Happy New Year!…Here’s to 2024🍾🥂😉

Photographs from December 19th 2023 in South Eastern Montana...the sun is up and we are out for an adventure the week before Christmas 🎄

We see a lot of wildlife on our journey to the Badlands....this was a group of 20 Mule deer that crossed the county road in front of us...this mother doe was looking out for the little ones

Prairie Dog town

It's not easy to get pics of the Prairie Dogs they run and dive into their mounds as we drive closer

Speaking of not easy to get pics...minutes after I mentioned this friend of ours...there he is in the distance

This Golden Eagle sits atop this butte most days that we've driven by for the past 20 years.

Our biggest past time driving is spotting Bald and Golden Eagles on our journeys. On a typical morning or afternoon we count about 7. Our record is 11!

My next blog that will be from December 21st adventures... I was able to capture stunning photographs of a pair of eagles just over Powderville bridge on a high rock point. We commonly see one of them perched on high looking over the river.

American Pronghorn grazing

And that day we also had to stop and let a nye of pheasants cross the road. I had my camera on the floorboard and wasn't ready for the shot.

This is the picture is from the next day out, (two days later) the same grouping of pheasants were crossing the road again.

If you look closely in the distance, you'll see his buddies are getting ready to pop up and run across the road.

Another grouping of Mule deer running across our path

Are we there yet?🦖

Let's get hiking and check out the December landscape

Another gorgeous day in the Badlands

Dinosaur bone fragments

While we stopped to further check out this area with dinosaur fragments laying everywhere.....I took a picture of us

Back to hiking 🦖

We're off to another location

Erik wanted to take me to this neat looking butte formation that I had never hiked before

It's high up ...almost there

This amazing looking butte was in the middle of grassland and on one side in the distance a large row of tall trees (not pictured).

I have many amazing short videos from mountain tops to share with all of you. I'll try and go back and add video footage. Or add to future blogs.

Erik insists on taking my pic in this beautiful place he brought me to🥰

Back to hiking and checking out the last row of hills...it's in the distance

Ahead in the distance is the rest of our day's work

The set of hills in the distance is for another day....the last small butte in the row was amazing!!!!

On the North East side (snowy) there were large bone pieces scattered everywhere. I was looking on the highest plateau then one drop down from the top I started looking down a draw and found a Thescelosaurus vertebrae. Erik continued on to the end of this butte on the level above and found a beautiful Chirostenotes toebone and associated claw!!!!

Sorry, I was caught up in the moment of discovery and we were having a blast and I didn't take any pictures!

Here are a few pictures of that beautiful surface find.

I also found this claw tip partial

Our Adventure is done for this gorgeous winter day

awww...it's time to leave...the sun goes down fast in winter but no worries I'll get the gate....new adventures await!🦖

Hi buddy

On our way home guess who we saw again. Erik stopped and I got out and took these photos. I talked to the coyote as I stood at the hood capturing these great shots.

Happy New Year! ❄️