Wind returns

We are experiencing a warming trend with the usual 30mph winds.  I haven't counted the lost shingles yet.  Weather bureau says the wind will continue for another day, followed by a cold front.  We will be going from 60 degrees to 28 degrees if the forecast comes true.

Deer have moved back in!

Seems the mule deer have moved back into the yard.  I am using one photo of the herd of about 25 for wallpaper on my computer right now!

In the picture on the left, the deer are watching a person walking up the road with their dog.  On the right, with the excitement over, they are taking a break from feeding and wandering.

This deer is a buck that has shed his antlers. 
Only the pedicles are visible at this time. 

Yesterday, the deer were big into grooming.  Right now they look very scuzzy--they are losing their winter fur and getting the summer coat.  The summer coat is more brown color.  I can't say if this is any indication of spring coming--some seem to think so.  I've never really noticed the correlation. There is a bird sitting on the yearling's back.  I think they are starlings (I didn't get the binoculars out to check.) and if you watch them for a while, it appears that the birds are landing on the deer to try and make the deer leave so the birds can feed on the seeds on the ground.  Mostly, the deer just try to ignore the birds and keep feeding.

These deer are trying to get water out of the "pond".  I think there is some in there but it's quite a ways down.  Usually, they drink out of the neighbor's horse water tank.  I'm not sure why they are so interested in this half-empty plastic pond....I'll put some more water in when I go out to dump the vegetables peels and stuff into the compost.

"Spring" returns and so do I!

I have been sidetracked from this blog for a few days, but things have slowed down now. 

Yesterday, it snowed for most of the day.  It was a heavy, wet snow that melted quickly.  However, the snow lasted all day and made for a gloomy day.  Casper Mountain got 14 inches of snow!

Wind returned over the weekend, making life much colder outside.  Casper has a "Home and Garden Show" each spring with all kinds of vendors of flooring, doors, decor, etc.  Saturday, the wind made it feel very wintery out, taking away from the spring atmosphere of the Home Show.  The "Garden" aspect was totally lost on visitors!  Of course, we don't expect true spring for two and a half months.  Last "frost" date for Casper is around May 21. 

Casper escaped the heavy snow seen in Colorado now, but the down side is the snow pack in Wyoming is below normal (average).  This is due in part to lack of snow and also the warm weather early on.  This will mean a lower supply of irrigation water and lower reservior levels.  We just came out of eight years of drought.

Spring snow

We had a spring snow over the past two days.  The sun is out this afternoon, but it was snowing a couple of hours ago.  The great horned owl has been in our windbreak for most of the last week.  He's fun to watch.  He didn't seem fond of the snow yesterday--he kept moving around trying to find a better position on a branch.

Most of the snow melted.  The temperature got much warmer than was predicted.  I've put in some photos.

Road trip

We went on a road trip to Douglas, Sybille Canyon (wildlife study area), Laramie, up to the Snowy Mountains, then to Arlington and Medicine Bow and home.  It's about a 10 hour drive.  There was much more snow north of Laramie than we expected.  We saw elk and bison in Sybille Canyon, then checked out the Snowy Mountains.  For more photos, see the pages in this blog.

The photo on the bottom left is snow behind a snow fence.  On the right, beetle killed trees in the Snowy Mtns.

Still learning here!

I am trying to learn how to post properly and where to go with this! If I am slow in getting my posts up, please be patient. I will get back to the blog and comments!

The Beginning!

When I started my conservation website, I never intended to write a blog. Of course, I never intended to be come a photographer, a conservationist or what some would (annoyingly) call a "geek". Yet here I am, taking pictures of critters and scenery, fighting wind turbines and making blogs! It's probably a good thing I wasn't a goal oriented person, or I probably would find this depressing!

I hope to let people know what is happening in Wyoming--the good and the not-so-good. The would be the wildlife, open spaces, etc. The not-so-good is the wind industry.

I have a web page on this subject: www.theaccidentalconservationist.com

This blog will allow suggestions and comments and keep people more up-to-date on nature and challenges to life in Wyoming.