A little of this and a little of that.
I thought I’d wrap up last month’s Montana camping trip with a photo dump of images taken in or near the Centennial Valley. I whittled the number of photos down to 20, but that’s still a record for Feathered Photography. I’ll try to keep my narration to a minimum.
A Black-billed Magpie taking off in low light. It was lightly raining at the time but I see no evidence of it in the photo.
A group of five Black- necked Stilts in flight.
There were at least three pairs of Trumpeter Swans with cygnets on Lower Red Rock Lake right in front of my camping trailer. One of the families included three cygnets, one included four cygnets and this pair had five.
I felt badly for this pair of Mountain Bluebirds because they’d chosen to build their nest in a nest box with a roof that was broken and hanging down the side of the box. I didn’t have much luck with bluebirds on this trip. Maybe that’s because…
their nest boxes tended to be in such spectacular country I was often distracted by the view. If you squint you may be able to see a bluebird on this box. And there I was, taking landscape photos.
It was easy to be distracted by the scenery. This view is right behind a very birdy spot and I’m taking landscape photos again.
A Franklin’s Gull in breeding plumage.
I photographed this Savannah Sparrow again and again over the three days I was there. ‘She’ would reliably appear in the same area to hunt insects for her chicks. Several times her beak was so stuffed full of insects I could barely see her face but none of those photos were very good.
A pair of American White Pelicans on Elk Lake. For this photo the contrast was so extreme I had to have my EV (exposure value) set at -3, which is as low as it will go on my Canon R5. Even then I had a hard time taming the whites during processing.
As I left Elk Lake and returned to the nearby Centennial Valley I had another spectacular view of the Centennial Mountains.
When I’m in this area I always try to visit Wigeon Pond, which in this photo isn’t far behind the shaded, sloping hill on the left. But on this trip I was never able to visit the pond because…
of one of the unfortunate effects of staff cuts to our National Wildlife refuges.
When I tried to visit the pond (twice in two days), the gate was open but this sign greeted me at the gate so I never entered the area. After the first time, I asked a refuge employee about it and she assured me that the area was open to visitors and I must have misread the dates on the sign. So the next day I went back and documented what the sign said with this photo.
When I showed the photo to the new refuge manager and another employee, they were both surprised and I believe a little shocked, that the sign was there because the pond area was supposed to be open. The mix-up was apparently caused by staff cuts and the resulting work overload of employees. They were embarrassed and said the sign would be removed immediately but by then it was too late in my camping trip for me to visit the pond.
A Killdeer trying to distract me from its nearby nest. I left the area immediately.
This is a photo of the Lower Lake Campground taken from more than 3 miles away. That’s the Gravely Range in the background and the much more impressive Centennial Mountains are behind me. The tiny dark spot on the bottom left is the campground kiosk, the bathroom is in the middle and that’s my camping trailer on the right. I had the entire place to myself for the nearly 3 days I was there.
We can’t see Lower Red Rock Lake because of the rolling terrain and because the lake was lower than usual because of a recent partial failure of the dam but…
part of the lake was right in front of my trailer, as we see in this pre-dawn photo taken just as I was leaving camp to look for birds. There was lake fog that morning but by the time I left camp the fog…
had drifted west in front of some mountains.
It didn’t take long for the fog to mostly dissipate.
A pair of Pronghorn bucks soon after the fog was completely gone.
A White-faced Ibis coming in to land on the shore of the lake.
A Short-eared Owl in low light, soon after takeoff from a fence post.
I’ll close (finally) with a photo that attempts to document how my camping trip ended. On my third day there, the forecast was for rain and more rain so I tucked my tail and headed for home. This photo was taken very early in the morning as I was attempting to reach pavement (Interstate 15) before this storm hit from the west.
This is the South Road while it was still barely wet so it looks pretty good. But I still had many miles to go before I hit pavement, I was pulling the trailer, the road gets worse up ahead and the storm was approaching fast.
Long story short, things got dicey before I climbed Monida Hill and reached I-15. Generally, when I’m on birding trips I’m not a fan of pavement but this time I was damn glad to see it. The pucker factor of pulling a trailer on wet and slimy dirt roads will do that to you.
Ron
Thanks for sharing your pictures of the Centennial Valley. It’s nice to “finally” see it, even through your eyes. So would roads turn into a clay mess there with rain? I’ve been wondering about that. Glad you got out before then.
Jean, the main road through the valley, officially called the South Road, is a LOT better than it used to be but if it rains hard or extensively, parts of it can still be a problem for most any vehicle.
Beautiful area and photos. I even had a little tear of happiness in my eye over the swan family. Gorgeous landscape, that would be hard to leave early but muddy roads are no joke. Does it take long for the mud to dry in the area or with multiple days of rain and snow take longer to dry for traveling? I am very cautious when it comes to muddy roads, now I have the 4Runner and am out more in rough terrain I can’t believe the depth of some of the ruts where someone sunk so low in mud on the road you can see differential dragging trails.
