Grand Teton’s Killdeer: A Bird of Action

Killdeer

Imagine drifting down the Snake River, with the majestic Grand Tetons looming overhead to the west. Suddenly, a flash of brown streaks across the shoreline with fast, stiff, and intermittent wingbeats, its shrill two-tone call echoing in the air. You’ve just encountered a Killdeer, a fascinating shorebird that thrives in Grand Teton National Park! While…

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Dip! Wade! Swim!

The water ouzel was my father’s favorite bird. Sometimes I think it was his favorite because he liked to say “water ouzel.” Try it, it’s fun! There are five water ouzel varieties throughout the world, and our local ouzel is the American dipper. (Not as much fun to say.) The American dipper is roughly robin-sized…

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Unmistakable Signs of Spring

Oh, the signs of spring. Squadrons of Geese are winging northward, stopping briefly in our valley to rest and recharge before continuing on to their summer roosts in Canada. Flocks of Sandhill Cranes entertain us with their distinctive clacking calls as they return from warm southern states. Pronghorn and Mule Deer make their way into…

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Let it Snow!

Teton Range covered in snow

It’s ski season in Jackson Hole. Many of us here at Barker-Ewing are lucky enough to both work and recreate on the snow-covered slopes that surround us all winter. And that fluffy white snow is solid gold! When spring arrives, the snow transforms into liquid gold as it melts into the Snake River, our summer…

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2020 Float Season is here!

Finally, after a most unpleasant spring, the 2020 Float Season is here! Our crew has spent the last several weeks working on our boats, trailers, and vehicles to make sure everything is ship-shape and ready for action, and scouting the best routes down the Snake River. And at last, Grand Teton National Park is open…

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