Branding Day

Saturday March 6 2010

A local Owyhee rancher had a branding day. Friends, relatives, neighbors, and neighboring cowboys showed up to help.


Watching the herd.


A sea of cows.


Getting the kinks out of the rope.


Separating the mamas.


Heating the fire for the branding irons.


Branding irons in the fire.


Git along little dogie


Git along I say.


Little dogie.


Spurs.


Comfort before.


Got the first one.


Ropes.


The adversary.


Got a hind leg.


Unceremoniously (and efficiently) hog tied and knelt on, branded, ear tagged, injected, wormed, castrated.


Hot branded.


Comfort after.


Next up.


This man was determined to be the header without a rope.



He got him!


Holding one.


Teamwork.


Dally.


Backhand.

The February Eagle Report

Friday March 5 2010

The golden eagle is not on the federal list of endangered species, but some states list it as endangered, some list it as a candidate, and some state and federal agencies are greatly concerned about golden eagle populations. Here in the Snake River Birds of Prey Conservation Area, the golden eagle population has declined by 30% since 1970.

Retired bird biologist (and endurance rider) Karen S helps monitor golden eagle nests in this area, and I've been out with her to a couple of nests the last couple of years, by vehicle, on foot, and on horseback.

We drove out Tuesday to check on a couple of nests.

First, the new golden eagles on Bates Creek.

They are not nesting yet, though I see them almost every day that I drive down the road past the nest. At least one of them likes to sit on his pointed cone on the distant rim, from where he has his eagle eye view of the nest. Sometimes I'll see them both soaring over the creek, and occasionally one will be sitting in a tree near the cottonwood tree with the big nest in it. One day last week I saw one of them standing on the nest, and a neighbor saw one of them fly to the nest with sticks. They are still giving indications that they will use that nest, but no egg-laying or sitting on the nest so far.

I worry about the proximity of the nest to the road, and the traffic on the road. Mind you, it's a dirt road, and the traffic might be 1 car twice a day, or at the most 4 cars twice a day, but that still might be too much for them. Anytime I slow down when one or both are in or near the nest tree, they fly away. Perhaps they are waiting for the leaves to come out on the cottonwood tree to shield them, in which case humans won't even know they are there, and if we do know, we won't be able to see them.

Or maybe they won't lay eggs at all. So far, all we really know is that they are still interested in that particular tree nest on the creek. We'll know soon one way or the other.

Second, the Browns Creek canyon site I discovered on my hike. Karen hadn't known about it, and thought perhaps it was a previously unrecorded site. Moreover, when we went there, Karen spotted the eagle on one of the nests

I'd only glanced at on my first visit, because I'd been concentrating on the largest of the 6 nests on that cliff, the one that looked like it was going to be used.


In fact the eagle I'd seen fly off had probably been the mate perching nearby, and the other eagle had likely been on the nest and I'd just not seen her (or him - both male and female eagles will incubate the eggs). Today she seemed not the least concerned with our presence, hardly deigning to watch us.

She'd picked ultimately the best positioned nest; this one got morning sun, but not the blazing afternoon sun. Heat is a main killer of young eagles in cliff nests; that won't happen here with this nest. It's a fair sized nest, built up at least 3 feet over the years, partially tucked in a crevice, and you can see the fresh (brown) sticks and grasses on it.

Third, Castle Butte.

Karen was unable to check this site last year, but the previous year, a pair had laid eggs and incubated them, but ultimately failed. The three nests on this cliff face are directly in the sun all day - a tough obstacle in a hot summer. Karen put her scope on the most likely nest - one which had whitewash, and fresh 'greens' for 'decoration' (or in this case 'browns' - since there isn't much green in the desert right now). It's a sizable nest too, about 3-4' tall.


We soon spotted one eagle soaring over the butte... and after a while saw the second one soaring with it. Likely the nest was unoccupied so far. There's still time for them to lay eggs.

It wasn't a bad golden eagle day: 5 golden eagles, 3 territories, 10 (or so) nests. But only one pair nesting... so far.

(And there are more territories to check soon.)

Spectacular Country

Tuesday March 2 2010

Speed through the Owyhee desert on the highway and all you see is boring rolling desert hills dotted with sagebrush. But get a little closer to the mountains, pick any of the big creeks coming down, and you'll find some spectacular canyons hidden away.


I'd ridden across the Browns Creek drainage in places before - and in fact one day of Steph's multi-day ride often goes this direction, but I've only gotten to do it twice - but I'd never seen these cliffs that I discovered last week, by driving along the ridge between the Browns Creek and Castle Creek drainages. Spread out at the downstream side is the wide Browns Creek drainage

(an old homestead in the distance) that eventually empties into the Snake River ten miles to the northeast. Looking toward the Owyhee mountains, a dramatic, deep, narrow red-walled canyon (with running water now) rises abruptly,

and serpentines about a mile

before ending just as abruptly on the upper end in more rolling hills.

Beyond that another mile or two is another similarly enticing canyon... but I'd save that hike for another day.

In this canyon was a sheer cliff wall that I knew just had to hold a golden eagle nest. As I climbed down closer to the rim of the canyon across from the cliff, I saw whitewash, and as I got even closer... a golden eagle flew away from somewhere in the area of the cliff.

In fact I counted five golden eagle nests on the cliff face (they often have several within their territory, and often rotate nests each year).

I thought that one looked like it might be in use, or was going to be used.

I kept studying the nests and the skies but didn't see any eagles. (I was being watched by a prairie falcon about a hundred yards away, perched on a high rock.) The golden eagles in this area nesting on cliffs should have laid eggs by now, and since I did see an eagle, it was still a possibility there was a nesting pair here. I'd have to bring my bird biologist friend back.

