The elk don't usually hang out around our house in Estes Park, but the rut means all new behavior. This bull elk and his small harem spent a quiet afternoon in our neighborhood so that he could get in some eating, grooming and relaxing before the mayhem of the evening. Now, if only the cow elk would agree with his rest of his afternoon plans...
When we first bought our house in Estes Park, we envisioned that friends would come to visit us often. Estes Park feels like a world away, however, so friends have been slow to come. Saturday evening, though, we had two families visit us for dinner and the nature show did not disappoint. Lian looked out side and said, "What are those brown things walking in the yard?" She said they looked like pigs. Well, it was a "sow" all right, but not a pig, a bear! A momma bear and her two cubs walked across the yard. Thank heavens I was able to grab my camera and show proof of sighting!
When John and Gale visited us for a couple of days, we had a great time showing them the elk rut, the birds and other wildlife of RMNP. Sometimes, though, when we drive up the road to our house, we see the best nature has to offer. This day was one of those days. While the deer had been scarce over the summer, they finally started hanging out in our neighborhood again. These twin fawns were happy and frisky, and you could tell that the bond of twin-ship has no boundaries.
Once a month Andy and I count elk. Not just any elk, though, we are part of a team of volunteers that count the elk who feed in and around the National Park. We leave the RMNP headquarters at sunrise and follow a prescribed route and protocol to count the elk. It makes for some early mornings, but we get to see some fantastic wildlife along the way. On this particular morning we got to see a family of coyotes scouting the hillside for their morning meal.
In early September there were dozens of fires burning from Colorado to Wyoming, Utah, California, Oregon, Washington and Montana. For several days the smoke obscured the mountains and made our eyes burn. When we saw the sunrise on Monday morning, the smoke was so thick that you could almost stare at the sun without squinting. I quickly grabbed my camera and took a picture. Normally, shooting at the sun is a risky event since the sun can damage the camera's sensor. On this day, however, the smoke filtered out most of the light and you could even see sunspots on the surface of the sun!
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