Jillian, 2003

Her first program at Hamilton Elementary on Halloween. Spoooooky!

Our Yard

Saturday Night Live

Our friend Dave Plummer with the eagles - he and fellow architect Mike Hupe built our entire facility here in 2001 after we relocated from Clinton.
Then Pete, Tom, Dave and Sparky here engaging in intellectual debate. Sparky displays the nice  paint finish on his truck. FUN!

Awesome Catch

Sibley the Peregrine caught a nice cottonwood leaf falling from a tree today, and I am so proud.
Plus a front yard photo and aspens nearby.

Eagles and Dipper

I hit the trail at high speed hoping to photograph the eagles perched over the nest, and no sweat - they were there for an hour. Hope they stay there for the spring and summer and reproduce again in 2019, after a year off! And at dark, an American Dipper caught my attention with a beautiful song, splashing and swimming in the shallows. Gotta love a Dipper!

Peregrine + Pretty Colors

Sibley the Peregrine is finally back in the air today, flying at One Horse Creek across the road and huffing and puffing. Her 16th season and we always start the first of September but not this year. She had molted half her tail feathers, was a fatty, plus I had programs out-of-state and didn't want to risk it. So today the maiden voyage, plus some "Leaf Peeping" on the way back.

Hey! Nice Tomato!

Another Shot

Rough-legs Are Here

Northern migrant Rough-legged Hawks make it to Montana this time of year, and could be here until April. This was the first one of these fellows I've seen the season, tame as a cat and catching voles, an adult male.

Osprey On the Beach

This young Osprey snagged a whitefish right in front of me, practically inhaled it up on a cottonwood tree, then split. On his way south, at least a thousand mile flight, and will stay on the non-breeding ground that whole year to return at 18 months of age, hopefully. A very tough life for the Ospreys.

Friends From Finland

Carrie Hunt is the founder and director of Wind River Tails and Trails here in Florence, dog boarding and training. She is perhaps better known for the Wind River Bear Institute, hazing problem black and grizzly bears using Karelian Bear Dogs. She began this endeavor with some friends in Finland and we were happy to host four of them yesterday, here for a way-too brief hunting and fishing expedition to the Big Sky. Starting next to Carrie, they are a professor, journalist, first response doctor, and policeman in Helsinki. THEY'LL BE BACK!

Couple More

Buddies Rebecca Lessard, Wings of Wonder in Michigan, me, then HMANA Director Jane Ferreyra, and Laurie Goodrich of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary fame. Plus my plug for MTPR in the Powerpoint. 

What a Weekend

I returned from a whirlwind Detroit round trip, despite numerous airline nightmares including de-icing in Denver yesterday, and so glad to be home. I was the first keynote for the HMANA Conference, held every three and what a roster. I got to hang with so many pals and here is the highly esteemed Dr. David Bird's last image in his keynote on kestrels, photo of Owen Manning with his award-winning taxidermy mount, plus me with Sonora on MTPR Pea Green Boat three years ago! I blushed.

Off To Motown

Off to the Hawk Migration Association of North America Conference in Detroit, and delivering the opening Keynote tomorrow morning. Then I can be a tourist, and thanks Tom for feeding the birds.

Ospreys Galore

On Monday, not one, not two, but three Ospreys down at the beach. Two flew by joined by a third way downstream, soaring in dark clouds. They're on their way south to Mexico and Central America, these two youngsters on their first trip. They'll remain on the wintering grounds their first year, unusual for migrants, sometimes for two years. Then back to Big Sky, if they survive. Odds are against it, the tough life of an Osprey.

Wood!

Firewood for the year, thanks Pat Johnson! And living trees planted in the front yard about 15 years ago, Western Larch in their peak colors.  With a penguin and a pheasant sculpture, rusting nicely.

New Print

Voila, "Osprey" hot off the printing press. A drypoint monoprint, colored with gouache paint, edition of eight, 12" x 9 ". I will see if it's accepted in the upcoming Missoula Art Museum Auction, stiff competition, and if so 100% for the MAM. Next print, a kestrel in flight....

Old and New

A few photos, the first sent from our friend Annalisa from 2003 when Sibley and she and best friend Jessica Knoll were kids. Annalasa Rose will be performing her Americana repertoire of music at the Blacksmith Brewery in October 27th, we'll be there.
Then a shot from a week ago at the library in Stevensville, and everyone hooting 'em up with Simon the Great Horned Owl. A peek at the clock proves that I had been talking for well over an hour and not done yet, what a fun program!

Bear-Proof Cans?

I don't think so. Our pal Barry Gordon displays a garbage can ripped open by a Grizzly Bear up the Blackfoot, my sister Betsy agreeing.