Driving further up the ridge above Browns Creek, if you drop down on the correct road, and take a left at another intersection of another overgrown road, along a seemingly random, minor tributary to Browns Creek, you come across this spectacular sight: an old dam!


An old timer from around here said it was really used as a wild horse trap. I suppose it could have functioned as one back when wild horses roamed this part of the Owyhees; the low end of it is in quite a steep narrow canyon, and could have served to trap a small herd.

The upper end, however, has held water at some point in its existence.

And though there was no water coming down now - and probably hasn't had any steady water coming down for fifty years - back in the old days the water table was much higher and there was a lot more water, and perhaps it did serve as a dam.

It was, in any case, probably a CCC project. The Civilian Conservation Corps was a public work relief program developed by Franklin D Roosevelt during the late 30's to early 40's to provide work for men who were unemployed by the Great Depression, and to help conserve and preserve the nation's natural resources. "C's" crews worked on reforestation (some 3 billion trees were planted), building dams, fire fighting, and forest recreation development. 25,000 Idahoans received jobs and training from 1933-1942.

(I've come across evidence of a CCC camp on Browns Creek in central Idaho, but nothing on the Brown's Creek here in southwest Idaho so far. A trip to the Owyhee County Museum and archives is in order.)

And, in any case, this dam was no little project.

I used to work on trails, and I've built retaining walls a few tiers tall. Even something that small is not the easiest thing to do, when your materials are right at hand. Most often the materials were not right at hand, and we spent a great deal of time searching for rocks and carrying or rolling them to the site we were working on. And of course the rocks usually weren't perfect; you had to shape a lot of them, and hope you didn't break them in the process. (Or your fingers or toes, which also happened upon occasion.)

That this dam is still standing and likely fully functional - in the unlikely event of a hundred-year flood - some 70 years later is a tribute to how well it was built.

This Owyhee corner of Idaho really is spectacular country, full of scenic treasures, and hidden surprises from the past.

The Full Eagle Report will follow.

More photos at of the canyon and dam on This Page.

Serendipity!

Wednesday March 3 2010

I just felt it. It was time to walk outside with my camera. The late afternoon sun had just emerged from behind clouds, and everything - the time, the golden light, the feeling - was just ripe for the herd to appear.

I walked out into the pasture just as they came thundering down from the canyon.

Another Setback for Amigo

Wednesday March 3 2010

Gary Sanderson's horse Amigo, who was impaled by a tree branch on January 17 and who has been fighting courageously for his life since at the University of Tennessee Large Animal Clinic had another serious setback yesterday.

After pulling through several crises over the weeks, Amigo was strong enough to be scheduled for one more surgery to remove one abscess that hasn't gone away with antibiotics.

He collapsed during surgery. "Both lungs collapsed," Gary reported. "they lost him. They were able to get him back and then put him to sleep via IV drugs. He is having an extremely rough time getting through being out cold!" Gary's girlfriend Kara reported Amigo looked the worst he'd looked throughout the whole ordeal.

Gary and Kara seriously discussed euthanizing Amigo, but once again, Amigo pulled through; by evening his bloodwork looked good, he was stabilized, and he was standing on his own.

You can follow Gary and Kara's daily updates on Amigo on Facebook at Amigo - One Amazing Horse!

Quest: Wagon Wheel Homestead

Monday March 1 2010

The Wagon Wheel Homestead on Brown's Creek was our destination today.

We'd approached it from the north side of Brown's Creek one day last year, but we'd come to a locked gate and were only able to look down on it. There are no locked gates on the other side, so we thought we'd try to get there from the south side.

We did our reconnaissance on a map and planted the route firmly in our heads, then lit off southwest toward the Owyhee mountains. Karen recalled some of the way from the June Almosta Bennett Hills endurance ride that used some of this trail.

Close to the mountains we turned southeast

on a 2-track road near the base of them.

The snow had just melted off this road. Horse hooves slipped and sunk in the mud, and we did a lot of walking. We crossed the three big drainages: Little Hart Creek, Hart Creek,
on a 2-track road near the base of them.

and Brown's Creek, (we think we named them correctly - the little ones can have deceptively deep canyons at some places) and several little ones, all of which had varying amounts of running water from snowmelt at this time of year in these mild winter temperatures.
on a 2-track road near the base of them.


We knew we had to turn left after we crossed and climbed out of Brown's Creek (in fact I'd seen a road on the ridge in the distance)... but somehow we missed any turnoff. By the time we'd crossed another couple of drainages, we knew we'd gone way too far, and we were going to end up on Bachman Grade road, a main gravel road that climbs up into and crosses the Owyhees.

But, no matter. It was new scenery, a completely new trail for me, and the horses were getting a good workout in that mud and from the climbing out of all those drainages.
on a 2-track road near the base of them.

Coming back down toward Oreana on Bachman Grade road, we had some long steady miles of trotting. The skies were clear and it was cool and breezy - a perfect winter day for riding.
on a 2-track road near the base of them.


We had to do a bit of bushwhacking on the way back, because a new fence has just been put in across our usual trail back > : (

...but Jose's Homing Compass was working just fine, and he had everything under control.

The horses had worked up a good sweat with the workout and their hairy coats, and by the end of the day I was whooped. I felt like I'd done an endurance ride today.

And come to think of it - we did! We'd made a 25 mile loop. Nice jaunt on a winter day in the Owyhee desert.
on a 2-track road near the base of them.