get the birds to stop at my feeder...
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Dinner and a Show
A few of us went out to La Playa Mexican restaurant in Beach, ND for dinner. I saw an owl in a tree on the way over. As for the restaurant, the food was pretty darn good for way out here. I felt bad for our server, who was also the owner, who had to run the entire restaurant because her waitress didn't make it to work. I thought she fared alright for what she was having to pull off, even if I exhausted my beverages and didn't have silverware for a while after I got my food. The rice was very good, the beans average, and the chicken enchilada was very good.
After dinner, we hit up the Bijou Theatre, a very old-style theater (with neon lights next to the screen for authentic, not retro, 1950s appeal). It costs $5 for a movie, which is all right! And the candy's only a dollar! I didn't buy any! We watched the Spiderwick Chronicles which was an OK movie. I might have liked it better if the old woman behind me wasn't dying of tuberculosis. The movie is family fare with monsters that are probably too scary for little kids and a simple plotline that was a little dull for my tastes. Maybe I'm just too perceptive of foreshadowing, or else it was way too easy to pick up on: the friendly creature that seems extraneous but clearly wants to eat birds, and the tendency of the big ogre to turn into a bird, etc. Running from CGI monsters just isn't fun for me anymore. Overall, the concept of kids seeing something that no one else will believe is well overdone by now, the only twist here being that information is the object of desire for the antagonist. And why didn't the ogre just grab the kid and beat (or waterboard) the information out of him, instead of fixating on getting the book! the book! the book! For all the unexpected star power in the film, it just makes the Harry Potter franchise look that much more amazing and appreciable on multiple levels.
There had been discussion on the way to Beach whether anyone had seen the Northern Lights at all this winter. No one had. On the interstate returning from the movie, we did see them. There was an arc of glowing gray haze from one horizon to the other to the north, with vertical ribbons of light that came and went throughout the arc. There was just the faintest hint of green to the color. We drove up to Johnson Plateau in the park (where the first prairie dog town is) and observed them in the darkness of that spot for a few minutes, but we all got cold very quickly. It was the best I've ever seen of the Lights.
The camera picked up more green than there really was, and this image has been edited to improve the contrast.
After dinner, we hit up the Bijou Theatre, a very old-style theater (with neon lights next to the screen for authentic, not retro, 1950s appeal). It costs $5 for a movie, which is all right! And the candy's only a dollar! I didn't buy any! We watched the Spiderwick Chronicles which was an OK movie. I might have liked it better if the old woman behind me wasn't dying of tuberculosis. The movie is family fare with monsters that are probably too scary for little kids and a simple plotline that was a little dull for my tastes. Maybe I'm just too perceptive of foreshadowing, or else it was way too easy to pick up on: the friendly creature that seems extraneous but clearly wants to eat birds, and the tendency of the big ogre to turn into a bird, etc. Running from CGI monsters just isn't fun for me anymore. Overall, the concept of kids seeing something that no one else will believe is well overdone by now, the only twist here being that information is the object of desire for the antagonist. And why didn't the ogre just grab the kid and beat (or waterboard) the information out of him, instead of fixating on getting the book! the book! the book! For all the unexpected star power in the film, it just makes the Harry Potter franchise look that much more amazing and appreciable on multiple levels.
There had been discussion on the way to Beach whether anyone had seen the Northern Lights at all this winter. No one had. On the interstate returning from the movie, we did see them. There was an arc of glowing gray haze from one horizon to the other to the north, with vertical ribbons of light that came and went throughout the arc. There was just the faintest hint of green to the color. We drove up to Johnson Plateau in the park (where the first prairie dog town is) and observed them in the darkness of that spot for a few minutes, but we all got cold very quickly. It was the best I've ever seen of the Lights.
The camera picked up more green than there really was, and this image has been edited to improve the contrast.
Monday, March 3, 2008
It's On!
Today was stressful. I can't really discuss inside stuff, but the loop road opened, I had to collect fees for the first time, the Horse Roundup Group Camp reservations opened up today, and a lot of other background projects were buzzing all day. That just made for a lot of activity and a lot of new things for me. I guess I hadn't realized how accustomed I had gotten to our quiet little place that people just stumbled upon.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
marchFIRST
The thermometer got up to 64.6 degrees today! It was the second-busiest day so far, with over 40 visitors in the building. The visitation record still belongs to the Mennonite Disaster Service event of February, 2008.
I had a wildlife first today. As I was returning from dropping off one of the patrol rangers at his start point for a fence checking expedition, I noticed a bird that looked different. It was perched in the top of a juniper tree, and I could tell from its flight that it wasn't something I was used to looking at. It wasn't quite as big as a robin, it perched like a waxwing but I could tell its tail was too long for that. I was sort of looking into the sun and could only tell that the bird was gray. A later photographic analysis showed that I had seen a Townsend's solitaire, a bird classified as RARE in this park in the winter. Score!
There are some geese that have returned to the area now, also. They camp out on the bluffs just north of town. They sit there like pigeons and get agitated whenever someone walks around on our street, flying huge laps while honking. It takes a long approach pattern to land a bird of that size on a small pedestal of flat ground on an otherwise nearly vertical slope, so they are pretty awkward about landing there. Geese have such a high stall speed that they have to come in pretty fast and drop down onto the small flat spot. Sometimes they overshoot, and I can see their feet hanging down and their wings pumping furiously to try and save it, but they have to go around.
Also, last night, I was in the bathroom reading Newsweek, and I swore I heard this scritching sound in the wall. Then it sounded like feet scuffing on the sidewalk. Was a stalker lurking outside my bathroom window watching me "dial long distance?" I looked out the window and saw nothing. I went around to the back door and opened it, and there was a deer standing right outside the window. I didn't see it until it jumped and bounded away. Needless to say, I was glad I had evacuated my GI tract beforehand.
I had a wildlife first today. As I was returning from dropping off one of the patrol rangers at his start point for a fence checking expedition, I noticed a bird that looked different. It was perched in the top of a juniper tree, and I could tell from its flight that it wasn't something I was used to looking at. It wasn't quite as big as a robin, it perched like a waxwing but I could tell its tail was too long for that. I was sort of looking into the sun and could only tell that the bird was gray. A later photographic analysis showed that I had seen a Townsend's solitaire, a bird classified as RARE in this park in the winter. Score!
There are some geese that have returned to the area now, also. They camp out on the bluffs just north of town. They sit there like pigeons and get agitated whenever someone walks around on our street, flying huge laps while honking. It takes a long approach pattern to land a bird of that size on a small pedestal of flat ground on an otherwise nearly vertical slope, so they are pretty awkward about landing there. Geese have such a high stall speed that they have to come in pretty fast and drop down onto the small flat spot. Sometimes they overshoot, and I can see their feet hanging down and their wings pumping furiously to try and save it, but they have to go around.
Also, last night, I was in the bathroom reading Newsweek, and I swore I heard this scritching sound in the wall. Then it sounded like feet scuffing on the sidewalk. Was a stalker lurking outside my bathroom window watching me "dial long distance?" I looked out the window and saw nothing. I went around to the back door and opened it, and there was a deer standing right outside the window. I didn't see it until it jumped and bounded away. Needless to say, I was glad I had evacuated my GI tract beforehand.
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