(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



The Daily Bucket: Up high in Glacier National Park [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags']

Date: 2022-08-31

A Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep keeps a wary eye on the humans.

THE DAILY BUCKET IS A NATURE REFUGE. WE AMICABLY DISCUSS ANIMALS, WEATHER, CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, WATERS AND NOTE LIFE’S PATTERNS. WE INVITE YOU TO NOTE WHAT YOU ARE SEEING AROUND YOU IN YOUR OWN PART OF THE WORLD, AND TO SHARE YOUR OBSERVATIONS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW. FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PURPOSE AND HISTORY OF THE DAILY BUCKET FEATURE, CHECK OUT THIS RECENT DIARY: DAILY BUCKET PHENOLOGY: 11 YEARS OF RECORDING EARTH'S VITAL SIGNS IN OUR NEIGHBORHOODS

A few weeks ago, Mr. giddy and I ventured to Glacier National Park to get out of the valley heat and check on a couple of the park’s avian rarities. Earlier plans to visit Glacier’s high country were thwarted by late winter weather and extensive snowpack on Going-to-the-Sun Road, the not-to-be-missed tour route traversing the Continental Divide at Logan Pass (6,647 ft.). This year, the road didn’t open until July 13, among the 3 latest opening dates since its original opening on July 15, 1933.

With reservation in hand, we arriving at the park at 7:00am on a stunningly gorgeous day. We beelined for Logan Pass and the Hidden Lake Trail, hoping to find a White-tailed Ptarmigan in the alpine meadows like we did last year. But what a difference a year makes!

White-tailed Ptarmigan skulking in the wildflowers along Hidden Lake Trail, 2021.

The scene was drastically different than 2021. Late snowpack in 2022 had only recently melted off and alpine vegetation was barely emerging. See the contrast for yourself.

August 8, 2022 — Hidden Lake Trail, same elevation as photo below, but looking south

August 16, 2021 — Hidden Lake Trail blanketed in wildflowers, looking north

We glassed the alpine benches looking for ptarmigan until our eyes got fuzzy, but there was no vegetative cover to hold the birds. And then we caught sight of something unexpected and very exciting: some small, finch-like birds fluttering around a cliff face. A close look with the scope and I literally squealed “Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch!” Though I’d seen this species in large, nomadic wintering flocks in Idaho, this was my first observation of Gray-crowns in their breeding habitat.

Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches on their nesting cliff. (zoom)

We estimated ~20-30 birds in the colony (adults and juveniles) but there could easily have been more. Adults and juvies were busy foraging on snowfields and bare ground, but I also observed adults still feeding their young.

A fledgling Rosy-Finch coaxes a morsel from its parent. (zoom)

I wondered why I didn’t see the Rosy-Finches at this site in 2021, but then recalled that there were no snowfields at the time of my visit. Rosy-Finches need snowfields, which capture the windblown seeds and insects they feed on. It’s easy to understand then, how vulnerable this species is to a warming climate.

Here are a few more photos of this subtly beautiful finch.

Adult Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch. Notice plant shoots are barely emerging. (zoom)

Juvenile Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch (zoom)

Male and female Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches look similar, but females have less extensive pink. (zoom)

Is it just a coincidence that the “rosy” in this finch perfectly matches the “rosy” in the rocks? (zoom)

We also got good looks at several American Pipits, another alpine-breeding songbird that ground-nests in meadows and scree fields. Like the Rosy-Finch, I find them an elegantly understated species. I also love their plaintive calls, which are very similar to Horned Larks.

American Pipit foraging on a snowfield. (zoom)

American Pipits nest in alpine meadows and Arctic tundra. (zoom)

American Pipits have a long hind toe (hallux) and toenail (they’re in the longspur family). This adaptation may give them added stability when walking and foraging on snowy, muddy ground. Gotta love those floofy flank feathers. (zoom)

I was planning to hike higher on the trail perchance to see a Mountain Goat, but was turned back by warning signs of “Grizzly Bear Danger” ahead. OK, then. I did see some goats from a distance….if you squint your eyes on the snowfields.

Mountain Goats about a mile out (zoom)

I did encounter more Bighorn Sheep on another trail in the Logan Pass vicinity.

Bachelor group of big rams (zoom)

A bachelor group of younger rams

Although the plant phenology was late compared to 2021, there were still some beautiful wildflowers making the best of the short growing season. These were photographed along the Hidden Lake Trail.

Rosy Paintbrush (Castilleja rhexifolia)

Pink Mountain Heath (Phyllodoce empetriformis)

American Bistort (Bistorta bistortoides)

Western Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja occidentalis)

Lewis Monkeyflower (Mimulus lewisii)

Beargrass (Xerophyllum tenax)

White Sweetvetch (Hedysarum sulphurescens)

On the return trip down Going-to-the-Sun Road, we stopped at Haystack Creek Falls to see if a Black Swift nest we found last year was active. After an hour of eye strain, we finally found 2 nests, each occupied by a single chick. When the chicks finally moved (flopped around is a better image) — whoa! they were nearly adult size! How could we have missed them? Because they’re unbelievably camouflaged against that wet rock face.

Haystack Creek Falls — flowing strong in early August. The Black Swift nests are on a wet cliff ledge in the center right of the photo. During highest water the nests were behind the falls.

Black Swifts nests on ledge. Nests are a cup nest of sphagnum moss and mud and may be reused in subsequent years. The black blob atop each nest is the chick. (zoom)

What a joy to get “high” all day at Glacier Nat’l Park! I hope to make another visit in the next month or two to see the fall colors. Thanks friends for dipping into today’s bucket…..

We’re in for a hot spell in the West with record-setting high temperatures all week. Everyone keep cool and hydrated!

What’s happening in nature around you today?

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/8/31/2119839/-The-Daily-Bucket-Up-high-in-Glacier-National-Park

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/

You are viewing proxied material from magical.fish. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.