Thursday, July 20, 2017

Our week so far!

We've had more rain than I expected.  Here is the valley below us after a night of showers..




 Look closely and you see several greenhouses, the white structures, and some fields lined with plastic to keep weeds down?  That is the marijuana grow operation.  They have plants in different stages of development.  At night the greenhouses are all lit up. 



the crop is Hemp actually...

Here's the "kids" on the deck looking out to see what they can bark at!



We hung the hummingbird feeder and got the black chinned hummer right away, 
and Monday I saw a Rufous Hummingbird   (yippie)    


BLACK CHINNED (really is violet)



RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD #400

  So there is a rest area nearby! Lions Park Rest Area.  It's quite the happening place...there is a small pond, and lots of birds hang around...We took the dogs walking there on Sunday and I saw this Osprey in the nest with her "almost ready" young! 




She was shielding them from the hot sun with her big wings...what a mom eh?  At first I only saw one, and what a surprise my photo showed the second chick.  I should of taken more photos of the rest area...next time will do! 




and just across the River was another nest I couldn't make out if this is adult or some juvies...but look what a messy nest!!




the red stuff is shipping strapping from what I could tell...

Back at home we relaxed on the deck again Casey needed to rest...



I was out with the camera finding some isolation shots of the cool gnarly trees...like this one.  MY FAV.




And then out on the rocks... what else but a rock wren!  I've seen several young ones too...





 And this lovely  canyon wren showed up here this morning...




Since I haven't yet seen the sage wren... up till now the canyon wren is my favorite...he/she has such an aerodynamic shape.


Another "yard" visitor this morning was the Woodhouse Scrub Jay, June of 2016, they split the western scrub jay into  Woodhouse and California.  Supposedly the California has more of a turquoise vivid blue.  Very hard for me to keep up with all the changes the AOU is always implementing!  I almost feel like it's really not necessary? What do ya'll think?? 



Woodhouse scrub jay

...as promised here's a few shots of around town, its small so not a whole lot to show...

Here is  main street.  Railroad Ave.  It is a small western town...supposedly the first town in Colorado to have electricity, hydroelectric power from Rifle Falls shown in a previous post.  There's growth over toward the interstate, Walmart, and other familiar chains. Luckily it's away from the original old town area.  





1882

One of the local attractions and on the top 10 list  of things to do in Rifle is to visit the Ute Theater, its Live Entertainment! 


Also on the list of top 10 things to see is the Rifle Creek Museum 


I haven't visited either yet!  It's hard to want to be indoors when there's so much to see outdoors!  Like the picnic we had yesterday at Rifle Gap Reservoir.




sis n mom 


We saw spotted sandpiper, imm bald eagle, belted kingfisher, more mountain bluebirds, and some Canada geese, people boating, kayaking, tubing, fishing, and just hanging out! 



imm mtn bluebird

There is camping here too...they have 4 or 5 campgrounds! I should pick up a park pass, it's $7 each time you enter and if you camp that is in addition to the camp fee...the pass is $70, good for a year! I should have bought one right off the bat since we've already spent $21.  Tomorrow I am off for another adventure!! 


PEACE
Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.

8 comments:

  1. Congrats on the 400th spot. Exciting. Will you be taking a trip on the Colorado. You've certainly clocked up the miles on the van this year.

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    1. We did a white water raft trip about 7 yrs ago what a thrill that was! Yep I'm planning to put as many miles on the van as I can it flipped 210,000 yesterday.

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  2. your 400th lifer? Wow!!! Congratulations... the hummers really love your feeders I can see. That's an amazing rest stop/campground/lake ... you are as always finding the good birding places ... happy adventuring.

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    1. I found that one feeder at wwalmart for 75c they were fighting over the other one so much..

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  3. I would love to sit on that deck and watch all the hummers coming to the feeder. I love the Rufous I have many pictures of them and the black chin is a so beautiful too. I love going through the old towns, we have many here. And how wonderful that they keep all those modern stores out away from the older parts of town. And once again the that gorgeous lake what a great place for a picnic.
    Had to laugh at the nest with all its streamers. Wonderful pictures.

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    1. Thanks Jo this is a fab deck to sit on I will miss it! I want to come visit some of the awesome areas of AZ when its cooler.

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  4. How lovely to have the Hummingbirds right on your doorstep, not a bird we ever get here of course, they're so beautiful! Fantastic to get to 400!

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    1. Thanks Pam I know you would love seeing a hummer...I would love to see the long tailed tit!

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