Retreat to Bozeman

20090601 - Retreat to Bozeman

We woke to a cold and overcast day, so different from the past few days that were clear and calm with highs around 80. This?? caused Patt to sleep in while I went for a walk along a hillside path with lodgepole pines on the uphill side and a swollen Sheep Creek overflowing into a willow choked bottomland on the other. This was where the Sandhill Cranes had risen from last night and I was hoping for another look. No luck on that, but a nice walk nonetheless.

We continued on US89 for a few miles, till the cutoff on MT259 to Newlan Reservoir where we picked up some waterfowl and had a great learning session with swallows who obligingly lined up on a fence and dead tree branch for us to compare, learn and then self administer a quiz to test our new knowledge.

We stopped for lunch and to finish warming up at Dori's restaurant in White Sulpher Springs. This had at least a dozen taxidermy prizes for us to enjoy? mounted so they could watch us eat out soup and sandwiches. They also had the birding route guide that we had been following on the counter, and under the check out counter glass top, where often you see chewing gum and mints, there was a great collection of Swarovski glass including the 8.5x42 binoculars that Patt uses, a 10x40? that I lust after sometimes, a 35x?? and a bunch of rifle scopes. The prices looked competitive with larger retail venues. The collection totaled nearly $20,000.

Our 'guided' route had now ended. We continued along US89 South till reaching Cottonwood Reservoir and stopped to view a large gathering, ~150, of American White Pelicans. Then noted that there was a bonanza of waterfowl on the water so we broke out the scope and stood beside the camper in wind and a cold drizzle for a while. It is not unusual that birding under these conditions simultaneously seems both way too long and way too short for me. After a really long time, we soon got into the RV, turned the heater way up, gave a half-hearted look at a USFS campsite a couple of miles down MT86, and agreed that a RV Park in Bozeman would be a good option for the night.

It is. And I got to post a few stored blog entries too.

Birds: Spotted Sandpiper, Mountain Bluebird, Tree Swallow, Belted Kingfisher, Killdeer, Grey Jay, Chipping Sparrow, Yellow Rumped Warbler, American Wigeon, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Mallard, Brown Headed Cowbird, Brewer's Blackbird, Common Raven, Common Merganser, White Crowned Sparrow, Pine Siskin, Mountain Chickadee, Vesper Sparrow, Cliff Swallow, Violet Green Swallow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, House Sparrow, Black-billed Magpie, Mourning Dove, American White Pelican, American Coot, Canada Goose, Cinnamon Teal, Northern Shoveler, Red Winged Blackbird, Double Crested Cormorant, Canvasback, Western Grebe, Gadwall, Ruddy Duck, Golden Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, Western Meadowlark.