A Focus In the Wild

Hidden~

stacey — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:56:17 +0000

Every once in a while we all need to just slow down and take a moment to find, and appreciate the beauty that is around us~As we get older… every day, month and year seems to just zip by, leaving us wondering where did the time go. Well, I am on social media sites quite a bit, blogs, Facebook and Twitter, and I see a common theme.. every day I see at least a few people post about how they can’t wait till the weekend, and on Mondays they are all complaining ~ back to work and come on Friday~ Can’t wait for the weekend.. etc, and so on.. the weekends are only 2 days long…. what about the other 5 days? A typical work day is only 8 hours.. what about the other 16 hours of every day?

Well, today is Monday and I am up and working..I’m very blessed to be able to work from home, but still,… it’s Monday. I watched a beautiful sunrise this morning over the Mountains to my East..I don’t see the elk on the ridge behind the house this morning but the sun dancing off the soft sage and yellow grasses on the hills around the house is stunning. I am sure if I go look, I would be able to see the mule deer, perfectly camouflaged feeding along the ridge and If I step outside and listen I know I will hear the lonesome call of the chukar as he searches for a mate~Yeah, it’s cold outside this morning and I have things to do..but that is life, a life I choose to live to the fullest.. You don’t have to work from home to slow down a bit, it doesn’t take much time to acknowledge the beauty that is all around you, and once you do, you will be amazed at how much more will be revealed. You don’t have to live in the country, look around you, look up.. I saw a saying one time that said “In life ~you will find, exactly what you are looking for.” If you choose to see every day as a burden, it will be.

This saying works for life as well as those you live and work with every day..

For me, I choose to search for the good in all things~ and I can usually find it.

I took this photo of the tall summer grasses last spring~ my question for each of you is.. how much beauty can you find hidden along the road you travel every day?

Ancient Display III

stacey — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:53:10 +0000

February 2007

It was early morning just before daybreak as we pulled up and parked the jeep near what I hoped would be the lek grounds. When we rolled down the windows to listen I was feeling anxious that we may not be in the correct area.

I know that the male sage-grouse congregate on their strutting grounds in open areas along side of the thick aromatic sage brush clustered on the western plains… That shouldn’t be to hard to find.~Wrong! It’s a little more complicated than that. They don’t just display in ANY open area, these grouse return only to specific areas, as they have for decades. The males (boomers) will stiffen out their spiky tail feathers and fill the sacks on their chest with air as instinct drives them to join in an intimate dance with nature. The female will observe these displays to choose a suitable mate. While all the males strut only a choice few do most of the breeding. The females then disperse off onto the sage covered planes to raise the young on their own.

As the silence spread around us I began to detect a sound, the sun began to slip over the eastern hills and the sound started to pick up and soon we were surrounded by an almost hypnotic music. I can only describe it as water dripping and the sound of drums playing faintly in the distanced.

It was hard to imagine that these birds are responsible for this beautiful sound. I have always loved the songs of birds, but this I wouldn’t say is a song. It is more like ancient music and if you listen carefully, and close your eyes.. you can almost picture the native ancestors of this land gathered around the drums and dancing in the flickering firelight, dancing with the never ending circle of life…

April 1,2008

I wrote this post 3 years ago.. and like the returning sage grouse I find myself being called to the lek grounds each Spring.. I am not in search of a mate, I already have one of those. I enjoy watching and listening to these beautiful creatures. But what intrigues me most, is trying to figure out what exactly it is that triggers the whole display.. The cool thing about digital photography, is each photo is marked with a time and date.. in 2007 on an over cast evening I went out the end of February to descover over 200 Males dancing and drumming on this particular lek ground, a moment I will not soon forget. Yet the next year it was on a bright sunny morning the first of April when I found them again, the lighting was perfect, though there weren’t nearly as many boys out showing their stuff.. I went out a few times in 2009 but by then the quiet Lek grounds had become quite the early morning gathering spot for bird watchers… and well, honestly I am not a social person, when I go out to enjoy nature it is a very personal thing that I am happy to share with those I love, but to stand around in a group with a bunch of strangers.. for me takes that extra “something” away from it all.(one of the reason’s I seldom visit Yellowstone) So I turned around when I spotted the lind of cars parked in the distance… in search of another more secluded, private area..I did not photograph the Sage grouse last Spring, but I did capture the beauty of their back yard(and mine)

