Sunset on the Comanche National Grassland in southeast #Colorado. We were searching for the not-so-elusive brown tarantula. We saw four! #Stunday

Currently attempting a crossing of the mighty Arkansas River on Colorado State Highway 71, just north of Rocky Ford in southeast Colorado.

This red-tailed hawk was not-so-subtly escorting the bald eagle out of the hawk's territory near Fort McDowell, #Arizona, last spring. I cropped the photo to include a natural satellite. #BirdOfTheDay #Raptors #Birds

Depending on their diet, male house finches can have yellow or orange feathers on their heads and chests, but they are most often #Redheads. This fellow was in Grants, #NewMexico, a couple of springs ago. #BirdOfTheDay #Birds

Good morning to all! This Swainson's hawk was keeping an eye on things from its perch atop a utility pole along a state highway just north of Arriba, Colorado, earlier this month. We've seen quite a few of these lovely raptors this summer. They migrate to Argentina for the winter. #Birds #Colorado

As the sun was setting, this mute swan was quietly making its way around a western #Michigan lake last month. This species is not native to the United States: it was introduced from Europe in the 19th and early 20th centuries because the birds look good on water. #BirdOfTheDay #LightAndShadow #Birds

A sharp-lookin' juniper titmouse greets the day at Lathrop State Park in southern Colorado. #BirdOfTheDay #Paridae #StateParks #Colorado

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #ODG, any owl, duck, or goose. This was my first common goldeneye, seen swimming in the Las Vegas Wash last winter. This is a hen; the drakes have emerald-green heads. #Birds #LasVegas

The lighting was terrible and the bird was a long way off, but I still held on to this photo taken in Mesilla, #NewMexico, last spring. Even without any color, its profile easily identifies it as a curve-billed thrasher, and it's appropriate for today's #BirdOfTheDay theme, #Silhouette. #Birds

This pair of ring-necked ducks was hanging out on the shoreline of the Las Vegas Wash in southern Nevada. #BirdOfTheDay #Mamas&Papas #Birds

The American robins were helping themselves to chokecherries in the shadow of Wyoming's Devils Tower (yes, no apostrophe) when we visited the national monument last year. #Mouthful #BirdOfTheDay #NationalParks

This white-faced ibis was strolling about Cochise Lake in Willcox, located in southeastern Arizona, last spring. Very interesting #Birds, with a bit of #Iridescence on their wings and tail. #BirdOfTheDay #Arizona

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #ABCD, or any bird whose name begins with one of those letters: here's a black-billed magpie checking in from Lathrop State Park in southern Colorado. This photo was taken in one of the park's campgrounds a couple of years ago. #Birds #StateParks

Today's theme of #BirdBuddies, two species of birds sharing the same space; here's a northern shoveler couple with an American wigeon in the background. In the foreground, a bonus American coot is doing coot things. These #Birds were at Lake Cochise near Willcox, Arizona, last spring. #BirdOfTheDay

I enjoyed spending a few hours at the 32-acre ABQ BioPark's botanic garden last April, and saw this male wood duck catching a few winks near the park's big pond. #BirdOfTheDay #BirdNaps #Albuquerque #NewMexico #Birds

Good morning to all! A couple of years ago, this cactus wren in Kingman, Arizona, was atop a utility pole and regaling the neighborhood around our campground with its morning song, which sounds like someone trying and failing to start a car. Cactus wrens are the state #Birds of #Arizona.

One of my favorite birds of the southwestern United States, phainopeplas usually stand out pretty distinctly against their desert environments – including the #Arizona sky. This one was at McDowell Mountain Regional Park east of #Phoenix. #BirdOfTheDay #Contrast #Birds

This beautiful great egret was on the hunt at our Tucson, Arizona, campground in March of 2023. #ItsAllWhite #BirdOfTheDay #Birds

Good morning to all, and I hope everyone has a great September! I enjoyed watching this Gambel's quail while on a walk in Deming, #NewMexico, this past April. #Birds.

This house finch was having breakfast in Deming, #NewMexico, this past April. The ocotillo, a plant native to the deserts of the American southwest and Mexico, was in bloom during our stay in Deming. The plants also attracted hummingbirds. #FlowerPower #BirdOfTheDay #Birds

This killdeer was running around the campground when we first arrived in Seligman, #Arizona, in April of 2025. #BirdsUpClose #BirdOfTheDay #Birds #Route66

We spent a few pleasant days in western and northern #Michigan earlier this month, and I enjoyed the opportunity to see (and hear) some common loons. This one was on Lake Mecosta, and was the 100th bird species I've observed in 2026. #BirdOfTheDay #BestOfTheMonth #Birds

Coupla double-crested cormorants and a common merganser shared some space on the Las Vegas Wash this past January. The river returns treated water from Las Vegas back to Lake Mead, which needs every drop it can get. #BirdOfTheDay #Coastal&River #Birds

Good morning to all! We took an all-too-brief trip to western and northern #Michigan last week, where I was fortunate to see a number of common loons. I wasn't expecting this one to flex when it did, so its left wing is cropped off in this image but I still like the photo. They are pretty #Birds.

A pretty house finch begins her day by munching on some chaste tree seeds in Seligman, #Arizona. While house finches are native to the American southwest, chaste trees are not -- but they make lovely ornamental plants and serve as a food source for house finches. #BirdOfTheDay #NaturalSeeds #Birds

Many folks are unaware (I certainly was) that the area around Flagstaff in northern #Arizona is home to the largest contiguous ponderosa pine tree forest in the United States. Here's a northern flicker at the Arboretum at Flagstaff, elevation 7,150 feet (2,179 meters). #BirdOfTheDay #Woodland #Birds

This pied-billed grebe's reflection was broken up by the ripples the grebe made in the Las Vegas Wash, just southeast of Las Vegas. The river returns water from metropolitan Las Vegas to Lake Mead. This photo was taken a couple of springs ago. #BirdOfTheDay #ReflectionsAndShadows #Birds #LasVegas

Desert shrubs typically have very thin branches, but they provide plenty of opportunities for little birds like this black-throated sparrow on which to perch. They weigh only 0.5 ounce (15 g). This sparrow was at Homolovi State Park in Arizona. #BirdOfTheDay #ThinPerches #Birds #StateParks

Anna's hummingbirds are pretty common in Las Vegas, Nevada, during the winter. I photographed this one earlier this year at the fabulous Springs Preserve botanic gardens (and much more), just west of downtown #LasVegas. #Iridescence #BirdOfTheDay #Birds #Nevada

Put my hand on a bison rubbing stone today. It’s been sitting here since it was dropped by a retreating glacier at the end of the last ice age. The sides are smoothed from generations of bison rubbing on it. Good to think about that now and then