Matthew Singer

Month: March 2011

  • Potlatch River



    Potlatch River, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer.

    There is a Forest Service hiking trail about 3 miles due north of our house, though it’s about 7 miles to drive there. Still, it’s close for those after-work getaways. The trail is a ~5mi. loop along the Potlatch River that takes you along the river and then up to the “rim” of the canyon. The first half mile or so is paved, but it then becomes a regular old trail through the woods. There are interpretive markers along the entire length.

    I have been down on the trail several times, but yesterday was the first time I decided to do the entire loop. It turns out that while we have no snow left at the house, there is still plenty on the ground out there and what should have taken 2 hours to complete ended up taking a good chunk of my day (and energy!). I actually hiked the loop backward going up to the top first and coming back along the river. Had I gone the other direction, I may not have hiked the loop at all. The snow along the river was still 2+ feet deep and not packed down very well. Every other step or so, I’d sink down to my knees, and the dogs weren’t having an easier time.

    Still, despite the difficulty with the snow, this trail seems promising. It traverses through a diversity of habitats and promises to offer good wildlife. I came across the scat of deer, elk, and moose, but did not see any. It could be the combination of my timing (mid-day) and the fact that I had the dogs with me. I saw and heard tons of birds, but without binoculars, I couldn’t identify all of them. I heard Pileated woodpeckers and came across another unidentified woodpecker. There were chickadees galore, and a wren that flew across the trail. We spooked several grouse and saw a turkey in the big meadow by the river. And on the river, I caught a pair of Common merganser.

    The trail takes you through a variety of habitats including new forest, thinned/open forest, mature forest, river, meadow, upland, lowland. The best surprise was a clearing with a scenic overlook on top of the canyon (pictured above). The view looks down upon the river, across a swatch of forest and out to some higher peaks off in the distance. Despite being so close to farm and logging lands, the trail feels like it’s secluded in its own patch of wilderness.

    I think when the snow melts, the trail will be a bit more fun to explore and revisit. It’s nice to have something like this so close to home.

  • The Birds at our Feeder

    We get lots of birds in our trees in the front yard. This could be contributed to the source of food we are supplying to them. The list of winter birds is less than the summer residents. For example, I haven’t seen a bluebird in months, and most of the woodpeckers have left the yard too. And of course, the hummingbirds have gone since they don’t have the proper gear to tolerate the cold. But even with the few remaining species, watching the feeders has been a delight.

    In Idaho, we have the possibility to see four different kinds of Chickadees. I have seen three of them at my feeder. The fourth can be found at higher elevations in the sub-alpine zone. The Black-capped chickadee is our most common and was our regular visitor in back in the northeast as well. But one day, I noticed a chickadee that didn’t quite look right. It had a stripe across its eye and less black on its chin. Turns out I was looking at a Mountain chickadee, and since my discovery, they have been around every day. One day last week, I saw what looked like a Black-capped with a brown back. Turns out, it was a Chestnut-backed chickadee. I only saw them the one day, during a cold snap, and they haven’t been back since. I’m hoping they’re secretly still around, but I have a feeling they prefer a more wooded environment than the other species and they were only here for a visit.

    The other excitement on the feeder ar the Evening grossbeak. These dark birds have areas of brilliant yellow and a clean white patch on their wings. They are gorgeous, and they are also a dominant species. They don’t play well with others. We also have them in great numbers. I first discovered the grossbeaks in late Fall last year, and there were only one or two of them. Then they brought the crowd. Today, we had at least 30 of them eating the food, and when they’re on the feeder, no other birds are around. So they’re not the nicest of birds, but it is nice to have something colorful to look at, especially since we don’t have Cardinals out here.

    Black-capped chickadee
    Black-capped Chickadee
    Mountain Chickadee
    Mountain Chickadee
    Evening Grossbeak
    Evening Grossbeak

  • I wish I had my Camera with me

    One of the properties of Moscow is a wet winter and spring. We’re close enough to the coast to get the rainy weather patterns, yet far enough inland to incur the effects of the Cascades rain shadow. Though I suppose being at the foothills of the next major mountain divide, it’s only natural for the moisture to build up and then drop before passing into Montana. The rain here is more of a constant drizzle than the short, hard rains we’d get in the summer in the Appalachians. The drizzle will last all day. It’s the sort of grey rain that feels right if you’re sitting at home in front of the fire place napping all afternoon while watching movies. Unfortunately, that’s not a feasible option five days out of the week.

    The surprising property of these rains is that they almost always end before sundown. Often enough, I’ve walked out of school to find the sun shining on the western horizon. The after-storm glow is magnificent. It illuminates the tall, white silos of the grainery in town with the dark purple clouds in the background. It paints Moscow Mountain in a golden glow. Moscow Mountain, by the way, has an abrupt white cap, a specific elevation where the precipitation remained snow and stuck to the trees. The overall warmth in color tones ease the cold, wet day, a perfect blend of color and contrast. It is this point where I kick myself for not thinking ahead.

