Before I get too far behind, I want to catch up on the past 10 days or so. On Mother's Day afternoon, Dan and I took off for a two-night camping trip. We call it our "shake-down," where we make sure everything is in order for our summer trips. The camper was running okay, except for a small snag with the generator. The truck did well. And we had a really nice time out on the eastern plains of Colorado at the Pawnee National Grasslands.
It's a good time to visit, in the early May, when the weather is cool and breezy, the bird migration is at its best, and wildflowers are beginning to bloom. The trees are just starting to leaf out, adding a lovely green hue to the otherwise yellowish brown prairie grass.
The grasslands cover almost 200,000 acres in northeast Colorado. We camped at Crow Valley Campground, which was alive with all kinds of birds. The following photos were all taken there. As amazing as some of these birds are, my favorite was a mother robin who was nesting in the tree next to us. While western kingbirds squawked and rough-housed like a group of rowdy teenagers, she said quietly in their midst, tending to her nest.
House wrens added to the cacophony of sound.
A western kingbird. A few of his eastern cousins were there, too, but much more camera shy.
A downy woodpecker.
A bullock's oriole snacking on berries.
On our drive through the grasslands, horned larks were plentiful. . .
. . . as were lark buntings, Colorado's state bird.
Chipping sparrow.
The birds were the noisiest inhabitants at the campground. Otherwise, it was wonderfully quiet and peaceful. There are just 10 spots in addition to a couple of group spots. There weren't any groups camping. We met a couple from Ottawa, a wildlife photographer and his wife who have been traveling the states for a couple of months. It got us thinking about one of our bucket list items, to take a long trip somewhere. For now, we'll just dream about it!
Hi Karen. Beautiful pictures. Thinking about Colorado in the spring time made me miss my home state. This sounds like a lovely spring getaway. I hope you have a good week. See you again soon!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photos! I'm glad you had a peaceful camping trip.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful assortment of birds you saw on your camping trip. Love the idea of a short shake-down trip! Have a good weekend.
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