I saw a herd of nine elk in our valley on my way home this evening. This was not the first time this year, but they were much closer to the road than they had been previously. I am always astonished by elk: that creatures so stupid can be so magnificent.
Category: colorado
Extreme Sunrise
I’ve been going back through my folders of digital images and doing some pruning. I found this photo of a sunrise from December 2008 which I never posted.
Stalking
I felt like I was stalking the hummingbirds last night as I waited by the feeder to take this shot. So far this spring, I have only seen Broad-tailed Hummingbirds and not the smaller, even more aggressive, Rufous Hummingbirds.
Still Life, With Hummingbirds
The hummingbirds were feeding behind me as I took this photo. They are going full bore from dusk to dawn, and emptying one feeder a day. Last night I counted seven at one feeder at one time. I don’t believe I have ever seen that many at the same feeder before. I really like these new feeders since they can be completely dismantled for cleaning. The only thing I don’t like about them is that it can be hard to tell when one is empty.
Hummingbirds
I put two new hummingbird feeders up Wednesday morning at 8:00 am and observed the first hummer at 9:30 am. Last night, as I took this photo, I saw four or five at a time. I like this design of feeder: a funnel is not required to fill it.
Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center
I went to the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center in Woodland Park with a friend today. I could have spent a lot more time, if we hadn’t left dogs at home in crates. I was pleased that allowed photography inside, even with a flash in most areas. I loved this restoration, which looks more like modern art than a fossile.
Still Coming Down
It is not unusual to get snow in April, but it is rare to get so much. What makes this snow particularly strange is the temperatures have hovered right above freezing, and the snow is still accumulating. Tomorrow is supposed to be in the fifties.
Sleetfall
For two and a half hours this afternoon, we had a thunderstorm with hail and sleet instead of rain. Lody, the Collie, who has moderate thunder phobia, paced and moaned for most of that time. Orion was pretty upset as well, and I couldn’t tell if he was reacting to Lody, to the storm, or to the disruption in his schedule. Snow is forecast for the next two days. Springtime in the Rockies is here!
Easter Morning
The snow is very wet, and much needed. Rion came in looking as bedraggled as if he had been out in the rain. We even had some lightning and thunder before dawn.
