Hail, Fire, and Elk antlers

[CouesWhitetail]

Hi All,

 

Spent another couple days doing owl surveys on the San Carlos. Everything has greened up nicely. Lots of storms and rain. It's wonderful to see the tanks so full now!

 

here is a view from the nantac rim.

 

 

And a couple videos from the trip. One is a timelapse cloud video and one is an intense hail storm. The hail storm starts out slow, but listen to it pick up and it was one of the absolute best I have been in. The hail was bouncing high up off the ground after it hit. Some was marble sized, most were smaller.

 

cloud video, it's short, like 1 min long and set to music:

 

http://www.coueswhitetail.com/video_clips/storm_clouds_4.wmv

 

 

And the hail storm. This video is pretty much unedited, so it's a bit jerky and it's about 3 mins long. Starts out slow, but that storm intensifies.

 

http://www.coueswhitetail.com/video_clips/hail_storm.wmv

 

 

For you snake and spide fans, here is a nice web and gopher snake we came across:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The area had some very large fir trees, which are always great to see. Paul and Julie climbed up this downed one and I stood in front of one tree for scale.

 

 

 

 

Saw this neat mushroom also:

 

 

 

An elk antler Paul found and Julie liked chewing on. I tried to get a little family portrait with the antler, but Julie wanted to keep chewing it. We kept imagining an angry mother scolding her kids for not sitting still for a photo. "Julie, sit still, face forward. Can't we just have one nice family portrait for a change! Just one??!!!" hehehe She is a cutie!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A baby bear and his mother visit this waterhole, as did a coyote....

 

 

We didn't see many elk or deer, but here is one Muley buck.

 

 

 

On the way home we saw some lightning striking in a grassland and later saw a fire there. It was burning fast, but not likely to cause much trouble. I don't know what became of it after we reported it.

 

 

 

 

 

Due to all the storms in the area, we had great sunsets both nights. The pics don't do them justice.

 

 

 

[bearbait]

Absolutely beautiful! I love been in the woods when its stormy out! And that hail is amazing!

 

[Snapshot]

Great photo's as always/ Thanks for sharing.

[huntemup]

Very nice photos.

[AZ402]

That's some cool stuff!!

[Guest 300ultramag.]

that last pic is stellar

[tjhunt2]

Wow, that was great. I just got home from work, opened a beer, and sat back and enjoyed your pictures. Thanks for sharing Amanda. I haven't been in the San Carlos mountains in a long time. Probably since my elk hunt when permits were $310 for an any tag. What a great way to end my day.

 

TJ

[Coues 'n' Sheep]

 

 

As always, Amanda..... Great pics and thanks for sharing with us.

 

[Hunterdan]

Great Pics Amanda, Thanks!!

[SilentButDeadly]

great pictures, those grass fires are pretty cool, as long as you're on a road up wind of them! I'm betting the fire went out that evening, with all the moisture we are having a grass fire would have alot of trouble surviving the relative humidity recovery at night...

 

 

[Chef]

I always enjoy seeing others' pics from their travels in the hills.

Thanks!

[JasCald02]

Amanda,

 

Maybe a bit random....but how do you find owls? I have only seen one in the wild (Northern New Mexico above Taos).

 

Are the less reclusive than I am thinking they are?

[CouesWhitetail]

To find the owls you imitate their calls during a night survey in the hopes of prompting a territorial response from the male or a pair. When you get a detection, you plot it on a map and then figure out where the best daytime habitat for a roost would be. Then go hike in there and look around for sign (whitewash, feathers, pellets) and the owls. Like any animal, they have certain areas they like to "bed". For these owls it's generally the coolest, shadiest area, which usually means north-facing slopes of steep canyons or at the junction of drainages. Sometimes they are easy to find, especially if they are breeding because they and their young can be more vocal. Sometimes it's hard work and you don't find anything, as was the case this past trip.

 

Amanda

[257wby]

You almost make work sound like fun.

We currently have 4 greathorned owls that frequent our chimney and those of our 3 neighbors.

Always like going outside and listening to them hoot all night.

 

Mike

[willhunt4coues]

Man that is awesome. Can you trade me jobs? Thanks for posting.

Clay