Almost but not quite. Red Winged Blackbirds are back in town but the shoulder badges on the males are not quite a vibrant red and the sky is still a bit grey and wintery this day. Almost, but not quite, spring is indeed in the air. I can hear this blackbird singing.
A male Gambel’s quail letting it be know he is a very available bachelor on a nice spring morning in western Colorado.
But then again with the sun out and the rain no longer pouring down this might be a Cormorants idea of a picnic.
A tiny Yellow Rumped Warbler found the bull kelp a perfect perch for hunting sand flies and other small insects on the beach. This girl would quickly dart down form the kelp to snag a small meal and quickly return to her perch. Seeing her sitting on the head of the bull kelp made us realize just how small she was. We watched a documentary about songbirds the other night called The Messenger.
It is a very timely reminder about what a world without song birds would be like.
A place where all is one. Where the river meets the sea. I love that this whole landscape is temporal even the sand that forms the bank of the river melts into the sea and then reforms with each ripple of water, each wave and each tidal cycle.
Filling those cheek pouches to capacity was the task at hand and a task well accomplished.
This little Chipmunk definitely needs a full tank of fuel as well as a full larder to make it house to those far away spring days.
How did the Trump administration celebrate National Bird Day yesterday?
With yet another egregious action to destroy what remains of the natural world as we know it thats how.
Although this action is expected to be reversed by the incoming Biden administration the assaults on our natural world will continue.
On a recent drive through grasslands close to home we encountered a nice sized herd of Pronghorn enjoying the morning sun. Looking at them looking back at us you could just feel their different expressions whispering a bit of that Pronghorn personality.
No dental work needed here.
Chubby cheeks!
Only one horn!
While the big guys with the full curls were somewhere up in the hills above these two teenage Bighorn Sheep descended the hills, made their way through the sage brush, and then headed our direction across the grasslands below. A bit wary, yet curious, they confidently approached little by little.
They had a bit of gleam in their eyes and a look that somehow said they might be looking for trouble.
A couple teenagers with time on their hands and on the prowl.
As they inched by us we each kept our distance and you could certainly see the different personalities reflected in the way they looked us over. The first gave us a head on glance and stood for awhile the second a sideways looks as he steadily marched on through.
Within the stillness of the fresh new snow is the sound of the trees reflecting on water not yet frozen by winters chill.
Wishing you a wonderful and very merry Christmas.
nature has no boss 
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