A male White Winged Crossbill with meal close at hand.
Just a few weeks ago the forests we were visiting sang with the songs of White Winged Crossbills. Specialized beaks allow Crossbills to devour up to 3,000 pine seeds per day and the trails we skiied were littered with pieces of pine cone leftovers. Most of the time the birds were perched high up in the tree tops feeding, fortunately, every once in a while one came down into view.
What beautiful birds they are.
Female White Winged Crossbill.
Ancient beings enjoying some time together.
An american Bison making the most of a thermal feature to graze upon some winters growth in Yellowstone National Park.
While getting ready to go for a hike a while ago we were pleased to have the company of numerous Pinyon Jays buzzing about in the parking area collecting seeds.
According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Pinyon Jays are highly social birds of the lower mountain slopes of the western United States, the Pinyon Jay is specialized for feeding on pine seeds. Each jay stores thousands of seeds each year, and has such a good memory that it can remember where most of them were hidden.
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pinyon_Jay/id
Now if only I could bottle that kind of memory and take a sip every morning I might never forget where I placed my keys.
Penitente Canyon, CO.
This wasn’t the biggest iceberg in the pond but boy oh boy the evening light sure made it special. Photographed while kayaking in Sermilik Fjord, East Greenland, August 2013.
A male Gambel’s quail letting it be know he is a very available bachelor on a nice spring morning in western Colorado.
The fur on the Pronghorn has become paler as winter progressed and now they move through the snow covered grasslands like ghosts with eyes that keep track on your every move. Like ghosts moving through the snowy landscape.
A midwinter monochrome bouquet picked from a selection of last summers wildflowers. Distant yet still fresh in our minds.
This years crop will be poking up in the blink of an eye as the sun rises higher in the sky with each passing day and will appear, not in monochrome but full color, and after a long cold winter a little color is a fine thing.
Enjoy the silence as spring will be hear soon.
A young elk looks up from feeding on a quiet winter day.
A mutual hello and we’re on our way.
Neither here not there but both at once.
A journey to a timeless place.
Feels like being home.
Standing tall, our trusty winter companion named Bunn, a Mountain Cottontail (Sylvilagus nuttallii), scans the surroundings for hints danger or perhaps where to head for her next meal. Bunn typically spends her day feeding on the shrubs nearby or just sitting perched upon a high snow mound.
nature has no boss 
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