Outdoors
What's there to do in the great outdoors? Here we've got a bevy of local outdoor activities and destinations to explore.
Pair do well at rifle competition
Two members of the Kootenai Valley Junior Rifle Team traveled to Spokane on Nov. 2 to participate in the first mat…
Fine dining with a great blue heron
It is Herman Melville who said, “We become sad in the first place because we have nothing stirring to do!”
Wildlife's adaptation to winter
It’s cold outside! When it gets cold what do you do? I put on a warm sweater, stay inside and have a hot cup of coffee! Animals can’t put on a sweater, so what…
Mountain Chickadee: The Masked Bandit of the bird feeder!
As I was watching our bird feeder on the west side of the house I noticed an unusual increase in activity at the feeder. I thought it was a chickadee, but on c…
Feeding birds makes a difference in winter
Mammals have begun to hunker down in warm dens. Many birds have left the area to spend the season basking in the southern climates of Mexico, Central America, …
Weathering the Winter Wonderland!
Now that Christmas is over and winter has set in, many may want to spend the rest of the season inside their house in front of a warm fire. Curling up in a war…
Steller's Jay: Bold, inquisitive, intelligent and noisy!
Last week I was attracted to the feeder on the west side of our house and observed a striking bird with a long, prominent, shaggy crest on its head and a long …
Join the 118th Annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count
Boundary County is where we call home. It is that time of year to count another group that also calls it home. It is time to survey our feathered friends. No m…
Skunks: Striped cats with an attitude!
This past summer east of three mile on Highway 2, I saw a mother skunk trailed by five little striped kits crossing the road ... they were cute little stinkers…
Canada flock adopts a snow goose!
I came across an interesting sight last week when approaching Myrtle Pond on the Kootenai Wildlife refuge. A white goose was setting comfortably among a flock …
Waterfowl, songbirds leave empty nests behind
“The lark that shuns on lofty boughs to build, her humble nest, lies silent in the field.”
Cabinet-Yaak, Selkirk Mountains grizzly bear ecosystems update
Trapping in the Selkirk Mountains yielded seven captured grizzly bears during 2017. Two were subadult males, two were adult males and three were adult females.…
Making, following tracks in Boundary County
“It is hard to over-value the powers of the clever tracker. To him the trail of each animal is not a mere series of similar footprints; it is an accurate accou…
The Bobcat: A graceful, stealthy and extraordinary hunter!
Graceful and stealthy is what I thought when I saw this extraordinary hunter. I noticed the bobcat 40 yards ahead walking north on the one lane tour road that …
River fog: The mist of early morning
Many times as an amateur photographer on a cold fall or winter evening I have seen skies that are clear and the Kootenai River shimmering in the surrounding ni…
OUTDOORS: Who doesn't like Rainbows?
As I walked out of Safeway last week on a rainy morning that was just clearing, I noticed a beautiful phenomenon looking west toward the Selkirk Mountain, a ra…