Thank heavens we don't have many skunks that live in our area.  We've only seen a couple of individuals on our trail cameras over the years.  On this morning, though, we had a western spotted skunk visit.  How cute!

Now that the elk rut is in full swing, chaos is the rule.  Satellite bull elk swirl around and try to distract the dominant bull.  The cow elk and calves are on edge, and it all makes for great elk watching. Here are a few pictures, but the video shows it all!

Even though the elk rut is usually a frenzied time of year, on this morning, the elk in Moraine Park were all in their groups and all seemed copacetic.  One bull, though, decided he wanted a few more cows in his herd.  He walked all the way across Moraine Park and sized up his opponent.  It was just like a duel -- they walked side by side and then turned and faced each other.  After sparring for about a minute, the smaller one decided that maybe his herd was big enough.  The winning bull kicked out his front leg to let the "loser" know not to come back. He then strutted back to his herd. How fascinating to watch!

We've always known the weather was a bit whacky in Colorado, but this week was one for the record books. It was hot, windy and 97 degrees on Sunday, a little cooler and 90 degrees on Monday and snow with a high of 34 on Tuesday!  Wow.  What a whiplash!  The native vegetation in Boulder and Estes did great, the non-native ones struggled.  The aspen leaves did just fine.

Barn swallows are usually pretty regular nesters at the bathrooms in RMNP, but we haven't seen any active nests for the past couple of years.  This year, however, a pair decided to nest at Sheep Lakes (at the information building).  A few weeks ago, I photographed a proud papa guarding his nest.  Today, the 4 nestlings were hungry! It was a lot of work to keep them satisfied. Click to enlarge photos.

This is my favorite time of year to photograph hummingbirds.  They are so hungry and eager to bulk up for their migration, that they don't mind me with a big lens.  Here are some from Boulder and Estes Park.  I wish I could identify them all but most are juveniles, and I can't tell them apart!

To say that 2020 has been a weird year is an understatement, but who would have thought that it would apply to flying insects!  It seems like we've seen a lot of neat butterflies this season.  Here are some of our favorites.  Click or hover over image for the type. 

At the end of last summer, I noticed that an animal was eating some of my potted flowers.  I thought it was a chipmunk so decided to plant only deck-rail planters this year.  All was going well and the plants were doing terrifically until last week.  Almost overnight a couple of pots were decimated!  Thankfully, we have some trail cameras and so we decided to set up a stake-out.  We didn't have to wait long to find the culprit.  A bushy-tailed woodrat!  They are sometimes called "pack rats"  because they are known to steal items to put in their dens.  This one just likes my flowers, though.  Now we bring in the flowers at night and hopefully she'll find something else to eat.

Long-tailed weasels are some of my favorite animals, but it has been almost 2 years since I've seen one.  They are fun to photograph because they are curious and stick around while I fumble with the camera.   It was getting dark last night when we walked around the neighborhood with Tiva, but I saw a juvenile mountain cottontail rabbit and we stopped for a second.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw this cute juvenile long-tailed weasel playing (or hunting) in the wood pile.  He/she was so much fun to watch. Enjoy!

American Dippers are unique birds -- they can "swim" in a strong current and have unique blood vessels in their legs so can stand in cold waters.  They live in the High Country year-round and catch insects in and near fast-moving streams.  On this day, Andy and I saw this parent with lots of insects for the 3 babies that were scattered about near the stream.  While the lighting was tricky, it was amazing how quickly the parent could catch food and how patiently the juveniles waited for their meal.

Last year there was a very bold broad-tailed hummingbird that camped out in a thicket of choke cherries next to Lily Lake.  The most dominant birds protect the best food sources and this one knew the drill.  No other male or human was going to get in his way. This year, I'm guessing the same bird has claimed that spot.  I practically ran into him as I walked along the path! Since my camera has a minimum focus distance of 8', I had to back up a bit.  Once ready, he decided to put on a show and flew over to some golden banner flowers for a drink.  Wow!

Rocky Mountain National Park just started the timed entry system.  That means you reserve a time to go into the park.  We were excited to enter the park first thing in the morning and I went on a very quiet trail.  It had been 10 years since I'd seen a snowshoe hare, but on this day I saw 6!  They must have been young, since they ran towards me several times and then chased each other through the woods.  I can't say I got a single good picture of them, but they were so cute, I just had to share.  

