A willet enjoys the temporary ponds and the meals within created by spring rains before migrating to a more suitable habitat along further north.
Tag: bird watching
A basket full of color
Not easter eggs but from eggs.
Western Tanager
Western Bluebird
American Redstart
Yellow Warbler
Portrait
This grey goose is the king/queen of the local pond.
The snood
Ah the snood. That fleshy protuberance that hangs down over a wild turkeys beak. On males Turkeys the snood can grows up to 5 inches in length. When a male is trying to impress a female the snood turns bright red and elongates even further. The males with the longest, brightest snoods tend to attract the most mates.
Here two males are in full display mode however it is curious that one of the males snoods is blue the other red.
While mature female turkeys develop a short snood three evolutionary function remains a mystery.
Strutting
Over the course of about fifteen minutes we were also privy to his show. Each display period only lasted a few seconds or so but boy what a show.
From a remarkable collection of feathers and unique anatomical features Wild Turkeys are fascinating birds.
At rest
A Northern Rough Winged Swallow settles down next to a Barn Swallow for a much needed rest after buzzing about trying to catch some early season insects hatching on a small pond.
The Red Eye Flight
A Black Crowned Night Heron with the reddest eye I have seen on one of these guys takes flight over Arapahoe National Wildlife Refuge, Walden, CO.
More Blue
The first Female Rocky Mountain Bluebirds are back in town.
Perched upon a fence post with the backdrop a bright blue sky.
More blue is not a bad thing.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend.
And then there were Juncos
Absent from the area most of the winter the Dark Eyed Juncos have returned. First one, then two now quite a few. Hanging out in the trees on a typical spring day with some snow, some sunset mostly in-between. Soon we will hear the calling from the tree tops and the juniper bushes nearby. Another wonderful sign spring is on it’s way.
Horace
Don’t know why but we named this guy Horace. Love his dirty beak. Canylonlands NP, Utah.
nature has no boss 
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