Another long day in the car has brought us to Lander! Hooray!  It must have been a fairly dry winter so far out here- as we crested South Pass over the Wind River Range, the road was dry and free from blowing snow, and the lower elevations around Farson showed more sagebrush than snowdrifts. While I know the winter precipitation is important for water levels later in the year, I’ve got to admit that I’m excited not to have a lot of snow to contend with, and it certainly made the last leg of the journey easier- that part of the drive can cause some white knuckles on the steering wheel. The rest of the trip was under clear, bright skies, and not really all that windy. We were all admiring the scenery on the way through. This rest stop in northeastern Utah was pretty spectacular.

Another treat today was finding a flock of Common Redpolls (a small boreal finch) at a rest stop in Wyoming. I hadn’t seen this species in Wyoming before, and had only seen them a handful of times in my life. They are pushing southward this winter- in fact, one was recently in reported in Woodland just north of Davis (and another down in Southern California). Tomorrow we should be venturing up to the field site for the first time. I’ll have my fingers crossed for lots more bird sightings. Of course we want to see big flocks of sage-grouse, but I’ll also be on the lookout for other winter birds. Maybe we’ll be lucky enough to see a Snowy Owl!

Of course, my biggest thrill is always pulling into Lander, dropping some bags into my room at the Pronghorn Lodge, and making that first chilly walk down the street to the Lander Bar for some good food and drink. Great to be back!