Colorado's Steamboat Springs and Routt National Forest is absolutely a treasure. If you haven't visited, get on it. When my husband and I camped in Dumont Campground on Rabbit Ears Pass in mid-August, we happened to be in a spot just across the campground road from a couple of bird magnet bushes plus the wildflowers were sensational. Earlier I posted my two prize photos (Townsend's Warbler and Orange-crowned Warbler), but in this post I'll offer a bunch of other photos that, although perhaps not of great value in terms of their beauty, are quite interesting. I think you'll see the variety of birds and sites we had just sitting in two camp chairs next to our RV. Sometimes we find the most variety by just sitting still.

  

Aren't these two snuggly juvenile Cordilleran Flycatchers the cutest?
 
 
 
 
 

 

 And how about this bedraggled little Ruby-crowned Kinglet. It was the strong wing-bar and his "flittiness" that gave away his identity.

Chipping Sparrows,  

Mountain Chickadees, 

Dark-eyed Juncos,

And Yellow-rumped Warblers everywhere you looked.

And this must be a Lincoln's Sparrow. Speak up under "Comments" if you disagree.

This bird had me going. I was thinking American Goldfinch, but now, in light of the very yellow vent and the slightly larger bill, I'm thinking Western Tanager lst year. Comments?  

Baby American Robins seem to lack the dignity of the adult types.
This female Wilson's Warbler found a caterpillar to eat.

And, finally, here is a real winner for me..a first year Green-tailed Towhee, one of my very favorite birds. I guess the beautiful rufous head decoration will come later. 

 
Happy Fall Birding to All!!

Here's another beauty that popped up for me at Dumont Campground near Steamboat Springs. This is a bird I have found difficult to identify, difficult to separate from other beautiful yellow birds. During my struggle to come up with the proper ID, I learned that the Orange-crowned Warbler has no wing bars, has an unmarked tail, and tends toward gray on the top side and the head. The bright yellow coverts sort of threw me off, but they are all part of this guy's costume.

This tidy little bird showed up on my ground feeder last evening. It's a Clay-colored Sparrow and is a new bird for our back yard.It's not rare in Colorado, but is usually seen a bit more to the east than the Denver area. It has been wolfing millet seeds like crazy and showed up this morning with two of its buddies.It has been a strange day at the ground feeder. All kinds of birds have been having a go at the millet even though they don't usually like it, and really don't have the equipment to pick up those little seeds and crack them, Blue Jays in numbers, a Common Grackle, even a Magpie. The sparrow has been drinking at the birdbath also. I wonder how long they'll stay. Here are a couple more pictures of this well-marked little bird. I like its gray neck collar.

This summer we have twice experienced the aggression of young Rufous Hummingbirds, first in Arizona in July and now in August up at Dumont Campground near Steamboat Springs. We put out a feeder and within an hour a juvenile Rufous adopted it as his own. From then on we only got the occasional "other" hummer, immediately chased off by the young Rufous male. Below is a series of images of our fella perched near the feeder or chasing off an "intruder".