With Wrens and Robins singing in the trees and Chipping Sparrows chipping we were treated to a wonderful summer morning.
Mt Zirkel Wilderness
Tag: landscape
Of the Earth
Moving slowly down the trail and looking remarkably like the earth he walked on we found this American Toad. He did look a bit grumpy and reluctant for us to take his photo so we let him be as he moved along into the grass beyond.
Elephants on Parade
Shortly after the snow melts and the boggy grassy areas are still wet the Elephant Head Lousewort Flowers (Pedicularis Groenlandica) come into full bloom. Their blooms always seem short lived but this year we were lucky enough to stumble across fields full of them in their prime on a recent hike in the Colorado high country.
Elephants on Parade in the Mt Zirkel Wilderness, CO.
Simply Summer
It’s mid-July and the forest near my home has quieted down. On our daily walk we begin to pay more attention to those things that define a July day. Most are simple and I often overlook them.
Like the fascinating home of a spittle worm.
or a Dragonfly resting on a branch.
And how many times I walk right past a dandelion going to seed without stopping to take its photo. A true disservice to that dandelion which has put a lifetime into become such a beautiful thing.
Sometimes it is the simple things that make you say it’s simply summer today.
Summertime
and the living is easy…
Yellow flowers, green grass, water and a blue sky with happy clouds floating freely. Looking out at the channel that connects Lewis lake to Shoshone lake in Yellowstone National Park.
July
July
The water on the pond is just a bit stiller.
The dragonflies are out in force and the water lilies are in bloom.
Summer delivered.
Ribbit
Frog in the local pond giving us a look over. He was probably relieved to see we were not one of the Herons hanging out around the shore looking for a meal.
Hunting Heron
Ever so patient a Black Crowned Night Heron works the waters on a summer afternoon.
Arapahoe National Wildlife Refuge, CO.
Prairie Smoke
One of our favorite wildflower is Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum). Gazing into a field of these flowers is like watching a full on action movie yet motion is only implied.
Red Necked Grebe
A red Necked Grebe spending time on the nest.
While we were watching the pair took tuns sitting on the eggs so each could spend time gathering food.
nature has no boss 
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