Humming and Buzzing

 Summer in the Estes Park, Colorado, can be marked by the arrival and departure of the exquisite hummingbird.  

In the height of the summer, hummingbirds can be heard trilling and whistling on the drive up Hwy. 34 from the lowlands of Loveland to the mountains of Estes Park. 

As the temperature drops 10 to 12 degrees on the trip up the mountain, it's enjoyable to roll down the car windows in order to hear the buzzing of these bright and wondrous creatures.

At our condo in Estes Park, we keep fresh feeders going for these always-hungry visitors. They are rarely shy, and they are happy to pose for photos, with sweet nectar their only pay.

These photos were taken from our balcony, near Marys Lake in Estes Park. Enjoy! 

Hummingbirds fly to the cool mountains to mate and nest. The acrobatics of male hummingbirds is amazing to watch, especially when they perform vertical dives from dizzying heights as a way to impress the females. 

These little birds' summer time in the mountains is fleeting. Many have already left the mountains for the lowlands of Loveland and Fort Collins. And soon, their long flight southwards will begin, and summer will sweep away as the leaves color and fall from the trees. 

Pineapple Express

Today's snow in Loveland was of the more unfriendly variety. Usually, we have powdery stuff that's easy to plow and move. This time, we had chinook winds blow through a couple of days ago and the warm winds melted the previous snow, causing the ground to warm and water to be left on the pavements and roads.

As we went back down into the 20s and teens last night, all that moisture froze, and then wet snow layered on top of it. Not great for drivers heading to work or school. This Pineapple Express came from the Pacific and was laden with moisture. As it crosses over the Rockies, it's expected to drop 2 to 4 feet of snow in the mountains (great for skiers; and also 'good' for avalanche potential! Yikes). We won't be getting that much -- 5 to 6 inches this morning and maybe a bit more this evening.

I usually head out to shovel first thing in the morning, but after I saw the ice at the bottom of the snow and felt the heaviness of the snow, I came back inside, brewed a cup of tea, put my feet up, and sent a text to my trusty landscaper to come with his snow plow!

Lovely Loveland in the snow

This morning, I awoke to lots of chirping birds and a white hazy sky, which meant the snow had arrived. The birds were sheltering and nibbling on food from the hanging feeders on our balcony. 

We are expecting snow all day. The house finches, juncos, flickers and chickadees were making themselves right at home under our covered balcony. 

This is my first time to be in our Loveland home through January, so I've been interested in what the weather would bring. I think the snow totals vary quite a bit from year to year. 

Today, it's been lovely to watch the snow as it comes down throughout the day. So many of the snow events seem to happen overnight, and I miss all the action! More photos are located on my Teawife Facebook site.