04/30/26

 I have not seen these as of yet, it's still early though.  This is an Ebony Jewel-wing Damsel.  I love their green body color and the shape of their wings.  Lovely little damsels that are fun to watch.  They seem to like moving streams quite a lot.

04/29/26

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  Today's flower is one of my favorites, Daisy Fleabane.  Daisies in general of any type make me happy.  It's very hard to tell the exact type of Fleabane, I am thinking Annual based of the leaves but could be one of the others.  Fleabanes generally bloom May through August.  They are in the Sunflower family in actuality and those make me happy as well.  😂

04/28/26

 I have had an opportunity to see the Cedar Waxwings in my yard even though I missed them cleaning up the Crabapple trees.  One day I was working at my computer in the afternoon for a moment and happened to catch a bunch of activity out the window.  I went to check and it was a large flock of Waxwings that were getting drinks at the pond and then flying up into the Walnut tree.  It was quite fun to watch them.  I was able to get 14 of them in one shot a few times like this one.

04/27/26

 Happy Monday and happy new week!  I am looking forward to these flowers blooming again.  They are a type of Penstemon which I love, Penstemon Digitalis.  They spread quite a lot which is fine with me because, as I mentioned, I love these flowers so the more the better.  They are in the garden by my Gazebo Pond.  It's partly shady there which must make for the perfect growing condition.

04/26/26

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  It's also a double digit day.  😁  Spring has come to my Garden Railway as my mini Lilac is blooming rather profusely.  I took a few images of my Accucraft Live Steam Forney and a train with it the other day.  I have been doing a bunch of spring cleanup on the railroad and hope to be running again soon. 

04/25/26

 I thought I would share another of the bird images that I have been able to capture this past late winter into spring.  The Heron's have been slightly more cooperative so I have been able to get a few pictures where they are not flying away from me.  I captured this one standing in a pond south of where I live on a bike ride about a month ago now.

04/24/26

 It's Friday, TGIF!  The Clematis seem to be blooming around the area right now.  I do not have any, this is a friend's and the photo is from last year.  I chose it for today because of the beautiful bubbly bokeh because Friday's Are Bokehlicious here on the Blog!

04/23/26

 We have a mutant Skunk that visits our yard.  This is the second year it has been around I think.  I have named it "Half and Half" for fairly obvious reasons.  😉 It is, fortunately, pretty easy going and doesn't seem to spray very often and doesn't get excited at all when I am trying to get a photo of it.  😁

04/22/26

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog.  It's a special one today as it is also Earth Day today!  My flower for today is a great one as it is fairly easy to grow.  This is Rigid Goldenrod which blooms August through October.  It is very drought hardy because it has deep roots.  Goldenrod gets a bad rap in general as people associate it with allergies but it is Ragweed that is causing it.  As you can see Goldenrod is a magnate for Monarchs, it's one of the last flowers blooming at this time of the year and provides them some sustenance on their way south.  I will also make my usual pitch for Zinnias, they are very easy to grow in the ground and pots, are quite cheap and butterflies LOVE them as well.  Think about flowers to plant to help nature as you are planning your garden this year.

04/21/26

 Today's image is more birds that I was able to observe this Spring.  These are Northern Shovelers that were in a small pond that I spotted while on a bike ride once again.  I believe they were just passing through because I don't see them regularly but could be wrong.  

04/20/26

 Happy Monday and happy new week!  I have been enjoying my Tulips that survived the very cold temps we had where it was only about 20F as Spring Flowers were already out.  Most of the Daffodils got damaged but fortunately the Tulips weren't up very far yet.  I like the one on the right with it's frills and the color reminds me of a peppermint candy.

04/19/26

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  Today's image is of locomotive 683 at the Colorado Railroad Museum.  It is a Consolidation type 2-8-0 wheel arrangement and was built in 1890.  It is a special locomotive as it is the only remaining standard gauge locomotive from the Denver and Rio Grande Western.  They were converting their mainline over to standard gauge so this locomotive was one of the first to be purchased.  It operated there until 1955 and then was acquired by the museum in 1963.  All the other standard gauge locomotives from the D&RGW were scrapped.

04/18/26

 As I have mentioned, I have had a lot of opportunities for bird images this year, especially recently.  While out on a bike ride the other day I had a chance to see a large group of Pelicans flying.  It was neat to watch them almost disappear in the sky and then re-appear as they changed angle as the sun caught them.  I took this image as they flew almost overhead before heading off towards the lake.  This image is just a small part of the flock.

04/17/26

 It's Friday, TGIF!  My Weigelia is starting to bloom again.  This image is from last year with some fantastic bokeh behind.  Sharing for today because Friday's Are Bokehlicious here on the Blog! 