Beartooth Mountain Range 2009

Last week, I found myself once again returning to the sage in search of the sage grouse, and I found them, and again, I wonder what it is that called them, and me, to this windy little spot surrounded by spectacular mountain views and pungent sage. Although the “dancing” was taking place a bit to far away for photographs and to far to hear, It was still a beautiful moment alone with nature.. and as they dispersed for the day, several groups passed right by me ~ and My photo journal of the Mating Dance on the Wyoming sage flats continues…

Female Sage Grouse March 7, 2010

Male Sage Grouse March 7,2010

Heart Mountain

stacey — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:20:45 +0000

This is a photo of a local land mark “Heart Mountain”

This is a very unique mountain, as the rock found in it is estimated to be 350-500 million years old, yet the dirt that is sits on is only 55 million years old.

I have read many theories as to how this rock ended up where it now sits.. and most are centered around volcanoes.

But all I know is I am very glad that I was not around to see it.

Have a beautiful day today people.. take a moment to see and appreciate what nature had put there for us all~

~Even the smallest creatures stop to enjoy a great view~

Spring is in the air~

stacey — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:43:51 +0000

Spring is in the air, and the time change is just around the corner.. rise and shine.. stretch out those wings and lets enjoy another beautiful day~

Do not Disturb

stacey — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:58:20 +0000

OOps!

Waters Edge~

stacey — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:46:47 +0000

This little reservoir used to be full of large mouth bass, sunfish, blue gill hybrid, trout and grass carp.. so we came with fishing poles and appetites, for I have never had blue gill.

We were disappointed to find that the reservoir was virtually void of all game fish, and the only carp we saw were rotting in the shallows along the shore.

But all was not lost on this trip

we had brought along the canoes and still enjoyed a wonderful weekend spent with family,

and the reeds along this little lake were full and alive with nesting birds, geese, red winged blackbirds, grebe, and mud ducks just to name a few.

The lighting was perfect for photos and the kids got to spend some time with their grandparents ~ That is the important part.

Trouble.. with a capitol F

stacey — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:19:38 +0000

Spring brings with it a world filled with the innocence of new life

I love spending warm spring days searching for and watching

natures wild babies!

Change~

stacey — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:05:40 +0000

These last few weeks of morning frost have transformed the landscape, shades of orange red and yellow illuminate the forest. A ring of ice along the clear streams announces winter is not far off. The bugle of a bull elk echoes through the clear mountain air as a V of Canada geese slides gracefully through a blue cloudless sky.

Squirrels busy themselves with collecting enough cones to fend off starvation through the long cold of winter months. Whitetail deer shed their red summer coats and don the warmer grey winter hair. This time or year is truly magical. Nature slowly dies off and prepares for a long rest before beginning anew all over again next spring. The tawny coat of the doe in this picture reminds us of summers warmer days, while the turning leaves and her new grey guard-hairs remind us that change is imminent.

The world is always moving. Nature is busy with the simplicity of a turning leaf, a frozen stream edge, or the ritual of a rutting bull deep in the wilderness. As the doe slips silently through the undergrowth, I close my eyes and listen to nature’s soft voice. Quietly she sings an ancient song of constant change, and through understanding I hear all she wishes to share!

~Hawk

March

stacey — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:47:49 +0000

Today is the first of March,

and though I know that we will still have some days of snow and cold…

spring is just around the corner.. the days are getting a wee bit longer.

And soon the sun’s warmth will heat the land and new life will begin again…

Rub~

stacey — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:58:06 +0000

Sometimes.. you just gotta scratch~
Thankful that it is Friday today… hope you all can get outdoors and do something fun..