RED ROCK NWR

Went over to Red Rock National Wildlife Refuge to do a little kayaking.  Met Bill and Marney over there and had a great time.  Bill said he had never seen so many birds in one place - from small shore birds to the big Trumpeter Swans.  And ducks, lots of ducks!  The weather could have been better as there was a pretty strong west wind the first day which brought a lot of smoke to the area.  And we did not kayak that first day because of the winds. Went out on the lower lake the second day and the morning of the third.  The smoke made for some good sunrise and sunset pictures - that is the only good thing about the smoke though.

Sunset from the upper campground.

The campground at the lower lake.

Trumpeter swans.  A mom and her 4 babies.

Paddling through the reeds.

White pelicans in a pretty good formation.

White Pelicans in a not so good formation.  This area is a major stop on the bird migration route from the north country to their wintering grounds.

Catching a ride on Connie's hat.

Paddling towards the sunrise.

Calm water in the early morning.

SMOKE IN THE BITTERROOT

We have a number of forest fires burning in our area.  The biggest, The Mustang Complex, is mostly in Idaho near Lost Trail Pass, but the smoke is blowing this direction.  It is nearly 200K acres in size and is only 11% contained right now according to the Forest Service folks.  There are a number of fires still burning in the Bitterroot/Selway Primitive Area also.  To make a long story short, we have a lot of smoke in the air.  Click on a picture to enlarge.

The afternoon sun.

Sun rise.

Ash on a plastic chair.