Green blankets valley, including some birds

Far Afield / By Bert Raynes
May 31, 2017
May 31, 2017
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Far Afield — Greg McHuron painted this pair of green-tailed towhees for the book “Birds of Sage and Scree,” with text by Bert Raynes.

Greg McHuron painted this pair of green-tailed towhees for the book “Birds of Sage and Scree,” with text by Bert Raynes.

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Green has somehow taken dominance on the floor of Jackson Hole, where a few short weeks ago everything was white. Folks who pay attention to the green now observe that the first spring green has begun to switch to a more mature green. Keep looking at the green before it disappears into the summer background.

Some of the winged creatures that live in the sagebrush are reappearing. A green-tailed towhee was spotted last weekend in the Gros Ventre Campground in Grand Teton National Park. Johanna Love said “a bird that sounded like a cat” hopped and ran around her campsite. Here are some relevant words I wrote for the 2010 book “Birds of Sage and Scree,” with paintings of 27 species by the talented Greg McHuron.

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Bert Raynes writes weekly on whatever suits his fancy with a dash of news on nature and its m

any ways. Contact him via columnists@jhnewsandguide.com.

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