Ms Elk enjoys a snack

I came upon this pretty female elk grazing in a meadow in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.  As I focused the camera, she looked right at me and smacked.  Then, almost as if she realized I had captured her in an inelegant moment, she quickly struck a more serious pose -- protruding grass stems and all.

A Family of Bighorn Sheep in Badlands National Park

Pair of Bighorn Sheep, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

While driving through Badlands National Park in South Dakota we came upon what appeared to be a nuclear family of Bighorn Sheep: a young ram, his apparent mate, and a small lamb.  In the mountains near our house in Colorado, we are accustomed to seeing Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis) in herds. Occasionally we see a lone ram.  But in our experience, a threesome such as this is an unusual sight.

Now, there may have been more sheep nearby that we did not see.  These three individuals were quite near to the road, so perhaps the rest of the herd was just over the ridge that rose up behind them.  But that day we saw only these two young adults, a male and a female, and the little lamb.  The lamb was young enough that the vestige of its umbilical cord was still visible on its belly!

Below are some close-up photos of each of the individual sheep.

Bighorn Sheep ram

Bighorn Sheep ewe

Bighorn Sheep lamb

Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus)

Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus) - adult female

I photographed this Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus) near the edge of a forest in a mountainous area of Larimer County, Colorado.  This individual is an adult female.  The markings of the male of the species are very similar, but the male has a red patch at the back of its head.

The diet of the Hairy Woodpecker consists mainly of insects, although they also will eat seeds and fruits. They are known to eat the larvae of the bark beetles that infest Ponderosa Pines in Colorado, so these birds are a welcome sight.

Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus) - adult female

Ground Squirrel Says: "I Haz a Cornz"

Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel (Callospermophilus lateralis)

I had been out photographing wildflowers, and on the way home I stopped at a scenic overlook near the edge of the town of Estes Park, Colorado.  I saw a man sprinkle an assortment of seeds and nuts on the ground for the squirrels and chipmunks known to hang out there.  A dozen or so critters showed up in a flash and began picking through the scattered bits searching for their favorites.

While most of the animals scampered about, stuffing their cheek pouches with as much as they could, this one little guy, a Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel, picked up a single item at a time and daintily nibbled at it.  By a stroke of luck, my trusty macro lens was already mounted on my camera, so I was able to snap a couple of close-up shots of the corn-eating squirrel.

Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel eating corn

Butterfly: Milbert's Tortoiseshell

Milbert's Tortoiseshell Butterfly (Aglais milberti)

Location:  Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

On an early Spring day, we walked the trail around the perimeter of Sprague Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park.  At a point where a boardwalk section of the trail crosses over a marshy area, we paused to take in the view.  Fortunately I looked down just in time to see this pretty butterfly land on some vegetation just below the boardwalk.  It is a Milbert's Tortoiseshell (Aglais milberti), a member of the Nymphalidae family.

Portrait of a Red Dorking Hen

Red Dorking hen at 'Plimoth Plantation' in  Massachusetts

Meet the Red Dorking -- an ancient but now-rare breed of chicken.  I photographed this good-looking individual at the Plimoth Plantation, the "living history museum" near Plymouth, Massachusetts.  The Red Dorking chicken is one of the rare breeds of animals raised there today.

Plimoth Plantation re-creates the village life of the English immigrants who arrived in Massachusetts in the 17th century and established the Plymouth Colony.  The most well-known of those colonists were the Pilgrims who arrived on the Mayflower.

If you would like to learn more about this five-toed chicken breed, here is a detailed article published a few years ago by Mother Earth News:

Dorking Chickens: Heritage Poultry Breeds

Drowsy Elk with an Itch

We were driving through a residential area in the mountain town of Estes Park, Colorado.  We came upon a bull elk who had decided to take his afternoon rest in a patch of sunlight right beside the road.  Not wanting to startle the drowsy animal, we eased off to the side of the road and stopped.  As quietly as possible, I stepped outside the car to take a few photos.

Elk resting by the roadside in Estes Park, Colorado

The elk stirred a bit, but did not get up.  As he turned his head toward me I was able to get a shot of his huge antlers.

Male Elk with beautiful antlers

Then he did something surprising.  He leaned his head back and began to scratch his back with his antlers.

Elk scratching his back with his antlers

He moved his head back and forth, rubbing his antlers across his back for about a half minute.

