Those baby geese have gotten pretty big already! This family hang out at the Game & Fish Outdoor Wildlife Learning Site (OWLS) east of Bismarck. There are plenty of fish and turtles in the lake, birds everywhere, and I didn’t spot a single wood tick so far.

There were a couple of families out fishing from the bridge – it’s a catch & release lake – and the site is getting its annual facelift. There are walking paths and informational signage all over the site. It’s a great place to take your kids or to just go for a walk. Bring insect repellent though!

As you go down Burnt Boat road toward Pioneer Park, you’ll see a street heading north to a hill overlooking River Road. It’s a new housing development that’s been off to a bit of a slow start but is seeing more development lately, including new roads being paved. To the east of this road is a wide expanse of untouched land in a wide, sloping valley.

That’s where I spotted this doe tonight. This area of grassland extends all the way back over to Divide Avenue where it turns into Tyler Parkway, by the fire station. It’s a prime hideout for deer during the day as well as at dusk, when I saw this one.

It looks like the rest of the turtles, mostly Western Painted variety, have come out of hibernation in the backwater adjacent to Fox Island Road. As I drove past on other business yesterday I saw a whole pack of ’em lined up along the bank, sunning themselves.

I usually have a camera with wherever I go, so I decided to try my luck with ’em. Even with a 300mm lens I couldn’t get very close before they all dashed into the water. Then they sat there, heads poking out of the water in curiosity, taunting me. As you can see, there are dozens of the little buggers over there. If you look closer, even on a photo this small, you can see some rather large fish poking around in that pond too. They’ll be in big trouble if the water gets low; I saw one dried up on the sand already.

I remember a time in the late 80’s where a whole pack of us made a late night trip out to Fox Island on the motorcycles. We were in a pretty tight bunch and going at a rather brisk pace around the fun curves of the road. When we pulled up and parked at Fox Island, one guy pointed out that one of the turtles was walking across the road as we went by. By a miracle none of us hit him. That would have been bad for turtle AND motorcyclist.

One more sure sign of spring is the march of the turtles. There are only three in this photo, but don’t let that fool you. By mid to late summer there will be thirty or so turtles hanging out on this bank, sunning themselves lazily.

They will, however, be keeping one eye on the nearby roadway…watching for my truck, apparently. Every time I got within 75 feet of these little buggers, they would sprint into the water! And they’re quick!

Then all you see is a pool of water with little heads poking out like this:

We played that little cat-n-mouse game all summer last year. They may be a little less skittish this year because of improvements in the area. You see, these guys occupy the backwater on the south side of Fox Island Road, and last year the city paved a sidewalk along the side of the road. Prior to that it was just an embankment, weeds and a culvert. But with regular foot and bike traffic going past, perhaps they’ll grow accustomed to it. That will allow photographers to get somewhat nearer to them.

I’ve been chasing a few of these enormous birds around with my camera ever since I got it. Tuesday I was bumping around along the sandbars south of Bismarck (thank heavens for big tires) and just barely noticed this fella out of the corner of my eye. I got out of the truck and hoofed it over to where he was fishing, but unfortunately they are very skittish birds. That’s why I have yet to get a decent photo of one!

This didn’t turn out so badly, actually…considering I was walking in sand without a tripod or monopod. The great beast took off and I whipped the camera into place, held onto the shutter for dear life, and this is the result. I’m told they tend to be territorial, so I know where to look for him in the future.

Despite my wordcraft, that just didn’t have the excitement of a Moby Dick moment, did it?

This odd angle is the only one at which I could get a picture of the fish and not the reflection of the sun. These fish were lazily hanging out in the stream which flows along the eastern edge of Bismarck, just west of the Expressway. They were about 16-18 inches long, although it’s hard to tell from this photo.

I was surprised to find fish this big in water this shallow, but I presume they worked their way upstream from the lake at the Game & Fish OWLS Site . I also presume they’re about to pursue the business of makin’ more fishies.

The area in which these fish reside is designated catch and release, so don’t go dashing for the tackle box!

Hawks are a bird that prove particularly elusive to me. I see them most often during the summer, sitting atop bales of hay beside the road. Then, when I stop and dig out the camera to go for a killer photo, they take off and soar about a quarter mile and land again. It’s quite frustrating, to be honest.

This one, however, didn’t seem to care. It’s too cold out. He just stayed fluffed up on his branch and eyeballed me, but didn’t care to fly. With feathers like that, though, I bet he was able to keep those bright yellow feet warm.

These are, I believe, somewhat territorial birds. This particular bird’s territory is the area bordering Lincoln on the west-northwest.

Seen on South Washington. These guys seem pretty nonchalant about traffic nearby. Hopefully they don’t get pasted as they confidently strut across the road.

There’s another big group of these birds on Highway 1806 just south of Mandan. A friend of mine flies helicopters for the army, and says it’s bizarre when they fly the Missouri River bottoms at night with their night vision goggles, and the trees are FULL of turkeys. Sounds like a South Park episode I saw once…