Mosaic Monday #189: Trail Cam Treasures

We are so blessed to live on the edge of the wilderness, with all the wildlife that comes with it.  (Did you know they have a term for this?  Wildland-urban interface = a zone of transition between wilderness and land developed by human activity.  Unfortunately, the most common definition relates to increased wildfire frequency and risk.  As houses are near wildland vegetation, they are susceptible to wildfires.  I prefer to define it in terms of proximity to flora and fauna!)  So, let's cast our eyes over some of the critters that have wandered in range of my trail cam!

Elk on the move - same day as the Sandhill Crane - May 18.

Did this elk get lost?  May 29 - and look how much greener it is!

I have had many reports of the neighborhood black bear, and finally I got a shot - from the back, but better than none! (and the clock was off - this was 11 am)

A young buck in early June - he'll be searching out does pretty soon!

And this will be the result! (June 16)  This momma looks pretty skinny ...

I never cease to be amazed by the capability of the trail cam to capture motion, such as this Tree Swallow in flight on June 3.

Sandhill Cranes dance for three primary reasons:  To find a mate, to strengthen the bond between a mated pair, or to express aggression or territoriality.  Based on my experience with our Cranes over the last five years, I believe these two are "strengthening the bond" (June 4).  We could all learn from this, yes?

As you may have noticed from the photos thus far, the camera had been in two locations - the meadow you see above, and the road where I hoped to capture the bear (and I did.)  It was time to try another locale - the lake!  And it delivered in spades!

A parade of mallards.

Mallards with one Greater Yellowlegs (I welcome correction from any of the birders out there).

Three Greater Yellowlegs taking flight.

Great Blue Herons.  Jaw-dropping majestic creatures.

Speaking of majestic, check out the Trumpeter Swans and the 2 cygnets.  This is the first time (since we have lived here) that they have nested on the lake below our property.

I have written in the past (April 25, 2021; September 19, 2020) about the beaver who lives at the lake - we estimate the presence of nature's engineer has raised the water level by two feet.  I wonder sometimes how much of the wildlife we see now has been brought about because of the deeper water.

For priceless photos like the one below, I am grateful to God, the beaver, and the many factors that led us to Montana and this superlative piece of wilderness.

** I may be slow in commenting this week since we have family visiting.

**Also, Mosaic Monday will take a break on September 11 - come back and link up on September 18!

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. Tuesday (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. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter