Due to the fact that we were in Louisville for the past few days, I got behind on adding photos to the blog. I decided to do it all in one burst, and I am now posting 18 photos; my largest post ever. It includes several encounters with Golden-mantled Ground Squirrels, Red-winged Blackbirds and hummingbirds in Frisco, amazing sunsets over the mountains, our first Townsend’s Solitaires in Leadville, chickadees and hummingbirds on the deck, and a Cordilleran Flycatcher outside the driveway.
This photo was taken on the 10th, one of the few recent times when “Goldie” put in an appearance.
Goldie appeared to be sunbathing, and seemed to be unnaturally flat.
We found this Red-winged Blackbird in Frisco. It was my first RWB of the trip.
Also in Frisco I found this perched male Broad-tailed Hummingbird. You can tell it is a male by the red throat, which you cannot see well in this light.
On the 11th we got a truly spectacular sunset over the mountains.
The sunset combined orange, white, purple, and pink, for a veritable firework show above the peaks.
This is probably the most spectacular sunset we have seen here, but may not be the last.
This is a Townsend’s Solitaire, the first one we have seen at the cabin. It is a member of the thrush family and a close relative of the robin.
The Mountain Chickadees are continuing to appear at the cavity on the deck.
The Mountain Chickadees also like to perch on the sundial on the deck near the cavity.
We are still commonly seeing hummingbirds, and they have allowed me to get quite close.
The hummingbirds are very active and commonly fight over the nectar.
The hummingbirds also commonly perch in the aspen tree near the deck.
For a long period of time, Goldie strangely posed like this.
We have absolutely no idea why Goldie hunched over like this.
One theory of why Goldie hunched over like this was that it was digesting, but we cannot be sure.
Yesterday we saw this Cordilleran Flycatcher perched near the driveway.
A Cordilleran Flycatcher is in the Empidonax genus, one of the hardest to identify groups of birds in the world.
