Mosaic Monday #83: Emerging (Part 2)

Heartleaf Arnica grows naturally on our

property - a shot of sunshine!

This post continues the re-cap of May that I started last week - so much went on I couldn't possibly cover it all, and you probably wouldn't have read it, either.  So here we are again.













Surprises can come from many places, and this month was no exception.  A stinkbug on the arm of the porch rocker.  Flowers from Spousal Unit.  

On May 17, it was a wildlife extravaganza just outside our windows.  That morning, I was sipping my coffee and looking out the dining room window, my custom in case the ground squirrels are there and need chasing.  This day, I noticed that the area around a drainage pipe had been thrown into major disarray.  What?  I immediately went outside to check it out.  In the past, a ground squirrel had used this hole as a hiding place, and I had piled many rocks on it, large rocks, to prevent its entry.  All of those rocks had been tossed 3 to 5 feet down the hill, and what was a small hole was now two large holes.  As I told Spousal Unit, only a bear or a badger could have done it, and based on the print sizes in the ground, I was betting on the badger.

Red arrows - where rocks WERE

Blue arrows - where the rocks ended up

That same day, I sat near the great room window, putting together my to-do list, and I spied something unusual sitting in the Ponderosa Pine below the birdfeeders.  I shouted for Spousal Unit, and we both watched it for at least 15 minutes.  I commented that it would fly away as soon as I got the spotting scope out, but Spousal Unit encouraged me to do it.  Here are my two favorite photos of the Sharp-shinned Hawk that we took that day using the scope.  Since then, it has returned at least once in the times that we have been watching, and I am sure that I have also seen it flying low through the trees in search of prey.

These pictures don't compare to the professional shots

that many of you take, but I like the "personality" in 

these photos

As more hummers arrived, I

added another feeder to the line-up

As long as I am writing about birds, allow me to mention others that put in an appearance in the month of May.  (Note that the pictures below are from the Internet.)    In our three years in Montana, I have never seen a Blue Jay here; from May 6 - 23, up to three males were regular visitors at our birdfeeders.  According to my Audubon app, Montana is not a common part of its range.

But perhaps the most exciting thing is that I saw the badger the afternoon of May 17.  Yes, this was the same day I described above, when I noticed the fresh digging.  About 4 pm that afternoon, I was looking out the same window, and I am sure that I gasped out loud – for there, just below the window, was the badger, going in and out of the holes and seemingly marking its territory.  Here are two videos that I took right then.

Since that day, I have seen the badger one other time.  The afternoon of May 22, it came out of the hole and sauntered off into the woods.  The trail cam has been trained on the holes for almost two weeks, and has not captured a single photo.  At first, I was tempted to speculate that it is a female and she dug this den specifically to give birth (it is referred to as a natal den), which might explain the rare sightings.  But I would have expected to see her emerge at least once since May 22.  I am now convinced that the badger dug the hole to catch a ground squirrel, but I am not quite ready to close up the hole, just in case!   

On May 20, I was in Whitefish for my normally scheduled hair appointment.  Arranged before the lockdown began, it was timed perfectly for the re-opening of salons.  My stylist and I both wore masks throughout the appointment.  It was hot; I am sympathetic to her spending a whole day in a mask!  We took advantage of being in Whitefish to frequent another local restaurant that we trusted – the Craggy Range.  What a delight it was to imbibe one of their Smoky Old-Fashioned drinks.

Spring always puts me in the mood for rhubarb.  In my childhood, we had several large rhubarb plants, and we ate it raw with sugar.  My mother had several methods to cope with the bounty, from sauce to pie to crumble.  So, I had been pestering Head Chef for a bit to buy some rhubarb.  It is not stocked in his normal grocery store, so he made a special trip to Rosauer’s to get some.  Yum, that crumble with ice cream was an absolute delight.  Do you have a favorite spring food?

While I am singing the praises of Head Chef, check out two of his other creations from this month.  Good thing I am getting more exercise in the garden and elsewhere to burn off all these calories!

Walking our back forty is one of the ways I work off those meals, and each day in the month of May seemed to bring new life to the meadows and glades.  My forays often take place after dinner, and the soft evening light transforms everything.  I am never sure that my pictures do it justice.

The re-opening of Montana, together with the improved weather, has allowed for precious time with my Dear Neighbor Friend.  Chatting around our fire pit.  A bike ride with her standing group of hiking ladies.  Kayaking.  As I wrote in my May 24 post, we made quite a team transplanting 29 lupines into my garden.  She brought another 7 to my house on May 26, and we jabbered on while I planted them.  (By the way, as of this writing, 6 out of 36 are fair, two are perky and the rest have returned to the earth from which they came).

Upper right: a perky lupine

Bottom: view of Swan Mountains during bike ride

I have published kayaking pictures before, but I think these are some of the best that I have ever taken, thanks to the gorgeous sky and the mirror of the lake.  (And thanks to DNF for having me!)

When we kayak in the evening, we almost always see the beaver swimming and eating.  On the day I filmed the video below, we saw four different beaver.  This video shows two; the second one comes very close to my kayak - watch until the end!

I look back at these scenes, and I am already missing May.  But move on we must … and who knows what wonders June will bring, all by her little self?

Mosaic Monday

Welcome to Mosaic Monday, a weekly meme where we get together to share our photo mosaics and collages.
Please include at least one photo mosaic/collage in your post.
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Thank you for joining in today and sharing your mosaics with us. 

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