Moose at Big Springs, Headwaters of Henry's Fork

We have long been fascinated by this massive animal with the strange, homely, primitive looking face, and the impressive rack of antlers on the males. Despite having seen a number of moose, we had found the moose elusive to photograph.

Moose at headwaters of Henry's Fork below Big Springs ~ Jean Bjerke

One afternoon in early July, at Big Springs, at the headwaters of the famous Henry's Fork, a bull moose walked across the river as we were watching the huge trout in the sparkling clear water from Big Springs. Big Springs produces 120 million gallons of water a day and forms the headwaters of the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River. This moose had chosen a lovely area to live.

Moose lying in grass near Henry's Fork of Snake River ~ Randy Bjerke

Having crossed the river and stepped out onto the bank, the moose walked only another 20 feet or so before lying down to rest and chew his cud on this warm afternoon. We watched him for close to three hours during which his only change of position was to walk another ten yards to lie down in another spot. During most of this time the tall grass obscured his face sufficiently to prevent good photographs, but he did raise his head a few times.

Moose raising head from grass ~ Jean Bjerke

Our patience finally paid off when, at about 5:30 PM, he got up and walked through the woods, across a marshy area of deep standing water, and back to the river, browsing on willow leaves and grass, feeding on submerged vegetation in the river, and climbing out to chomp on the bushes on the opposite bank. It was thrilling to watch him and he did not seem concerned by our presence at a respectful distance.  


This 47-second video captures his behavior as he waded the river, fed in the river, and walked along the opposite bank browsing on leaves of the bushes.

Moose browsing on willow leaves ~ Randy Bjerke

Moose walking towards camera ~ Randy Bjerke

The moose is a huge animal, standing up to seven feet tall, and males can weigh up to 1,000 pounds. The males’ enormous antlers can span up to six feet - the record sizes usually come from Alaska. The antlers are shed each winter, and begin to grow again in the spring, reaching complete growth in September. Each set of antlers grows larger than the prior year’s until the moose reaches its prime. 

Moose walking through woods ~ Jean Bjerke

Moose have a long face, and a flap of skin called a bell hangs from their throat. Their range extends across much of the northern part of North America.

Moose walking by Henry's Fork below Big Springs ~ Jean Bjerke

Moose are herbivores, and are equally comfortable in the water where they swim well and often feed on aquatic vegetation, or on land where they can run up to 35 mph. They are often seen in streams, lakes, wetlands, or browsing vegetation such as willows. When a moose feeds on underwater vegetation, it submerges nearly the whole head, and when the animal raises its head, water gushes from its mouth, and often strands of green vegetation can be seen trailing from the mouth.

Moose drool ~ Jean Bjerke

Moose are found throughout the Greater Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park areas which are home to about 600-800 of the animals.  They are seen much less frequently in Yellowstone than in Grand Teton, which offers more of their preferred and wetter habitat. Sightings are more common in certain months such as October and November. They are also regularly seen in Island Park, the location of Big Springs. 

Celebrating the Conservation Easement on the 2Lazy2 Ranch

View of Henry's Lake across 2Lazy2 Ranch in July

For over a decade, we have walked in summer and snowshoed or skied in winter along part of the western perimeter of the 2Lazy2 Ranch (love that name!) north of Henry’s Lake in Island Park, Idaho. From our cabin bordering the 2Lazy2, we have watched bald eagles soar, and red tailed hawks and marsh hawks hunt over the sagebrush grassland of the valley. My favorite wild sound on the 2Lazy2 in summer is the wild and primitive call of the sandhill cranes that nest here; after the grazing cattle arrive each summer, their lowing is the dominant sound on the ranch. 

Black Mountain & 2Lazy2 in winter

Nestled between Black Mountain, Henry’s Lake, and the Continental Divide, with views of Mt. Sawtelle, the Centennial Range, and Two Top Mountain, the 2Lazy2 is a working ranch in a spectacular mountain setting. Its 700 acres spread over much of the area between the north shore of Henry’s Lake and Raynolds Pass at the Montana border. Fox and coyotes pursue their prey; wolves occasionally prowl and run; sandhill cranes mate; trumpeter swans and Canada geese fly overhead, and white pelicans soar over this beautiful land, all of them seemingly paying no attention to the cattle that graze here in summer. Trout from Henry’s Lake come up the stream that flows through the ranch to spawn. 

