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.
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Spring has been stubbornly slow arriving here in northwest Montana. Cool temperatures, cloud cover, and frequent rains have created a prolonged “April” with the slowest progression of tree leaf-out, veggie garden seed germination, and bird migration I can recall in my two decades living in the Northern Rockies.
But I think we turned the corner this week when daytime temperatures edged into the mid 70s and our last migratory straggler — the Common Nighthawk — finally arrived. Rains have replenished snowpack, filled pothole ponds, and produced lush growth in the valleys. When I look across the prairie on up to the National Bison Range, I sense the landscape breathing, taking in CO2….pumping out O2. I marvel at the biomass of insects that will feed and breed in those grasslands. A trifecta of good nesting cover, abundant insect prey, and plentiful water all point to a banner year for local breeding birds.
As the gang started trickling back this spring, I spent some quality time photographing their arrival with my new camera and lens (Canon EOS-R w/Sigma 150mm-600mm lens). The new kit has been a game-changer for image quality and capturing birds in flight. I still have so much to learn, but getting out to practice and just mess around has been an absolute joy. I thought I’d share some pix of the gang taken from late March through early June at Mink Creek Hollow.
The setting:
Thanks for joining the Bucket today! I look forward to hearing what’s happening in nature in your part of the world.
P.S. Wishing you clear skies to see tonight’s Strawberry “Supermoon,” the second supermoon of 2022! The full moon will appear larger and brighter because its orbit is closest to Earth. Why the “Strawberry Moon?”
The name strawberry moon is rooted in the traditions of Indigenous groups in the Northeastern US, including the Algonquin, Ojibwe, Dakota and Lakota communities that saw the celestial event as a sign that strawberries, and other fruits, were ripe and ready to be gathered. The Haida people refer to the moon as the berries ripen moon, according to The Old Farmer's Almanac.