Mooning

Have you ever been mooned?Or rather - gone moon BIRDING?
The other night I remembered to look at the moon when it was full and low. I spent about an hour gazing through my scope - counting the birds as they flew by, some near, most far. Can you see the bird in the picture below?
I saw Owls, Ducks, smaller things, something that looked like a big shore bird. About 2-4 per minute. The one below was an owl. I wonder - Barn Owl? If you haven't ever done Moon Birding before, you should try it. So very cool. So very amazing.

Camping!

Wonder of wonders, but we managed to get out for a second camping trip this summer. In the trees, near a river. Here's camp:


I of course had to set up a hummingbird feeder and toss seeds out for the birds.
Here's an immature Broad-tailed Male.
THIS was fun. I felt their tiny little feeties on my finger while they fed.
This dude was a trip. He'd come and take his fill..
Then climb up a tree directly above our heads and chew us out!
We saw some nice mountain birds. Al got this shot of an immature Red-naped Sapsucker.
There was a pair of Three-toed Woodpeckers - Adult and Juvenile in the campground. This is the youngster - cool yellow crown spot, eh?
Momma and baby.I had fun photographing the hummers.This lovely Black-headed Grosbeak found our offerings quickly and was a frequent visitor.The flight zone!
Check out the giant beauty on the right. Rare for Colorado and even rarer for Larimer County - A Magnificent Hummingbird. You can see how much bigger she is than the others.
Ace enjoyed the fire and his blanky in camp.
"Don't eat in the tent"

Ace also thoroughly enjoyed the tall, deep grass...
..And the river.Maggie enjoyed all the historical aspen carvings and had to add her own.
"Trout Herding" - Not successful.
Al and the Laramie River.
Ace - Portuguese WATER Dog.

Rocky Mountain High - Mount Evans

The Wrenegades went up into the high country today. Some of us had never been to Mount Evans and we were looking for the Elusive White-tailed Ptarmigan. We especially wanted to see BABY White-tailed Ptarmigan.

We found this awesome herd of Mountain Goats, lots of babies playing king of the mountian (ahem. and other stuff)
Most of them still had tons of winter fur left on. This majestic beast on the right didn't. Beautiul. How many goats can you see in this picture?
We found Pika carrying bouquets of fresh flowers to their hay barns for the winter.
We found a lovely juvenile Brown-capped Rosy Finch - later joined by a stunning adult we couldn't get photos of.
And yes we found Ptarmigan. A mini flock of babies were moving up the hill as we were driving. It's tough to find spots to park, but there was one nearby so we got out and followed them awhile. We never heard or saw any adults with them. They were so, so gorgeous and cute.
Acting all grown up and adult like.
Who you? You don't scare me, not one bit.
Have you ever seen Ptarmigan or Mountain Goats? Tell me about it - or tell me how bad you want to if you haven't!

Birds Of Pearl Lake State Park

We went camping recently north of Steamboat Springs at Pearl Lake. What a beautiful place. Believe it or not, the focus wasn't on bird watching, though we did hang a hummingbird feeder. I was a very lazy photographer, only got one shot of a Broad-tailed Hummer. We were visited by Broad-tailed Hummers, male and female. Rufous male hummers and one very cute and tiny Calliope Hummer. I did compile a nice little list of birds though.
Red Crossbills , Gray-headed Juncos (feeding fledglings), Crows, one lone Stellar's Jay. Common Grackles believe it or not, Tree and Violet Green Swallows. Sandhill Cranes with a baby in the fields below us. It seems so strange that they nest here in the hay fields.

It was a nice time, really. I didn't get any good photos of birds, but I heard many and just enjoyed the area. We did have a very persistant singing Ruby-crowned Kinglet that sang non-stop during the day below our camp.

A lucky find on our way out was a lovely Dusky Grouse along the roadside.

What fun birds have you seen lately?