Author: skip

Happy Valley in Macro

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by Skip Via
skip@westvalleynaturalists.org

This article has two purposes: to illustrate my July 2022 newsletter post about macro photography and to highlight one of the multitude of opportunities we have here in the valley to view nature’s wonders.

All of the photos in this post were taken during and just after a light rain in Happy Valley (see Locations) on June 21, 2022. For the photographically inclined, I was using the Halide app on an iPhone 12 Pro for the macro shots. Aside from cropping some shots, no additional editing or filters were used. What you see is exactly what came out of the camera. Please notice the minute detail that can be captured with macro photography–the raindrops on the mariposa lilies, the feathered edges of the tailed-blue butterfly’s wings, the fuzzy leaves and stem of the cinquefoil, the backlighting on the forget-me-nots, etc. It’s a whole new world down there at the macro level. Also notice that the backgrounds of most shots are blurred. This is called the “bokeh effect” and it’s a natural function of macro photography, which uses a shallow depth of field. It does make for some dramatic photos, calling attention to your subject matter.

Click on any image to enlarge it.

Purple vetch
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Early Bloomers

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by Skip Via
skip@westvalleynaturalists.org

Despite our fits-and-starts beginning to spring here in the valley, it looks like we’re in for another glorious season of wildflowers. I spent last week looking for emerging blossoms and this photo essay is reflective of what I encountered. It’s just another reminder of the beauty and complexity that lies beneath our feet in these parts.

All photos were taken in and around West Valley. Pairs of images were shot at the same location on the same day.

BB-sized kinnikinnick blossoms
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West Valley Pioneers: Frank and Ida Stiles

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by Jeanine Buettner
nammy@montanasky.com

My great grandparents Frank and Ida Stiles moved to Kalispell in 1901, from Corona, South Dakota where Frank was a farmer, school teacher and a member of the House of Representatives. They packed everything they owned including farm machinery into a boxcar and made their way to the Flathead Valley, bringing with them their four children, my grandfather T. Milton being the youngest.  

Frank and Ida Stiles
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Falcon Quest

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by Skip Via and Pat Jaquith
skip@westvalleynaturalists.org   pat@westvalleynaturalists.org

Click on an image to enlarge it.

There are five species of falcons that live in North America, and West Valley plays host to all of them at some point in the year. If you’re observant (and quick, as falcons tend to spook easily), you may be fortunate enough to see them all.

Female merlin. Photo by Skip Via.
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West Valley Pioneer: Walter Jaquette

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by Jeanine Buettner
nammy@montanasky.com

Walter Parke Jaquette was one of the Flathead’s early pioneers. He was born October 16, 1863 in Oxford, Pennsylvania to Peter and Eleanor Jaquette.

Walter was from a very prominent Pennsylvania family. His great great grandfather Maj. Peter Jaquette served under Washington during the Revolutionary war. His great grandfather Capt. Peter Jaquette organized and furnished a great extent of company horses for the military. His father Peter L. Jaquette was a veteran of the Civil War and was at the White House when President Lincoln was assassinated.

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Seen Fluttering By Part 1

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Pat Jaquith
pat@westvalleynaturalists.org
Skip Via
skip@westvalleynaturalists.org

As much as we enjoy the beauty and variety of northwestern Montana winters, we do sometimes find ourselves thinking about the colorful visual landscapes of summer. And few elements accentuate that beauty as elegantly as our local butterfly population does.

This page is Part 1 of a series of three pages:
Seen Fluttering By 1 (Fritillaries, Tortoiseshells, Checkerspots, Commas and Swallowtails)
Seen Fluttering By 2 (Skippers, Sulphurs, Julias, Admirals, Crescents and Blues)
Seen Fluttering By 3 (Miscellaneous)

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Hoarfrost or Rime Ice?

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by Skip Via
skip@westvalleynaturalists.org

Editor’s Note: A followup to this article, with more accurate information on how different varieties of frost form, is available here: Hoar Frost, Rime Ice, or Something Else?

A few days ago, driving around West Valley, I remarked on the beauty of the hoarfrost that had coated some Ponderosa pines along the roadside. That got me wondering about the nature of hoarfrost and how it forms. It turns out that some of what I have been calling hoarfrost is, in fact, not hoarfrost, but rather rime ice. The difference is not important for the casual observer, but it can be important meteorologically.

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Flora, Fauna, or…?

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by Skip Via
skip@westvalleynaturalists.org

In casual conversation about the living inhabitants of an ecosystem, especially among those of us who took high school biology in the 60s, we generally rely on “flora” and “fauna” to categorize and conceptualize the organisms living there. If something’s not a mineral, then it must be a plant or an animal.

But it could be something else.

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A Few Dragonflies

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by Skip Via
skip@westvalleynaturalists.org

Ruby meadowhawk taking a break.

Dragonflies have interested me since my early childhood (and still ongoing) fascination with dinosaurs. So many of the illustrations in my myriad of dino books included swampy scenes with huge dragonflies swarming around, looking like fighter planes or helicopters. It wasn’t until many years later that I learned that the insects in those illustrations weren’t really dragonflies as we know them, but very distant ancestors.

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A Season of Bees

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by Skip Via
skip@westvalleynaturalists.org

Tris Hoffman’s wonderful article A Very Special Bee (published here earlier this spring) prompted me to finally get serious about being able to identify a few of the plethora of native bee species we see here in the West Valley area of the Flathead. It’s an ongoing process, but with Tris’ help, iNaturalist, and other local and online sources, I’ve been able to catalog the following species this summer. It’s the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, given that Montana has more than 20 species of native bumblebees (not to mention the native sweat bees, miner bees, leaf cutter bees, mason bees, and others) but it’s a start.

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