All Creatures, Great and Small

My random, recent critter sightings include an eagle -- one of many that I've seen here (http://fieldguide.mt.gov/detail_ABNKC10010.aspx) -- but this is one has redness around and behind its beak. That tells me that it's just been feeding. The picture is a little grainy, shot from far away and cropped. Click on it to get a bit more detail.

On another day, at 7,200 feet and a walk from the "facilities" (newish outhouse, at Gordon Reese Cabin), I see the tiniest spider making its way across packed snow! What could it find to eat out here? We call it a snow spider -- there probably is such a thing. Look at all the other amazing snow insects at http://www.pbase.com/crocodile/snow_creatures&page=all.

The silhouette of a red-tailed hawk (http://fieldguide.mt.gov/detail_ABNKC19110.aspx) also catches my eye, on a valley drive.  "Pull over, Alex," I yell.  I shoot right into the setting sun, and I'm not sure what I've got.  But when I get home, I like the angle of the hawk's wings against clouds and above nearby mountains.

Okay, this is a "snowman" interpretation of a snowy owl -- the arctic bird that's much in the news in Montana and even in parts of the Midwest. My friend Mel Holloway shot this in Polson, MT (http://missoulian.com/lifestyles/territory/snowy-owls-parliament-is-in-session-in-polson-neighborhood/article_7b6cb81c-43b3-11e1-b236-0019bb2963f4.html). He's seen the real thing there. I have not. Not yet.

I see these huskies in the parking lot of the Good Food Store in Missoula (http://www.goodfoodstore.com/). As I approach to take a picture, the owner of the truck -- sitting in warm winter sun on the store's veranda -- shouts, "Don't get too close!" The dogs bark, loudly. So I don't. But I do know that there's a "Dog Derby" in mountains above Darby, MT (http://www.bitterrootmushers.org/), the next day, so I figure he's the musher and they're the mushees, resting up for the next day's event.

Vinny!  What can I say about this über intelligent and sensitive Jack Russell terrier (http://www.therealjackrussell.com/index.php) owned by Hamilton's Mary Barton and Kelsey Milner? He's just so darn sweet!!! The opposite of big burly mountain dogs that I expect to find in the Bitterroot.