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A few years back, I belive it was the winter of 2017/2018, we had a Redpoll irruption in Helena. Our deck feeder was overrun. at one point i shot a vidoe that showed weel in excess of 300 Redpolls feeding on sunflower seed. This year, we had a smaller irruption- we never went over 125…

The Labrador keeps things active- no doubt about that. A year or so ago I purchased an Apple Watch Series 6. I had been a decade+ long FitBit user, but the allure of tracking a variety of activities as well as having communications functionality (what with two kids away in college and another in High…

This morning was a bit more hectic that is typically the case, so I was a little short on time. My usual 8am ramble is spent in the hills or woods- nearby but removed from most of what passes for urban landscape in my town. Today I went to the fairgrounds. It is close by…

Even the briefest scan of social media shows amazing pictures of gorgeous sunsets, amazing animals, stunning food, clean and tidy homes and yards, etc. Simply put, social media tends to show beautiful people doing amazing things.  We all know that it’s a lie, but we often spend hours wiling away our time and wondering why…

For several years now, I have taken time around the 4th of July to get out and spend time with my daughters enjoying the scenery in our (relative) back yard. We typically get started about 6am. The weather is never really a concern as we know whatever it is doing in the early morning will be…

The day dawned bright, but quickly clouded over. We were ready to go by 6am. We had a plan in mind- not a grand plan, but a plan, nonetheless. I had been perusing Google Maps and found a road through the hills that followed a nice stream. What with it being July and the fact…

International Migratory Bird Day was also Global Big Day this year. So, we took the opportunity to drive to a few good spots around the state and take a few walks to see what we could see. We also decided to see if we could beat our former high number of 79 species seen in…

Finally- it appears that the Helena Valley is welcoming some migrants. Three quick dog walks before 9am this morning netted a healthy 30 species. New for the year are Willets, White-faced Ibis, and Yellow-rumped Warblers. The Warblers were massing at the Ponds- along with Ruddy ducks, Northern Shovelers, Hooded Mergansers, American Coots, Mallards, a tiding…

Sitting out on the deck this evening, the quality fo light started to change a bit. I looked up from my reading material and noticed that the generic grey sky that was present when I went out to the deck had been replaced by a small stretch of mammatus clouds. I’ve never seen mammals clouds…

I have always enjoyed “making”: I’ve always loved cooking. I spent a decade brewing beer- both as a home- and commercial brewer. I’ve been making ceramic bowls and whatnot for almost 15 years, now. But only one the last year have I spend any real effort making bread. Cookies, scones, pies – sure, loads of…