Stephen Barnard is back with some lovely photos from Idaho—including mallards! His notes are indented:
First, a couple of photos of some elk (Cervus canadensis) I found in my backyard after I came home from a weekend trip. This group is part of a larger herd of at least 100. It appears to be dominated by one bull. I find the expressions on the faces in the second photo amusing.
The next day, a couple of photos of two bull elk, part of the large herd, sparring and trashing one of my wheel lines. I had to chase them off.
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A ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus), one of two cocks romancing a hen. These are probably stocked birds (for hunting) that wandered onto my place. They don’t survive the winters in good numbers.
A rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in the net.
MALLARDS!
Migrating mallards [Anas platyrhynchos] by the thousands, finding refuge in Loving Creek. They’re hunted intensively, so they’re very spooky and they flush when I get out and about in the morning. They fly onto neighboring properties where Elmer-Fudd-like hunters are lying in wait in their blinds. Sunday mornings are especially loud. Shouldn’t these people be in church? 🙂
In the morning (not every morning, but a few) I’ll see thousands of mallards in the sky over the barley fields, looking for a safe place to land. Quite a sight. They come in waves from Canada and Alaska. Mallards are doing well.
My dogs, Deets and Hitch, used to be gun shy, but they’re gotten used to it. Here’s a lagniappe photo of Hitch on the run.
And a lovely landscape:
Great shots!
Is the “onco-“ part of the trout name “oncorhyncus” the same as the word “oncogene “? What does it mean?
Typical gorgeous photos!
I think so. An abnormal growth. And ryhncus, or rhynchos, should indicate a snout or similar. Oncorhynchus should be something with a large snout. I think some Oncorhynchus species are like that. And platyrhynchos should have a flat snout or beak, like a mallard.
I believe this is Onchorhynchus clarkii – a cut throat trout. Onchhorhyncus means “hook nose” and its called “clarkii” after William Clark since it was first described from NW rivers.
Oops. Some extra “h”s in there. Stoopid fat fingers.
Gorgeous photos indeed!
Lovely stuff as always. I’m always amazed at the elk herds you get! I think the entire herd in all of PA numbers about 100 (well maybe a few more than that)!
I stand corrected. According to the PA Game Commission there are 1000 elk in PA. What sort of games they play, I’m not sure…
Love all of these.
Stephen. Great pics.
Wheel lines: I can’t quite figure these things out having not seen one in action. This is a MOVER [in the link] & it drives the line up the field in a straight sweep or in circular sweep? I would have thought circular to keep water supply at one point.
Is there different speed ‘movers’ along the line if it’s a circle or just one at the outer end?
Does the line narrow further from source to maintain sprinkler pressure?
What speed do these things move at & how often to refuel the mover [I assume it’s gasoline]?
Wheel lines move straight across the fields and are moved every day manually, powered by gasoline engines. (In the photos you can see that the elk have broken the yellow cowling of the engine.) The water comes from irrigation risers spaced along the edge of the fields. Some farmers use circular systems, called pivots, but my place isn’t suitable for them. Another irrigation system used for irregular fields is hand lines, which are aluminum pipes moved by hand. Hand lines are very labor intensive and increase the cost of production. This year I’ve replaced all the hand lines with wheel lines, which will consume all my profit and more.
Yhank you
I’m glad to see that some of the mallards from up here made it safely to Idaho on their migration journey. We too, hear gunshots most Saturday and Sunday mornings, at this time of year, on the lake where I live. It always upsets me. But, even if they get away safely from my neck of the woods, they have to face the same dangers on the way. Poor ducks!
I note that the loons are still on the lake. They were particularly noisy last night, with their falsetto wails. Soon they will leave, mysteriously, just before the freeze-up comes. How do they know?
Wish I had loons here. I used to take yearly canoe trips into the Boundary Waters of northern Minnesota. The loons calling in the evening still haunt my memory.
Shouldn’t these people be in church? 🙂
They’ll be heading over there later, after shooting their fill of God’s critters.
I’m trying to be fair now, as a sportsman (fly fisherman and ex hunter). No organization has done more for the protection of migratory game birds like mallards than Ducks Unlimited. Yes, they have ulterior motives, but my experience with dedicated, ethical waterfowl hunters is that when they’re in the blind, they’re in church.
Very beautiful pictures. Thanks! That one of Hitch is wonderful.
Great shots Stephen. I guess my favorite would be the Elk on the run. A reminder of our recent trip to Yellowstone.
I also very much like “Elmer-Fudd-like hunters”. I may use that.
Great stuff! I was going to ask about the wheel lines but I see that is addressed above.
Lovely photos Stephen.
Go Deets! Go Hitch.
Lovely autumnal palate across these shots. Beautiful set, thanks for sharing.
The duck hunters probably go to church later in the day, but have to murder a few of His creatures first. How they can live with that is beyond me.
Thanks for all the comments. I encourage all to get out there, with whatever cameras you have — even iPhones — and to photograph nature, because Jerry has an insatiable appetite for this content. 🙂
Beautiful as always, Stephen!
IIRC, Deets is getting up in years. How’s he doing? How similar are Deets & Hitch, personality-wise?
Deets is nine years old and doing great, He and Hitch have very different personalities. Deets is rather stand-offish and dignified, while Hitch is goofy and affectionate. Some say that herding breeds have more diverse personalities than other breeds. I don’t know if that’s true, but it’s consistent with my experience.
Always the landscape…