A video of a Broad-tailed Hummingbird on my back deck:

Here’s a Broad-tailed Hummingbird on my back deck:

Broad-tailed Hummingbird

And, for the first time this season, a Townsend’s Solitaire appeared on the bird bath!

Townsend’s Solitaire

Tonight, on a decidedly rainy evening, three of us braved the Bear Creek Greenbelt to search for the owls.

We found “Wonky Eye” all fluffed out, shaking off the wet.

Great Horned Owl

For a brief moment, the sun peeked through the clouds, and “Wonky Eye” flew up to a branch in the open, and dropped its wings to dry them.

Great Horned Owl

A little later, darkness falling, the two adult owls were dueting.

Adult female Great Horned Owl

Adult male Great Horned Owl

On a windy, slightly rainy late afternoon in the Bear Creek Greenbelt a friend and I found “Wonky Eye” holding on to a tree.

Great Horned Owl

It flew up to a small branch and struggled to balance in the wind.

Great Horned Owl

Great Horned Owl

And it was calling:

Great Horned Owl

Mama Owl perched nearby, seemingly unperturbed.

Great Horned Owl

Here are a few immature raptors seen in the Bear Creek Greenbelt today:

Swainson’s Hawk (immature)

Red-tailed Hawk (immature)

A couple of views of “Wonky Eye” toward the evening.

Great Horned Owl (immature)

Great Horned Owl (immature)

Here’s a Black-chinned Hummingbird at the nectar feeder on my deck:

Black-chinned Hummingbird

In mid afternoon in the Bear Creek Greenbelt I saw a Red-tailed Hawk circling overhead.  After I got home and looked at the picture, I saw it was banded.  It’s most likely “Mama,” who was banded in 2016 in Sterling, and whom I’ve been watching in the greenbelt since 2019.  More here.

Red-tailed Hawk

A second Red-tailed Hawk joined her and put on a dangling legs display.

Red-tailed Hawk

A third was circling even higher.  A short time later I saw an immature Red-tailed Hawk with a vole beside Bear Creek.

Red-tailed Hawk

This evening in the Bear Creek Greenbelt the only owl that made itself visible (and, later, heard) was Papa Owl.

Great Horned Owl

Rain and darkness fell at the same time.  Here’s a pair of wet raccoon kits seeking refuge in a tree leaning over the pond that never freezes.

Raccoon kits

I walked in the Bear Creek Greenbelt for a couple of hours before sunset.  Here’s some of the wildlife I saw:

Immature Red-tailed hawk perched a few feet above Bear Creek

Great Blue Heron

Prairie dog

Immature Great Horned Owl in the grass

Immature Great Horned Owl calling

Raccoon kit

Here is the immature Great Horned Owl “Wonky Eye” today about an hour before sunset in the Bear Creek Greenbelt.  Neither parent was seen or heard.

Great Horned Owl