Hey, who’s that poking his head up out from behind a shrubby berm along the road. None other than our old friend the Pheasant. Just look at that all that color packed into a single bird.
We only got a quick look as he took off like a road runner across a snow covered road and into the brush on the other side but a look that will be remembered.
A Lesser Yellowlegs foraging in a temporary pond alongside a county road in Eastern Colorado last spring. I sure wish we would get some snow soon as without it winter feels like a strange spring that lacks the birds and has short days.
An American Goldfinch was working over these thistle plant pretty good for an afternoon meal at the Bosque Del Apache national Wildlife refuge. From the looks of it this chubby guy is well versed at extracting thistle seeds.
A regular and constant companion on forest hikes is the Clarks’s Nutcracker. This day instead of foraging for pine nuts this nutcracker was busy feasting on crickets on a late fall afternoon. We watched as she swooped down from a tree landed in a field and quickly picked up a cricket. We were quite surprised as it had been quite cold and well below freezing yet there were insects to be found.
Clark’s are fascinating birds that each year bury tens of thousands of pine nuts. They remember the location of a large majority of the seeds which they consume during the winter. The seeds they forget then may become new trees and thus the Clarks it integral to the growth of new forests.
Finding a free ride is always a nice thing. A European Starling in fall plumage hitching a ride on an the official mammal of the United States the American Bison. All aboard.
An extremely well mannered Canada Goose poses with another gooses shadow on a sunny and warm November afternoon.
While out on a hike we followed the sound of a woodpecker pecking in the forest fully expecting to find a Downy Head or Hairy. When we finally spotted the source of the pecking we were treated thrilled to find an American Three Toed Wooedepcker: Picoides dorsalis working away looking for a meal. Why this species evolved to have only three toes instead of the typical four seems to be a matter fro debate however the Cornell Lab of Ornithology suggest that thee toes may help deliver stronger blows with the beak while foraging.
Although the White Crowned Sparrows have long migrated south and the green grass has turned to gold it’s fun to look back at remember them singing away and look forward to their return next spring.
After a snowy evening and long cold night a Swainsons Hawk uses a fence post to keep an eye out for a morning meal. Photographed on a quiet stretch of road in Northern Colorado.
Weighing the balance of finding a perch to hunt from and yet keeping safe much of our wildlife perfumes a high wire act…without much of a safety net. This beautiful hawk included.
nature has no boss 
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