Frisky Foal

On Sunday Koty and I took a little junket over to the Amish settlement in the West Kootenai where I shot this series of photos of a foal out in a pasture. The little guy was full of so much enthusiasm and joy it made me smile and laugh out loud!

Many Glacier Will Have to Wait

Well, howdy. Did I get a big disappointment this week. Mom packed up Clementine, hooked up Shadow and I thought we were headed for Many Glacier. The plan was to go to Kalispell, get Clementine some routine maintenance and then head on over to St. Mary's.

The work on Clem was scheduled to take about four hours so we took off for the Great Northern Historical Trail.


The "trail" is a tarmac walkway but very nice and lots of things to see. It heads west from Kalispell and takes you into a very pretty rural area.


There is an amazing array of birds to be found on this walk. We saw beautiful meadow larks, blue birds and mountain swallows. Pictured above a mountain swallow sitting on a post. View full version.



We also spied this little robin who had built her nest on an old trestle beam. View full version.



Then there were these painted turtles doing, well, what ever they were doing. There really were a lot of critters to see on this, really, not very primitive trail. View full version.


Before log we started to see nasty looking clouds forming and a few people we met started talking about winter weather over on the east side. Mom called the park and sure enough they were expecting snow. Well, that was the end of our trip. Mom wasn't about to drive all that way to sit in Clem for a week. We high-tailed it home in the rain. Mom could be heard grumbling for two days as she hauled everything back out of Clem. Full version.


So, we've been amusing ourselves around here and took another walk along the Tobacco River where we came across this old car which looks like it has seen better days but mom thought it was kind of photogenic. Okay, so mom's a little daffy. :) Full version.


Mom was very delighted when we came across this blue-winged teal pair. Full version.

Anyway, I guess it's never a good idea to get too married to plans cuz they sure have a way of changing. Darn! But, mom says we will give it a go again when the weather improves. So, I wait impatiently.

©Kinsey Barnard Photography

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

An Afternoon in British Columbia

Journal: May 09, 2008

Ok, so how cool is this? At about 1:00 in the afternoon we decide we want to got to British Columbia. Ten minutes later we are there! And the mountains shown in this photo about say it all for us! The snow pack this year is fantastic and the Canadian Rockies are in their splendor!



Since it was late we couldn't go too far so we looked for someplace we hadn't been before and did we make a score. We found the Kikomun Creek Provincial Park. It's a complete mystery to me how this little gem has escaped our attention. There are five little lakes in this park and pictured above is the one we spent the afternoon walking around. Sorry mom didn't make note of the name. Bad on her!




We saw all kinds of critters. I tried to chase after them all but was limited by my leash. Drat! We saw mallards, squirrels, Canada geese, painted turtles and a pileated woodpecker. Mom thinks the pileated woodpecker is the coolest bird around and has been trying to get a fine art photograph of one since forever. She still doesn't have one! This guy flew into a tree right in front of us. These birds are pretty darned shy so rather than take a chance of missing him altogether mom just fired. Not good! Way underexposed and no chance for a second shot. Better luck next time mom!





There is a trail that goes all the way around the lake. Way cool hike. The water was crystal clear and beautiful shades of many colors. There was, quite literally, beauty everywhere we looked. Mom was the only human in the place. All I can tell you for sure is it was one fabulous afternoon! Mom was even talking about bringing Clementine up for a night or two so we could explore in greater depth. Oh, boy, I sure hope we do! We love Canada!

©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