In our last post we talked about the Nuttall's Cottontail.  We've seen several in the neighborhood lately, but today there is one fewer.   There was a crime -- Tiva led us right to the evidence this morning.  A dead bunny in the yard.  Our trail camera picked up a bobcat walking through the yard last night.  A Common Raven picked up the evidence this morning.  What do you think?

We left the house early last week, but our trail camera worked overtime.  When we came up this week, we were eager to see how the new location worked.  Wow!  It "caught" a bobcat and a mountain lion on Sunday, and a Nuttall's Cottontail Rabbit and Common Raven on other days.   What a treat!

While it has been hard to adjust to the change to Daylight Savings Time, the time change does have its perks.  While Andy was washing the dishes, he noticed a bobcat in the grass behind our house.  When he said, "bobcat," Tiva knew right away that she should bark.  I grabbed my camera and we headed outside.  We spooked it a bit so weren't able to watch it long, but I was able to get a picture!  Luckily, we must not have bothered it too much because we saw it again the following night.  This time it was completely dark and just the light of our flashlights caught its eyes.  Hopefully he/she will stick around some more!

It didn't feel like I slept last night, but we sure missed some excitement.  Luckily, we have a trail camera that caught the action.  A Mountain Lion walked up the steps behind our house!  Look closely at the darkest area and you can just barely see the ghost wander by.  We tracked it making several loops around the property and all over the neighborhood.  How exciting!

We often take the "long way" to our house in Estes Park.  That is, we drive up Fall River Rd, through the park and then down the Beaver Meadows entrance.  We were hoping to find a big horn sheep, but we saw LOTS of elk instead.  It started out with a herd of 11 by the Stanley Hotel, then a couple of frisky bulls and their baby sitter.  We watched them spar for over 20 minutes and they were so playful.  By the time we got to Sheep Lakes and Horseshoe Park, the light was magical and then we saw over 40 bull elk grazing.  Over 60 bull elk in one evening! What a way to "come home." 

Pop goes the weasel!  Andy tracked this weasel over to a big boulder in Rocky Mountain National Park.  As he stood wondering where it went, out it popped from under the rock.  Then it would go back under and pop out from one side and then the other -- repeating the processing again and again.  Unfortunately, it got tired of the game before Andy did.  What a cutie!

Andy has been seeing a lot of mountain lion tracks lately. Most have been way up on Deer Ridge, though, so we didn't think there were any near our house.  Then, on a snowy evening, we saw the evidence.  It walked right down the road behind our house.  The next day Andy tracked it for about 9 miles all over the hills on Deer Ridge.  On Saturday we checked the trail camera and there it was!  Too bad for the 5 second delay on the camera, but you still get to see it.  It also left a souvenir near our car (under the deck) -- a deer leg.  We moved the leg so that whoever comes to feed on it will be photographed by the trail camera.   Stay tuned...

We woke up to 3.5" of snow in Estes this morning and it now feels like winter.  We've been working on our annual holiday letter and marveled that we hadn't seen any bobcats this year.  Then Andy went for his run.  A short time later, he came home and told me to "get my long lens."  Yeah!  A bobcat was in the rocks not far away.  This is the same spot where we saw the mother and her two cubs about a year and a half ago.  This cat was on the move, though.  What a wonderful sight.  Happy Solstice!

The deer rut is still not over and our neighborhood has been filled with bucks pursuing does.  Today we got lucky and watched a surprisingly violent, but luckily quick encounter between rival males.  Clearly, this dominant buck was not about to loose his prized possession.  It was fascinating to watch the 26 second encounter.  We've seen these two bucks hang out together all summer, but on this evening, all friendships were aside. After the battle ended the dominant buck returned to his mate, and the loser retreated to a distance, shook briefly and laid down to recover for another day.

About 5 weeks ago we saw a very immature fawn who couldn't use its left front leg.  We were amazed at how it survived.  It was so small, still had its spotted baby fur and was nursing.  We held our breath and knew that it would be lunch for some lucky coyote someday soon.  Then, we saw it on our trail camera and knew it had survived the week.  Then we saw it the next week and the next.  It even made it through a 1 foot snowstorm.  Yesterday, we finally got close enough to photograph it.  Here is Limpi and his/her mom.  Growing up and fighting for another day.