04/16/26

 I have been able to see several Ladybugs this Spring which I have enjoyed.  They are a bit difficult to photograph as they move around pretty quickly.  I got lucky with this one as it paused for a moment in my young Sedum plant.

04/15/26

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  Today's flower in a type of Clasping Cone flower.  They usually bloom May through July.  They can grow up to 2 feet tall.  They seem to like clay type soils.

04/14/26

 I have had a lot of bird photo taking opportunities this past couple of weeks.  I was able to get an in-flight image of a Kestrel.  It had been sitting on a wire and then took off, swooped down and then back up to the wire.  I noticed in my other photos that it had captured something to eat.

04/13/26

 Happy Monday and happy new week!  Starting off the week with a butterfly.  I have seen a few of these around already on our warmer days.  This image was taken last fall while it was visiting my Autumn Sedum.  This is a Cabbage White butterfly.

04/12/26

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  Today's image is of another Shay locomotive they have at the Colorado Railroad Museum.  Shay No 14 is a former Westside Lumber locomotive and is a 3 cylinder locomotive.  It used to operate on the grounds of the museum before being fully retired and put on display.  It was originally built in 1916 by the Lima Locomotive Works.

04/11/26

 We finally had a good amount of rain on Thursday night.  That morning, we had a lovely sunrise which I captured on the way into work.  It was raining off to the east but that had missed us as per usual this year.  We have not had our usual amount of moisture over the winter or this year yet.  It hadn't rained since the very first few days of March and then it was only about a half inch.  I have a feeling it is going to be a very dry year.  😓

04/10/26

 It's Friday, TGIF!  The Tulips are blooming!  Some got nipped by the 12 degree temp we had recently but some made it through OK thankfully.  They are a bit small this year, I think due to the no moisture.  We have not had any rain since a small amount during the first week of March. This Tulip is growing in my former Tomato garden.   I chose this photo for today due to the bit of bubbly bokeh behind the fence because Friday's Are Bokehlicious!

04/09/26

 I had a surprise this past weekend while cleaning up some dried leaves that had fallen on the floor from one of my potted plants.  I saw something move and I was like, "what the heck?"  I thought it maybe was an ant because I had taken a plant out on a warm day and had to knock some off as I was bringing it back in.  Imagine my surprise when I saw what it really was, a teeny tiny Praying Mantis.  I have no idea how it got in the house as I have not found any egg sacks.  I picked it up with a leaf and put it in one of the flower pots where I hope it stays until I can get it outside.  I quick got this photo while I knew where it was because it is so tiny, I will never see it again unless it should move while I am looking.

04/08/26

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  Today's flower is one I am very much looking forward to seeing again as I find it quite lovely.  This is Sulphur Cinquefoil which is in the Rose family and usually blooms in May and June.  I have some planted in my yard and I saw that it is coming back up while working over in the area this past weekend.

04/07/26

 The Killdeers are back in the area.  They seem to leave for a few months when it is really cold and then return fairly early.  I captured this image of a pair of them a couple of weeks ago while on a bike ride.

04/06/26

 Happy Monday and happy new week!  Starting off the week with a lovely Cosmos flower that I can't wait to have growing again.  A Bee Fly was enjoying this bloom as well.

04/05/26

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the blog!  Today's steam locomotive is Denver & Rio Grande Western #318.  It is a C-18 locomotive with a 2-8-0 wheel arrangement also known as a Consolidation.  It was built by Baldwin in 1896 and it began it's life on the Florence & Cripple Creek Railway.  The Rio Grande bought it in 1917 where it ran out of Salida, Durango and Montrose Colorado.

04/04/26

 It's a double digit day today!  😁 My Amaryllis was very prolific this year and also rather photogenic.  I decided to try a monochrome version of it and I was happy with how it turned out even though, for various reasons, it took me way longer to create this than it should have.  LOL  Anyway, I think the result was worthwhile.

04/03/26

 It's Friday, TGIF!  Today's image is one I was very happy to get.  We have had a Bluebird visiting the yard this Spring and I was finally able to capture it.  It has been fairly cooperative and sits in a tree for a while so that was great.  Because it has some lovely subtle bubbly bokeh behind it, I am sharing it for today because Fridays Are Bokehlicious!

04/02/26

 The bees have returned to my yard.  I have seen some honeybees and also this bumblebee that I was able to capture.  It was enjoying some Grape Hyacinths in one of my gardens last weekend.

04/01/26

 Happy April!  It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  Today's image is one of my favorites that I am looking forward to seeing again this year.  This is Missouri Evening Primrose which blooms May through July.  This flower is very drought tolerant.  It's flowers open in the evening and then usually close by mid-morning the next day unless if it's cloudy, they can remain open longer.