Vacation Journal
Saturday, June 18, 2005
Saturday, June 18, 2005
We decided to take the hike to Mystic Falls. This is a 2-1/2 mile roundtrip walk to an interesting falls. As we drove through the Madison Valley, we found all five Swans (one individual and four together). We saw one adult Bald Eagle and one young eagle at the Bald Eagle's nest. We saw a large herd of Elk with several calves near Seven Mile Bridge. We've noticed several Elk calves at various places in the last few days. Apparently the expectant Elks go hide in the woods and stay there until their calves are several days old. Then they start showing up in their favorite meadows again.
The walk to the falls was interesting. We didn't see many birds, but did see some Robins and Swallows. As we were walking back, we met a ranger and discovered that they had closed the trail to the falls since we went in. Apparently a sow Grizzly with two cubs is in the area. We didn't see the bears.
Going back through Madison Valley, we noticed a waterfowl making all kinds of splashes on the river some distance away. We found a place to park and walked along the river to get a better view. It turned out to be a Common Merganser. We watched for several minutes until it started raining. We also saw a Bald Eagle fly along the river while we were watching the Merganser.
Right before sunset we went out again to see if we could find the Western Tanagers. No luck. They have moved on. We did see the individual Swan standing in a shallow spot in the river preening herself. This is one of the closest views we've had of a Swan. We drove down to Seven Mile Bridge to turn around. We saw the other four Swans still together. We got to see one of the young eagles stretching his wings. We got a close view of some Canada Geese and their goslings. We found some Mallards. We didn't find anything new, but we found enough to keep us entertained (obviously, it doesn't take much). We got to see a colorful sunset.
The walk to the falls was interesting. We didn't see many birds, but did see some Robins and Swallows. As we were walking back, we met a ranger and discovered that they had closed the trail to the falls since we went in. Apparently a sow Grizzly with two cubs is in the area. We didn't see the bears.
Going back through Madison Valley, we noticed a waterfowl making all kinds of splashes on the river some distance away. We found a place to park and walked along the river to get a better view. It turned out to be a Common Merganser. We watched for several minutes until it started raining. We also saw a Bald Eagle fly along the river while we were watching the Merganser.
Right before sunset we went out again to see if we could find the Western Tanagers. No luck. They have moved on. We did see the individual Swan standing in a shallow spot in the river preening herself. This is one of the closest views we've had of a Swan. We drove down to Seven Mile Bridge to turn around. We saw the other four Swans still together. We got to see one of the young eagles stretching his wings. We got a close view of some Canada Geese and their goslings. We found some Mallards. We didn't find anything new, but we found enough to keep us entertained (obviously, it doesn't take much). We got to see a colorful sunset.
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