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What fascinates me about woodpeckers is how they use their tails to support themselves. Those tail feathers are very strong and stiff to help hold their weight against a tree trunk while they pound hard with their heavy beaks. According to the American Bird Conservancy, woodpeckers’ tails act as a third leg along with their feet (two toes forward, two toes backward), sort of a tripod support that helps with shock absorption and braces them when they hammer trees with their beaks. This is a Hairy Woodpecker, using its tail to brace against the Ponderosa Pine on Moose’s ranch last week.

Montana wasn’t all smoky sunrises and silky waterfalls. We did come across a small flock of young Cedar Waxwings along the river’s edge. They were flying after hatching nymphs on the surface of the water where rafts of algae and water plants floated. These two were closely watching the water’s surface and did not seem too worried about our approach to photograph them.

A 90 second exposure calmed the rumbling Great Falls at Ryan Dam in Montana, smoothing them into a silky flow.

The week I spent in Great Falls, Montana created some of the most spectacular sunrises and sunsets I’ve ever seen. We were at Ryan Dam photographing the falls and I looked behind me just after 6 AM to see godbeams streaking out from behind a hilltop as the sun was beginning to rise. Wow.

More than one hundred years ago, these windows on the powerhouse at Ryan Dam first looked over the largest falls in Great Falls, Montana. Today, the powerhouse is still in use but, as in many old buildings, many of the windows panes are missing.

Another smoky sunrise in Montana.

Wildfires are raging throughout the west and the skies have been filled with smoke most days in Montana in the past ten days. After dinner on my last evening in Montana, Moose took me to the airport in Hamilton where the helicopters that are working the fires come in to refuel. In this image, the Price Valley Heli-repellers from Idaho, head back to Missoula after stopping briefly to refuel their helicopter. They will refuel themselves as well, before returning to the front. This is one of the few times I’ve photographed flying aircraft and this was a particular challenge because I was hand holding my Nikon Z8 and Nikkor Z180-600 at a shutter speed of 1/25 of a second so that the rotors would blur. Making sure the rest of the image didn’t blur was the challenge.

The sun hides behind the clouds as it dips in the sky in Great Falls, Montana. The intense red is created in part by the smoke in the air from the wildfires burning in Montana, Washington, and Oregon.

After misidentifying a Pine Siskin in my post two days ago (I posted a photo of a female House Finch and called it a Pine Siskin) I edited the title to say Pseudo Pine Siskin and edited the post to correct my error. This is a photo of three real Pine Siskins in a Tamarack Tree, not exactly a pine tree but related.

Such an idyllic moment. Yesterday morning, the White-tailed doe visited Moose’s ranch with her twins and her brother, a young buck. I was already on the deck watching them and Moose tossed an apple to the doe and the buck. One of the fawns reached up to get a sample from Mom.

I’m spending a few days with my friends Moose and Sharon in Montana. Yesterday morning, I relished the peaceful sanctity of their ranch, as I sat on the deck, savoring a cup of strong coffee, enjoying the bird songs, and watching the birds. This pseudo Pine Siskin (it’s actually a House Finch) made it obvious why they got their name.

Much of our travel this past week in Montana has involved crossing the Missouri River as it snakes across the state. The Hardy Bridge is one of the many bridges that cross the river.

What a gorgeous sunrise yesterday morning at Tower Rock. We wondered if Lewis and Clark had the good fortune to witness such glory, as their expedition, known as the Corps of Discovery, came to Tower Rock (it was behind me so not in the image) 221 years ago in July of 1805. This was the place in their journey of discovery that they left the plains, familiar terrain, and entered the Rocky Mountains.

As the sun was setting yesterday, the Rocky Mountains were obscured by smoke from wildfires burning in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, probably parts of California and even some in Montana. Not only could we see the smoke, we could smell it and were inhaling it as we shot.

The Coyotes at Ferrari Pond seem to have moved their family to the other side of the Salt Pond. They are a bit further out than they used to be. Only one was out Sunday morning, lazing in the morning sun but too far to get a decent shot. I took this a couple of days before as this Coyote sniffed its way back to the old haunts before joining up with the family in the new digs.

Even though the American White Pelican is common in California’s Central Valley marshes and rice fields, they generate lots of excitement when they arrive at Ingram Slough and Ferrari Pond where I walk most mornings. Yesterday morning, the last one standing, really, stood out from the dark water. No other pelicans were in evidence. What struck me was that it was standing, not paddling around, and that its enormous pouch was draped along its neck.

Great Egrets are stunning birds, especially when they’re in breeding plumage. Although I often see them where I live, I was able to approach them much more closely in the Orlando Wetlands this past February. Those sharp toes make the perfect neck scratcher.

There aren’t many pink birds in the world. This Roseate Spoonbill just finished bathing and is preening its pink feathers, the color of which it gets from the foods it eats, like Crustaceans and other aquatic invertebrates that contain pigments called carotenoids that help turn their feathers pink.

They never really left, but I haven’t seen the Ferrari Pond Coyotes for a few weeks between missing some morning walks and the area being groomed by herds of goats. Yesterday I saw four of the five pups, Mom, and one juvenile from last year. The pups are growing and playing and romping. I’m not certain if this is Mom or one of the juveniles from last year. I followed as it headed in the direction of the Salt Pond anticipating that it would emerge on the other side of the trail and cross the Salt Pond. A change of mind, one last glance, and it disappeared from view.

In Ecuador this past April I was blown away by the Tanagers. Every day it seemed we were introduced to yet another stunningly colorful species of Tanager. On our first day, we met this gorgeous cinnamon colored Tanager and I was struck by its beauty, never having seen a bird that color before. I was stunned to discover that it was the female White-lined Tanager, not the male. It was a couple of days before I saw the plain black male. The bird gets its common name from a thin white line that is usually only visible on the shoulder of the male’s wing in flight. However, its Latin name, Tachyphonus rufus, is named for the gorgeous rufous female. Go figure!