Yesterday I could feel it happening. The sunset is getting earlier, the algae is in full bloom and the nights have cooled down just a few degrees. Summer is still hanging on and we may even get a few sweltering days but I can feel fall just around the corner. Zeroimage pinhole camera and Kodak Film.
A wonderful looking Williamson’s Sapsucker rests in a dimly light forest .
Not a common sighting for us so we sure felt lucky to see him that day and had to sped a little trying to correctly ID this guy.
For more info: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Williamsons_Sapsucker/id
It’s hard to fathom but the time for one of our closest summer friends to depart for their annual journey south is very near. Typically by mid-August the small in size yet large in personality Calliope Hummingbirds begin their fall migration. This summer we have been blessed to have a handful of Calliopes living in the forest nearby and have enjoyed seeing them buzzing about the forest and also visiting the feeders in our yard.
Today we feature a few photographs of the females. Quiet and strong in every way.
The Calliope Hummingbird is the smallest bird in the United States. It weighs about one-third as much as the smallest North American warblers and about the same as a ping pong ball.
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Calliope_Hummingbird/overview
This tiny hummingbird is the smallest long-distance migrant in the world. Calliope Hummingbirds travel around 5,000 miles each year in a big oval from the breeding to wintering grounds. They migrate north along the Pacific Coast in the spring, but return to the wintering grounds in Mexico via an inland route along the Rocky Mountains.
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Calliope_Hummingbird/overview
We bid you adieu and look forward to seeing you soon. Perhaps we could visit you this winter?
Wising you a wonderful weekend.
Many thoughts came to mind as we walked in a burnt forest.
What will the future hold as the world warms and rains dry up?
Fragility, resilience, life and death are here.
Why does it feel familiar yet so foreign all at once?
Many thoughts as we walked and many thoughts to this day.
A walk through a burnt forest felt like a metaphor for these time.
While it is certain some of the frogs who inhabit the local pond are female frogs just seem to say boys. Maybe it’s all Kermit’s fault but anyway here is just smattering of the photos of our amphibian friends we have collected so far this summer and who can resist one of these fine princes in disguise.
Our last frog count revealed at least a dozen, plus a few toads to boot, so stay tuned for more frog photos before summer gives way to fall.
It’s always an amazement to us how different so many butterflies look with wings up versus wings open and this little Blue Copper is no exception yet just as perfect on the outside and on the inside so to speak. A subtle color or specific pattern on one side to avoid predation or perhaps signal toxicity to predators and a more showy side thought to function predominantly to signal availability to mate.
Wow!
The American Three-toed Woodpecker’s small stature is deceptive. One study of its musculature and skeleton revealed that this woodpecker can deliver especially powerful blows. It’s been suggested this is due to the evolutionary loss of the fourth toe—an unusual trait shared only by the Eurasian Three-toed and Black-backed Woodpeckers. With only three toes, these species may be able to lean farther away from the tree and thereby hit the tree harder than other woodpeckers, all of which have four toes.
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Three-toed_Woodpecker/overview
While we were watching this guy drill away it became clear that there must be another individual out of sight on the other side of the tree given as we heard drumming even when this male was holding still and within a few minutes a female emerged from the hidden side of the tree.
American Three-toed Woodpeckers are much more numerous in disturbed forests than in mature green forest, so look for them in bark beetle outbreaks, recently burned areas (up through about 8 years after a wildfire), and other places with dead and dying trees.
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Three-toed_Woodpecker/overview
There was only a short moment when both the female and male were visible in the viewfinder together but they do make a mine pair and 4 legs with three toes each well…that’s twelve toes.
Moonrise over Shoshone Lake in Yellowstone National Park.
Looking out into the West Elk WIlderness in central Colorado.
Spending a little time with Chip. This summer a Chipmunk family seems to have made a home nearby and we were happy to spend some time observing them feeding, playing and just hanging out doing what Chipmunks do.
Play was on the menu this afternoon under the shade of an old Douglas Fir.
After expending all the energy a quick snack of Service Berry was in order. Better save a few for winter.
We all know what follows a big meal. Yes, a little afternoon snooze. Who wouldn’t like that on s sultry summer afternoon.
Have a wonderful and happy weekend.
nature has no boss 
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