Hanging Around Our Backyard

That's a kind of misleading title because our backyard is a wee tad larger than most. It's probably like about a million acres of National Forest and State Game Range. Early in the week we hiked the Game Range looking for a herd of big horn sheep. By golly we found them and I'm lucky I didn't get a whipping because I got so excited, and made such a racket, they up and ran away before mom could get much in the way of photographs. I'm a bad boy! ;)


On any given day you can see elk, big horn and other critters on the game range. This particular day, besides the big horn herd and a slug of mule deer, we saw this lone grouse up on the ridge sitting under a tree. They really are beautiful birds but dumber than posts. If I weren't on a lease I could catch one so easy! Mom says you don't need a gun to hunt them, you can just boink them with a rock. Mom is a reformed hunter but even in her hunting days she would not have found much challenge hunting these silly beauties.


There is an old apple orchard on the range. The trees are pretty close to giving up the ghost, having been planted nearly a hundred years ago by homesteaders. The bears come here in the fall to see what they can glean. And it is a beautiful setting.


We also took a walk along the Tobacco River. The river is rising as Mother Nature finally releases her grip on the snow pack. We spotted this Canada Goose pair with their brand new gosling. It simply amazes us how the little ones in the wild survive. The current in the river was fierce but that little gosling paddled like a trooper.


Now you're going to have to really look at this photo because there is more in it than can be readily seen in this low resolution photo. But maybe you can make out a wood duck pair and a male mallard. It was a pretty scene and you know how whacky mom is about those wood ducks.


Last but certainly not least mom got a new abstract for her collection. She just loves these photos that look like impressionist paintings.

Well, that was our week! Hope yours was a good one too!

©Kinsey Barnard Photography

SPRING IS IN THE AIR!

Yesterday, was a beauty so we decided to take a ride over to the Koocanusa. I'm not sure if I have told you the story behind the name of the lake so for those who may have missed it.... It's kind of corny but the story is this; The Koocanusa runs about 90 miles from Montana (USA) into British Columbia (CAN). The lake is situated in the Kootenai National Forest and is fed by the Kootenai River. I think you can get the picture.

On the way out we saw a pot load of Mule Deer. This one ranch must have 150 of them lolling around. No fawns yet.

Over at the Koocanusa the reservoir has really been drained low. I thought it was low last year but it's even lower this year. So much sand has been exposed that when the wind comes up the valley looks like the Dust Bowl.

After hiking around the lake we took off just looking for whatever we could see. The first thing were some long horn cows that had just given birth and one cow just about to pop. They were really beautiful there in the pasture. At the same ranch was this horse that reminded my mom of one from her childhood. His name was Black Boy. This fella was a black boy alright!

Good news! Mom finally got a photo of a wood duck. Bad news! The lens she was using wasn't long enough to get a good look.

It was a beautiful spring day here in Montana and we enjoyed every minute of it! Looks like spring might be here for real this time!

©Kinsey Barnard Photography