High country summer - Part I

Some of my favorite photos from the first few weeks of summer in the Rocky Mountains. 

Mammals

The fox family [Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes] was back, with five kits.

"Silver fox" - an uncommon color variation of the Red Fox.

Young deer on the Black Canyon Trail. 

Tassel-Eared Squirrel [Abert's Squirrel, Ciurus aberti].  The C. aberti ferreus subspecies that lives in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains is all black - all of the other subspecies have a white belly.

American red squirrel [Tamiasciurus hudsonicus].

Chipmunk. 

Elk [Cervus canadensis] move through the neighborhood early in the summer before they head up to the higher elevations.

Birds

 Pygmy Nuthatch

Wild Turkey [Meleagris gallopavo].  This image was shot before dawn, and therefore the colors are very muted.

Plants and Flowers

Pasque flowers kicked it off as early Spring bloomers. 

Sticky cinquefoil, Potentilla glandulosa.

Sticky cinquefoil, Potentilla glandulosa.

Landscapes

Sticky Geranium, Geranium viscosissimum

Trees grow in a crack in Button Rock.

Looking west towards Mt. Meeker and Long's Peak from Button Rock.

Moraine Park, Rocky Mountain National Park.

Fern Lake.

Aspens at sunrise.

The Loch, Rocky Mountain National Park.

Loch Vale, with Timberline Falls in the distance, right of center.

Panorama with Lake of Glass at left, and The Loch down below at right.

Clouds over the Continental Divide from near the top of Twin Sisters.

A view of "The Keyhole" - on the route to the summit of Long's Peak -  from Estes Cone.

Crocus in bloom

Although this week's weather has buried everything in snow again for a few days, we got a taste of Spring last weekend, with Crocus chrysanthus in bloom:​

More photos added 14 April:​

​A hoverfly [Syrphidae sp.] visits.

Snowflakes

Lemon in bloom

Time-lapse sequence with a frame every 6 minutes, taken over a period of 36 hours.

From this:

To this:

Toad

As I was weeding one of the flower beds, I was a little startled by a sudden movement.  This fat boy had been sitting near the head of the micro-sprinkler, where he could be guaranteed a morning shower at least every other day.​

Western or boreal toad, Anaxyrus boreas.