Linda's Signal

As I drive further north, heading for Thompson, Manitoba, I am noticing a dense, heavy, gray overcast to the north. Reminds me of Seattle in the winter, famous for its overcast. I left the sun behind around The Pas, Manitoba.

If this is typical for Hudson Bay right now, I can see why her solar cell is not charging.

Moving Into the Boreal Forest

This morning, I left the open plains of Saskatchewan after sleeping NE of Regina. As I drove north, small clusters of trees started appearing, mostly Aspen. As the day wore on, the trees increased in extent and I watched the species compositon change. The Birch forest came next (and there is nothing so striking as two jet black Ravens sitting together in a white birch tree covered with golden leaves). The trees then transitioned into the standard dense continuous boreal forest.

(Birch Trees in the Fall)

On the plains, I observed thousands of Snow Geese in the fields and flying south overhead. There are hundreds of small ponds, streams and lakes here, most still holding huge numbers of waterfowl (including Redhead Ducks, now a rarity in my area). The temperature is cool in the morning and almost hot in the afternoon. In terms of weather, there is certainly no obvious need to vacate the area as yet. It is quite pleasant here at this time of year, although there are constant reminders that winter is approaching.

I saw lots of road-killed raccoons, two porcupines, several skunks an even a mink dead along the roadsides. Strange way to get to know the local mammals. As I moved into the boreal forest areas, Red-tails showed up everywhere. Remarkably, I have seen only one American Kestrel on the entire trip. Most have probably moved south by now.

These deep peregrines seem to ride the end of the seasons. They left Chile late, arrived in the Arctic late, and have left the Arctic late. Several peregrine people have noted their late depatures. Many of us generally thought they were out of the Arctic in late August or early September. Wrong on that one. These tagged falcons continue to teach us.

Seven Roosting in Flin Flon, Manitoba

This morning Don McCall alerted me that Seven had roosted at these coordinates last night. Since I was so close, I drove up to Flin Flon, a full-blown mining town (zinc and gold) situated on the Manitoba/Saskatchewan border. I arrived at nightfall and triangulated his position to a lakeshore SE of town. We probably passed close by each other today. I'll go check out the area in the morning. Nice coincidence that he was passing through here at the same time. The area is dense boreal forest (birch, spruce) interspersed with many small complex finger lakes. It is apparently quite a draw for campers, fishermen and canoeing. I can see why. Quite beautiful.

There were groups of literally hundreds of Horned Larks foraging along the gravel edges of the highway today. Several Gray Jays too. Also the lakes to the south are HUGE, more like inland fresh-water seas, and they provide a perfect hunting opportunity for peregrines. They love to catch migrant birds over large bodies of water. No place to hide. I can now understand why Linda spent alot of time there last fall.

(Highway north into Manitoba)

Heading towards the Rendezvous

We are going to try out something new in this part of the weblog. I am going to use this section to describe the human experiences on the trip south, including routes, impressions, travel info and the like. I'll also be adding some photos taken along the way.

The falcon information will be included in the other blogs as usual.

After several weeks of preparation, I left home on Tuesday, 25 September, and headed down to Seattle and then over the Cascade Mountains. The fall colors were well advanced at Snoqualmie Pass, the 3,000' summit and the temperatures are starting to get colder. From there I continued on to the Columbia River where a full moon came up over the Columbia Basin. A great start to the trip, especially when framed against the Wild Horse Monument above the gorge.
My goal is to travel east and intercept Linda, probably in Manitoba, as she travels down from the north.

That night, I arrived at Mark Prostor's house in a Yellow Pine forest near Cheney, WA, and stayed the night there.

The next day, Wednesday, we put all of the final touches on Lula Belle, the project truck (satellite receiving antenna, tailgate seals, latch, installing the inverter for AC power, tire up on the rack, etc) and made our final preparations. Mark is amazing in his abilities and got everything done perfectly. And thanks to Mark's wife, Andrea, for her patience and hospitality.

(Mark, Bud & Lula Belle)

On Thursday, I headed east and passed through Spokane where a Merlin did a stoop directly in front of the truck. Drove on through Idaho, passing Lake Couer D'Alene and eventually drove into Montana. At St. Regis, I turned north towards Flathead Lake to visit Denver Holt of the Owl Institue in Charlo . During the next several hours, I drove through some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen, the Lolo National Forest, the Clark Fork River, the Flathead River, The National Bison Range and the Mission Mountain range. Gorgeous mountains with a light first coating of snow, reminding me of the approaching winter, Aspen trees turning a light lime green against the darker conifers. All the things that Montana is famous for. Continued on up to Kalispell, into Glacier National Park and camped on a logging road outside of East Glacier.

Early to bed after sundown, I awoke next morning at 0400 and headed out for the east, crossing the continental divide in the dark. There is something deeply satisfying about driving alone at night with a near full moon into an area where you have never been.
Driving downhill through the foothills, I suddenly came into a beautiful golden lit basin (mercury vapor lights), the Blackfoot town of Browning where I fueled up. At home, I drive a Toyota Prius and it is difficult to go from my usual 54 mpg down to 13 mpg. Continued east until the town of Havre, where I headed north, went through both US and Canadian customs and was finally in Canada (1115). The US Customs agent had just returned to work after a terrible session with West Nile Virus that laid him low for two weeks. His descriptions were vivid and frightening. Delirium, not knowing who he was, inability to stand, etc. First person I have met that had it.
Moved into Saskatchewan and immediately started seeing lots of Ferruginous Hawks along with ground squirrels. I have also been seeing several Coyotes and my favorite, herds of Pronghorn Antelope, always a thrill to someone who does not live here.


Drove through many, many miles of wheat country with low rolling hills and small rivers, many dry at this time of year.

Finally reached Moose Jaw as the sun was going down and hooked into a restaurant with a WIFI hotspot so I can send this on. After dinner, will drive out and look for a spot to sleep.