Yesterday some handsome birds from the Pueblo raptor center showed up at a store to flog birdseed.   And I was there to snap a few photos, up close and personal.   This lovely prairie falcon was showing off his beautiful wings.

Guffey the Great Horned Owl (from Guffey, CO) is your classic  owl.   One can tell that he is a male because the females are much bigger.   I do occasionally hear them hooting, but in the 23 years that I have lived in my house, I have only seen them twice.

This barn owl is from out east on the prairie.    They sound rather otherworldly, not your standard hoot.

This Barred Owl was larger than the Barn and smaller than the Great Horned.

All of the birds at the Pueblo Raptor Center have been injured in some way.    Those that can be rehabilitated and released back into the wild are, but these particular birds can’t.   So they act as ambassadors for their species and try to educate people.

This is a picture from my yard of the hidden hawk.   The hawks live behind the house and I frequently see them flying around.

Here is the the last hummingbird of the season, everyone else left a month ago.

A beautiful denizen of the mountains is the elk, known as wapiti to the natives.   Majestic and delicious (yes, I hate myself for liking it, but it’s awfully tasty) elk are a popular artistic image around town.

They are the symbol of a social organization as well.

They are thick as fleas up north in Rocky Mountain National Park, we have to make do with their statues.

Some are naturalistic, and some are not.

And then there are the ones that are totally fake.

‘Oh give me a home, where the buffalo roam,

Where the deer and the antelope play’

In this beloved western song, several false stereotypes are being perpetuated.   Buffalo like to graze, perhaps on buffalo grass (such as what we planted on the lawn to replace Kentucky bluegrass).   Buffalo liked living on the prairie before they were nearly exterminated.   I don’t think that there are any wild buffalo left, they are just raised for meat, so they are unlikely to roam, although I am sure that they would like to.

Antelope also like the prairie, and can often be spotted as you drive along east of town.

This gang was hanging out just east of the dream home, and pretty soon houses will be built where they stand.   Antelope are very fast runners so they don’t mind living in the open.    They’re God’s cattle and pretty much go where they please.  No fence can hold them, they’re great at jumping.

Deer on the other hand, like to have some cover.   They both nibble on the trees and bushes, and hide in them.   So at least in Colorado they live in the mountains, or foothills, or my yard.    They are also a little bit cranky and sometimes like to fight.   So they are unlikely to ‘play’ with the antelope, although they might kick some antelope butt.   The song is just plain wrong. 😉   But,

‘Bury me not,

on the lone prairie,

Where the coyotes howl,

and the wind blows free’

This is a much more fitting song.

This coyote was over by the library, stalking a rabbit.

The deer continue to stop by, and some of them are quite distinctive.

This is Petyr Little Antler.  He is possibly related to Einhorn von Stag (brother, son cousin?) as I sometimes see them together.   But Petyr has the harem.

This is the crooked leg doe.   She is part of the harem and has a fawn that follows her around.

This is the red-eared doe.   She does not have as much seniority as the crooked leg doe, so she defers to her elder.

Here the girls are in a group with their fawns.

All I previously knew about deer came from the film “Bambi” and cook books.   It has been interesting watching the local herds as they stroll around the neighborhood.  The first deer that I saw a lot of was Albert (I don’t know if he knew that this was his name, but that’s what I called him).

He used to frequent the space under the deck before we fenced the back yard.   He had two friends that hung out with him, both bucks.   He was beautiful, but did not have a harem yet.

This is Einhorn von Stag.  He recently lost a fight with Albert, Jr.   The antler he lost was rather wonky, it didn’t branch like a proper antler.   Albert Jr. comes by with his harem sometimes, he has three does and their fawns.   The does feel free to give the fawns a kick if they get in their way, there is a definite pecking order in the herd.

They have beautiful faces and I don’t mind if they stop by, but then again I don’t have a garden or expensive landscaping.