Mosaic Monday #22 - March in the Mountains

I enjoyed March.  It brought a tremendous variety of entertainment, certainly too much to cram into one post (and this may be too long already for some folks with short attention spans - LOL!  But I encourage you to stick with it for the ending!)  So, some of the month's highlights will float further into April - check back for a future post.  For now, let's get on with the show!

How dramatic the weather transformation in the last 30 days!  I took these pictures on the pristine white morning of March 13, as I reported for my volunteer shift at the Whitefish Historical Museum.

Eight short days later, Spousal Unit and I sat on the front porch, basking in the afternoon sun and indulging in an adult beverage.  Yes, Spring has arrived.

Beyond the warmer temperatures and melting snow, birds are one of Nature's great harbingers of seasonal shifts.  You may recall that I previously wrote about taking pictures through my spotting scope.  This month, I shouldered my scope and ventured down to Hodge Creek.  A 200-yard walk from the house, Hodge Creek forms one border of our property, and it positively teems with wildlife.  I set up the scope with my phone attachment and snapped away.  

Northern Shrike - a new bird for me

How delightful to see a breeding pair of mountain bluebirds, the first I had seen near our house this spring.

I shared some of these photos with my neighbor, and I had labeled this shot as a Cedar Waxwing.  Being the dedicated teacher that she is, she did her homework and came back to me asking about the differences between a Bohemian and a Cedar Waxwing.  Off I went to consult the National Audubon Society Field Guide to Birds, and darn it if she wasn't right.  My birding buddies would probably be shocked to read that I didn't even know about the Bohemian species!!!  Now I know that one of the distinguishing features of the Bohemian is a rusty underside to the tail - on the Cedar, the underside of the tail is white.  

The Northern Shrike repeatedly left this perch for bugs - here he is 

crunching one of his snacks

Dare I say it?  I think I am getting a bit addicted to this birding thing.  Or maybe it's a combination of seeing/identifying new birds and achieving quality pictures that has me hooked.  Speaking of which, I am not satisfied with these photos.  It is a challenge to figure out the ideal combination of settings on the scope and the phone, and to do it quickly while the bird is still visible.  So, I asked Spousal Unit to accompany me for one outing, and perhaps advise on a better approach.

That day, it was quite windy, which only added to the difficulty as the little birds were perched on top of trees that swayed dramatically.  In the end, Spousal Unit suggested that I should set up on the deck, and take pictures of stationary objects such as tree stumps using a variety of settings.  I could note the settings and then correlate them back to the quality of the shot.  So, stay tuned - more experiments coming your way!  (Or, as I joked to Spousal Unit with a wink, maybe I should just buy a camera that can handle long-distance shots!)

From left: female Mountain Bluebird, Bohemian Waxwing, male Mountain Bluebird, female Mountain Bluebird

When we aren't tramping around in the woods, Spousal Unit and I have teamed up in the kitchen for new culinary delights.  And all of them are keepers!

Cajun Asparagus Skillet

Chickpea Curry with Flatbread

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

Chicken Meatballs

Of course, Spousal Unit is Chef with Hat in our house, and March was busting out of its seams (or maybe WE are busting ...) with other first-rate eats.  For the last few weeks, he has been on a bread kick, so the breadmaker is getting a workout with pumpernickel, dill bread, raisin bread, Dijon rye and half whole wheat.

And every once in a while he likes to surprise me.

This month has had its share of social events.  One of our fellow Mountain Ambassadors is one-half of a musical duo called The Cutaways, and a half dozen Ambassadors with spouses attended one of his gigs.  It was a fun-filled evening, partly due to the smashing location - the Sacred Waters Brewery.  The Brewery anchors one end of a small complex that also includes Glacier Sun Winery and a produce market.  Open doorways between the businesses encourage you to move freely among them, and you are also allowed to bring food and beverages from one into the other.  As someone who does not drink beer, this was a huge boon for me - I could buy cider or wine at the Winery and bring it into the bar.

We ordered the Elk Slider Duet from the surprisingly eclectic menu.  Yummy!

Earlier in the month, with prime snow conditions, I went snowshoeing with some friends and cross-country skiing with a neighbor.

When I go skiing with my neighbor, it's a bonus to see her animals, including these newborn goats

Are you getting the gist?  It was a busy 31 days.  Even so, I made time for some drawing.

I can't think of a better way to close this post than an AWESOME series of coyote photos from the trail cam (these pictures all took place within 3 minutes).  It certainly was a magical March in our mountains.

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.
The link will be open from 1 p.m. Sunday until 11 p.m. Monday (U.S. Mountain time).
Remember to add the link to your Mosaic Monday post and not the one to your blog.
Please link back to this post so that your readers will be able to visit and enjoy more wonderful mosaics; taking the MM blog button from my sidebar is an easy way to link back.
As host I will visit every participant and leave a comment so that you know I stopped by.
Please try and visit as many other blogs as you can, especially those that join in later, so that everyone's creativity can be appreciated fully.
Thank you for joining in today and sharing your mosaics with us.  

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