Yellow-headed Blackbird

If you're ever in a freshwater marshy area, and you hear something that sounds like a rusty gate being opened, don't be surprised when you find out the noise is coming from a Yellow-headed Blackbird, not a gate! The Yellow-headed Blackbird is one of my favorite wetland birds, they're entertaining to watch, beautiful birds and where you find one there's most likely a whole bunch more close by.



*Catching Mayflies, pretty entertaining*

Yellow-headed Blackbirds nest in large colonies that can include hundreds of individuals and sometimes even other species of Blackbirds. The males are easily recognized with their bright yellow heads, black bodies and white strips on their wings. Females lack the white strips and overall have a duller color with yellow on their faces, neck and chest (the whole head is not completely yellow). As previously mentioned their call has been compared to the noise a rusty gate makes when opened. I'm not a huge fan of that comparison, but their call in definitely unique, and one that is easily recognized.

The Yellow-headed Blackbird's diet consists of mainly seeds and insects, the largest portion being seeds. In the United States, this bird can be found in marshy areas in most of the west and central parts of the country. During the nesting season, male birds can often be seen displaying their colors and heard voicing their call repeatedly around the colony. This is their way of saying "back off" as they guard their nest(s) and female(s). Bird watching is one of my favorite activities, and Yellow-headed Blackbirds are one of my favorites to observe. Keep an eye out next time you're by a lake or pond or marshy area, you may just run into some!

A Week's Worth of Critters

Every week I go through and transfer the images stored on my camera's memory card to another storage device. Some weeks this consists of maybe 100 pictures or so, and other weeks this can range into the thousands. No matter the number, I always enjoy going back through the pictures to look at the places that specific week took me, and the different animals I was able to find. I'll usually pull out my favorite pictures and store them separately for easier future access. This past week I ran into a good variety of critters, including but not limited to; Ring-necked Pheasant, Killdeer, Yellow-bellied Marmot, Mourning Dove, Sandhill Crane, Canada Goose, Mallard Duck, Wood Duck, Painted Turtle, Striped Skunk, California Quail, Wild Turkey, Mule Deer, Moose, Red-naped Sapsucker, Ground Squirrel, Bullfrog, Elk and Snowy Egret. These were simply the species of animals I was able to get pictures of, the list would be about 3x longer or more if I were to list every animal I saw and could identify. There are so many beautiful creatures around us, we just need to be more aware of what's there which will allow us to better respect, protect and appreciate these wonderful creatures that we share this world with.

Snowy peaks and a frozen lake

This weekend I made it out camping again. This time I hiked to a beautiful alpine lake overlooked by mountain peaks. With all the warm weather we have had lately I expected the lake to be thawed and the mountains nearly clear of the winter snow. As I arrived at the lake I came upon a beautiful site. The water still mostly frozen over with spots of clear, blue/green water showing through near the shore, and above, snowy peaks. It's vistas like this that remind me why I love to be out in nature so much. Unfortunately I didn't run into much wildlife, a family of coyotes did serenade me with a beautiful chorus of howls and playful yelps, it was quite entertaining even though I couldn't find them. The night was pleasantly chilly, but there is little I enjoy more than crawling into a warm sleeping bag with the cold air and mysterious noises all around me. As I made my way up the mountain the next morning, I came across multiple small mountain streams and springs. Running low on water I refilled my supply, there is nothing quite like clear, mountain spring water to re-energize the body! It was quite a fun outing, I will definitely be making my way back there later this year. I was hoping to find and photograph some moose, but didn't have any luck with that this outing, maybe next time.

Camouflage

One of my favorite shows lately has been The Rifleman. It's an old program that ran from the late 1950's to the early 1960's, black and white, and pretty darn epic. Basically in each episode a problem arises, and Lucas (the main character) solves the problem. Fortunately for me, the viewer, and my desire to be entertained, he usually solves the problem in an awesome manner with his rifle and his almost superhero-like ability to use the rifle.

Humans have come up with some pretty inventive ways to defend themselves, whether it's firearms, martial arts or B.O., we are equipped with many different forms of protection.

Animals are a little different. Unless you watch planet of the apes, animals don't use guns, they won't bust out a Karate move and they don't have the technology we have that helps to keep us safe. They do however defend themselves in different ways. Some animals use poison or venom, some have armor and some just smell really bad. Perhaps the most common form of defense is camouflage. Whether it's a mammal, bird, reptile, insect, etc, camouflage is commonly used. Some animals can even change the color of their camo depending on the season of the year.
When I'm out hiking I always enjoy looking for hidden wildlife, it helps me pay more attention to what's around me. I don't always find something, but more often than not I catch a glimpse of a pretty cool critter.

