Birds and Nature

While birding with the birder from Virginia, we found this nice herd of American Elk. All the cows in this "harem" belong to this bull who will guard them and fight off competitors during the "rut." The elk were vocalizing and the bull had begun some bugling that we heard. Besides the cows in the herd there are also the offspring of the cows including at least one young male with "spikes" (short antlers). The bottom pic of these young enlarges nicely so double-click on it for closer views (the others can be enlarged also but are not as crisp). SeEtta

I took a birder from Virginia to a number of birding spots around Eastern Fremont Co 2 days ago. While birding several miles down the county road from Florence Mtn Park in Fremont Co., CO we saw this empid that is probably a Gray Flycatcher. It dipped it's tail repeatedly and has field marks for Gray Flycatcher but, as is common with fall flycatchers, it did not call. SeEtta