bird hike with Ranger Dave

we were not really equipped to do one of the much longer ranger-led hikes.  wish i had thought to be more prepared with waterpacks & hiking boots & the like.  it just didn't occur to me that there would be long ranger-led hikes...and i knew we were not going to do that kind of hike on our own (FOB).  so, we contented ourselves with the shorter, tamer hikes - like the seven a.m. bird hike.  we are not, exactly, birders.  i do like keeping a watchful eye on the feeder in our yard & take pleasure in noting new finds in our bird book.  i like birds.  but, it quickly became apparent, that i don't love them.  ah, well.  i made it into a flower hike.  so there.

could it be?  could it be?  a yellow-rumped warbler, no less.  we saw quite a number of those.

i really do like a good bird or two.  the more colorful the better.  so we crept gamely around the Swiftcurrent Lake at the appropriately bird-like pace of one mile per hour.  it did occur to me that we were creeping silently and reverently in an area known for bears.  but i figured the ranger knew what he was doing.  he did start making some more noise ('hey, bear!') at the south end of the lake, so i felt better then.  or, maybe, i should have felt worse.

i've had a 'thing' for thistles ever since living in Scotland.  but i don't touch them!

more Indian Paintbrush

looks like a pink Indian Paintbrush

sweet little white-crowned sparrow

it was a beautiful morning & really was fun to be with this group of intent birders

we got many good views of the hotel, where our teenagers were still asleep.

didn't notice the ant on the flower petal until i downloaded the photos.

on the far-side of the lake, where we would later spy a moose.  we didn't see one on the trail, though.

i must really like these.

a little challenging to see, but there is a small yellow songbird in the middle of the bare branches.

exhibit #1

birders are very zen folk

 

now at the far end of the lake from the hotel.

the name escapes me, but these are the male plants...

and these are the female.

another view of the ladies.

these are the leaves you should not use if you ever do your toilette in the great outdoors

our ranger was great.  very knowledgeable, patient, in-tune with his fellow birders.  said he was from Indiana.  at the end of the hike, i glanced at his name tag & saw his last name was Benson.  which rang a bell.  the ranger on the Fishercap Lake hike had made a comment that, when berries were ripe in the valley, between "the bears and the Benson girls" no one else had a chance to sample any.  she said that there was a ranger in the park who had raised his daughters with good enough wildchild skills to give the bears a run for their money in the berry department.  brave girls!  turns out, ranger Dave is a biology professor at a college in Indiana.  he and his wife (and daughters) spend every summer in Glacier.

measuring the distance between toe and claw, exhibit #2

a bear print in the mud (detail of exhibit #2)

given that the pace of the hike was one mile per hour, we were back at the hotel by ten to enjoy a hot breakfast & assess plans for the remainder of the day.  i was getting more and more eager to do a HIKE with the boys.  & the ranger at Fishercap Lake had said that the short Apatuni Falls hike was a good one.

so, maybe, we should go there....