Forests

If you walk slowly through the forest, you may hear the high seep of a hummingbird fledgling or the barely audible toot of a pygmy owl giving the “all clear” as you leave his territory. You may hear the shimmy of leaves, or smell the sweet vanilla scent of ponderosa pine.
Images can’t capture the essence of what it’s like to be among the forest dwellers, so please go. Walk slowly and softly. Forget yourself. Learn the language of the forest and share what you find so that others might learn to walk softly too.

Red Fox

Woodsia fern unfurling

Red Admiral butterfly

Swallowtail Butterflies

Winter Wren

Winter Wren

Swallowtail butterfly on milkweed

Spotted Towhee

Spotted Towhee

Moss sporophytes

View from the front door

Skipper butterflies

Skipper butterfly

Six-lined Race Runner

Shaggy Manes

Rock Wren

Ringtail “cat”, a cousin of the racoon and seldom seen in these parts

Ringtail “cat”, a cousin of the raccoon. This was my first glimpse of one. It was twenty below outside and she was drawn to the warmth of my woodstove

Red-shafted Flicker

Red-naped Sapsucker

Red-naped Sapsucker

Red Fox

Red Fox

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Long-tailed Vole

Broadtail Hummingbird chick getting ready to fledge

Pygmy Nuthatch

Polypody fern

Broadtail Hummingbird female

Broadtail Hummingbird female

Chickaree squirrel

Pearly Crescentspot Butterfly

Broadtail Hummingbird – note the beautiful lichens she used to construct her nest. The inner lining is spider silk which allows the nest to expand as the chicks grow.

Pasque flowers

Broadtail Hummingbird with chick

Broadtail Hummingbird chick

Rocky Mountain Maple samaras

Northern Three-toed Woodpecker

Fence Lizard

Lupine reflection

Long-eared Owl

Dancing lichen apothecia

Junco

Black morph of a Red Fox

Hummingbird moth and Wild Bergamot (Hyles lineata and Monarda fistulosa)

Junco wondering where yesterday’s feeder went

House Wren

The original Woodpecker Alley homestead

Hermit Thrush

Really cold Downy Woodpecker

Green-tailed Towhee

Colorado Chipmunk

Golden Mantled Ground Squirrel

Fritillary butterfly on Wild Bergamot

Red Fox

Fence lizard

Fence lizard

Spotted Towhee female

Fence lizard

Faery garden

Evening Grosbeak eating leaves!

Dew on moss sporophyte

Dew on moss sporophyte

Coyote

Spotted Coral Root Orchid

Cordilleran Flycatcher

Colorado Hairstreak, our state butterfly

Colorado Hairstreak, Colorado state butterfly

Colorado Chipmunk

Colorado Chipmunk

Hoary Comma butterfly

Chickaree squirrel

Mountain Chickadee

Brown Creeper

Broadtail Hummingbird fledgling minutes after fledging

Blood moon

Grass Fern (Asplenium septeptrionale)

Anise Swallowtail butterfly

Mountain Chickadee chick

American Robin trying to get to the season’s last chokecherries

Red Admiral butterfly

Forest reflected in a raindrop on a Rocky Mountain Maple bud

Broadtail Hummingbird chick watching an insect

Abert’s Squirrel

Broadtail hummingbird constructing nest

Broadtail Hummingbird yoga

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Yellow Lady Slipper orchid

Super moon

Western Chorus Frog

Broadtail Hummingbird fledgling

Broadtail Hummingbird fledgling cowering in the instant before an attack from an adult male

Broadtail Hummingbird fledgling

Broadtail Hummingbird fledgling and mom

Mule Deer fawn

Townsend’s Solitaire with food for chicks

Townsend’s Solitaire chicks

Townsend’s Solitaire with food for chicks

Townsend’s Solitaire distraction display

Itty Bitty Toad

Smooth Green Snake

Ruby Meadowhawk?

