Fly Fishing: Guide Wars Officially...

...kaput. I know, I know said that awhile ago but...A couple of days ago I did the last trips on the books and since it is already way beyond my usual Labor Day shut down...as someone once noted NO MAS!!! Or put another way I have netted my last trout for the season unless of course tis one of Gale's or mine...Nuff said on that, eh?

Summer also officially comes to a close on Friday and while I know won't last the past few days have really felt like fall. Fact is the past two mornings we had hard frosts, hard enough to effectively kill off most of Gale's vegetables and even most of her flowers. I hadn't planned on mowing the yard anymore this fall but thanks anyway. Tomorrow we are planning a short R&D camping trip into the Pioneers and if all goes well with Kate (she had trouble adjusting to camper life down on the Madison over Labor Day) we will head east to kick start the real bird hunting in a week or so. 

First stop will be somewhere in the Sweet Grass Hills where word on the streets indicate the prairie birds might have weathered last winter a bit better than further east..hopefully we shall soon see.

Wilson's phalarope, one of many shorebird species found in Montana

We also need to ramp up production efforts for our upcoming book "Birding Trails Montana" of which the first installment is due end of November...Yikes! Seeing as I've hardly made a dent so far now there is a really scary thought...But we should be able to knock out a bunch of included sites in between bird hunts so maybe just maybe will be able to get enough done to at least satisfy contractual obligations...sort of anyway.

Baneberry is just one of many, many fruits and wildflowers flourished from all that moisture this spring...should make for some fat, tasty bird dishes this fall, eh?

Beaverhead National Forest: Preseason Training Sessions Provide...

...more than just training/conditioning for the dog and much needed workouts for us old folks...With that in mind one or both of us always (well almost always anyway) totes along a camera just in case. Last two mornings were spent up high in the Pioneers yesterday and the Rubies this morning. Yesterday we didn't find any grouse but we did find a butterfly bonanza and as has been the case ever since the snow melted wildflowers galore...Here are three keepers, you know just to wet your whistles...

Lewis' Monkeyflower

Callippe fritillary which saw dozens of both mornings, by the way.

Phoebus skippers (ID uncertain?) were in great abundance yesterday in the pioneers as were several other varieties which I haven't yet been able to ID...This morning nary a one although again there were many more species than just the fritillary...OK a butterfly expert I ain't but I sure to appreciate their beauty and they sure do add to any trek in the deep woods...

This morning Annie did nail a big cock blue grouse...very nice point I must say but keep it to your ownselves please don't want Little Sister gettin' a swelled noggin' not this early in the game anyways...

Beaverhead National Forest: Awesome Wildflower Display

If you ever had a hankering for wildflowers trust me this is THE year to get you a fix. Everywhere we go it seems the wildflowers just can't get any better and then...well just get out there and see for yourself...

Elk thistle...bears and elk eat it early on while still growing...not your everyday wildflower still one of our favorites especially at this early stage. Look for it along mountain cricks, the fringes of wet meadows and in high country parks.

Mariposa lily...Seems to grow most profusely beside our favorite trout cricks, how sweet is that, eh?

...ditto bee balm and about a zillion others... No wonder we cater to casting flies best in mountain rills...

Enough Grim Flood Stuff, eh? Let's Kick Back and Enjoy Some Good Stuff...

For a Change...

Rain, snow, sleet, hail no matter, you can bet ringneck roosters will be struttin their stuff come spring...

Pussy willows are a sure sign spring has sprung, livening up any visit stream-side no matter how high the water...

Wyoming ground squirrels must jump for joy amid all that fresh greenery after enduring yet another upper Big Hole nasty winter...

Gumbo evening primrose seems to further disprove the theory "sagebrush ain't nothin' but empty, lifeless, worthless wasteland..."

Believe it or not but many antelope bucks start laying out and defending breeding territories as early as March... for the uninitiated breeding usually peaks around mid-September.

Because of all the snow by the time we made it into the mountains many shootingstars  were already wilted...obviously this one we shot just a couple days ago beside Fish Trap Creek is a late bloomer...

Global Warming? What Global Warming...

On the heels of one of the wimpiest, at least snow-wise, winters ever this spring is fast becoming one to "really" remember. Ever since winter was declared "officially" dead it seems every time you turn around more snow, yet another winter storm warning, is in the forecast. Two days ago it snowed here in Dillon where it hardly ever snows much more than a dusting, ALL DAY!!! True here in the valley the white stuff melted almost as fast as it hit the ground but it came down hard and the storm hung around just about dawn to dark.

Now today here we go again. Another winter storm warning, this time forecast to stay mostly in the mountains but it's been raining since daylight and the temperature is hovering in the mid-30s and...And well, like I said, here we go again...at least the potential is out there for another snow day.

I shot these mountain blue bells (I think?) up on Badger Pass yesterday afternoon where there was still a few inches left over from the storm day before. Yes, it sure is pretty all that snow hanging on the trees and spring wildflowers and green grass poking thru the white blanket here and there but enough, it is after all nearly the end of May and high time to get on with it...