The boys finally finished school for the year and it was time for our annual summer vacation! This time we picked Colorado mostly because it was the most convenient flights and to visit Melissa's sister. But first a few local photos from the weeks leading up to the trip.
Luke graduated from High School and will be off to UNC Chapel Hill soon.
A Blue Dasher in my yard.
A Great Blue Skimmer
White Pitcher Plant - the in-laws were in town for Luke's graduation and they suggested we go to the Stanley Redher Carnivorous Plant Garden in the center of Wilmington in the Piney Ridge Nature Preserve. I was really impressed! All this time and I had no idea it was even there.
There were tons of Venus Flytraps!
Yellow Pitcher Plants
Tuberous Grasspink I think...
Purple Pitcher Plant I think...
We landed in Denver late at night and stayed in Longmont for the first couple nights. The boys are really late risers so I went to a local park with Melissa.
Plenty of Yellow Warblers.
House Finch
Western Red-tailed Hawks look very different than ours. These were young light morphs.
The red-shafted variety of Northern Flicker - I tried to get a flight shot but failed.
Fox Squirrel - I believe these are the same species we have in Wilmington, but ours are colored differently. Colorado is the furthest west that they live.
American White Pelican
Loved the young ones with the black cap!
In the afternoon I picked out Brainard Lake Recreation Area as a good place to go hiking. The Rocky Mountains National Park is obviously the biggest draw in the area but the problem is you need timed-entry passes in the summer to access the park between 9am and 2pm and they sell out like hotcakes. I supposed we could have waited a bit and gotten in at 2pm but Brainard Lake Area looked promising for American Three-toed Woodpecker and had some good long hikes for the family so off we went.
It didn't take long after leaving the parking lot to spot our first Moose of the trip!
Every place we visited was breath-taking. We took a 5-6 mile hike called the Isabelle Glacier Trail which I think would have been 8 miles but we stopped about 2-3 miles in due to thunderstorms.
Pika! Love these little mountain rabbits.
After the thunderstorms started up and we turned around, the family walked ahead and I decided to hunker down under a pine tree for the rain to pass. I had camera equipment and didn't want the bag to get soaked. As I waited, a large weasel started foraging in an area close by and didn't notice me as I fumbled to get my camera out. I think the rain was knocking my scent down. My understanding is these critters don't show themselves normally during the day.
Pine Marten!! It was soaking wet and didn't stick around long. I only managed one decent frame before it disappeared as quick as it came.
The lake back at the parking area was sheet glass! Beautiful.
The next day started out much the same way, Melissa and I went for a quick walk while the boys slept in. This park was closer to the hotel and not nearly as nice as the first but it did have a huge colony of Black-tailed Prairie Dogs!
They are probably one of the cutest animals in North America.
Once we were able to rouse the boys, we checked out of the hotel and headed towards Estes Park which is the gateway town for Rocky Mountain National Park. The plan was to take a short hike east of the town and then eat lunch in Estes before heading up to high elevations.
The Kruger Rock hike was a perfect way to get above Estes Park and see the Rocky Mountains to the west.
Luke with the mountains we would be climbing later in the afternoon to the west and Estes Park in the valley below.
Least Chipmunk - As we had a small snack all kinds of critters started scurrying around us.
Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel
iNat says this is a Chryxus Arctic which is a type of brushfoot butterfly.
Mountain Bluebird
We made it down into Estes Park which is a cute mountain town but also a bit touristy and the traffic was bad. We had an awesome meal at a Nepalese restaurant and then headed up into the famous Rocky Mountain National Park!
Some of the lower elevation mountains at the entrance to the park.
Some of the higher elevations above tree-line going well above 10k feet. Plenty of snow still up there despite the amazing weather.
Yellow-bellied Marmot! These guys were having a tussle. I couldn't tell if it was two males fighting or a lover's romp.
If it was a fight, it was all in good fun.
I want one!
Of course there were plenty of Elk up there too.
American Pipit were very common.
However, most of you probably know that I had a target in mind when I brought the family up to high elevation - White-tailed Ptarmigan has eluded me in my past visits to Colorado mainly because I didn't spent enough time at the high elevation spots they love. I was reading online that Medicine Bow Curve was one of the best spots up in the park to see them. What an awesome place up there. It was just a little pull-off spot with a trail that meanders into the high altitude tundra with no one else in sight. All the tourists were just a half mile away at the main visitors center. The family joined me to the end of the trail and turned back. I knew it was just a matter of looking hard and I would eventually spot my target. I walked around scanning for 30-40 minutes and then started to hear a faint clucking chicken-like sound and knew that they were near.
White-tailed Ptarmigan are masters of camouflage and difficult to find even in the summer where they change up their white plumage for a mottled plumage that blends in with the rocky crags they hang out in.
It just looks like another rock!
I walked up slowly and they quickly acclimated to my presence and soon were ignoring me.
I took hundreds of photos and left them as they were when I found them.
The male had yellow tags with the number 65 on them.
And the scenery was not bad...
On the way back to the car, Horned Larks serenaded me.
The family back at the parking spot were there to greet me and cheer me on after a successful hunt.
Elk - we were distracted many times on the way back down.
Back at the entrance valley tons of people were snapping photos at something in the bog so we pulled over and joined them.
Oh, just another Moose. But wait....
It had a baby with it!
A great way to end the day. Dinner was spent at a nice diner where I noshed on a delicious brisket sandwich.
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