Saturday, December 31, 2016

Santa Fe Trail AFA 12/31/16

290







old railcar beds holding up the hill

entering AFA



Blodgett Peak

Vole skull


Shining Monument Creek

From far away, looked like a chimney


Northern Harrier female

Song Sparrow

Townsend's Solitaire



Planning to have Sherlock join our hikes in 2017!

Sunday, December 25, 2016

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Pueblo Christmas Bird Count CBC 12/21/16

281
First day of winter!




Curve-billed Thrasher

Townsend's Solitaire on a tomb

Mule deer


Moon

Pikes Peak looks weird from this angle (to me)



Lots and lots of Snow Geese, far away


Peek-a-boo squirrel

Saturday, December 17, 2016

Colorado Springs Christmas Bird Count 12/17/16

278
0 degrees, below zero windchill and blowing snow the whole time - my winter gear did the job of keeping warm - balaclava and hunter's gloves did great.  Snow boots hurt my feet though.  Camera was freezing up, binoculars were icing over.  Only got a few photos, and Tanja sent me a few of hers as well.  30+ species - not bad considering the weather!
The nicest weather was when we started.
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Two bald eagles were sitting at Willow Springs ponds - which were not frozen.
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Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Fountain CBC 12/14/16

273




Northern Shrike - 1st bird of the day




Our only owl - a geocache!




1 Tundra (smaller one) and 2 Trumpeter Swans - rare!!!