Ah, the scent of a doe...  Deer rut is in full swing, and we observed a buck chasing around a doe in the neighborhood last Saturday evening.  She didn't look very interested, but we're guessing he's going to be "the one".  About 2 miles away we watched 20 fawns and does cross Mary's Lake road and drink a bit before heading back into the hillside.  What a treat to watch, and we were glad we could direct traffic so that everyone crossed the road safely.

Now that the elk rut is winding down, we're seeing larger elk herds in town.  We're also seeing lots of small bachelor/young bull herds, and they are  feisty.  The rut is over for them, but their testosterone levels are still high.  We came across 8 young bulls last Saturday evening and they were having quite a time playing across our neighbor's fence, chewing their cud, hanging out and even sparring.  Too many pictures, but you get a sense of their mayhem. It was worth the half hour to wait to cross the road! (Click on first image to start a slide show).

After tutoring this afternoon, I went outside to find Andy.  He was in the back yard staring into the garden and quickly motioned, "Shh."  I stopped in my tracks and then whispered what was up.  "A mouse," he said, and I ran inside to get my camera.  Luckily Tiva didn't escape!  For the next 45 minutes we watched a mouse scavenge in our back and front gardens!  What a treat!  Now I just hope he or she stays outside....

Every night just before we head to bed, Andy and I take Tiva for her final evening pee break.  She doesn't like being outside in the dark very much, so we bring some bright flashlights and scan the area for predators.  Saturday night, though, we didn't see a mountain lion or bobcat.  We saw a shrew!  Of course, I first thought it was a mouse but quickly realized it was WAY too small to be a mouse and its nose was distinctly shrew-like.  It tried to run away but seemed to bumble a bit and even rolled around as it scampered across the driveway. I couldn't believe my eyes and SO wished I had a camera with me but followed it into some rocks nearby.  I thought that would be the last time we would see it.  Then, on Sunday afternoon we noticed that it was lying dead in the middle of the drive.  Luckily, no one had run over it, and Andy moved it to its final resting spot.  RIP little shrew.  Thanks for staying still for my pictures!

 I was preparing to tutor this afternoon when I saw a curious little spider milling around my blooming Oncidium Sharry Baby orchid.  It was a shy creature, and it took awhile for it to get used to my camera flash.  What a cutie! Sometimes the best of nature is inside the house!

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!

Mid-august seems early for the rut, but as we were leaving Estes Park we encountered a herd of elk and saw a couple of younger bulls sparing.  It was fun to watch them and always exciting to see the velvet as it gets rubbed off the antlers.  When we came home and looked at the pictures we discovered that one of the elk had a "third" antler coming out of the front of his head.  Deformities like this are common and usually don't bother the elk too much. Let the games begin!

One of our favorite things to do in RMNP is to drive up Old Fall River Rd.  It is such a peaceful road and climbs from the thick forest to the alpine tundra.  Just before the summit, one passes by a "peak" called Marmot Point.  This year we decided to check it out. Well, it is safe to say it is well named!  Yellow-bellied marmots were everywhere!  Most were napping and the biggest one of them all showed us just how interesting he thought we were.  A big yawn!

We haven't seen many bears in Estes, yet this year, but while Andy and I were out shopping for a bear proof canister one day, our trail camera was watching one.  A mother sow and her two cubs took a nap right in front of our trail camera.  For an hour and a half the trail camera took pictures of her.  Most of the time she was napping, but every 10 minutes or so she would move, or one of her cubs would move, and the trail camera would click a few pictures.  Here are our favorites from the day.

Early June is peak calving season for the elk in Estes Park.  We had seen quite a few "lone" females in the neighborhood and figured we might get lucky one day.  Almost!  This cow elk was in the back yard in early afternoon.  Our trail camera got a few pictures of her, and we think she was itching her side on a rock.  In late afternoon, we saw her with her calf.  What a cutie!  A few days later we saw her and her baby back with the herd. 
Oh, a note about her tags.  She's part of a study with the Colorado Parks and Wildlife so she gets to wear a bit of bling. 

We have a decorative house that used to hold a light and an address sign on our property.  Last year I painted it and took down the VERY old light on top.  This year, a pine squirrel decided to make it her house.  We'd seen her furnishing it with pieces of insulation that we had pulled out of the basement.  Then, in early June, we saw her babies peaking their heads out.  By mid-June, though, it was time to move out.  There's another pine squirrel in the area and I think momma knew that she needed to give him some space.  So, one by one she curled them up in her mouth and carried them to safety.  What a sight!