Prairie

We've spent quite a bit of time this summer watching baseball. Not the boring professional stuff but the really fun 9 and 12 year old games starring Bill's grandkids. His grandson was part of the All-Star Team that played in the state finals in La Junta, Colorado. He had two games on Sunday - one at 9 AM and one at 4 PM. During the intermission, we drove around hoping to do a little birding out on the prairie.

There wasn't much water around, so we were surprised to find a Black-necked Stilt along side this small puddle which was once the Holbrook Reservoir.

We see Killdeer both in Colorado and Florida.

Bill got some great shots of the Black-necked Stilt in flight.

I finally got my camera away from Bill just in time to see this American Avocet.

Our actual destination was Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site along the mountain branch of the Santa Fe Trail. The adobe trading post was built around 1840.  

The fort is an amazing slice of Colorado history!

One of the permanent residents at the fort. One of the guides told us there were 4 babies but we couldn't locate them. Apparently the Peafowl couple are quite prolific and  park rangers are running out of local farms that will take the many offspring. Want a Peacock?

The Barn Swallows were busy building nests in the rafters. This beautiful female was gathering materials - minding her own business when.....

  Notice that she never dropped the nesting materials.

On our way back to the baseball field we passed a farm with some strange animals. I have no idea what these are.

Now I really didn't expect to see zebras in La Junta!

Back at home we have an interesting "problem."

This darling kitty is spending quite a bit of time in our yard. What you can't see is that he is right under one of our bird feeders. He lays in wait and tries to grab one of the birds - and unfortunately, is successful all too often. He has a partner in crime - another grey cat (all grey, no white chin or paws) who is very skittish and will not stick around for pictures. I assume they belong to someone and if I catch them I will tie a note on them asking their owners to keep them closer to home. Think I'll have any luck?

Bishop's Castle

Yesterday was a great day for a ride in the country. Our destination was Bishop's Castle on Route 165 in the San Isabel National Forest near Rye Colorado. Information about the castle, its builder and the history is on their website at http://www.bishopcastle.org/#. 

This is the view from the road where cars parked before touring the private property. It's free and open to the public. Jim Bishop watched as the people toured his one-man project. We had to watch where we walked as it is still under construction - and looks like it always will be! Jim started building a one-room stone cabin in 1969 and got a little carried away.

The Bishop family owns an ornamental iron works factory in Pueblo and it looks like Jim is their best customer! You can tour the entire castle inside and out.

This is a close-up of the dragon on the front of the castle. On weekends it spews smoke (except when strict fire bans are in place - like now).

There are no blueprints and Jim has done all of the work himself. The stone work is impressive!

This is the view from the back into the great center room and the stained glass windows.

I couldn't believe the number of people who climbed the steep stairs all the way to the top. I enjoyed it from the ground.

Later this month my grandson Gabriel is coming to visit. He is almost 9. Do you think he would enjoy visiting the castle?

 On the way home we came down Route 50 and got our first look at the Royal Gorge burn area. The bridge is still intact but all the other structures are gone including the carousel, tram and visitor's center. This picture was taken from the picnic area on the east side just left of where the road is closed.

The cactus were beautiful - blooming in the rugged terrain.

Happy Father's Day Walk at Fountain Creek

It was an absolutely beautiful morning for a walk at Fountain Creek Nature Center. The sky was clear and the sun was warming the crisp morning temperatures.

Colorado Springs has had a difficult week with a couple of devastating wild fires. One of our major tourist attractions, the Royal Gorge Bridge Park was leveled - but the famous bridge remains intact with only slight damage. Black Forest lost almost 500 homes to the worst wildfire in Colorado Springs' history - but today the television stations have stopped their 24/7 coverage, the fire is mostly under control, and life goes on.

There seem to be more butterflies this year than we've seen in past years - and they are beautiful.

This Hairy Woodpecker was close to the start of the trail looking for breakfast.

The Swallows are plentiful. Can you see the little mouth looking for food?

What a nice Father's Day sighting! The baby Robin was out of the nest but papa was still bringing food.

...and the baby was most appreciative! Thanks Dad!

Our first Bullock's oriole of the season.

A Black-headed Grosbeak is always nice to see. We were serenaded by the many Yellow Warblers flitting in the tree tops, but they weren't in the mood for pictures today.

The twins were out having a drink...

...while mamma duck stayed close by.

As we headed back this beautiful Red-tailed Hawk flew overhead. The skies are beginning to darken and we are all hoping for rain - even thought it will bring the Father's Day barbecue indoors.

Out & About

Bill and I try to get plenty of exercise. I take a water aerobics class twice a week while Bill goes to the flying field, we're busy in the yard and we walk/hike/bird as often as possible. You'd think we be nice and thin - but our other passion is food. Bill cooks and I eat.

We didn't have to go far to see this juvenile Black-headed Grosbeak - he was right in the back yard!

An adult male Black-headed Grosbeak was close by.

The weather has been warm but extremely windy the last few days. Bill took this shot of Pikes Peak from the flying field (which here in Colorado Springs is the parking lot and yard of a local church). The snow is slowly melting.

 We've had several Spotted Towhees in the yard and we also see them in Palmer Park.

 

We've been back to Fountain Creek Nature Center. It's a great place to walk. The 2-mile loop is fairly flat for Colorado and passes through woods and by water. A Downy Woodpecker was busy looking for insects.

I wasn't sure what this was but I posted the picture on a Colorado Birding website and it was identified as a House Wren. I thought the wings and tail looked Wren-like, but the position of the tail and straight beak had me stumped.

 There were dozens of Yellow Warblers flitting around in the tree tops and positive identification is absolutely no challenge!

I've decided this is an Olive-sided Flycatcher but I'm open to other opinions.

 Belted Kingfishers are always fun to watch - but they are terrible to photograph. This was the best I could do with the sun shinning in our eyes.

More Yellow Warblers.

Today we headed to the Eastern Plains to see Bill's grandson play baseball. Afterwards we drove around. Even though we were only about 25 miles from home, we saw completely different birds on the Prairie.

This is a Horned Lark showing us how he got his name.

Where there is a wire or a fence, there is a Western Kingbird.

I hope no one was watching us when we spotted this guy - a Lark Bunting. He refused to stay still and we kept backing up the car, turning around, backing up again and turning sideways hoping for a decent shot. We followed him for about 20 minutes - and this was the best I could do.

But, the picture is good enough to check another bird off our list!