Wildlife & Related

[Irving]

We just drove through there this evening on the way home from Winter Park. Didn't get as close as you did to anything.

Here is a shot from the trail under the Gondola in Winter Park.


Lake Granby

[newracer]

They are. Hognose are rattlesnake mimics, which I discovered when I found HN. I was running the concrete plant at Brush and picked up some galvanized sheet metal in the yard when it reared up, hissed and rattled it's tail like a rattler. But, it didn't have any rattles, so I caught it. Turned out to be a gentle pet snake.

They will also play dead.

[Hummer]

The fall bird migration is well underway. This Hermit Thrush was catching bugs in the yard. Closely related to robins but a little smaller, it is recognizable by its bold triangular spots in the front and the bright rust colored tail and rump. It breeds in the higher mountain forests and is known for singing one of the most beautiful bird songs.

Listen to the first two songs on this web page and you should be able to recognize it when you hear it in the woods: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/..._Thrush/sounds

[Irving]

It never fails. I go out to sight my rifle right before season starts, and antelope are just hanging out. If I were smarter, I'd have everything figured out way sooner and not scare them away right before the season. That was at about 580 yards.

[Hummer]

You were conditioning them to disturbance and the sight and sound of people shooting. Maybe they'll come closer during
season.

I'll be headed out soon to NW CO to look for a fat pronghorn buck.)

[Irving]

That's what I'm hoping. Years before I hunted, I would shoot out there all day, and they'd walk within 200 yards of where I was standing, downrange.

[Hummer]

This morning in Palisade, the 4th state record of the species, banded and released. I captured the first state record in 2002.

[Irving]

What is the metric for the record? Color? Amount of adorable?

[Bailey Guns]

On the topic of hummingbirds, I recently learned that a praying mantis can attack and eat hummingbirds. Just in case that comes up in Trivial Pursuit.

[Hummer]

What is the metric for the record? Color? Amount of adorable?

The record is of the occurrence of the species in the state of Colorado as documented through photographic and descriptive evidence and accepted by the Colorado Bird Records Committee. As only the 4th found here it is a very rare bird in CO.