We are almost to the end of the year! Which, as a photographer, means I get to look back through all my photos of the year and pick out all my favorite ones. Since this was the first year I have really delved into photography, getting my first real cameras and starting out with my favorite subjects, I have decided to create a series of seasonal photos to share from my home town in beautiful northwest Montana. My primary focus has been on basically anything in nature, so I spent a lot of time outdoors walking, hiking and exploring.
I feel like I am especially blessed to live in such a beautiful part of the country. I have always been a nature lover and finding opportunities for seeing nature through the lens has been an especially gratifying and therapeutic experience for me.
We live about 9 miles out of town, out in the country where it is quiet and peaceful. So there’s many opportunities for me right where I live with the abundance of wildlife, hiking trails and mountains. I also have a large garden in the summer so that brings in lots of opportunities for the birds, butterflies and bees you might see in some of my photos.
spring blossoms by riverfront park
One of my favorite places for bird photography is out by “the Lagoon” or the railroad trestle. There are endless opportunities with all the geese and ducks and wildlife that I see on a daily basis in the spring and summer months. There are also a lot birds I didn’t get pictures of like warblers, eagles and different birds of prey like osprey and cooper’s hawk. Spring migration brings in a lot of birds that I wouldn’t normally see, especially the warblers.
I enjoyed watching this red-necked grebe this spring. Along with the Canadian geese families and mallards and wood ducks.
Last spring some of my friends and family took a day to hike up to Leigh Lake. The views were simply stunning and while most of the snow was gone, in some places it was quite snowy yet. It was nice because it was a hot day in May and we were able to cool off by rubbing snow on our hands and faces! 🙂
In Libby, the crabapples and other flowering trees added their own showcase of color.
I think one of my all time favorite things about spring here on the home front is the return of the bluebirds. Hearing that soft, musical twitter as the snow melts and the sun shines warmer just makes my heart happy all over again. I have 5 nest boxes and usually at least two of them get occupied by bluebirds if the swallows don’t chase them out. One pair of western bluebirds in particular always comes back to the same box year after year and I spend as much time as I can to photograph them in their different phases of nesting.
I always enjoy the abundance of wild flowers that appear in the spring. The snow melt and the warm sunshine brings all kinds of beautiful things, including Forget- me- nots and American vetch, bell flowers and wild roses.
At the end of the day, as I watch the sunset over the river and watch the mountains light up with the sun rays and streaks of color across the sky, I thank God that I live in such a beautiful place.