Just around the corner

There is generally a point in every trail where most people decide they have had enough, and they turn around and go back to where they started. I consider myself lucky, because I CANNOT do that. When I reach that point in the trail, the same questions always come to my mind; "I wonder what's up ahead? I wonder what's around that corner?" Because of this "inability" to turn around and go back, I have seen some of the prettiest landscapes and come across some pretty cool animals as I trek along these unused paths. Whether I'm hiking along a commonly used mountain trail, navigating through the mazes of slot canyons and dried river beds in the desert or following an old game trail that hasn't seen a human visitor in decades, I am never disappointed when the journey comes to an end. If I wasn't restricted by time and day to day responsibilities, if I didn't have a family I cared about, I would probably be one of those guys who goes into the mountains and shows up again months or years later. So next time you are out adventuring, and you reach that certain spot and think you are done, just ask yourself "I wonder what's around that corner?" I promise you wont be disappointed!

Animal Spotlight: The Mule Deer

*He's got a little hat*

About a year and a half ago I did a post about Striped Skunks. At the time I mentioned that I would occasionally do post about animals that I was interested in at the time, or animals I feel are just not very well known or are misunderstood. My whole life I have been fascinated with deer, so I would like to do a post about my favorite, the Mule Deer.

The Mule Deer is probably one of the most commonly seen larger mammals in western North America, and it is probably one of my all time favorite animals. I love watching them and getting to know individuals in their family groups. This year I have been able to spend a lot of time with a family group of 5 Mule Deer somewhat close to home. It has been awesome getting to know them and watching their comfort levels with me increase over time.

*Mule Deer have those BIG ears*

Mule Deer have a few basic characteristics that make them fairly easy to identify when compared to other deer species. First off, they have very large ears (kinda like a Mule's, hence the name) which are almost always moving. They have a white tail with a black tip, in winter their fur turns a pale gray color whereas in summer their fur is almost red.

*Winter social group*

A Mule Deer's diet consists of various leafy plants, grasses, berries and in winter, twigs from various trees and shrubs. Male Mule Deer migrate to higher altitudes in the summer, sometime forming groups. In late autumn to early winter males will descend for "the rut" (this is where they fight for the ladies, but very rarely are they actually hurt), after which they may form groups made up of both males and females. Females generally stay at lower altitudes year-round and form small family groups, these usually include a mother, a pair of yearlings and new babies (usually twins, sometimes 1 or 3 fawns are born).



*You can see the "velvet" covering the antlers*

*Forked antlers*

Males grow antlers which are usually pretty symmetrical. Their antlers fork as they grow unlike White-tailed Deer whose antlers grow off of one main beam. Antlers are shed yearly, usually around February, once shed they begin to grow again. Unlike horns which are made of keratin, antlers are made of bone.

I hope I didn't bore you with my fascination for the Mule Deer. It really is a magnificent animal that I have grown to admire and love. If you ever have an opportunity to just sit and watch them, I advise you take it.

Enjoy the season

*Destination*

*The path less traveled*

I am very unfortunate when it comes to my conversational skills. I acknowledge that I do not hold a conversation well, especially with people I don't know. To add to my misfortune, my job requires me to sit down with multiple strangers on a daily basis, occasionally for extended periods of time. These two things put together have led to many an awkward "conversation" about the weather and whatnot. I live in central Utah and I am actually quite surprised at how many people I meet that just hate the Winter season and the weather that comes with it. Everyday I hear people complaining about the snow and how they have nothing to do because it keeps them indoors, to those people I say, GET A LIFE! Yes, with Winter comes cold temperatures, scraping your windshield and shoveling the sidewalks. But you also get a whole new list of epic activities that you can't do the rest of the year. Trails that you have hiked dozens of times are suddenly transformed. The mountain bike and hiking boots get put away and the skis, snowboard and snowshoes come out from hibernation. There is so much to do during this wonderful season, get out there and live it up, you will enjoy it so much more!

*The wind coming over the peak was whipping the snow all around*

This season I've been able to get in some good camping trips and some excellent snow-shoeing expeditions. This weekend I was able to get out for one of my adventures. Moonlit hiking, set up camp and sleep, wake up, breakfast, read in sleeping bag because it's warm, pack up with frozen fingers, climb to top of mountain, climb down, enjoy every second!