March 5 started out as a dreary looking day, but I went up to see what was going on around the mountain. Heading up into Lower Sykes, the first thing I saw was a coyote sitting on a hill watching magpies. It looked over at me before focusing its attention back on the birds.
A distance further in, Sitting Bull’s family was on a small hill above a canyon. Having not seen anything further up, I turned back to see the family still out there. Cecelia and the filly were grazing above Sitting Bull, who was keeping watch.
While sitting there watching them, I noticed Sitting Bull’s attention really focused on the hill across a canyon from them. Shortly after that, Starbuck came up over the hill and started down the canyon toward Sitting Bull.
The two met and did some very serious posturing and noise making. This is what you would expect to see with stallion confrontations this time of year; an interaction based largely on posturing to conserve energy and minimize the risk for injury. It’s not uncommon to see this during the warmer months too, probably for similar reasons, though likely not to the same extent.
Almost as fast as it started, the two went their separate ways. Sitting Bull “won” the posturing, meaning Starbuck was the one that left the area.
Because the trip to Lower Sykes had proven to be short, I headed over into the Burnt Timber area. Just as I was getting to where I thought I might see horses, it started to snow pretty hard. About that time, I saw some horses; and I then realized it was Baja’s family. I’d not seen this group since the fall, and so I was excited to see them so low.
The family is looking good, though they are now one member less. The 2005 grulla filly that had been with them was not with them then.
The filly and colt foals are getting big.
Baja’s mare Bacardi is also big in another way – She is looking pretty pregnant.
Leaving the family and moving up further, I saw Starman’s family also. However, by this time it was snowing fairly hard; and so I didn’t get too great of pictures of them.
For a stormy day, it turned out to be pretty eventful with these great sightings.
PryorWild 