An Adult Black Crowned Night Heron was quietly minding their own business standing silently and hunting in that patient Nigh Heron way. Then along came the Ibises probing and prodding right in front of the heron.
These two foraging styles were clearly incompatible and there heron quickly and elegantly took flight to find a quitter corner of the pond.
Leaving the Ibises to have this spot for their own.
Tag: ecosystem
Dependable
It’s nice to have something you can depend on and Calliope Hummingbirds fit the definition of dependable spot on. Last year we saw our first Calliope on May 11th and this year a few appeared exactly to our feeder on May 11th. How they did that while completing an over 5,000 mile migration from the forests in Mexico where they winter beats me. These small guys are amazing little birds and no bigger than a ping-pong ball.
Content
A Female Red Winged Blackbird soaking up the morning sunlight while fresh spring leaves leaves wiggle their way out of the newly formed buds.
Stellar’s Jay
Hidden in a lichen covered tree this Stellar’s Jay gives me that all to familiar over the shoulder glance saying I am on to you buddy.
First little chippy
This little guy was hanging out up in the tree tops munching on an old dried berry from last year with cobwebs clinging to the branches where surely leaves now reside. They were the first Chipmunk we noticed this spring and reassurance that winter had finally given way.
Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge.
A well placed log.
A beautiful Cinnamon Teal pair making the most of a well placed log in the marsh. Time to preen and time to nap as the water floats on by.
Western Kingbird
A very well dressed Western Kingbird striking a nice 3/4 profile for the camera on a warm but slightly overcast morning.
In a Sea of Sage
A female Greater Sage Grouse making her home in the vast sea of sage near Walden, CO.
Songs of spring
Ahhh…the return of the Yellow Headed Blackbirds and their wonderful squeaky-raucous chorus making a walk around the local wetlands a wonderful springtime ritual.
“With a golden head, a white patch on black wings, and a call that sounds like a rusty farm gate opening, the Yellow-headed Blackbird demands your attention.”
That description from the Cornell Lab of Orinthology pretty much sums up these wonderful birds. Every spring we sit, listen and love to photograph the males belting out their tunes. If you have never heard these guys sing it is a sound you will not soon forget.
Brewers Blackbird
It’s always nice to get a good look at a Brewers Blackbird either through the binoculars or the camera lens. They are anything but black and the button eye always brings a grin to my face. In fact all the black birds we have in our area are a joy to observe and anything but ordinary when you get a good peek at them. Go….blackbirds!
nature has no boss 
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