House Wren Fledgling

Cooper’s Hawk chick

Cooper’s Hawk Chick

Black Forest regenerating

Honeybee on milkweed

Smooth Green Snake

Coopers Hawk fledgling

Pine White butterfly

Fence lizard

Eastern Black Swallowtail

Eastern Black Swallowtail

Sulphur butterfly

Golden Mantled Ground Squirrel

Garter Snake

Bear Tracks

Tiger Salamander

White Crowned Sparrow

Spider Webs in Central Washington

Redmond Preserve in Central Washington

Abert’s Squirrel

Rock Squirrel

Ringtail “cat”

Red Breasted Woodpecker (central Washington)

Clark’s Nutcracker

Grey-headed Junco frozen in place because a raptor has landed nearby

Abert’s Squirrel

Pine Squirrel (Chickaree)

Rock Squirrel – usually a species of the lower valleys but this one is in a fir/ponderosa forest

Long-tailed vole

Harlan’s Red-tail Hawk

Cassin’s Finch

Downy Woodpecker, eastern race

American Kestrel with prey

Pine Squirrel (Chickaree) announcing his existence

Pygmy Nuthatch

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Mountain Chickadee

Grey-headed Junco

Brown Creeper

Slate-colored Junco (Female)

Slate-colored Junco pair

Black morph of a Red Fox

Red-naped Sapsucker

Yellow-bellied Marmots

Flammulated Owlet

Rare Purple Coralroot (Corallorhiza Maculata)

Spider on Coralroot

Blue Butterfly

Butterflies after a long hike

Red-naped Sapsucker

Pinedriops

Broadtail Hummingbird

Rufous Hummingbird

Broadtail Hummingbird

Broadtail Hummingbird

Flammulated Owl

Broadtail Hummingbird

Bee on Catnip

Bee on Catnip

Butterfly and bee on Catnip

Cabbage Butterfly on Catnip

Wild Turkey Chick

Hermit THrush Fledgling

Hairy Woodpecker Chick

Double Spotted Coralroot Blossom

Wister’s Coralroot

Mule Deer Fawns

Wild Turkey and Chick

Staunton State Park

Staunton State Park

Staunton State Park

Staunton State Park

Staunton State Park

Skippers on Catnip

Skipper and Bee arguing

Raccoon

Painted Lady on Rudbeckia

Least Chipmunk

Hoary Comma Butterfly on Tasselflower

Hoary Comma Butterfly on Tasselflower

Great Horned Owl

Cooper’s Hawk

Broadtail Hummingbird

Broadtail Hummingbird

Broadtail Hummingbird

Broadtail Hummingbird sipping from Scrophularia

Broadtail Hummingbird

Black Bear Cub

Black Bear Cub

Bee on Rudbeckia

Broadtail Hummingbird

Pine Siskin

Ringtail

Elk Creek

Black morph Red Fox

After the rain – willow

After the rain – lichen

After the rain – Rocky Mtn. Maple

After the rain – Juniper

After the rain – Gambel’s Oak

After the rain – Ponderosa Pine

Lont-eared owl male

Female bluebird

Pasque Flowers

Mountain Mahogany

Black Bear track

After the fire – the spoils

After the fire – music1

After the fire – music2

Long-eared owlet

Red-breasted nuthatch chicks

Long-eared Owl female

Broadtail Hummingbird

Black Bear

Painted Lady butterfly

Painted Lady butterflies

Stellar’s Jay

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Bobcat

Bobcat

Broadtail Hummingbird mom and chick

Blood Moon

Cold Junco

Icicles

After the rain – Ribes leptantha

Long-eared Owl and Owlet

Red Admiral Butterfly

Long-eared Owlet

Sunrise over Ralston Buttes

Sunrise over Ralston Buttes

Broadtail Hummingbird on Pinedrops

Bee on Pinedrops

Fall Forest

Anemone virginiana var. cylindroidea

Junco

Stellar’s Jay

Juncos
Wow, Wonderful Photos!. Very inspiring web site.
I’m happy that you enjoyed these images, James! I hope that folks will check out the beautiful images on your website as well – journeywest.com.
Love your photos: the sunsets (sunrises?) are especially beautiful: How do we buy them; are you on ETSY or eBay or ? FYI: Some of your images remind me of another artist: Cory Goodrich (though she is mostly into impressionistic stuff these days since her latest show (she’s an actress and singer) went shut prematurely … (sorry, her ETSY website – like mine – is empty after ETSY raised it’s rates) …