Laura M

Thanks, Alan.

Thanks, Toby. I'm glad you enjoyed them. 😊

The Blue Grosbeak is a bright blue bird with its back facing the photographer, while looking back. The wings are patterned with black and reddish orange, and the back of the head and shoulders also have reddish orange feathers interspersed. Has a thick, black beak, and black eyes.

The Black-headed Grosbeak has a bright yellow belly, with black head and eyes. The wings have white bars on them.

The Pine Grosbeak is mostly red, with black eyes. The wings are black with white stripes, and part of the lower belly and under the wings is gray.

The Common Redpoll is light overall, with some brown streaking on the head and sides. There's a patch of red at the top of its head, and a faint wash of red on the upper chest. The beak is yellow and the eyes are black.

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #PerfectLighting, with an alt theme of #Finches. These hit both.
1. Blue Grosbeak
2. Black-headed Grosbeak
3. Pine Grosbeak
4. Common Redpoll

#PhotographersOfBlueSky #Birds

Nice, Chris! I never see dark morph up here. But, I do know of a dark morph Red-tailed, which are also gorgeous.

Photo is of a large bull moose, walking through the grass, with trees and a lake in the background.

One of my very favorite subjects! I spotted this gorgeous bull moose last September.

#Photography #NaturePhotography #PhotographersUnited #PhotographersOfBlueSky #Colorado

Shadows of Sandhill Cranes in the foreground, and Ross's and Snow Geese in the background, during sunrise at Bernardo Waterfowl Management Area in New Mexico. The birds roost in water overnight as protection from predators, then take of as a massive flock to feed in the fields during the day.

Shadows of Sandhill Cranes in the foreground, and Ross's and Snow Geese in the background, during sunrise at Bernardo Waterfowl Management Area in New Mexico. The birds roost in water overnight as protection from predators, then take of as a massive flock to feed in the fields during the day.

New to this one but I'll give today's a go.

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #FourOrMore - these are Sandhill Cranes and Ross's/Snow Geese at Bernardo Waterfowl Management Area in New Mexico. Taken in Dec '25

#PhotographersOfBlueSky #Birds

A Red-tailed Hawk looks for some breakfast. It's perched on a branch, looking down and to its right side. The bird has a brown head with golden brown eyes, and a large down-curved black and yellow beak. Its belly is white, with a band of brown spots across the middle. There are light stripes visible on the tail.

Red-tailed Hawk looks for food at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge in Colorado

#Photography #NaturePhotography #PhotographersUnited #PhotographersOfBlueSky #Colorado #Birds

Wild grass backlit by the setting sun. I knelt in front of the tall grass, which is bushy on the top and swaying in the breeze. The sunlight behind it is a warm glow, fading to peach, and eventually a deep blue.

Oof! It's been months since I posted here. Kinda forgot about this place. Can't promise I'll be consistent going forward, either, lol.

This photo was taken at Bosque del Apache in New Mexico, back in December. I've taken other similar photos, but love the colors in this one.

I know! I went 4 days in a row last week, lol. The weather wasn't going to be nice enough for anything like RMNP or Brainard, so why not?

The picture shows a juvenile Wood Stork on the left and a Snowy Egret on the right. The Wood Stork is tall and white, with pink legs. The forehead is very dark brown/black, with no feathers. The beak is long and orange, and curves at the tip. The top of the head and neck are light brown, fading to white as it nears the body and the eyes are dark. You can see a bit of black under the wing and tail. The Snowy Egret is smaller and more slender by comparison. It's white all over, with black legs and beak. The eye is yellow with a black pupil, and is surrounded by orange that extends to the beak.

By now, the ultra rare (for Colorado) Wood Stork is well known. 🙂 It's the first recorded sighting in about 91 years, and it's been hanging out in a pond near me. Here it is (L) with a Snowy Egret (R).

#Photography #NaturePhotography #PhotographersUnited #PhotographersOfBlueSky #Colorado #Birds

A Great Blue Heron has caught a crawdad to eat. It's a fairly tall bird with tan legs, medium gray in color overall, with black patches on the shoulder and belly. The long neck is a lighter gray with some very long feathers, and white and black stripes on the front side. The head is white on the sides with a strip of black above the eyes leading to a crest at the back of the neck (not visible in this photo). It has bright yellow eyes and a beak that's black on top and yellow on the bottom.

