Author: BradinMontana

Today is March 25, 2024. March 25 is the date for when the largest number of Snow Geese and Trumpeter and Tundra Swans historically arrive at Freezout Lake. So the Labrador and I left Helena at a reasonable hour and made our way to Freezeout. We stopped multiple times along the way. We took quite…

Six inches (15cm) of snow overnight and shorebirds are starting to show up. This Greater Yellowlegs was nice to see wading around in the 22° (-5c) temps with a bit of a wind blowing. There are lots (like many 1,000’s) of gulls in the valley right now. I found one at the Reservoir that had…

At one point we were totally surrounded by Pinyon Jays. They started calling to each other and then they came in close to see what we were up to. Beautiful birds. This is a species of concern in Montana – we are always very happy to see them – especially in the numbers we saw…

Three weeks of physical therapy, and my leg is feeling a lot better. The amazing folks over at Gold Leaf Physical Therapy have been doing a right fine job of finding old muscles in my old body and waking them up. It’s been a long time since I had PT and I have to say,…

February’s quadrennial refusal to relinquish the month is past us; it is now March. As was reported today by our local, historically March 1st the single snowiest day of the year in Helena. It does not look like we will get a lot more, but it did snow overnight. With yesterday’s 60° f (15.5°c) and…

The back of our home faces the rising sun on the longest day of the year – NorthEast-ish. So, mid-June, the house is filled with natural light starting at about 5:30am. I love it. The angle of our home to the sun also provides us with a sun marker – or sun dagger – that…

There really is a little of something for almost everyone on Mount Helena. Mount Helena rises to a total height of 5,464 feet (1665m), about 1,400 feet (426m) above the Helena Valley. There are at least 33 miles (53k) of trails spread out across the 36 named trails that run across, around, and away from…

At one point today we were standing quite still and the Lab and I had over 300 Bohemian Waxwings flying back and forth over our heads. I could clearly hear the wingbeats as dozens swept back and forth only a few feet over my head. That was, perhaps, the most restorative thing to happen today. …

The back of our home faces the rising sun on the longest day of the year – NorthEast-ish. So, mid-June, the whole house is filled with natural light starting at about 5am. I love it. The angle of our home to the sun also provides us with a sun marker – or sun dagger –…

It’s lovely having the morning light creeping back into our world. These moments when the soft light creeps in and baths everything in a light that tends towards the pastel, have such short lifespans. I really love these moments.  I took this image this morning, and decided to do a little cropping as I walked.…