 Western Blue Bird Andy and I have gone up to the top of Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park every year since 1986. We usually go in late summer, though, so there isn't too much snow at the top. This year we have gone a few times already so that we can enjoy the park through the seasons. Here are some of our favorite pictures from our latest visit in June.
 For the past 4 years now, Andy and I have traveled to San Francisco in early June. The trip is a great opportunity to see my father and his wife and for Andy to run the Dipsea Race. He has placed 5th, 8th and 6th in his first three attempts in this unique "handicapped" style race so it is a highlight of his year. This year, however, Andy suffered a kidney stone on our first day there! While it wasn't the trip we were expecting, the stone passed in a "relatively" quickly 56 hours and we were able to enjoy some of the vacation. Whew! Sometimes it is good to come home!   Eastern Screech Owlets Andy and I are creatures of habit. We walk the same route every night when we walk the dogs. This late spring was a bit different, though. I wanted to check on the flowers to the south of our house and so we changed our route a bit. Several nights, along our more unusual route, we heard a strange sound. We knew it was from an owl, but which one? We poured over bird books and the Internet. One night we got a glimpse of some small owlets but they were too high in a tree to ID. For a week or more we included that area into our nightly walk. Most nights we could hear them but still no positive ID. Then Andy took a quick jog by that area in the morning. Hark! Owlets! Eastern Screech Owls to be precise. We photographed these two a couple times (and their parents, below, were never far). One evening we saw 5-6 babies but it was too dark to photograph. They are gone from the area, now, but their memory will keep me going until next year when we hope hey will be back!
Maybe we should be getting used to rain in Colorado but I must say, we've had some pretty extraordinary rains lately. First there was last September (when we received 9" in one night and 18" in one week) and two weeks ago we had 3/4" in 20 minutes. Then, last Friday the heavens REALLY opened up -- 1.7" in 30 minutes! The pictures don't do it justice but you might appreciate the video. For now, we are drying out again and hoping that another flood or drought doesn't come our way...     |