Great Blue Heron with a crawdad for brunch

#Photography #NaturePhotography #PhotographersUnited #PhotographersOfBlueSky #Colorado #Birds

A Bighorn Sheep relaxes up on some rocks, in front of a tree. It's light brown with golden eyes and a white muzzle. This one may be a female, as the horns are not very large or curved.

Went up to Rocky Mountain National Park a few days ago and came home the 'back way' (through Allenspark). I was excited to spot some Bighorn Sheep along the way.

#Photography #NaturePhotography #PhotographersUnited #PhotographersOfBlueSky #Colorado #BighornSheep

Thank you for understanding. 🙂

male Eastern Bluebird taking off from a branch. You can almost see through the wing on the left side of the photo. He is bright blue, with orange throat and sides, and a white belly. He has a short black beak and dark eyes.

The male Western Bluebird is a slightly darker shade of blue. Unlike the Eastern, it has orange patches on its shoulders and has a blue throat instead of orange. The belly is slightly streaky as well. Otherwise, they are very similar.

Today, for #FridayFliers, I'm going back to March when I shot this rare (for Colorado) Eastern Bluebird. Adding a Western Bluebird that I took a couple of days ago for comparison.

#Photography #NaturePhotography #PhotographersUnited #PhotographersOfBlueSky #Colorado #Birds

I note this occurs regularly on your profile. Very uncool. If you don't know who took the photo, you shouldn't be posting it.

But who IS the photographer? You're not actually crediting them at all, so it's theft of intellectual property. You need to at the least provide their name and a link to the original.

Glad you like him! First one I've seen this season, actually.

This male Blue Grosbeak is sitting on a branch with green leaves in the background. He's facing away, but has his head turned back towards me. He's bright blue overall, but his wings have orange and dark gray/brown bars on them. He also has a bit of dark gray on his shoulder area (do birds have shoulders?!) and on his tail. His eye is dark, and he has a black outline around his thick, grey, beak.

This lovely Blue Grosbeak was beautiful to both see and hear. His pretty song led me right to him, so I was obligated to take his picture, right?

#Photography #NaturePhotography #PhotographersUnited #PhotographersOfBlueSky #Colorado #Birds

I'm glad you find the alt text helpful, and thank you for the feedback on the hashtags. It's something I never really thought of, but I guess it makes sense.

Thank you!

A chipmunk sits on a rock to eat its breakfast of wild grass. He has a white belly, while his sides are more orange. The top of his head is brown, as are his lower leg and tail. His back and face are heavily striped, his eyes are dark, and he has small, rounded ears.

I find it impossible to not take photos of chipmunks!

#photography #naturephotography #photographersunited #PhotographersOfBlueSky #colorado

A Double-crested Cormorant splashes while bathing. It's a medium sized black bird with bright blue eyes and a black and yellow face.

A Double-crested Cormorant splashes while bathing. It's a medium sized black bird with bright blue eyes and a black and yellow face.

This Double-crested Cormorant was having a great time splashing away in May. You can still see its bright blue eyes among the water droplets.

#photography #naturephotography #photographersunited #PhotographersOfBlueSky #colorado #birds

You're missing a word starting with N after Orate. 😉

Might be, but right now it may still be mostly the Anhinga.

The ponds there are private, but as long as you park on the shoulder (plenty of room) and don't trespass them you're fine.

The Silky Phacelia flower has vibrant purple clusters. Five petals per flower, which are more white in the center, intersected with long dark purple stalks that have yellow on the very end.

The Silky Phacelia flower has vibrant purple clusters. Five petals per flower, which are more white in the center, intersected with long dark purple stalks that have yellow on the very end.

I don't post flowers too often, but the Silky Phacelia looks like a flower form of fireworks to me. And, it's my favorite color, lol.

#photography #naturephotography #photographersunited #PhotographersOfBlueSky #colorado #rockymountainnationalpark

You're very welcome! The pin moved a bit from where I had it, but it's the pond on the east side. Sometimes it sits on one of the snags in the middle, too, to dry off after fishing.

maps.app.goo.gl/YbcrdT4CErKs...

I can help with location. Most of the time it's been on the far side of this pond on the trees. Better light in the evening due to this, and you may also catch it fishing. On occasion, it's also been seen hanging out on the west side of 95th in a dead tree that often has cormorants in it.

You're so right! And thanks so much! These and Tree Swallows are probably my favorites, just due to their colors.