Starlings

North of Powell. August, 2011

Sunrise during fire season

The west end of Polecat Bench. August, 2011

Sunset during fire season

Sunset over the Beartooths. Smoke plume is from a fire near Clark. August, 2011.

Mourning Doves

North of Powell. August, 2011.

Sunflowers

North of Powell. August, 2011.

Leafcutter bee "hive"

Leafcutter bee hive. North of Powell. June, 2011.

The rectangular shelters located in the occasional alfalfa field around Powell house leaf cutter bees. Smaller than honey bees, leafcutter bees are used to pollinate seed alfalfa crops. Leafcutter bees are not social; they don't gather in hives, although female leafcutter bees will nest close to one another. The shelters house boards which have been grooved and fitted together to form small "tunnels" where the bees lay their eggs. The bees then pack the eggs in with leaf fragments they have chewed off. The boards are protected during the winter, and the next season the eggs hatch out and the cycle starts again.

Plains, planes, and trains

Early morning, just south of Frannie. August, 2011.

Clarks Fork Canyon through Sunlight Basin

From Chief Joseph scenic highway. July, 2011.

Clarks Fork River

Leaving the canyon. July, 2011.

Mouth of the Clarks Fork Canyon

Northern face. July, 2011.

Mouth of the Clarks Fork Canyon

Southern face. July, 2011

Mouth of the Clarks Fork Canyon

July 2011.

(Note: it pains me to leave the apostrophe out of Clarks, but that is the official spelling of the river. It is impossible to capture the scale or the variety of the canyon with a few photos, but I'm going to run a brief series of photos on the canyon over the next few days.)

Three uneasy antelope

Polecat Bench. July, 2011.

Wide open spaces

Southern Montana, northern Wyoming. July, 2011.