Cattle grazing on 2Lazy2 ~ Centennial Range in distance

View of Two Top Mountain across 2Lazy2

The ranch is used by elk, moose, pronghorn, deer, and other wildlife. It has a key position on two major wildlife migration routes. The 2Lazy2 is located on the north-south migration route for about 300 pronghorn of the Madison Valley herd who migrate annually over Raynolds Pass. It is also on the east-west migration corridor for grizzly and black bears, mountain lions, wolves and wolverines who move between the Greater Yellowstone and the Centennial Mountains. 

2Lazy2 and Black Mountain in spring

In spring, wildflowers spread exuberant colors between the ranch land and the fir forest and aspen groves that lie near the ranch on the west and the sage-covered slopes on the east. Following summer afternoon thunder showers, beautiful rainbows often appear over the 2Lazy2. In late summer the lush green of the valley turns to gold as the grasses dry. In fall, the aspen along the slopes of the ridges overlooking the 2Lazy2 turn glorious shades of orange and yellow. In winter, the land is covered with the pristine serenity of snow, and without the cattle it is very quiet.

White Wyethia (Mules-Ears) on 2Lazy2 in early July

Larkspur

White Wyethia

Wildflowers on 2Lazy2 Ranch

Until last fall, we had only hoped and dreamed that this magnificent valley would ultimately be preserved from development. Randy and I had known for several years that The Nature Conservancy in Idaho had a long-term plan, the Henry’s Fork Legacy Project, in collaboration with other organizations and agencies, to acquire conservation easements to protect wildlife throughout the Upper Henry’s Fork. But it seemed too much to hope that this would include the 2Lazy2 Ranch.

Fence crew on 2Lazy2 before cattle arrive in summer

Fence crew ~ Mt Sawtelle & Centennial Range in distance

The cutest ranch worker

What a joy it was when we learned in September 2010 that the Bureau of Land Management, together with The Nature Conservancy in Idaho and the Teton Regional Land Trust, had arranged to purchase a conservation easement on the 2Lazy2 property from the Steinke family that has owned the ranch for several generations over four decades. The Teton Regional Land Trust did extensive work to document the conservation values of the 2Lazy2 property. What a wonderful decision by the land owners to agree to this arrangement! This means the preservation of ranching activity as well as permanent protection for wildlife habitat.

Trout come up Timber Creek (downstream from this site) 
from Henry's Lake to spawn
Black Mountain is in distance

According to The Nature Conservancy, “Conservation easements are permanent legal agreements that protect important habitat from development, while ensuring that traditional ownership and land uses like ranching continue.”  So the Steinkes will be able to continue to use the land as a working ranch, while it will always be preserved from housing and commercial development. TNC announced that “the conservation easement acquisition was funded by the Land and Water Conservation Fund and the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act, allocated by the Bureau of Land Management.”

Cattle grazing in summer on 2Lazy2

The conservation easement on the 2Lazy2 Ranch is an excellent example of preservation of valuable ranch land and wildlife habitat through the collaboration of private organizations and willing land owners, funded by wise programs of federal support in the public interest. 

View of Mt. Sawtelle & Henrys Lake across 2Lazy2 Ranch

The conservation easement will preserve both wildlife and conservation values that most Americans cherish. The wildlife habitat on the 2Lazy2 is part of one of the most beautiful landscapes in North America and an important component of the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem. The migration routes of numerous animals, and the trout spawning stream that flows into Henry’s Lake, a premier fishing destination, will be preserved forever from human interference. At the same time, historic ranching activities will continue on this beautiful land.

White Wyethia on 2Lazy2 Ranch ~ Black Mountain in distance

Island Park, Idaho

This is our second home, a place of natural beauty, where the lodgepole pine forests of most of Island Park give way to fir and aspen north of Henry’s Lake, around our cabin and near Raynolds Pass. 