Elk scratching his back with his antlers

Judging from the expression of pure bliss on his face, he must have found just the right spot.  If he could have spoken, I think he would have said, "Ahhhh."

Elk says, "Ahhh - that's the spot!"

Itchy spot relieved, he resumed his nap.  We watched the big elk for a few more minutes, then slowly drove past him and went on our way.  He never stirred.

Male Elk at rest - Estes Park, Colorado

White-lined Sphinx Moth (Hyles lineata)

White-lined Sphinx Moth (Hyles lineata)

This nice-looking moth species is the White-lined Sphinx Moth (Hyles lineata).  It is a member of the Sphinx Moth (Sphingidae) family.  I photographed this individual in a residential area of Westminster, Colorado, on the side of a building next to a small flower garden.  

The species entry on Butterflies and Moths of North America, an authoritative Web site about Lepidoptera, says that the adult White-lined Sphinx Moths feed on the nectar of flowers.  Among the flowers listed were columbine and honeysuckle -- two of the flowers that were growing in the garden that was just a meter away from where the moth was resting.

Here is an earlier post with a photo of an Oleander Hawk Moth, also a member of the Sphingidae family.

White-lined Sphinx Moth (Hyles lineata)

Critters blending in with their habitat

Blending in with the habitat is a survival advantage for creatures in the wild.  It is harder for predators to spot a critter who blends in well with its surroundings.  Wildlife photographers aren't exactly predators (we hope!), but sometimes we, too, have some difficulty spotting critters that blend well with their habitat.

Consider the photos series below.  In the first pair of photos an American Pika is  perched on a rock.  The color of its fur is so similar to that of the surrounding rocks that in the longer shot, the little animal almost could go unnoticed.

American Pika (Ochotona princeps)

American Pika - Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

In the next pair of photos, a Yellow-bellied Marmot sits in repose.  This animal's larger size and golden color usually make it easier to spot amid the rocky background than the Pika .  In this instance, though, the critter just happened to stop next to a rock of a color similar to the animal's coat.  I do not know whether this was by intention or by chance, but it did make it tougher to get a photo in which the animal stood out from the background.

Yellow-bellied Marmot (Marmota flaviventris)

Yellow-bellied Marmot - Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Both of these mountain-dwelling species prefer high-elevation habitats. I photographed these two individuals in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park near the base of the Tundra Communities Trail, at an elevation of around 12,000 feet (3,700 meters).

Here are some earlier posts on this blog with photos and more information about these two animals:

• American Pika (Ochotona princeps)
• Yellow-bellied Marmot (Marmota flaviventris)

A very cooperative Black-billed Magpie

Black-billed Magpie (Pica hudsonia)

Head Shot:  Black-billed Magpie

Anyone who regularly photographs birds -- or tries to -- will tell you that it is not an easy thing to do well.  It is difficult because birds tend to move about a lot.  They may land briefly, but as often as not they fly away before you can set up the shot.  And when they do perch somewhere for awhile, it is often at a distance greater than the photographer would like.

I photographed this Black-billed Magpie (Pica hudsonia) in a parking lot at Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.  As we unloaded some gear from the car, this individual flew down to the pavement from a nearby tree and landed right next to us.  It seemed unafraid of people, and my hunch is that this bird had a history of being fed by tourists.

I wouldn't go so far as to say the bird was "tame" but it certainly was an unusually cooperative model.  This afforded me a nice opportunity to get some great close-up photos of the Magpie, including the one below, in which you can actually see my reflection in the bird's eye!

Mug Shot: Bull Elk with a Broken Antler

Bull Elk in profile

Bull Elk portrait

Location:  Estes Park, Colorado

This Rocky Mountain Elk was drinking water at the edge of Estes Lake in Estes Park, Colorado.  He lifted his head as I approached to photograph him.  Looking through my camera's viewfinder I was happy to be able to get a nice profile shot, although I thought to myself that his antlers looked a little sparse.  Then he turned to face me and I realized that his antlers had been broken.  Poor guy must have had a rough winter!

Common Raven (Corvus corax)

Common Raven (Corvus corax)

Location: Sprague Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

When we first spotted this Raven, he was squabbling with another of his species.  We stopped to watch their quarrel, trying to figure out what the problem was.  Perhaps it was a territorial boundary that was in dispute.  This individual eventually chased the other bird into the nearby pine forest, then returned to perch on the top rail of a fence.  He stayed still just long enough for me to take his picture before resuming his patrol of the area.

