images as thoughts
Always Quick to disappear into the darkness of the canopy of spruce trees nearby this Stellar’s Jay sat for just a short while in the rays of the afternoon sun exposing their brilliant blue feathers and wonderful black crest. While their calls may be harsh and somewhat scolding in nature they are a pleasure to see adding a big splash of color to brighten the day.
A small Brown Treecreeper eyes the way onward and upward with the hopes of finding a small grub along the sloping landscape of a cottonwood tree. Photographed along Clear Creek in Denver, CO.
As we sat quietly waiting for a group of Waxwings to show up in the berry filled shrubs nearby this fine looking fellow strolled up to within 10 feet or so from us. He seemed not too worried about our presence and went about foraging as he made his way through the forest.
A quiet late autumn afternoon with sun going down and moon already up.
Wishing you a bit of quiet and solitude this weekend.
In recent posts we have highlighted findings from a couple of recent studies describing the dramatic decline in avian populations in North America over the last last 30-40 years. Like many of you, we see the decrease in avian population as a harbinger for the rest of life on earth predicting a massive decline in biodiversity resulting from the mass extinction of species of all kinds. Protecting ecosystems and thus the species that inhabit them will be no small task and indeed feels overwhelming.
One group that is attempting to protect and preserve biodiversity is The Half Earth project founded by Edward O Wilson. Their stated mission is to:
“conserve half the land and sea in order to safeguard the bulk of biodiversity and ensure the long-term health of our planet.”
Half-Earth recently held their annual conference and have posted videos of the lectures on their website. We are working our way through the lectures and hope you can find the time to view a couple that interest you. Be it large or small we need to find time to seek solutions even though we may feel overwhelmed.
Hitting that awkward teenage stage even happens to Bighorn Sheep.
On a cloudy afternoon a bull elk looks outward over his terrain. The herds are growing as winter gets closer day by day yet a few bulls are still wandering alone in the sage brush up on the hills. A beautiful vista even on a cloudy afternoon.
