Red-headed Woodpecker – Picture Walks

We’ve been back to our home state of Michigan for well over a month now after a three-month hiatus in Florida. I haven’t returned to my usual photography routine of taking pictures every day like I did in Florida or like I did through most of the pandemic years when all my regular routines were put on hold and I had time to pursue this hobby full time.

My picture taking days have taken a nose dive since returning to Michigan. It’s not that I’ve lost interest, or sustained an injury, or had a spate of bad weather. It’s pickleball. I’ve been distracted by pickleball.

There are pickleball courts right next to our condo, and there’s a whole community of pickleball enthusiasts nearby who are readily available to play. It’s impossible for me to stay home if I know there’s a pickleball game going on. As a result, I haven’t gone on any ‘field trips’ this spring or gone for many picture walks.

A male Grackle enjoying my peanuts and seeds

Mostly, I’ve been finding an hour or two here and there to stand outside our back door with my camera in hand to take pictures of all the usual suspects: woodchucks, woodpeckers, chipmunks, squirrels, white-tailed deer, and a wide variety of colorful songbirds. They’re all back there carrying on with their busy, productive lives even when I’m not there to document it.

The most interesting critter in our backyard has been the local woodchuck. I was standing outside our back door taking pictures of all the different birds landing in the nearby trees when I noticed movement about 50 feet from where I was standing. When I zoomed in on the mystery creature, I discovered it was a mama woodchuck transporting her little babies, one by one in her mouth from point A to point B. I’m not sure why she was moving them, but it was so much fun to watch! By the way, did you know that those little babies are called chucklings? I loved learning that little bit of trivia!

Mama woodchuck with one of her several babies

Then, the other day a red-headed woodpecker showed up! I rarely ever see them, and I’ve never seen one in our backyard! Getting a picture of a red-headed woodpecker was almost as exciting as getting one of a pileated woodpecker, but the pileateds are regular visitors to our yard, and the red-headed woodpecker was definitely not! So it was a great find!

The cutest little visitors are the chipmunks and the squirrels. They’re everywhere out there eating the fallen birdseed, digging holes everywhere in the grass, and constantly trying to steal birdseed from our second story feeders. But, they’re so darned cute and so photogenic I’m inclined to think of them as entertainment rather than irritating pests.

Among the most stunning creatures in our backyard are the wood ducks, the Baltimore orioles, the white-tailed deer, the yellow warblers and, perhaps, even our resident turkey. In all fairness, though, all the creatures I photograph are beautiful to me.

Wood Duck on Cherry Creek behind our house

I feel quite lucky to have such a wide variety of interesting creatures right outside my back door and I treasure all the opportunities I have to photograph them.

White-tailed Deer wondering what I’m up to

There’s no need to travel far to be amazed.

White-tailed fawn at the edge of the small wooded area behind our row of condos

Mel and I have just returned from a vacation in Colorado where we both enjoyed pursuing our passions—fly fishing for him, nature photography for me.

August 28-29

Hitchcock Nature Center, Honey Creek, Iowa

Our four day, twelve hundred mile car journey from Michigan to Colorado took us through the states of Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska. According to Google Maps, it’s only a 16 hour journey— that is if you don’t stop to sleep or eat or go to the bathroom! We did all of the aforementioned, plus took a side trip to Honey Creek Iowa where we spent two days in a cozy little cabin on the grounds of the Hitchcock Nature Center. While at the nature center, we took pictures walks along the Fox Ridge Run Trail and the Boardwalk Trail.

Yelllow-billed Cuckoo (Mel’s shot)
Dickcissel

Great Spangled Fritillary on Field Thistle

Baltimore Oriole
Red-headed Woodpecker (Mel’s pic)

August 30- September 2

Ft. Collins, Colorado

From Honey Creek, Iowa we headed through Nebraska to Fort Collins, our first Colorado destination.

Fort Collins is well known for its excellent fly fishing opportunities and a multitude of natural areas to explore. Over the course of our stay in Fort Collins, Mel went fishing several places along the Cache La Poudre River, while I took picture walks along the Hewlett Gulch Trail, the Fossil Creek Reservoir (twice) and at the Colorado State University Annual Trial Flower Garden. Mel joined me for picture walks on one of my visits to the reservoir and at the university flower garden.

Cache La Poudre River where Mel was fishing
(He took this picture while he was fishing and you can see the tip of his rod in the lower right corner.)

Bumble Flower Beetle (something I’d never heard of!)
Rock cairn on the Cache La Poudre River

I was surprised to find White Pelicans in Colorado!
This one, as well as hundreds of others were hanging out at the Fossil Creek Reservoir in Fort Collins

Pied-billed Grebe
Western Grebe

Red-legged Grasshopper– one of hundreds at the Fossil Creek Reservoir

Musk Thistle
Swainson’s Hawk

Fossil Creek Reservoir is a huge tract of land! That’s me in the lower left corner!

