Colorado is Beautiful!

Yesterday, Bill and I went for a hike at Red Rock Canyon Open Space. It was a beautiful sunny day. The temperature was perfect.

Parks and Open Spaces here in Colorado get lots of use. We passed other hikers, dog-walkers, bikers, horse-back riders and resident wildlife.

At the top of the ridge, Bill stopped to enjoy the view. We had gone off the path to locate a geocache and our GPS led us to this beautiful spot.

We have no idea what this plant is - but it surely is unusual - in a very cool way.

We only hiked a couple of hours before heading back to the homestead. I had laundry to do and Bill wanted to cut the grass before the afternoon rains arrived.

Just two pictures of humming-birds today - so bear with me; I can't help myself. This is a female Broad-tailed Humming-bird. I'm very pleased with the detail on this shot.

This must be her boyfriend - the original redneck. It looks like he needs to fatten-up a bit before heading to Mexico.

We do not see as many males at the feeders as we do females and juveniles. The youngsters of both genders look like the females.

Today, after Bill returned from the flying field, we headed over to Palmer Park. I wanted to hike the Templeton Trail - that circles around the north side of the park. It is one of the more advanced trails.

I love walking in this section of the park. The views are spectacular and the rock formations are magnifi-cent.

There was a parade and celebration downtown to welcome home the troops. While we were hiking we saw several different kinds of planes flying overhead. Some were restored military planes from WWII. This is a huge Air Force C-17 Globemaster III cargo plane that flew right over us. The wingspan of the C-17 is 170 feet and it is 174 feet long.

We have a new volunteer in the garden. This sunflower is just opening. One of the birds must have dropped a seed from the feeders.

The skies are darkening and I hear thunder in the distance. The afternoon storms are beginning.

All Hummingbirds

I just can't seem to get enough pictures of our little feathered visitors! First, because they are so much fun to watch and, second, because I have a camera that actually will take decent pictures!

This is a female Broad-tailed Hummingbird. The female Broad-tailed and the female Black-chinned look similar but the Black-chinned is slightly smaller at just a smidgen under 4 inches. I love the way her back shines emerald green with touches of orange in the sun. The male Broad-tailed have a bright red throat patch (gorget) while the male Black-chinned have (surprise, surprise) black throats.

Look at her tongue! They need long tongues to get nectar from flowers or from our feeders. I was just lucky to get this shot! She is sitting on the perch of a faux birdhouse we have near the feeders.

Notice something missing in this shot? It looks like she has no wings! They move so fast, the camera doesn't even see them.

This is the bully - Ms. Rufous Hummingbird. She rules the feeders!

Chickadees, etc.

Here in Colorado, we have two kinds of Chickadees. The Black-capped variety has been around on-and-off all summer.

They are small birds, only about 5 inches long, and have an unbroken black cap covering both eyes and the top of their heads. They don't stay at the feeders long, preferring to grab a seed and quickly head back to the nest.

The other variety is the slightly larger Mountain Chickadee. They look very similar to the Black-capped Chickadee except the Mountain Chickadee has white eyebrows and a smaller cap.

They have only recently come to our yard feeders and birdbath, although we regularly saw them when we hiked. I assume they are done raising their new families and are coming to lower elevations for the fall and winter.

This feeder is filled with thistle - which attracts different kinds of finches - but the Mountain Chickadees seem to also like it as a change from the sunflower seeds in the larger feeders.

The Downy Woodpeckers are regular visitors. She is clinging to a chunk of oak that we have hanging from the feeder hooks. Everyday we spread a peanut butter and suet mixture on it for the woodpeckers and the nuthatches.

The humming-birds continue to entertain us! This little guy is sitting on a honeysuckle vine near the feeder. This morning there were half a dozen buzzing around. I had to hang a second feeder to keep them all happy!

We still have lots of flowers for the birds to enjoy.

It's challenging getting pictures of them in flight as they move so fast. I've been experi-menting with different settings on my camera trying to get better pictures.

We thought this was another humming-bird the way it jetted around - but it is a moth. I don't know its official name - but everyone calls them humming-bird moths. They are about the same size as the small birds but do not feed at the feeders, preferring the flowers.

Ms. Grosbeak seems to be checking the menu before deciding what she wants for dinner.

The other day, while hiking and geocaching in Red Rock Canyon, we spotted two beautiful Red-tailed Hawks flying overhead. I almost fell over trying to get a decent picture - and since we were on the edge of a cliff, that wouldn't have been good!

Towards the end of the trail, this cute little chipmunk was munching on an apple. He didn't seem to mind me stopping to take his picture. We were surprised to see two apple trees growing near the trail. We tried the fruit and it was very good. I'm sure the wildlife enjoys it.

Look at the size of this bee enjoying the nectar from one of our pansies. He has a reddish-orange spot on his tail. I don't remember seeing bees like this when I lived on the east coast.

This picture proves we are feeding our birds well - maybe too well! This is a chubby young House Finch.

I feel just like her some days!

Hummingbird Wars

It's been a peaceful summer at the hummingbird feeder - until now. The Rufous Hummingbirds have returned from their summer breeding in Alaska, Western Canada, Washington and Oregon and are terrorizing their way through the Rockies on the way to their winter homes in Mexico.

Mr. Rufous (named for his reddish-brown color) has decided this feeder is his and he spends the day guarding it! If anyone dares to come close he dive bombs the intruder to scare them away then returns to his post to continue to defend his territory. It's quite a show.

Prior to his arrival, our regular summer residents, the Broad-tailed Humming-birds, nicely shared the nectar. Their wings create a high-pitched buzz that advertises their presence. If I move slowly when one is at the feeder, I can actually get it to perch on my finger.

Take a close look at their legs - actually just feet. They cannot walk - they can just perch - but they more than make up for this deficiency in flight. They can fly forward, backward or just hover in one spot. They really are amazing little birds.

These are both female; the males have an iridescent throat patch that looks bright ruby-red in the sun.

Many people think humming-birds are attracted to the red color of the liquid in the feeder and add red food coloring to a sugar and water mixture, but commercial red food coloring actually harms the birds. We mix 3 parts boiling water with one part sugar and change the mixture every week.

Mr. Rufous has a couple of regular look-out points. His favorite is an Aspen Tree in the northeast part of the backyard.

He keeps a sharp eye on the feeder. Sometimes we have a dozen birds buzzing around doing aerial acrobatics.

Taking pictures of these small darting birds is quite a chore. Not only are they fast, they always seem to land with their back to me - and if I try to move from my position, they quickly take flight. I must have taken 300 shots to get just a few so-so pictures.

Today is cold, damp, dark and dreary - not a good day to capture iridescent colors.