    I wish I had my camera.

  • Snowstorm



    Snowstorm, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer.

    After last week’s post about the snowstorm that welcomed us in to March, I took a few photos of the snow banks to illustrate how much we had. So here’s one of those photos, from Tuesdsay, March 1.

    Now, to be fair, the total snowfall over the few days was anywhere between a foot and a foot and a half. What you see out the window is the snow that piled up as the accumulation from the roof slid off. But even previous storms that dropped a foot of snow or more did not create this big of a pile beside the house.

    Ironically, a week later, you’d have no idea that this volume of snow was dumped on us so recently.

  • A Walk Around the Yard

     

    Spud Hill and my back yard 

    When you live somewhere long enough and see the same scenery day after day, you sort of become numb to it. It no longer thrills you the way it did when you first moved in. That’s sort of how I feel. Don’t get me wrong, I love my house and its location, but it feels like I could have better scenery out my window living somewhere else. The scenery here is never actually dull. I’ve got a great view of Spud Hill, Deary’s local “mountain” that stands over 1000 feet above the town, and most evenings, we get great light that shines on the barn and the property. But as great as everything looks, I get into this funk where the view doesn’t seem interesting to photograph. This is certainly not true, it just becomes more difficult to find creative ways to display the scenery around the house.

    The weather cooperated a bit today and I wanted to take advantage by going for a short hike up Spud Hill. It’s been ages since I’ve gotten up on a high overlook and I’m ansy to stand on top of the world. I also really want to get Erin up there to show her our local scenic view. But she didn’t want to go up there today. By the time we were ready to go, it was after 4:00, still sunny and warm, but that would change quickly. I would have still gone up to catch sunset. But the final winning argument she made was the snow. Although it had compacted and melted from the high temperatures and rain the past few days, it was still deep enough to make hiking a challenge. So instead, she took out her skis and I got out my snowshoes and we made a loop around the field behind our house. It was a drastically shorter hike, but the point was to get out, enjoy the nice weather, and give the dogs some exercise.

    Snowmelt CreekI brought my camera with the intent of capturing the scenery that is essentially our back yard. Just beyond our property boundary is a nice view toward Spud Hill (pictured above), which was looking quite nice in the late afternoon light. Then we headed down hill where a seasonal creek was flowing due to the snow melt (left). We crossed the creek, headed up the opposite bank and had a peak in the woods. On the other side of the trees, we have neighbors that live in a neat looking round house. It’s two stories with a dome roof and what looks to be a little observation tower on top. One of these days, we’ll have to go over there and meet the neighbors just to see what the house looks like inside.

    We walked along the tree line for a bit before heading back down to cross the creek, this time where a snow bridge had formed making an easier path to cross. Erin enjoyed it enough to ski up the other side, turn around and ski back down the hill and up the side we came down originally. She was especially amused by Shadow’s need to run along side her. After taking a tumble on the return run, we called it quits and headed back home.

    I have been back this way before, but on this walk, I realized just how big these hills are. The Palouse is full of huge rolling hills that look like they’d be great for sledding. But we actually have some great sled hills right behind the house. If we get any more winter storms, I’ve got to have people over for some fun in the snow. Although the current weather trends project spring-like weather in the near future, we’re not clear of winter yet.

  • Happy March

    Wow, it’s March already. Yesterday, it began to snow. Let’s back up, all of last week, it snowed. We may have gotten a good combined foot of fresh, fluffy powder. We got a bit of a break over the weekend. Sunday it snowed a bit, but the accumulation wasn’t siginificant. But yesterday, it began to snow. In the course of the day, I probably blew 8 inches off the driveway, and the snow wouldn’t let up.

    This morning, I woke up to find that all my hard work of keeping the driveway clear was erased with potentially another 6-8 + inches of snow. And it’s still falling. There are drifts from the snow falling off the roof that maybe reach 4 feet. The temperatures have warmed up a bit. Friday night’s low hit -10 in Moscow with a high of about 15. Since the snow returned, the highs have actually been above freezing, which is making this snow very wet and heavy.

    All of this, I don’t really mind. Now that we have a snow blower, I’m not getting stuck on the driveway, and it’s about time to see winter return. But the forecast shows rising temperatures through the week, and the snow is to become rain. So we have a nice fresh and deep blanket turning this place into a winter wonderland, and by the weekend it’s going to be on the retreat. I  really wish the snow would stick around long enough to take advantage of. On the positive side, the ski areas are getting feet of fresh powder each day, and they should be retaining the snow as it warms up down here. So pherpahs I will get at least one more ski trip in before the snow wanes for good.

    Happy March.