Black-tailed Prairie Dogs

Black-tailed Prairie Dog (Cynomys ludovicianus)

Prairie dog colony in a suburb of Denver, Colorado.

Black-tailed Prairie Dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) are rodents that belong to the squirrel family, Sciuridae. In fact, they do look like over-sized ground squirrels, but without the stripes!  Although this species is called "black-tailed," only the tip of the animals' tails are black.

They are social animals, living in colonies.  The colonies are a complex of tunnels and burrows and can be home to hundreds of prairie dog families.  Although prairie dogs will eat insects such as grasshoppers, they are primarily herbivores.  Thus, grasslands and prairies are their preferred habitat.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Black-tailed Prairie Dogs are found in 11 States including Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming.  The prairie dogs on this page were photographed in the Big Dry Creek Open Space in Westminster, Colorado -- a suburb of Denver.  This is one of many prairie dog colonies on the outskirts of the Denver area.

Black-billed Magpie (Pica hudsonia)

Black-billed Magpie (Pica hudsonia)

Location:  Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, USA

Many people consider Magpies to be nuisance birds -- and indeed, they can be aggressive and annoying sometimes -- but they also are very beautiful creatures.  I photographed this individual in a parking lot at Rocky Mountain National Park.

Interesting factoid about Magpies:  They are one of only four American songbirds whose tail makes up half or more of the bird's total body length (according to Wikipedia).

Shy Mule Deer

Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus)

Location:  Estes Park, Colorado, USA

While driving, I saw some deer grazing in a meadow near the road.  Armed with my ever-present camera, I stopped and got out of the car to photograph them.  The deer spotted me instantly and trotted into a stand of pine trees that bordered the meadow.  I waited a long time for them to re-emerge into the meadow so that I could get some clear shots, but they would not cooperate.  I had to be satisfied with a few images of the deer peeking at me through the tree branches.

Colorado Cutie: Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel

Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel (Callospermophilus lateralis) 

Location: Estes Park, Colorado, USA

One of the cutest and friendliest wild critters in the mountains of Colorado is the Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel.  They look like plump chipmunks, but without the eye stripe.  They are encountered frequently in parks, along hiking trails, and especially in picnic areas where they actively -- and sometimes aggressively -- beg for food.  Those tempted to offer these cute creatures a treat would do well to remember that while they may seem very tame, these are indeed wild animals, and they have been known to "bite the hand that feeds." 

Steller's Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri)

Steller's Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri) 

Location:  Estes Park, Colorado, USA

The Steller's Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri)  is a resident of evergreen forest areas of western North America, especially at higher elevations.  This individual was photographed in the town of Estes Park, Colorado near the eastern border of Rocky Mountain National Park.

Steller's Jays are large songbirds that belong to the family Corvidae.  The family includes crows, ravens and magpies along with jays.  Like their eastern cousins, the Blue Jays (Cyanocitta cristata), Steller's Jays are omnivores and are also known to rob the nests of other bird species.  They are good mimics, able to imitate the calls of other birds as well as the chirps of small mammals like squirrels.

Yellow-bellied Marmot

Yellow-bellied Marmot (Marmota flaviventris)

Location:  Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, USA

A large member of the Squirrel family, the Yellow-bellied Marmot is known to live at high elevations in the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada mountains.  I photographed this individual in Rocky Mountain National Park near the Alpine Visitor Center at Fall River Pass, elevation 11,796 feet (3,595 meters).     

A Fritillary Butterfly visiting an Arrowleaf Ragwort

Fritillary Butterfly (Speyeria sp.) 

Location:  Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, USA 

 I am not certain of the species of this pretty insect, but I believe it is a kind of Fritillary butterfly, probably of the genus Speyeria.   Fritillaries belong to the Nymphalidae family.  The wildflower this individual is visiting is called Arrowleaf Ragwort (Senecio triangularis). which is abundant in the western United States.

Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel, ready for hibernation

Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel (Callospermophilus lateralis) 

Location:  Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, USA 

My friend and I were hiking on an established trail around Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park.  We spotted a bench that overlooked the small lake, and decided to sit there to eat the sandwiches we had brought with us.  As soon as we unwrapped our food, this little guy appeared to beg for tidbits.  Although he was persistent to the point of being somewhat a pest, we didn't feed him.  Judging by his girth, he certainly was not starving!  In fact he looked very plump -- all ready for his winter hibernation.

Here is another photo of a Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel that I posted earlier this year.