Beautiful flowers and butterflies from the Colorado State Annual Trial Garden…

Aphrodite Fritillary (I think)

September 3-5

Estes Park, Colorado

As soon as we arrived in Estes Park, Mel headed to the fishing shops and I headed out looking for pictures to take. Surprisingly, the Knoll-Willows Nature Preserve is right in town and only a stone’s throw from where we parked! Within a minute or so of commencing my walk, I spotted a huge bull elk lounging in the underbrush along the edge of the preserve! A little farther down the sidewalk, were several of his girlfriends. Apparently, elk are a very common sight right in Estes Park!

Bull Elk lounging around right in downtown Estes Park!

The Girlfriends
Looking around for a snack

Hmmm. No dogs allowed. What’s up with that??

Teenage boy in Estes Park
Bull Daddy in Estes Park

In front of the Visitor’s Center at Estes Park, the Hummingbird Moths and the Hummingbirds were a delight to watch…

White-lined Sphinx Moth or Hummingbird Moth
Broad-tailed Hummingbird

Osprey with his catch of the day
Red-tailed Hawk

Barn Swallow
Pygmy Nuthatch

Least Chipmunk (look at the length of that tail!!)
Mountain Cottontail

September 5, 2019

Rocky Mountain National Park to Steamboat Springs

We spent the day driving through the scenic, breathtaking Rocky Mountain National Park to reach our second Colorado destination, Steamboat Springs. Mel and I stopped several times through the mountain route to take in all the spectacular views– but I never took any scenery pictures (they tend to be disappointing compared to the real thing), preferring instead to look for the smaller things like birds and butterflies and mammals.

Clark’s Nutcracker
(Clark’s Nutcrackers are mainly found in mountains at altitudes of 3,000–12,900 ft in conifer forests.)

Gold-mantled Ground Squirrel in the Rocky Mountains
This little critter looks a lot like a chipmunk but is much bigger– kind of like a chipmunk on steroids!

September 5-9

Steamboat Springs, Colorado

While Mel went fishing in the Yampa River, I went walking along the Yampa River Trail, a 7.5 mile multi-use trail that runs through the heart of Steamboat Springs and along the Yampa River. Along that trail, I found other points of interest like the Rotary Park Boardwalk and the Yampa Botanic Park, both of which were wonderful places for a quiet retreat as well as multiple picture opportunities.

Swift Moth
Two-striped Grasshopper

Black-billed Magpie along the Yampa River Trail

Cedar Waxwing
Osprey

Coronis Fritillary (I think) on coneflower

Yellow-rumped Warbler
bedraggled Robin
European Starling

Hollyhock
Yellow Warbler
Mourning Cloak butterfly

On one of the days that Mel didn’t go fishing, we took a drive up to Fish Creek Falls together for a picture walk and later spent hours at the Yampa Botanic Garden taking pictures of all the beautiful flowers, birds and visiting insects.

White-lined Sphinx Moth (or Hummingbird Moth) in the Yampa Botanic Garden

Townsend’s Warbler up near Fish Creek Falls

Stunning flowers from the Yampa Botanic Garden…

September 9-12

Colorado Springs, Colorado

Colorado Springs was our last destination in Colorado and we made the best of the time we had. As soon as we arrived on the afternoon of the 9th, we went for a picture walk in Palmer Park on a trail that turned out to be rockier and slipperier than we expected. Not many pictures got taken—we were too busy watching our footing!

Cassin’s Vireo (I think)
One of the few pictures I took at Palmer Park because I was too busy watching my footing!

The following morning we headed out to the Garden of the Gods, which is known for its enormous, awe-inspiring geologic formations, including tall rock spires or hoodoos, and steep cliffs. It’s a major tourist attraction and well worth the visit.

After our visit to Garden of the Gods, Mel dropped me off at the Bear Creek Nature Center to take pictures all afternoon while he explored the fishing shops, bookstores and coffee shops around Colorado Springs.

Vesper Sparrow
Woodhouse’s Scrub Jay

Spotted Towhee
White-breasted Nuthatch

Scrub Jay
Lesser Goldfinch and Pine Siskin

On Wednesday, our last full day in Colorado, Mel dropped me off at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo where I spent a delightful five and a half hours taking almost 800 pictures of the zoo animals and of the native birds that were flitting about in the nearby trees!

Baby Wallaby in his mama’s pouch– one of my favorite pictures from the zoo

This baby wallaby is around 7 months old and barely fits in the pouch anymore!
Here you see his head and legs sticking out!

Mom and baby wallaby hanging out together

The Wallaby baby hopped around for a few minutes before scurrying back to the safety of his mother’s pouch.

Emu
Giraffe

The meerkats were great fun to watch. They are both curious and comical!

The meerkat on the right walked into the scene, laid down and decided to strike this rather suggestive pose!
Their antics were so much fun to watch!

Moose
I had been hoping to see a moose in the wild in Colorado, but this is the closest I got!

Peacock wandering around in the zoo
Steller’s Jay at the zoo

Parakeets in the Budgie House at the zoo.

Okapi
Also known as the forest giraffe, Congolese giraffe, or zebra giraffe, native to Africa.

Male Wood Duck
Female Wood Duck

Porcupine taking a nap
White-backed Vulture (Africa)

The best part of going on vacation, besides getting away from every day routines, is finding things I’ve never seen before (and taking pictures!), eating things I’ve never tried before and meeting new people I’ve never met before.

Tag: Red-headed Woodpecker

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