Magnificent wildflowers carpet the fields and hillsides each spring. Early in June, delicate glacier lilies cover the ground, and flowers like the shooting star, western virgin’s bower, and sugar bowls bloom.

Glacier Lily

Shooting Star

              Western Virgin's Bower

 Sugar Bowls

The rare Calypso Orchid below was photographed somewhere in Fremont County. I have promised not to reveal where, as it is rare and endangered in large part due to the impact of human development on its habitat and growing requirements. The plant has very precise requirements regarding the soil and other conditions in which it grows, including the particular fungi in the soil. Even walking close to it can disturb the soil enough to jeopardize the health and reproduction of the plant. What a lovely, delicate flower.

Calypso Orchid

In contrast to the delicate beauty of the orchid is the showy, splashy bright yellow of the mules ears that bloom around early July. These are actually my favorite flower around our cabin, because they cover acres of the surrounding hillsides, and meadows throughout Island Park, with bright swatches of color. The acre and a half of wildflower meadow below our home is dominated by these flowers for a few weeks every summer - amazing us with the saturation of color that is almost more than the eye can take in, and defining my mental image of this place that I love.

Yellow Mules Ears

Interspersed in this bright wildflower meadow are sticky geranium, lupine, and paintbrush, along with many, many other flowers that will come and go in their natural sequence throughout the summer.

Sticky Geranium

Lupine

Paintbrush

The birds are all in their brightest breeding plumage in June, and the annual robin’s nest appears again under our deck. 

Breakfast for the babies!

We are cautioned by Forest Service flyers left at our door, and by the local newspaper, to keep bird feeders 10 feet off the ground and 4 feet from the nearest vertical support so as not to attract bears - or better yet, not to put out feeders at all! 

This season there have been more bears around homes and cabins here than in the eleven years we have been in Island Park, and our neighbors all have stories of a large black bear that had been regularly circulating through our area up to a couple of weeks before we arrived, climbing up on porches and decks and peering through windows. Two years ago we found big bear paw prints in the dust on our garage door, five to six feet above ground level. However, we have still only once seen a bear in our area in eleven summers, which is fine with us.

Some of the birds here are so bright and exotic looking they might look appropriate in the tropics.

Lazuli Bunting

Western Tanager

The tree swallow and mountain bluebird are both cavity nesters that readily build their nests in nest boxes provided by humans. The tree swallow seems to be more aggressive, winning out most fights over a nest box. But this one chose the more natural route, nesting in an aspen that faces the morning sun.

Tree Swallow

Mountain Bluebird

Other frequently sighted birds:

Rufous Hummingbird

Red-Naped Sapsucker

Black-Headed Grosbeak

About the third week in July, a blue-winged teal appears on the pond with 11 ducklings. In this photo they are about a week old.

Nearby, a spotted sandpiper hops along the bank, with the characteristic bobbing of its rear end.

Chickadees

Just before New Year's 2010, in beautifully clear weather, at the first rays of morning sun, these chickadees captivated me at a feeder at our cabin near Raynolds Pass in Island Park, Idaho, at about 6600 feet elevation. Here is the black-capped chickadee, found year-round throughout most of the northern U.S. and most of Canada. Note its solid black cap and bib.

Chickadees have always reminded me of Christmas ornaments when they flit among the snow-covered Douglas Fir boughs outside our window in winter. It is amazing that these tiny birds that look so delicate are actually so hardy. They can survive harsh winters at high elevations, and extended periods of sub-zero temperatures.

Below is the mountain chickadee, also found year-round throughout most of the western U.S. and Canada. Note the black eye stripe. This is the only one of five species of chickadees found in North America, that has the black eye stripe.

There is evidence that these two species have interbred or hybridized in Island Park, Idaho, a phenomenon covered by the Island Park News in its January 7, 2010 issue. (To read the whole article, you must subscribe to the on-line edition of the paper.) Elsewhere in the U.S., there is documented evidence, some of it based on DNA testing, of hybridization between other species of chickadees.