Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

There is nothing like a morning stroll around the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.

Immature Red-shouldered Hawk

 The staff at Corkscrew are most helpful. They set up a spotting scope along the 2 1/2 mile boardwalk pointing out this nest and two juvenile Red-shouldered Hawks.

 A little further along the boardwalk we saw what might have been mom or dad Red-shouldered Hawk sitting high in a tree.

While we watched, a Swallow-tailed Kite swooped in and tried to knock the hawk off. It was pretty cool! My sister Beth had never seen a Swallow-tailed Kite before so this was another new life bird.

 When I first saw this juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron, I thought it was a Green Heron because of the the way he was standing - but he was way too big.

 The Little Blue Herons are sporting bright blue bills for Spring.

 We saw an alligator wallowing in the mud. Looking closer, we saw a bunch of baby alligators! They were really cute.

 This time of year, there is little water - just a few mud puddles.

 Five raccoons were fishing in the mud.

 We couldn't believe how many fish they caught!

That old wives tale about raccoons cleaning their food? Not this one!

We didn't see many birds this trip, but we sure saw (and felt) the bugs! We wished we had remembered the bug spray because I could hardly take pictures they were biting so bad. When we got to the car - still swatting them off, Bill tells me "Oh look - the bug spray was in my back pocket the whole time." I could have killed him!

BEAR encounter!

The other day Bill and I went to the Upper Huerfano Valley, San Isabel National Forest for a picnic lunch with his daughter Laura, husband Tim, oldest son Kyle and Kyle's girlfriend Raeanne. This would have been our weekend to go camping, but with the severe fire restrictions, we decided that camping without a campfire would just not be the same.

As we were leaving - driving out the long, extremely bumpy dirt road away from the trail head and the camping sites, Tim stopped and ran back to our car and pointed out a huge bear in the woods. Bill wouldn't let me get out of the car, so Tim took my camera and tried to get a picture. With all the branches and underbrush, the camera did not focus and the pictures did not turn out. I was bummed. The bear was very close to where we camp - which is a little scary.

Driving down the road towards Gardner, we saw two more bears. This time they were in a clearing so I could get some decent pictures from the safety of the car.

The first one was cinnamon colored - not quite as big as the other one we'd seen - but big enough! (Note the ear tag.)

His companion was a large all brown bear.

Even though neither bear was black in color, they were both Black Bears.

By the time they wandered off and I finished taking pictures, several other cars had stopped behind us to take pictures too.

Another sight along the road - a large family of deer including this antlered male and adorable spotted fawn.

It was a great day!

Bill took me along for the maiden voyage of one of his new planes - a seaplane that he had just completed. He takes off from a lake located east of town at a Boy Scout campground. I was supposed to be taking pictures of the planes - but every once in a while something else captured my attention.

This picture of Song Sparrow shows its identifying characteristic - a central spot on his chest.

There were lots of Tree Swallows flying around - but it's a treat when one lands and lets me get a decent picture.

There are two main types of Bluebirds here in Colorado: Western Bluebirds with the rusty red chests and the more common Mountain Bluebirds.

There was a nest under the roof of the out-building and this youngster was trying out his wings.

On the way home we saw lots of Antelope including this large male and his lady friends.

Back home in our yard we have had an odd visitor. This is a common female House Finch - only she is almost all white. My initial thought is that she was an albino - but her eyes are not pink. I sent this picture to a local birder and he replied that she is leucistic - an abnormally pale bird with very faint markings.

According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: "Albinism is a genetic mutation that prevents the production of melanin in the body. Leucism is a genetic mutation that prevents melanin from being deposited normally on feathers." Both are quite rare. She has returned daily, but according to the experts, she may not be able to find a mate who will accept her and her odd coloring makes her an easier target for predators.

We haven't had many hummingbirds this year - yet. This one must be a new fledgling as she still has some baby fuzz.

More baby birds: Robins.

They come to shower in our pond almost every day. I don't blame them one bit as it has been exceptionally hot here - but every time I go to complain about our 90 degrees - I see that everywhere else has as hot or hotter temperatures and the added bonus of humidity. Our humidity still measures in the single digits most days.

This is the chimney on our neighbor's roof and we can see it from our patio. It makes a nice little house for a family of raccoons. We sat outside and amused ourselves watching them stretch and wiggle around until finally at dusk...


...one of them headed out and immediately came into our yard to get a drink at our birdbath. The others waited patiently for him to return.

A Momma and the Night Visitors

Last night around midnight Bill woke me from a sound sleep and told me the raccoons were in the yard again. A mother raccoon and her four babies were at the pond - turning over all the stones we had so carefully placed.

Boy, they were cute! It took me several minutes to put something on and to get outside with my camera.

By the time I started taking pictures, Bill had made enough noise that they had retreated to the fence - but were not sure they really wanted to leave.

I had no idea if the pictures I took would really show anything - I was just aiming into the darkness and shooting. I did have the flash on.

Momma raccoon is hiding behind the leaves peeking to see if I would leave so she can go back to the pond.

Bill says raccoons are really the squirrels we see during the day - that have morphed into raccoons during the night.

Momma finally gave up and left. We caught them before they did too much damage and I don't think they came back after we went back to bed as things seemed to be intact this morning when we got up.

But I'm sure they will be back. I'll keep you posted...

Lots of Pictures!

Yesterday we took our friends to one of our favorite places - Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. It was VERY crowded with photographers everywhere. The cameras looked liked like they were competing to be the biggest, longest and best.

Just look at these cute raccoons peeking out from a hollow tree. There were so many photographers lined up on the boardwalk to take their picture - it was a circus. Every time one moved - all you could hear were clicks. I hope they all got great shots!

This is a Barred Owl sleeping in the woods. I wish I could tell you I spotted him - but even after being told he was there by one of the naturalists, I had trouble locating him. At almost two feet tall, you would think he'd be easy to spot but he blended in very well with his surroundings.

The staff had a scope set-up to view the owl better and Bill shot this photo through the lens. (I really need to get him his own camera!)

As usual, we saw lots of White Ibis. This is a young Ibis - just beginning to turn from brown to white.

I can't decide whether I like the foreground or background best in this picture! The bird is a Great Egret - but just look at the reflections in the ripples of the water!

Pretty flower. It's hard to remember that it's winter down here.

This is a blue-gray Gnat-catcher. We saw quite a few during our walk but they are hard to photograph because they move around so quickly. I don't know if Bill or I took this shot. Most of our shots were of blurred leaves.

This is a Black-crowned Night Heron, but again, I can't decide if I like the bird or the background best! I love the blues and greens. Even the way-out-of-focus branches that look like bright spots seem right in this shot

I spotted this green Anole eating an insect. These small lizards come in two colors - green and brown. We have the brown ones by our house.

Mel was standing on the side of the boardwalk and motioned for us to look behind her. This guy was about 7 or 8 feet long and close enough that we could almost pet him!

Just look at this beautiful air plant! The blooms are exquisite - very exotic looking!

We also drove through Ding Darling on Sanibel Island. I was pleased to see the White Pelicans are still there - but the Roseate Spoonbills have moved on.

This Morning Glory looks right at home among the Sea Grape leaves.

This Tri-colored Heron was running and hopping in the shallow water looking for food.

Just a pair of friends out to dinner! The Ibis would peck in the water and the gull just hoped he would stir up more than he could eat!

This picture was taken from a gas station lot. It's kinda sad seeing this Snowy Egret sitting on trash - but it's better than not seeing him at all!!

And today is another beautiful day in paradise...