Courtship season has begun for the Goldeneyes on our local pond. Photographed with the last bit of golden light reflecting off the ice, a male goldeneye tilts his head way way back in an attempt to attract the onlooking female while another male sizes up his competition.
One delicate demure and the other stout and raucous. A Black Necked Stilt and a Great Tailed Grackle sure seemed like and odd couple to be hanging out together however they were happily sharing space in this little roadside pond created by early spring rains one April afternoon a year or two ago.
With the afternoon sun exposing the brilliant purples and blues a Raven preens its feathers, and what beautiful feathers they are.
Fossil records suggest iridescent feathers have been around for awhile and I hope it stays that way.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Marbled Godwits currently face pressure from habitat destruction in both their nesting grounds, the short grass prairies of the northern plains, and their wintering grounds, inter-tidal mudflats along the pacific coast. Prairies are being converted to crop land and mud flats being filled for development. It’s easy to forget birds sometimes need two intact ecosystems to thrive and protecting habitat is perhaps the single most important thing we can all do to protect the abundance and diversity of life on our planet. And who does not like both abundance and variety.
Nothing like a splash of color to liven up a winters morning or just about any old Monday morning be it winter, summer, spring or fall.
An American Goldfinch hanging out and easy to spot in those leafless branches.
Between the land and the sea what a place to be. Swallows flying free over Lake John near Walden, CO last summer.
A Townsend’s Solitaire enjoying a bit of filtered winter sunlight as they take a break from plucking the last of the choke cherries from the bush.
Always full of Personality with a capital P. A Stellars Jay makes a quick visit to see what the Nuthatches and Chickadees are up on a winters morning.
January is here and it is cold outside. Time to slip on that extra hoody and head out to the local pond to watch the male Hooded Mergansers strutting their stuff trying to impress the females.
A Dark Eyed Junco looking a bit contemplative and taking some time away form the flock enjoys a moment on a snowy spruce bough.
nature has no boss 
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