Name that Colorado Bird

Here's a little taste of the many visitors we had at the cabin in Colorado. I was amazed as we were only there about 4 days, and are not there for months. If you put out seed, how do birds suddenly see that food source and start coming daily? I thought it would take a while, but there they were.

We do have a metal fire pit on the porch and it was filled with water and a few rocks to keep it held down and when we arrived the mountain birds were in it, using it as a birdbath and water fountain, though there is a small lake just at the end of our long drivewat -- but it is about 20 acres away. Maybe that gave us a leg up.

When I get back I will post some mini-movies I took of these guys and more. Until then, can you identify what kind of birds they are? If you click each photo, it should enlarge for you and give you more detail.

Number One: Plump and tame.


Number Two: Orange breast


Number Three: Brilliant Blue and aggressive with a chipmunk


Number Four: Red head

Number Five: Yellow Orange but look at the shape of his beak (with sunflower seed in it!)

Hummingbird

When we went up to our cabin 10,000 feet into the Rockies, I bought the cheapest hummingbird feeder Ace Hardware had and melted down about a cup of sugar in a cup of water. When it cooled I filled the feeder, hung it on a nail off the porch and hoped that something might happen in the 4 days we were there. Well in literally 4 minutes there was the distinct almost cartoon like whiz or whir of their rapidly beating wings and lo and behold, this is what I saw outside the front window.



I am leaving out of town for an important week Monday and have half the day eaten up tomorrow with a seminar. There is much more I want to tell on this, and I have so many pictures of colorful birds that stopped by our porch to eat the seed I put out. I pre-loaded a bunch of things, and I may be able to send those from my iphone while I'm gone, and can pick back up with the birds of Colorado when I return.

I look forward to a little more free time in the summer and the chance to do more research for my posts than I have been able to in the last 4 months.