Category: Birds

A Trip to Northern Idaho – Part 4

by Michael

The next morning finds Karen and me back at Fernan Lake, once again watching the water fowl doing their thing. This great blue heron is a lovey bird to watch as it glides effortlessly through the sky just above the water.

GBH Fly-by

And then we notice something of a little drama unfold before us. There are several families of Canadian geese here and we noticed this one little one wandering around making all kinds of noise. It appears it has been separated from its family and was desperately trying to find its way back. I imagine it was calling out “Mama!! Mama!!” Or maybe it was yelling out “Marco!” Who really know? 🙂

“I’m lost!!”

The little thing made its way to the water and then made a beeline for a family that is swimming nearby. At last, the little fella (?) will be safe and back with his family. The little guy swims happily along toward the flotilla of geese, calling out all along the way.

“Wait for me! I’m coming!”

Well, apparently, this was not its family. One of the adults doesn’t take too kindly to this interloper trying to crash their family swim and bats it away, more than once. Karen and I were both caught off guard by this reaction as the brutal adult literally smacked the little one away from its family.

“Not on my watch!”

Rejected and dejected, the little one swims off again, looking for his family.

Poor little thing

Finally it sees its family, the largest one on the lake! I think we counted upwards of 14 little ones in this group! Now we’re not sure if the little one got lost, or if it ran away looking for a smaller family where it might get more attention. I guess it decided that if the attention it got from that last family was any indication of what the world was like, it would just stay with its own family and make do. It rejoined the group and they swam away, one big happy family once again.

One large family

Once we met up with Janice, we decided on following a tip I got on FaceBook about a possible place to see moose in the area. So we headed off for St Maries ID and the St Joe river where I was told the moose were plentiful, just laying around in the fields all over the place. This sounds promising!

On our drive, we noticed an opening in the trees next to the river and could see a group of American white pelicans fishing, so we stopped to grab some shots. Sadly, they were quite a distance away from the road, but since they such large birds, that didn’t hamper us too much.

Pelican skimming the surface

There were several of them floating around, but Karen caught this one just as it had nabbed its lunch. That’s a fish’s tail sticking out of its mouth. Aw, the circle of life (cue the music).

Pelican lunch

After the pelicans we made it to St Maries right around lunchtime. We ate at a place called My Kitchen and it was great. If you ever find yourself in St Maries ID, stop in and check it out!

After lunch we took a drive up the St Joe river, looking for the elusive moose! Next time…

Michael
Sharing God’s Creation, One Click at a Time

All words and photos copyright 2019 MHampton Photography
Equipment used: Canon 5DS-R, Canon 1DX II, Canon T6S, and various Canon lenses and Insta360 One X

A Trip to Northern Idaho – Part 3

by Michael

Welcome to part 3!

After spending time at Fernan lake, we headed to pick up Janice. We then headed to Post Falls ID, which is between Coeur d’Alene and Spokane. I had mentioned I would like to find some waterfalls somewhere so obviously a place named Post “Falls” would seem like a likely place to find some.

Well, we got there and what we found wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, but very cool and exciting nonetheless. Originally designed to power a lumber mill, the dam has been turned into a hydro-electric facility that provides power for miles around.

Avista Dam on the Spokane River in Post Falls ID

Of course, while we were there we took time for a group shot. I’m still getting the hang of this 360 camera but it gives some pretty cool views nonetheless.

Looking the other direction down the river you can see this beautiful arched bridge crossing the Spokane. Constructed in 1929 it serves as the only means of getting to Avista Island (to the left) for maintenance of the dam.

High Bridge

Karen caught my better side while I was shooting the bridge. This is what happens when you take the best vantage point for your photo leaving your wife to make do. 🙂

My better side

In the mean-time, Karen found some ducks at the park. This drake was being chased by a female. He wasn’t having any part of it and jumped in the water to get away. She remained right behind him as he swam away.

Mallard drake

After chasing the ducks, Karen emerged from the woods and I was able to catch her good side. 🙂

The woman of my dreams

After spending some time at the park we needed to let Janice take care of some puppy-sitting business for a friend in town. Lucky for us, this house was near access to the Spokane river and Janice told us to go play and come back for her later. When we entered the area there were signs warning of moose in the area so once more, we got our hopes up. We found birds instead, which we love, but a moose would have been great.

