Yesterday we took a trip down into Buena Vista, where the weather was a lot warmer and there were different birds! We saw a Yellow Warbler, my first in a while, and a yellow form of a Pine Siskin, along with a Wyoming Ground Squirrel. Before that, however, we saw a Ruby-crowned Kinglet in our driveway. I managed to get a photo that shows the kinglet’s crest, rarely visible. On our way back from Buena Vista, we got quite a surprise. On the road in front of us was a Black Bear! It turned and ran, so I couldn’t get any direct photos of it, but Cedar found some fresh tracks that I got shots of. Two of the photos have my hand in them for comparison. Here they are!
This is a zoomed-in image of the Ruby-crowned Kinglet that was in our yard. You can see the brilliant scarlet crest that offsets the rest of this drab brown bird.
I have already posted photos of Pine Siskins, but in Buena Vista, I found a yellow morph Pine Siskin, meaning one that has more yellow than others.
Along the Arkansas in Buena Vista we saw this Yellow Warbler. They are one of the few western warblers, and it was a nice surprise treat.
In this photo you can see some of the rufous underbelly streaking and the uniform yellow tone to the bird.
Also in Buena Vista we spotted this Wyoming Ground Squirrel, which is rather like a mountain prarie dog.
The ground squirrel posed nicely for us, and we were able to identify it easily.
This is a track left by the hind paw of a black bear, because it is very big and oval shaped, not round.
My hand can easily fit inside the track, showing that it was a very big bear!
Some estimates say that the bear was almost 300 pounds!
First of all, I want to apologize for making this a late post, but a lot of things were happening yesterday. Anyway, two days ago we were out on the deck, and I realized that the light on the mountains was wonderful. It seems like the light on the mountains is always wonderful, and I could take hundreds of pictures of this single view, but I took some more. Also, I observed some small birds flitting around the house, and I managed to get some photos. I determined the birds to be Yellow-rumped Warblers, which we birders call “Butterbutts” in response to the name. The photos aren’t the best, but here they are.
This is the photo of the Yellow-rumped Warbler. It is not very good, but you can see the yellow throat and the bluish-gray back.
This is one view of the mountains with the light on the top and ridge of the peaks.
Here is a zoomed-out view of the valley and the mountains.
Here is a close-up view of this mountain, which is actually unnamed.
The light on the mountains at this time was just wonderful
The clouds above the mountains provided wonderful patterns and lighting.
Yesterday we went on a short hike up the road near our cabin, and we observed the first Gray Jays of the trip! These birds are very intelligent, familiar, and are actually the national bird of Canada! They are somewhat common at high elevations, and are also called Canada Jays and “camp robbers” because they have recognized campsites as sources of food and steal food from the occupants. Also during the day the clouds over the mountains parted and created apparent pools of light on the mountainsides. Here are the photos!
Gray Jays are very trusting, and this one flew up to the sundial on the deck right in front of me!
This jay took almost no notice of me, as it was busy foraging.
For some reason, this jay was did not seem to notice the sundial, which made me think that they are commonly seen here, even though this was our first sighting.
After perching on the sundial, the jay flew down to the snow and actively foraged for seeds.
In this photo, the jay was successful in finding some food.
We continuously have a wonderful view from the deck, but the soft light enhanced the photographic opportunities.
These mountains are unnamed, but you can see on the left the slope rising up to Homestake Peak.
The green blanket of forest transitions surprisingly quickly from dense trees to snow and rocks on the slopes of these mountains.
This is the most complete view of the mountains from the deck in this sequence, and you can see Homestake Peak on the left and a the trees near our cabin in the foreground.
Yesterday we went on a short walk on the Mineral Belt Trail. The trail provided many opportunities for birding and provided excellent views of Mountain Bluebirds, Brown-headed Cowbirds, Pine Siskins, and many more. Additionally, the birds around the cabin were particularly active, such as Violet-green Swallows fighting for food, and Mountain Chickadees visiting a potential nest site right on the deck! Here are some of the highlights.
For some reason, the Violet-green Swallows around the cabin all desire this one little ledge, and repeatedly fight for it. This one is holding on to the side of the apparent “prime real estate”.
It is extremely difficult to get good pictures of flying swallows, but as they landed frequently, I was able to acquire several good shots.
Mountain Chickadees are some of the most charismatic birds there are. One flew up on to the deck and perched on a hole right in front of me! We now think that there may be a nest located in that same hole.
Chickadees are also very noisy, and, despite their small size, their sound can carry far.
We did not just have birds for visitors; this is a Golden-mantled Ground-squirrel, one of the most common high elevation mammals.
This is a Dark-eyed Junco, a common winter bird, and one of the most variable bird species in the world. This is either a “Slate-colored” Juncoor a “White-winged” Junco.
Pine Siskins are classic high-altitude finches. They look a lot like female House Finches, but the golden wing bars and the sharper bill separate them.
Pine Siskins usually inhabit, as their name suggests, pine forests, but this one was out of character and posed on an aspen.
Adult male Mountain Bluebirds are some of the most beautiful birds in Colorado. Their coloring is glacier blue getting darker on the wing and the head.
Mountain Bluebirds are rather skittish, and since the light was not favorable, I couldn’t get as good photos as I wanted to. However, the bluebird let me get a few.
This small bird is a White-crowned Sparrow. They are very common in the mountains, and are very trusting, allowing close views.
On the Mineral Belt Trail, there was a huge flock of these Brown-headed Cowbirds, maybe numbering in the forties or fifties. These birds are actually nest parasites, laying their eggs in other birds nests, and kicking out the other eggs.
As you saw on the Rambles page, we went on a walk near Turquoise Lake yesterday. The shoreline was coated with lots of ice, providing several photographic opportunities, such as ice shards, minute cracks, and flowing water. Then, near the end of the day, we had a wonderful sunset, just above the mountains, providing more photos. Here are some of my best photos from both events.
A lizard-shaped hole in the ice at Turquoise Lake revealed water flowing down the shore to the lake.
Not all of the water was iced over; in several places there were mini-rivers, often with very nice reflections and red-colored sand underneath.
Due to the profusion of ice, we found many piles of ice shards, like small icicles, that made a very pleasing sound as they rubbed against each other.
From the cabin, we had an amazing sunset just over the mountains.
The sunset was blueish, purple, pink, and orange at the same time.
The darkness of the mountains was very nicely offset by the soft sunset light.
Yesterday I posted some photos of a pair of Pine Grosbeaks that visited our yard. The grosbeaks stayed far away, and I wasn’t able to get good pictures, but they returned yesterday evening and provided great views, mainly of the male, and I was able to get better photos. Here they are!
The female grosbeak in a deciduous tree, unlike the name would suggest.
A female grosbeak eating the flowers of the deciduous tree.
The female with the flower in its mouth.
The male grosbeak displaying its beautiful colors while foraging for pollen and flowers.
The male posed wonderfully on a branch for several minutes, resting from foraging, and allowed me to get several good photos.
A zoomed-out view of the male perching on the branch.
