Pic Of The Week: The Thieving Magpie

Friends, birders, countrymen, good day to you. As you read this I am birding up a storm at the Salton Sea, one of the worst and best places in all of California. It's a great place to die of overexposure and heat stroke, and a great place for birding too. Completely unrelated is this smiling juvenile Black-billed Magpie that was loitering at Mormon Row in Grand Teton National Park, WY, in August of last year.

Something Struck A Nerve

Yellowstone National Park's Norris Geyser Basin has a distinct unearthly quality to it. 

Well, I'm sick again. Life is pain. The thought of going outdoors is terrifying right now, and so here I am pounding away at this blog. I thought about doing another gull post (the last one was disturbingly popular), but I'll wait a little for that. I feel quite strongly that Slaty-backed Gull is a California Nemesis for me now, but at least I got to see a couple in Alaska.

Which has nothing to do with anything, at least not today. Some of you may remember that I blogged about visiting Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks last August, and I recently remembered that I still have a bunch of photos I haven't shared yet. Amazingly, I managed to document things that were not birds, which I suppose is ok once in a while (DON'T HATE ME).

As I said before, I really look forward to going back there someday. Something about that area really stuck with me. Yeah the birding could be better and the throngs of tourists lose their entertainment value after a couple of days...but so what? Road trip anyone? Drinking whiskey at a campfire is not as fun by yourself.

Compared to Yellowstone's geysers, the views in parts of Grand Teton National Park are mega-earthy. Facemelting even. I think this is String Lake.

En route to Vegas (the logical next stop after seeing the parks) I ran into some Pronghorn...this is actually somewhere in Utah.

A different perspective of Norris Geyser Basin. Stark, bleak, and awesome.

If I was a better scientist, I would know what to call these. Thermophyllic bacteria? Pretty cool formations, at any rate. Photographed at West Thumb Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park.

Rocky Mountain Elk, Yellowstone National Park. It may seem friendly and tame, but make no mistake, it would like nothing more than to impale a gaggle of tourists on those antlers.

Dark-morph Swainson's Hawk. I think this was photographed at a gas station in Idaho.

Geysers, without a doubt, are better seen/heard/smelled/felt in person than in pictures, but I like this one. Yellowstone National Park.

A fledgling Black-billed Magpie at Grand Teton National Park's Mormon Row. 

Tip-toeing Least Chipmunk, a close relative of the flying chipmunk. Yellowstone National Park.

Osprey chicks generally grow up with a pretty good view, but I think the birds in this nest may have the best. Photographed in Yellowstone's "Grand Canyon".

Red Crossbills are more often heard than seen, so it was nice to find a friendly flock hanging out at a pullout east of Yellowstone. Gallatin National Forest, MT.

This shot was taken from Signal Mountain, looking West to the Grand Tetons. You can see the stratification of smoke from wildfires, which mostly ruined pictures, but made for an interesting shot at sunrise.

My Face Is All Melty...More from Grand Teton National Park

On my second morning in Grand Teton I arrived at Signal Mountain before dawn, hoping to find a non-run-over grouse on the road. Because I am the #7 ranked birder in the nation, my plan worked brilliantly. Out of the 3 grouse I located, I had the most serious hang-time with this Dusky Grouse. At one point it was within 3 feet from me...I'm glad it didn't come any closer, or I would have had a heart attack. These fearsome predators have been known to chase packs of wolves and grizzly bears off kills, and a charging grouse would stop the angriest bison in its tracks. Known for ruthlessly disemboweling their prey (while said prey is still alive), I was lucky to escape intact.

Beware of grouse in the grass.

Especially if you happen to be grass. Obviously grouse don't eat animals, but it would be cool if they did.

Sunrise at Signal Mountain, looking south towards Jackson. Lots of smoke in the air from wildfires.

Juvenile Black-billed Magpie.

Pronghorn doe and calf. Scenic.

Grand Tetons. Looming.

Mountain Chickadee. Hello Mountain Chickadee.

Pictures don't do the Tetons justice, but I think this one manages to get the point across. Look at this place! Fuck! You need to go there.

A Brand New Food Chain

Black-billed Magpie. It's a great looking bird. Admit it.

It's Memorial Day Weekend. Even I, a lowly biotech, have a 3 day weekend. It's pretty sweet. This North Dakotan weather has got to quit though. It's not good for anyone, least of all the Piping Plovers. The last thing they need is more wind and rain. I'm in the same boat as the plovers. How am I supposed to bird in this weather? It is crucial that I bird. There's nothing else to do here!!!

In more positive news, the Human Birdwatcher Project will bring you another riveting/repulsive interview next week. It will open your eyes and make you hold your nose.

Grub's wetlands. The weird phantasm thing above the stream is steam.

Beware the bellowed "whit" of the Gray Flycatcher.

A couple clues as to the interview subject. He is incredibly narcissistic, has a mouth that can only be described as "reckless", and has an indelible reputation as one of the finest birders of our time. I think that's enough for now...I'm not exactly being cryptic here.

I got a little bit of birding in this morning. Not too much in the way of migrants...Tennessee Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, redstarts, Traill's Flycatcher, Swainson's Thrushes. A pale Northern Waterthrush was nice, and Chimney Swift was a year bird. I also bought beer and ice cream. Why not?

Today's photos are all, as you can tell, from Mono Lake. I've talked enough about it already so I will leave it at that....except those Sage Grouse below were life birds for me and it was a powerful experience. Go there. Bird it. Take the Grub tour. Go swim naked in the lake with the locals...if that's what you think is best.

Greater Sage Grouse. Obviously this is not a good picture but I was stoked. Thanks again Joel.

Mono Lake. Tufa. Eastern Sierras. You can't go wrong.

Since I've had almost no diurnal entertainment for the past 3 months, I've been birding a lot. Taking a lot of pictures. The backlog of bloggable photos is getting too much for me to handle...what do you want to see next? Idaho? North Dakota? Mexico? California? The BB&B photostock is anything but depleted.

I'll post another blog on...Monday. Rage!

The Empire's Death Stars didn't work out for them so they started building Deeth Starrs instead. In Nevada.