Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, October 6 - 10, 2004

Traveling to collect reference material for my work, I spent a few days in the Colorado Rockies with my camera and spotting scope.

First rays of sun on the mountains; Moraine Park at dawn; along the Cub Lake Trail; afternoon clouds.

Fall is rutting season for the Elk as mature males vie over herds of cows: a young male by the road; females resting.

A mature male Elk bugling. Their loud vocalizations are heard most often in the evening and early morning.

A brazen Coyote; Mountain Bluebird; Black-billed Magpie - one of the most common and conspicuous birds in the park.

Black Meadowhawk; Striped Meadowhawk. With nighttime temperatures in the 30's I was not expecting any odonates. A couple of Aeshnas were flying as well.

Fiery aspens in Endovalley; Townsend's Solitaire; A pair of Common Ravens.

Steller's Jays

Trail Ridge Road runs through the high peaks of the park; Clark's Nutcrackers wait for handouts along the road.

Above the treeline, Medicine Bow Curve is a good spot for Ptarmigan. I flushed a Western Meadowlark from its roost above 11,000 feet.

On my second try I found a group of eight White-tailed Ptarmigan. As the sun rose on the slope, they were surprisingly vocal, active and tame.