Years ago I painted a bunch of bird houses and hung them up under our awning.  Almost every year we have either chickadees or wrens that make their nest there.  This year, it is a pair of very anxious black-capped chickadees.  They spend at least a minute scanning the area before approaching their house.  Then, while on a walk the other day,  I saw a VERY fast black-capped chickadee fly straight into a hole in a tree!  No scanning the area before entering for this bird.  What an ingenious home! It was a hole in the knot of a tree.  It was right at eye level and I didn't even disturb them.  In the first picture you can see one parent going into the nest with a grub. In the final picture you can see a parent taking out a "fecal sac" from the baby.  It is always good practice to keep one's house clean.

For the past 25 years, I've grown orchids at home.  They are fun to grow because they don't require that much work and their blooms are incredible!  I know the wild ones bloom at this time, so I kept an eye out for them while on a hike. There weren't very many in this patch, but they were so beautiful.  I'm including a cell phone picture so you can see just how small and hidden they are.  Enjoy!

Rocky Mountain National Park was closed for over 2 months and we sure missed going there.  I'm sure the wildlife was thrilled to have all that peace and quiet, though!  We didn't want to be the "first" to go in but the following day we ventured out of the neighborhood and into the Park.  We knew it was about time when the elk have their babies, and as we were leaving, we spotted this mother tending to her calf.  It wasn't a newborn, but it was nice to see our first one of the season!

When the sun gets hot, we have to keep our house shades down during the day.  It makes us go a little crazy, so we keep the top part open just a bit so we can still see outside. One day, I saw what I thought was a Western Tanager fly by.  I got my camera and ran outside with Andy. We didn't see the Tanager but saw a bigger bird chasing a bunch of little birds. It looked like it had caught one.  Then there was stillness.  As we scanned the dense Douglas fir tree we saw it -- a Cooper's hawk had caught a finch and was enjoying her meal.  Wow.  That was fast!  I've seen her again recently so there must still be plenty of birds to eat.

I know I just posted a blog about mice, but we're still seeing many of them every night when we take Tiva out.  The abundant seed crop last year must be keeping them busy. Recently, we also found two meadow voles chewing on some wood.   The first picture is of one of the voles.  Can you see how much bigger the vole is compared to the deer mouse? 

With the Park  still  closed, we're walking in the neighborhood a lot.  On Monday, Andy found a mule deer carcass that looked like it had been buried by a mountain lion.  It was near a house, but after discussing with the neighbor, we learned it was vacant so in the evening we put up 2 trail cameras.  Each morning Andy would fetch the cameras, but the first night, the lion just covered it up a bit better, and we only got two pictures.  Then the second night, she ate a lot but moved the carcass,  and the cameras again only caught a couple pictures. They say 3rd time's a charm and that was so true for us.  Here you can see a partially buried buck, a brave mouse and the momma lion with her two kittens.  You can see that she helps move the carcass (and take off its fur) so the kittens have better access.  You can also see that she takes a pee break in the middle of the night and that the kittens are curious about the camera.  When it is time to go, you can see momma carefully cover the carcass to save it for another day.  Ah, the things that go on when we're asleep... 

Note that all times are one hour later than on the camera (we forgot to change times for daylight savings).  (Click on an image to enlarge). 

Since we live in the mountains, we are used to mice.  Luckily, most of them stay outside and we co-exist well.  This spring there have been incredible numbers of mice in our yard.  We've seen them during the day and regularly see several at night.  If we shine the flashlight on them, they will sometimes stop to investigate.  This cutie was so curious!

Since all the parks are closed, Andy and I have been walking in the neighborhoods.  It was very bright and sunny this afternoon and we marveled that there weren't as many Wyoming Ground Squirrels scurrying about as yesterday.  Then a Common Raven flew overhead and I got the camera ready for a photo.  Soon we realized why it was circling around.  There was a Wyoming Ground Squirrel that had strayed too far from its den.  For the next 52 seconds we watched as the ground squirrel tried to fend off the raven.  Just when it looked like he had escaped to a nearby bush, a Red-tailed Hawk swooped in!  He/she must have known it wasn't his or hers, though, and quickly left.  We wondered if the ground squirrel had gotten away, but soon the raven came back and seized its prize.  There is one less ground squirrel in the world today, but it put up a gallant effort.  We are in awe.  RIP little one.

I've been walking a lot lately.  It has been fun trying to find a picture for the day.  I almost walked by this napping American Robin! He/she opened his/her eyes when I stopped but then just continued basking in the sun.

On January 12, 2012, I began taking and posting a picture a day.  While I didn't have a great picture for the 3000th day, you can see my entire collection at here.   Enjoy!

The moon has been incredible lately, but when I stepped out the house on Tuesday morning, I was amazed.  It was neat to watch it set over the foothills.  Enjoy!

My mother thinks that March means spring, but as a many-year resident of Colorado, I know there can be months of cold and snow to come.  On this beautiful spring day, the birds were out and the chipmunks emerged!  How exciting!