Jeremy's Birds (and More)

4 Peaks in 4 Days: Day 2 - Guadalupe Peak, TX This was the best shot of the peak. We were about half-way there when this was taken. The posts below show the flowers, shrubs, and other plants and wildlife we encountered on this trip.

Wildflowers Hartweg's Sundrops ( Calylophus hartwegii ) . Evening-Primrose family. We started the hike before dawn and these flowers were everywhere. As the sun came out and began to strike the flowers, they quickly closed up. Pale Evening Primrose (Oenothera primiveris) Also of the Evening-Primrose family. Mexican Silene ( Silene laciniata ) . Probably the most distinctive flower we saw on the whole trip. Wild Blue Flax ( Linum lewisii ) . Golden-beard Penstemon ( Penstemon barbatus ) .

Animals Crevice Spiny Lizard . The very distinctive neck band and tail bands made this one easy to identify. It was a fairly large lizard too. This was the only animal we saw that I got a photo of, but I did also see a Mountain Chickadee and White-Throated Swift (both birds). 

We saw these ladybugs on the top of Gudalupe Peak. When I first saw them, I thought they were the fruit of the bush they were clustered on, but on closer inspection discovered they were lady bugs. All of this type of bush were covered as thickly as this one, but I wasn't able to identify the bush.

Cacti and Yucca Engelmann's Prickly Pear ( Opuntia engelmannii ) . This was growing atthe very top of the peak. It would have been a better shot if the flower were more fully in bloom. Sotol ( Dasylirion liophyllum ) , aka desert spoon. A very cool looking plant. I love the long stem.

Shrubs Mock Orange bush, ( Philadelphus genus) . There are several specific varieties and species which are very difficult to distinguish. For my purposes, mock orange is sufficient. Mohave buckbush, ( Ceanothus greggii )  aka desert ceanothus.  If you look closely the flowers are actually several smaller flowers bunched together. These smaller flowers are closed rather tightly in this photo which gives it a distinctive look. Cliffrose ( Purshia mexicana ) . I like how tissue paper thin the flower is on this plant

Unknown plants This shrub has pink and white trumpet type flowers. I would have thought it would be easy to identify, but I have found nothing like it in any of the guide books or on the net. This purple flower is also quite distinctive, but again, could not identify it.

4 Peaks in 4 Days: Day 1 - Wheeler Peak, NM Wheeler Peak.  This shot was taken at William's Lake, just before the brutal assent, 1,000 ft in elevation in just over a mile!  Below are the plants and animals we encountered along the way. We saw this Yellowbelly Marmot on the very peak. It was very accustomed to humans and was looking for a handout.

Subalpine Larkspur . The flowers are pretty, but the mass of flowers is the most impressive. We saw these along the trail as we first started out, it was very damp and humid, which felt strange for a hike in arid NM.

You can see the Shrubby Cinquefoil in the foreground of this shot of William's Lake. California Corn Lily,  aka False Hellebore. These were growing next to the lake. I'm in the shot to show how tall they grow. These Mountain Bluebells threw me at first because of the pink color. They were all over the place. I found out when I came back that the pink color is quite common when the plant is immature. Other flowers seen on this hike: Colorado Columbines and Elephant's head.

Porcupine   We were on a Saturday drive looking for herds of elk (Feb 2008), when we saw this procupine in a tree. This was one of the better shots of the bunch.

Golden Mantled Squirrel   Saw this on the way up Mt. Borah (Idaho) with Neal. Obvious how it got it's name.

I'm going to try to get back into the blogging habit, so I'm posting some of my photo backlog since I moved to Craig. Hope you enjoy.

Western Chorus Frog So this isn't exactly a bird, rather bird food. They make a great snack for the Great Blue Heron (see the previous post). We heard these while taking a walk, but it took us forever to actually see one. They are just over an inch long, but make a near deafening noise. I think we expected something larger. They were all in this little 5 by 10 ft swamp which was located about 200 yards from a large nesting colony of Blue Herons. I would have thought such a racket would attract the Herons, but apparently the frogs are alive and well.

Great Blue Heron So while the pie-billed grebe probably wasn't worth the separation from the family (see earlier post), this was a rather impresive pic of a great blue heron perched in a cottonwood next to the river. 

Pied-Billed Grebe I'm trying to blog all the birds I take pics of this year (2007). So here's my first. Looks like a strange duck, but isn't. Its a grebe. Saw this on the South Platte while taking a walk with the family. Actually, I had taken what I thought was a short jaunt on another trail that ran nearer the river, expecting it to return to the main train where Colleen and the kids were. I was mistaken however and the trails didn't reunite for at least 3/4 of a mile. By the time I got back on the main trail and reunited with the family, it was time to return home. So much for the family outing! 

White-tailed Ptarmigan We saw this while hiking up Mt. Elbert (the highest point in Colorado). I love how well it blends into the background. Usually ptarmigans are only found in the artic. However, the White-tailed can be found south of Canada in the high Rockies above timberline. 

Lesser Goldfinch (male) Also called greenbacks as well. Looks a lot like the American goldfinch, except the back has the darker, greenish hue to it, whereas the Am. Goldfinch is more brilliantly yellow colored. 

American Goldfinch (male) Rather impressive looking bird. We used to get these all the time in Boston and now we see them pretty frequently at our neighbor's house. She has several feeders and atracts all sorts of birds. We finally put up some feeders as well and now we're starting to pull in a few birds as well. 

And now for something completely different! American White Pelican. Having nearly exhausted my present supply of "blackbird" pics, I decided to go to the other side of the spectrum. I took these shots yesterday. I had seen some pelicans in a pond near Home Depot and went back to get some shots. As I approached the pelican flew to the other side of the lake. I meandered through residential streets trying to find a place where I could get a shot or two. Along the way I picked up several shots of other birds (including the yellow-headed blackbird posted yesterday). Finally I found a small trail down the center of an isthmus between Bowles reservoir and Marston Lake. Soon I found out that the isthmus was actually a small bird refuge. Birds were everywhere, (you'll see several over the coming days)! BUT they had the trail gated shut so as not to disturb nesting pelicans and herons. Well as I was cursing my luck to be so close yet so far away. This pelican flew across the lake...