Bugs beware as the Mountain Bluebirds have firmly established themselves in the area.
Tag: national wildlife refuge
The Red Eye Flight
A Black Crowned Night Heron with the reddest eye I have seen on one of these guys takes flight over Arapahoe National Wildlife Refuge, Walden, CO.
Good Company
A mule deer makes good company while waiting for sun to warm things up in the early morning light and you don’t even have to share your coffee.
Here, there and everywhere
Still dressed in their summer coat this Ermine was doing what Ermines do. Looking and running and looking and running over here, over there just about everywhere in search of their next meal. Because an Ermine has such a long slender body and high metabolism they rapidly loose body heat needing a fairly constant caloric input. This means an Ermine needs to eat about 75% of their body weight in food every day. Thus they spend most of their waking hours in search of the next meal.
Anything over there?
When the hunting is good Ermines store food in their dens for the lean times.
Maybe over there?
Just about now this guy should have changed into their winter coat of pure white except for that black-tip on the tail. Seeing them bounding through the snow on a snowy winter day is a sight we look forward to.
Sniffing Snowberries
A young Black Bear using their extraordinary sense of smell takes some time stop and sniff the berries. Snowberries to be exact. He decided to pass but snowberries are an important food source for many birds in winter. Snowberries are also but considered poisonous to humans.
Hello Sunshine
A prairie dog greeting the autumn sunrise and soaking up the those warming rays.
Coyote
Peeking at each other through the long fall grass and sagebrush in Yellowstone NP. I always marvel at how an animals fur matches their environment and the subtle changes that occur from place to place within a single species. This Coyote seem to perfectly match the sage and grass in which they live.
Hare
A handsome looking hare posing for a portrait on the Arapahoe National Wildlife Refuge earlier this summer.
Wild Iris
In fields wet with moisture the wild iris are blooming like crazy this year. It is amazing how some years there are so few but when it rains more than usual they explode. They bloom for a few days then dry up and quickly disappear. Nature playing hide and seek.
American Redstart
A male American Redstart full of color and song on a cool early summer afternoon. Never one to sit still for long this little guy was both a frustration and joy to watch and photograph.