This black capped chickadee looks a lot like the Carolina chickadees in my back yard, but slightly different. So, a lifer for me to add to my list. This one must have been hungry because it had just caught a juicy morsel.

Black capped chickadee with meal

Of course, while I was chasing birds, Karen found more flowers. I believe this is another blue bonnet, even if it is mostly purple. I had no idea they grew this far north.

Another Idaho blue bonnet

After walking around a while, and not seeing any moose, Karen and I found a park bench along the banks of the Spokane River and decided to sit and relax a bit. It was very peaceful here and we enjoyed our time.

And while we were sitting on the park bench relaxing, this strange looking bird caught my eye. I was able to sneak up close enough to capture a few images before it jumped down and scurried into the brush. I recognized it as a quail from the forehead feather, but it wasn’t until later that a friend identified it for me as a California quail. Add another new one to the list!

California quail

And that about does it for this day and for part 3. Come back for part 4 and our hunt for the elusive moose!

Michael
Sharing God’s Creation, One Click at a Time

All words and photos copyright 2019 MHampton Photography
Equipment used: Canon 5DS-R, Canon 1DX II, Canon T6S, and various Canon lenses and Insta360 One X

A Trip to Northern Idaho – Part 2

by Michael

Our second adventure day was to see another mountain, this time east of Coeur d’Alene named Silver Mountain. Unfortunately, we got there and it was just like Wally World, closed. They weren’t opening the gondola rides up the mountain until the next weekend, after we were to leave. Oh well, time to improvise another adventure.

On our way to Silver Mountain, we passed Old Mission State Park, so we decided to stop and see what it was all about. This was a mission that was set up to minister to the local Native Americans in the area. This is noted as being the oldest building in Idaho, being built between 1850 and 1853 by Roman Catholic missionaries and members of the Coeur d’Alene tribe. The Sacred Heart Mission served the local community for many years and featured the chapel, the priests’ home, and a school. The school burned down in 2011.

Sacred Heart Chapel

Next door to the chapel was the house in which the priests lived. While certainly sparse by today’s standards, 150 years ago, I bet this was living pretty well. Here is a 360 view of inside the clergy house.

Back outside, being from Texas, we found it interesting that there were blue bonnets growing here on the grounds. I guess they were trying hard to make this place feel closer to heaven. 🙂

Blue bonnets in Idaho? Who knew?

After spending the day looking for adventure, we had dinner and parted with our friend Janice for the day. I then decided to hop onto Facebook and see if there were any local birding spots. I got a reply from someone connected with the Coeur d’Alene Audubon Society who recommended we try Fernan Lake. We decide that would be our first stop of the day tomorrow prior to picking up Janice. You see, we love Janice, but she’s just not into birds. 🙂

The next day we do just that. After waking up and eating breakfast, we head out to Frenan Lake to see what it is all about. We were not disappointed. While there is public access at various points around the lake, it is also surrounded by houses and private property. Some of the houses were pretty amazing.

Houses overlooking lake Fernan

We found at the south end of the lake, one of the occupants was an osprey. It was there nearly every day, just waiting for us to catch it and take its photo. Karen got this one.

Osprey on branch

Spend enough time watching an osprey around water and sooner or later it is going to get something to eat. It apparently caught this small fish around the corner because I did not witness the catch, but it did honor us with this fly-by.

Osprey with lunch

There were also several families of Canadian geese in the lake. We saw groups of just a few to one with about 15 little ones in tow. This is one of the families of medium size.

Canadian geese family

And what kind of birding place at a lake would it be without an appearance of a great blue heron! These huge majestic birds make flying look easy. I mean if these huge lanky things can fly, why can’t I?

GBH fly-by

Near the north end of the lake is a patch of water plants with beautiful yellow flowers. It was a very peaceful spot to relax before heading out on another day of adventure in Idaho.

Water flower

And that ends part 2 of our Idaho adventure! Say tuned for part 3!

Michael
Sharing God’s Creation, One Click at a Time

All words and photos copyright 2019 MHampton Photography
Equipment used: Canon 5DS-R, Canon 1DX II, Canon T6S, and various Canon lenses and Insta360 One X