April, it doesn’t take long for it to dry out but parts of it can be a bugger before it does.
Bravo!! Excellent post Ron 😀
A great series – we travelled vicariously with you.
Well done
Glad you enjoyed the ride, Gary. Thanks.
Thanks once again, Ron. I keep looking at all of these photos, trying to imagine the feel of the air and to hear the wide open quiet out there. It must have been hard to leave.
It definitely was hard to leave, Nina. Especially since I planned to stay longer. But then sitting in my trailer while it rained for days on end didn’t appeal to me either.
Loved every bit of this. The swan family was amazing. Thanks for sharing your adventure. It was great – even though you had to leave early. I know you enjoyed the solace.
Judy, it was amazing to just sit in my trailer, or near it, and watch all those swans with their babies swimming by.
Great photo’s and what looks like a good birding trip, excluding the muddy road. I am home bound right now and love to bird abd camp, so this post was up-lifting. Thank you. Linda
Thanks, Linda. I hope you’re not home bound for long.
Wow! Wow! And Wow! What gorgeous scenery! I’m so glad you included more of it and thanks to Michael for the suggestion! Definitely appreciate you including the stunning shot of the stilts and very happy to see a Shortie. Kudos on the high degree-of-difficulty pelican shot too — that’s a 10, even from the Russian judge! 😉
“even from the Russian judge”
That part of your comment was unexpected and enjoyed, Marty. Leave it to you to come up with something like that.
😈💜😂
👏👏👏 Love your trip potpourri—it’s psyching me up for my road trip next week, heading to north Idaho via Wyoming and Montana, and looking forward to seeing all the fabulous landscapes along the way. Not enough time for camping or back-country prowling so the opportunity for wildlife viewing along the highways is somewhat limited, but I’ll be on the lookout for all the birds — especially raptors — and, if I’m very lucky, an encounter (from inside the car, of course) with bears, wolves, elk and pronghorn in the Tetons, Yellowstone, etc. 🤞
I hope you have a great trip, Chris. And a safe one. Say hello to MT for me.
😊
Nice group of photos! It’s nice to get a feel for your trip and the beautiful country – Thanks!
Thank you, Joanne.
Just spectacular. The land, the wildlife…these photos are stunning. I can only imagine what it is like in person. I have got to see this for myself.
” I have got to see this for myself.”
I hope it happens! Thanks, Michael.
Another wonderful, eclectic assortment. All of these are beautiful and each is exceptional in its own way.
Would late September/early October be an appropriate time to visit this location? I’d be traveling through the area in our converted Mercedes 3500 van (a 2023 Pleasure Way).
It is not FWD but can handle well maintained gravel roads. We will be traveling through the region then and are looking for less travelled places to camp. This is exactly the kind of territory we are always on the lookout for. You have mentioned it so glowingly and so often and posted so many powerful images we’d love to see it ourselves.
Your van should do just fine in the valley James, although I’d avoid the more remote North Road. Some of it goes through sand hills that might be too much for your van.
Make sure you have a good spare tire.
The other wild card that time of year is possible snow but you’d likely be OK. Just keep an eye on the forecast.
I hope you get to visit the area. If you do, please let me know how it went.
Wonderful series, Ron! 🙂 The variety of birds/views is amazing. Yeh, those wet gravel/dirt roads suck when wet(gumbo here). Rule #1 for that here was “don’t stop!” when trying to beat the rain out of the field/road to home;) If wheel wells pack up you’re screwed!
Judy, when the South Road is wet, Monida Hill is the worst. That huge and long hill was touch and go this time.
Nice summary Ron. Pavement starts to look really good when heavy rains are coming and you are hauling a trailer. My personal
favorites are the Stilts, the little Trumpeters, the Pelicans, and
the Ibis.
Thanks, Everett. Then I’m glad I included the stilt photo. I almost didn’t because I already had so many photos in this post.
Wow, wow, and wow! Thanks for including the landscape views – so beautiful. All the birds are great, too. The Pelicans take my breath away!
Carolyn, on one of my previous posts about this trip, Michael McNamara asked to see more landscape photos. So, Michael gets some of the credit… 🙂
I enjoyed all the photo’s, especially pulling a trailer on wet dirt so-so roads. Many years ago I had that experience when I took my family camping out West. Even so the West is beautiful country!!
Glad you enjoyed them, Dick. Pulling a trailer on slick dirt roads is the epitome of white-knuckle driving.
Love the potpourri and the wide open spaces. Thanks for sharing, Ron.
Thank you, Diane.
Not one picture of the Camper ?? How is it working out for you ? Did you have enough solar power to get you through the trip ?
Gary, photo #14 is of the camper. You must have missed it because the morning light was low.
Yes, solar power was a lifesaver. On that trip I only had to use my generator once, and only briefly.