photography

Hummingbirds to Mountains

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Yesterday we got our first consistent hummingbird visitors to the feeder, and despite the fact that they were females (female hummingbirds are often unidentifiable) I was able to determine that they were Broad-tailed Hummingbirds through the use of photography. Later in the day, we were also presented with the most wonderful sunset color over the mountains. This light gold background provided many opportunities for photography. Here are some of the best photos.

This is the first photo of the female Broad-tailed Hummingbird. The feeder wire got in the way a bit, but you can still see the bird.
In this photo you can see the small white eye-ring, which separates the female Broad-tailed from the female Rufous Hummingbird.
The sunset was incredible, with the light touch of gold shining on the snow of the mountains.
The mountains are in a period that is perfect for photography, where there is still plenty of snow yet rocks are exposed, giving the mountains craggy, unforbidding looks.
The clouds lit up too, and in this photo you can imagine a giant cosmic Leonardo Da Vinci painting the background for this event.
The trees also provide nice photos, looking through the tangled branches on to soft gold light.
photography

Bears and Buena Vista

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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!
poetry

happy trees

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happy trees

spring fills in the paint-by-number mountainsides
and broad swaths of beige-grey lighten up overnight
it’s a green so new it floats like mist
a luminous glow suspended above crowns
like a saint’s nimbus

you can’t make out a single leaf
instead there’s a cloud of burst buds
as if someone took a fan brush
rubbed in the taste of early snow peas
and dabbed the scene to life

the aspen stands come in the way they go out
patchy
one sprawling clone flashes on at a time
your brief chance to greet each individual
before it fades into forest

photography

Mountains and Butterbutts

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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.
poetry

Bev’s Stitchery

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Bev’s Stitchery

the bell on the glass door jingles
I step in and it shuts
me into the vacuum of
the silent craft store
white walls pitted with peg boards
things to do in all directions
and no hands to do them
except two

he had been at the windows
watching the traffic
this tall lean grey-haired farmer
so utterly out of place
so clearly not-Bev
but the only possible proprietor
and I’m not sure whether
I’m relief from tedium
or a nuisance

I tell him what I’m in for
and he leads me straight there
ma’am-ing me all the way
it’s a simple transaction
I pay cash to keep things snappy
but I can’t stop wondering
where’s Bev?
I look over the register postings
for a clue:
a funeral parlor?
hospital?
prayer meeting?
craft show?

but no, there’s something in the gravity
with which he turns off the open light
as I leave
something about the disjunct
between his stiff Wrangler jeans
and the women’s notions
I believe he’s spent his day within
that at home I look her up

Beverly L. Vancura Zabloudil
born in rural Nebraska in 1942
married to Ray at 20
mother to Raylene two years after
moved to Buena Vista 1965

In 1977, she took her love of sewing and crafts
into the marketplace.
She bought out a fabric store,
and Bev’s Stitchery was born.
When she wasn’t quilting,
she would have a crochet hook,
knitting needle
or cross-stitch needle in her hand.
She said that you should never
have time to be bored.

She died in hospice in 2015,
preceded in death by daughter Raylene
whose 2012 obituary says she
loved quilting, crocheting and needlework,
and she taught those and other crafts.

Ray’s 87 now
and has already added his name
to the headstone they all share
for at least four years now
he’s put in his own long hours
in the empty shop
keeping the lights on
to keep them near
not knowing
how to bind off

*text in italics taken from their public obituaries