We'd been seeing posts by other photographers about a family of foxes in RMNP.  Not wanting to bother them, we stayed away.  But then we discovered them and got to spend a few minutes watching them (from very far away).  Here are some of our favorite pictures.  All the pictures  are of the kits (who are almost all grown up by now).  They are all Red Foxes even though some are black.

We have a bunch of White-breasted Nuthatches that come to our bird feeder and figured that there was a family in the neighborhood.  Last Saturday Andy saw some cuddling and figured they were a mated pair.  We watched them for a while and realized they were fledglings who need to take a short nap after their out-of-the-nest adventure.  They were so cute!  The sounds they make are adorable, too.

Andy volunteers at Lily Lake on Thursdays and had the pleasure of watching a Meadow Vole eating grass in broad daylight.  When we went back on Friday we were amazed to watch him/her for a long time.  What a brave little vole!

Hollowell Park isn't on everyone's radar in RMNP but it has a surprising number of birds!  On this day I was lucky enough to spot both a male (first three images) and female (last image) Wilson's Warblers as they gleaned caterpillars to feed their babies.  Hopefully I'll get to see the fledglings someday soon!

Just as we pulled up to our house in Boulder, we saw the most beautiful butterfly on the larkspur flowers. I only had my super zoom lens with me but it did the trick.  Isn't it beautiful!

Last August we noticed a pile of sticks at the far end of Lily Lake in RMNP.  We knew it was a beaver, but in spite of our efforts, we didn't see it.  We did, however, see its lodge getting bigger and bigger and its food supply carefully "planted" nearby.  We thought of it every time we went by during the winter and the lake was fully frozen.  In June, we finally got to see him or her.  What an amazing creature.  Hopefully he or she finds a mate and we can watch more of them!

For the past several years, a pair of Great Horned Owls have nested on the cliffs near the Estes Park Library.  Last year I took occasional pictures,  but this year I decided to document the process as much as I could.  I stopped by for a few minutes at least 4 days a week and enjoyed watching the babies grow up. The mother began sitting on the nest during the second week of March and by the first week of June the owlets had fledged.  Here are my favorite pictures.  Enjoy!