A small Brown Creeper eyes the way onward and upward with the hopes of finding a small grub along the sloping landscape of a cottonwood tree.
Tag: nature photography
Ol’ Brown eyes
As we sat quietly waiting for a group of Waxwings to show up in the berry filled shrubs nearby this fine looking fellow strolled up to within 10 feet or so from us. He seemed not too worried about our presence and went about foraging as he made his way through the forest.
Just one thing…
There are days when the distinctions between between plants and rock, rock and animals and earth and sky seemingly disappear and all become just one thing. Lizards take on the colors and textures of the rocks in which they make their homes.
The song of a Canyon Wren fills the air along a canyon rim where bird stone and sky meld into one.
The stone of the landscapes waves as if water and becomes one with sky.
Textures, colors and shapes all just patterns in the landscape becoming a single thing.
Happy Friday and wishing you a wonderful weekend.
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.
Queen of the wash
Time laid bare as layers of rock on the mountain behind and an old skeleton of Juniper lies on the rocks below.
Family Portrait
Getting three out of four family members to cooperate for a portrait is not too bad.
Hope your week is off to a good start.
Score
Finding food sure can be hard work. Which reminds us it’s time to put out the feeder for these guys as winter is heading our way.
We were watching this House Sparrow search intently through the gravel and forest debris and score with what appears to be a tasty little seed.
A bite well earned.
Mild Mannered Goose
An extremely well mannered Canada Goose poses with another gooses shadow on a sunny and warm November afternoon.
Everybody loves Rabbit Brush
Just a few weeks ago the Rabbit Brush was in full bloom and hosting quite a party where everyone was invited. Rabbit Brush is a native plant found over much of the western United States that blooms in late fall providing one final burst of color before winter arrives. According to the USDA, Rabbit Brush:Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus, provides both nesting habitat and forage for a wide variety of birds, insects and small mammals. One of the more frequent visitors to the party were White Crowned Sparrows.
In this case an immature White-Crowned Sparrow seemed to be foraging for insects.
Another visitor we noticed on more than one occasion was the Monarch Butterly stopping by for a sip of nectar as they migrate south for the winter.
Last but not least the Ruby-crowned Kinglets found the party too good to ignore and we frequently saw them foraging through the bushes in each of a meal.
A beautiful plant and a welcome splash of color as snow is forecast for the weekend.
And speaking of weekends, have a great one.
Canada Jay
A Canada Jay sits patiently in the morning light. Perhaps awaiting a handout or just waiting for us to leave so they could get on with the business of finding and storing food to get them through an other cold winter.
nature has no boss 
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