Northern Harrier

I watched a Northern Harrier hunt near the banks of Silver Creek a few days ago. This particular Harrier came back to the same spot over and over again. It was on the serious hunt. I hid near a small willow and waited for it to pass over. While I am sure it noticed me I don't know that it was bothered by my presence. It was getting attacked in the air by 4 or 5 territorial Red-Winged Blackbirds. I am sure this Harrier was flying right over a few nests but it could not locate any of them under my watch. The Red-Winged Blackbirds, despite their diminutive size, fearlessly and/or dutifully, did everything they could to disturb the hunting raptor. The smaller Blackbirds definitely bothered the Harrier.

Northern Harrier. Picabo, Idaho

Northern Harrier making a little sound.​

Harrier versus Red-Winged Blackbirds.​ The Red-Winged Blackbirds were able to fend off--during my watch at least--this much larger raptor.

Camera: Nikon D3s

Lens: Nikon ƒ2.8 afs 80-200 ​

Leica D-LUX 4

An older--circa 2008--Leica point and shoot arrived in the mail today and I have to say I was super excited to play with it. Prior to this I really never owned a point and shoot camera. I do use an iPhone camera which is a different toy altogether.​ I have the ability to shoot RAW and use manual modes which, outside of the sensor size and iso capabilities, is all I really need in a small camera. Outside of the RAW capability and the manual modes, I love being able to shoot in the 16:9 format. Here is an image taken today with it. Shot in RAW mode and recorded in 16:9 format. Converted to B & W in Photoshop CS6.

Quigley Canyon. Hailey, Idaho

Camera: Leica D-LUX 4

Clouser Minnow

I have been tying a bunch of flies for an upcoming roosterfish trip to the East Cape in Baja.​ I really do not want to spend my time down there tying so I am trying to get it all but the unknown surprise or two finished in advance. I have been using an epoxy called, clear cure goo. It's the best stuff I have ever used and all it takes to harden is a UV light. I have noticed some pretty cool visual results every time I have hit a fly with the light. Whites turn to blue and anything like chartreuse is rendered ultra neon. So..., I just took my vice with a white over chartreuse clouser in it outside in the dark. I hit the fly with my UV light and took a few images with a 105 macro lens. Below is the result.

White over chartreuse 2/0 Clouser Minnow with UV light bouncing off of it. Yes, it's white on top and the UV light turned the white to blue.​

Nikon D3s & Nikon 105 ƒ2.8 Micro lens

False Hellebore

Our flowers and plants here seem to be at least two to three weeks ahead of schedule. Arrowleaf balsamroot, larkspur, phlox, bluebells, etc are blanketing many of our hills at low to mid-elevations. I would think many of our early summer hatches on the Big Wood River & Silver Creek should come off a little early as well. Brown drakes on Silver Creek is our first big hatch and hopefully it happens after opening day which is on Saturday, May 25th. Callabaetis and a few pmd's have been coming off in the preserve section on Silver Creek and fish have been consistently up and eating. Now is the time to canoe Silver Creek prior to fishing season opening.

False Hellebore. Near Hailey, Idaho

Nikon D3s & Nikon 35 ƒ2 lens

A couple of videos to check out...

These two videos are completely different and both amazing in their own way. The first is a video on Kimi Werner titled, "Variables." ​I first saw the image of Kimi and a great white in a recent Patagonia catalogue and was blown away by her sense of calm and by the image in and of itself. The still image was taken by Chris Wade.

The second video is from MediaStorm​ which is a site that is worth spending a lot of time on. If you go to their site be sure to check out the Infinity Awards presented by the International Center for Photography. In any event, watch the video embedded below on Afghanistan by Seamus Murphy. His photographic work is extraordinary and it is really a fascinating set of videos on his multiple trips to Afghanistan beginning in 1996. Here's the link to the VIDEO.

Rising Rainbow Trout

Last November I was quite obsessed with getting images of rising fish at Silver Creek. The baetis thing lasted well into the month and there were plenty of beautiful days and many of which were perfect for baetis.​ Instead of carrying a rod I packed my camera. I am sure a few fisherman wondered what in the world I was doing. Below is an image that slipped through the cracks.

