Saturday, June 13, 2009
Continental Divide Flowers
I decided to take a short trip up to the Red Rock Pass at the Continental divide (between Idaho/Montana) today from RedRock RV Park (Island Park, Idaho) to see what was happening. It's only 7 miles and 800 feet up from the RV Park. I was hoping to see some raptors flying about or at least a couple new song birds, or some different wildflowers blooming. We are in a cloudy/rainy period and this morning looked like a nice sunny break, with the afternoon promising more rain and clouds, so it was a good time to go.
As we depart, we get a grand view of the Dandelions in bloom at the Meadow Vue Ranch. Actually they are the accent color along all the roads, trails and fences in this entire part of Idaho, Wyoming and Montana at the moment. Those mountains in the background are part of the Madison Range in Montana.
As usual, I take my time getting there, hoping to see a raptor on a fence or a tree without scaring it away. I let the others wanting to race past me go without pause, rolling up my windows until their dust settles. Unfortunately, the raptors must take Saturday off, because I saw none. I did see an Eastern Kingbird. His black head and bright white chest being an immediate tip-off to his identity. He was sitting on a barbed wire fence along the dirt portion of Red Rock road in Idaho. The Eastern Kingbird eats insects from the air and plucks them off vegetation. This is a good place and time for that. The bugs are out and I appreciate anything this bird can do to reduce their population.
Eastern Kingbird waiting for his next insect meal to fly by.
As we depart, we get a grand view of the Dandelions in bloom at the Meadow Vue Ranch. Actually they are the accent color along all the roads, trails and fences in this entire part of Idaho, Wyoming and Montana at the moment. Those mountains in the background are part of the Madison Range in Montana.
As usual, I take my time getting there, hoping to see a raptor on a fence or a tree without scaring it away. I let the others wanting to race past me go without pause, rolling up my windows until their dust settles. Unfortunately, the raptors must take Saturday off, because I saw none. I did see an Eastern Kingbird. His black head and bright white chest being an immediate tip-off to his identity. He was sitting on a barbed wire fence along the dirt portion of Red Rock road in Idaho. The Eastern Kingbird eats insects from the air and plucks them off vegetation. This is a good place and time for that. The bugs are out and I appreciate anything this bird can do to reduce their population.
Eastern Kingbird waiting for his next insect meal to fly by.Of course you can't drive along these fenced roads without seeing many of the beautiful Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) resting on a post or wire or swooping to pick up some lunch. They are also great insect and mosquito scavengers, so long live the Tree Swallow! They have a beautiful and changing irredescent blue color on their backs that makes each viewing a new experience.
This Tree Swallow was launching from his pad to catch an insect.
Notice the irredescent blue on the back of the Tree Swallow along Red Rock Road, Idaho.
This Tree Swallow was launching from his pad to catch an insect. 
Notice the irredescent blue on the back of the Tree Swallow along Red Rock Road, Idaho.While photographing the Swallow, I turned and saw 4 horses coming over the hill to see what I was doing. They were very curious, probably of Reggie who was being good and not barking in the back seat. Other than the bugs, the horses have a great place here with hundreds of acres to roam. These guys looked healthy and happy to me.
Four Horses along Red Rock Road in eastern Idaho.
We turned onto the Continental Divide Trail and parked near Red Rock Road. Reggie got out and sniffed around for bears, etc and I took my trusty wildflower camera and looked for newly blooming flowers. The altitude here is about 7100 feet, almost 800 feet higher than the RV Park so I'd expect some different action here.
Spring Beauty can be found all around us at the Red Rock Pass (Continental Divide).
Under the trees I found the Glacier Lilies still blooming sprinkled with the lovely and small Spring Beauty flowers. Snuggled in a creavse of one of the lichen-covered rocks was this stunted narrow-leaf Stonecrop (Sedum stenopetalum).
A dwarf or stunted version of narrow-leaf Stonecrop at Idaho/Montana continental divide.
Four Horses along Red Rock Road in eastern Idaho. We turned onto the Continental Divide Trail and parked near Red Rock Road. Reggie got out and sniffed around for bears, etc and I took my trusty wildflower camera and looked for newly blooming flowers. The altitude here is about 7100 feet, almost 800 feet higher than the RV Park so I'd expect some different action here.
Spring Beauty can be found all around us at the Red Rock Pass (Continental Divide). Under the trees I found the Glacier Lilies still blooming sprinkled with the lovely and small Spring Beauty flowers. Snuggled in a creavse of one of the lichen-covered rocks was this stunted narrow-leaf Stonecrop (Sedum stenopetalum).
A dwarf or stunted version of narrow-leaf Stonecrop at Idaho/Montana continental divide.A particularly beautiful example of the False Dandelion (Agoseris glauca) was found here. It was much more pale than others I've seen. By the way, the False or Mountain Dandelion is not closely related to the one we know as a weed. (I don't like the word weed. It's a judgement call and depends on the view of the speaker.)
Mountain Dandelion or False Dandelion.
The purple Wyoming Kittentails (Besseya wyomingensis) are still in bloom at this elevation along with the Glacier Lilies and Spring Beauties. At the RedRock RV Park elevation they are pretty much exhausted.
Mountain Dandelion or False Dandelion.
The purple Wyoming Kittentails (Besseya wyomingensis) are still in bloom at this elevation along with the Glacier Lilies and Spring Beauties. At the RedRock RV Park elevation they are pretty much exhausted.
Another small plant I found here is the beautiful Diamond-leafed Saxifrage (Saxifraga rhomboidea.) It grows in alpine meadows and is also known as the snowball Saxifrage due to the arrangement of it's small white flowers into a snowball shape and color. Like the Kittentail it's also a small plant, about 3" in height. These small herbs are easy to overlook so take your time as you scour the landscape for new flowers.
The rocks around here are havens for lichen of all kinds. You could spend hours just exploring the lichen if you were so inclined. This area is not high as mountain passes go, but the winds and cold that blow through here in winter make this a very inhospitable place for plants. They are happy to be out this time of year.
Snowball Saxifrage is a small plant.
The rocks around here are havens for lichen of all kinds. You could spend hours just exploring the lichen if you were so inclined. This area is not high as mountain passes go, but the winds and cold that blow through here in winter make this a very inhospitable place for plants. They are happy to be out this time of year.
Snowball Saxifrage is a small plant.This is a beautiful area to look for wildflowers. You are only a couple miles from the East Centennial Mountains that loom above you in this meadow. Here's a view through the Sheep Sorrell of Red Rock Mountain behind.
Red Rock Mountain from the meadow we are exploring today.
One final little treat, and I'll let you go for the day. This little worker Red Ant (Formica) was busy crawling over the lichen-encrusted rocks in the meadow. They like the high-altitude and build nests near trees and shrubs. The entrance is littered with pine needles and other plant materials. They often stay near aphids so they can harvest the honey-dew from them.
Worker Red Ant.
Red Rock Mountain from the meadow we are exploring today. One final little treat, and I'll let you go for the day. This little worker Red Ant (Formica) was busy crawling over the lichen-encrusted rocks in the meadow. They like the high-altitude and build nests near trees and shrubs. The entrance is littered with pine needles and other plant materials. They often stay near aphids so they can harvest the honey-dew from them.
Worker Red Ant.Come see for yourself at RedRock RV Park, near Island Park, Idaho and Yellowstone National Park.
# posted by RV Guy @ 1:23 PM 
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