A rainbow after a rise. Silver Creek, Idaho. November 2012.​

Nikon D3s & Nikon 80-200 ƒ2.8 afs lens

Silver Creek Preserve

We are in a bit of a thunderstorm cycle at the moment despite the fact it has not rained much. Trees are budding and flowers like bluebells and phlox are popping out at lower elevations.​ Thunderheads carry on and the wind blows on many days. The image below was taken on Sunday evening of the Silver Creek Preserve. What you cannot tell is how hard the wind was blowing...

Silver Creek Preserve Oxbow. Spring

Nikon D3s & Nikon 14-24 ƒ2.8 lens

Early Spring Near Silver Creek, Idaho

Go south of Sun Valley, Idaho and pass through Hailey and Bellevue and take note after passing through Gannett of the hints of green popping up. Some fields are still being disced and dust from the tractors stays suspended like silt in nearby Silver Creek after a moose or fisherman has waded through the Creek.

Spring Landscape. Hills behind the Silver Creek Preserve.​

Discing a field near the Silver Creek Preserve, Idaho.​

Nikon D3s & Nikon 50 ƒ1.8 lens

"Fly Fishing The Lost River For Blind Albino Trout"

Not too long ago I guided a great group of men for about a week and at one point, after a few cocktails, one of them started discussing his thoughts on the blind albino trout hidden well below the surface of the Big Lost River. This wonderful fiction stayed in the mind of Michael Hoover and he converted his thoughts to a poem he wrote a few days later:

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​Fly Fishing The Lost River For The Blind Albino Trout

On Midsummer's night under a moonless, starless sky

Go to the place of the Lost River's rise,​

And there, to the 10x leader on your one weight line

Tie a tippet, a thirty inch strand of the fine

Blond hair of the girl who broke your heart in 1965.​

Tie on a fly, one 28 black no-see-um, of course.​

Dress it only with the desiccant of your age.​

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Make a perfect cast to the rocky ledge

The edge between death and resurrection,​

And let that spirit float weightlessly down on the tiny eddy

Where loss meets redemption.​

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Mend the line.​

Close your eyes.​

Be the fly.​

​--Michael Hoover

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Sun Valley Fly Fishing

Here's an image of a steelhead being released into the cold and clear Salmon River about 60 miles north of Sun Valley, Idaho. It is the longest anadromous steelhead run, over 900 miles in length, in the continental United States. ​The Upper Salmon River also hosts a summer Chinook and Sockeye run. The steelhead start to show up in the upper Salmon River some time in mid to late March and the season stays open through April and closes May 1st of each year.

A Salmon River, Idaho steelhead gets released.​

Salmon River, Idaho

Cold water and the least crowded steelhead run in some time on the Salmon River, Idaho.​

A typical cold spring day on the Salmon River, Idaho

A small Bull Trout. Salmon River, Idaho

Salmon River Bull Trout

Here's an image of a bull trout caught on the Salmon River yesterday. These fish will be making a living eating the tens of thousands of steelhead smolt in the river at the moment.​

Bull Trout (salvelinus confluentus confluentus). Salmon River, Idaho

A loaded rod readies to fire forward. Salmon River, Idaho

A Salmon River, Idaho steelhead is released.​

Idaho Spring Landscape

In the spring the clouds take on a different dimension.​ They carry thunder and the wind is warmer and the brittle and dessicated tall grasses from last summer rattle and farmers push on in their fields discing the soil for this year's crop and dust follows the tractor like a lonely smoke plume slowly dissolving in the palpable spring air and raptors perched on fence posts seem to have more energy and fly like well fed predators and farmers and ranch hands stop for a moment while having coffee with dirt stained hands and notice the green perennial alfalfa popping up and maybe there's a grin and an optimistic thought and then that fades to the inevitable thought of now.

Center Pivot, Power Lines & Spring Thunder Head. Picabo Hills, Idaho

Picabo Hills & Spring Squall