31st Colorado: final bird pics. Horned Lark at Loveland Pass in the Rockies at over 12000 ft. Then in Ponderosa Pine forest west of Denver Western Bluebird, Williamson's Sapsucker and Pygmy Nuthatch.

30th Colorado: last from the Craig area (not Wray area as stated in previous post - apologies). Pics of Vesper Sparrow; Western Meadowlark; Brewer's Blackbird; and record shot of White-faced Ibis.

29th Colorado: penultimate stop was in the north in the Wray area not far from the Wyoming border. Pics of Sandhill Crane, Golden Eagle on eyrie plus record shots of Prairie Falcon and a pair of Cinnamon Teal.

28th Colorado: Last from the Basalt to Glenwood Springs. Pics of Pinyon Jay, American Dipper, Common Merganser & Lewis's Woodpecker.

27th Colorado: next was the Basalt to Glenwood Springs area (valley running NW below Aspen Ski Resort). Two pics of Bald Eagle, one bird on guard and the other on a huge eyrie, plus singles of Osprey and American Crow.

26th Colorado: last from the Grand Junction area. Two pics of Western Bluebird and singles of Great Horned Owl and Lesser Goldfinch.

25th Colorado: next was the Grand Junction area near the border with Utah. Pics of Pinyon Jay, Black-throated Sparrow and two of White-crowned Sparrow.

24th Colorado: last from Grand Mesa. Two pics of Red-naped Sapsucker; a Fox Sparrow ('Slate-coloured' form); and Band-tailed Pigeons.

23rd Colorado: still Grand Mesa. Pics of Steller's Jay, Black-capped Chickadee, Dark-eyed ('Grey-headed') Junco and Cassin's Finch.

22nd Colorado: more from Grand Mesa. Two pics of American Three-toed Woodpecker plus singles of Pine Grosbeak and Evening Grosbeak.

21st Colorado: next site at higher elevation Grand Mesa still had some good snow. Nice to see Canada Jay again there after Alaska in 2024. Three pics of that plus one of Clark's Nutcracker.

20th Colorado: some more from the Montrose & Delta area. Pics of American Coots; Belted Kingfisher; Great Blue Heron; and Western Grebe.

19th Colorado: still in the west a few from the Montrose & Delta area - Mountain Bluebird; Say's Phoebe; Red-winged Blackbird; and record shot of Sagebrush Sparrow.

18th Colorado: over to the west. A tip-off took us to Crested Butte for Rosy Finches (hard to find in a hot spring). Mostly Brown-capped - 3 pics with a single Grey-crowned (bird on the left in the group pic). 2 Black Rosy Finches also but no pics. Plus a Mountain Chickadee pic.

The Lesser Emperors of the last 2 days were replaced this morning by 2 Emperors (first for the year at that pond). Three pics of the♂️and an against the light record shot of the♀️ ovipositing @britishdragonflies.bsky.social @edinburghnats.bsky.social #Dragonflies #Lothian

No sign of the 2 Lesser Emperors this morning but my purple patch continued with 2 other dragonflies rare in East Lothian:♂️Red-veined Darter &♂️Black-tailed Skimmer. Only pics of former. Heavy crops but I am happy enough @britishdragonflies.bsky.social @edinburghnats.bsky.social #Dragonflies #Lothian

Pleased to find 2 male Lesser Emperors yesterday, my 5th & 6th in East Lothian. However it took c8 hours watching the pond over yesterday & today to get one of them perched @britishdragonflies.bsky.social @edinburghnats.bsky.social #Dragonflies #Lothian

Last pics from Sunday's outing in East Lothian. All males- Large Skipper; Small Skipper; Large Red Damselfly & Azure Damselfly @edinburghnats.bsky.social @britishdragonflies.bsky.social #Butterflies #Dragonflies #Lothian

The other 2 dragonflies seen on yesterday's seven site tour of East Lothian: 2 pics of male Broad-bodied Chaser, 1 of female Broad-bodied Chaser; and 1 of male Four-spotted Chaser @britishdragonflies.bsky.social @edinburghnats.bsky.social #Dragonflies #Lothian

Emperor Dragonflies are late in SE Scotland this year. Got my first today (2♂️& 1♀️) at the last of 7 sites visited. 3 male pics and record shot of the female @britishdragonflies.bsky.social @edinburghnats.bsky.social #Dragonflies #Lothian

Pics of 4 butterflies from a short visit to Levenhall Links, Musselburgh this afternoon - male Small Skipper; male Large Skipper; Ringlet; and Painted Lady @edinburghnats.bsky.social #Butterflies #Lothian

17th Colorado: last from the south-east. Pics of a pair of Ladder-backed Woodpecker; distant Canyon Wren; Yellow-headed Blackbird with Brown-headed Cowbirds; and distant Curve-billed Thrasher.

Also from yesterday, some single damselflies - female Azure Damselfly, immature male Blue-tailed Damselfly and female Common Blue Damselfly @britishdragonflies.bsky.social @edinburghnats.bsky.social #Dragonflies #Lothian

Some mating damselfly pics from ponds in East Lothian yesterday afternoon - pairs of Azure Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly & Common Blue Damselfly @britishdragonflies.bsky.social @edinburghnats.bsky.social #Dragonflies #Lothian

16th Colorado: Next was SE Colorado where we stayed on a ranch close to the borders with Oklahoma & New Mexico. Pics of Chihuahuan Raven; Long-billed Curlew; Sage Thrasher; and Rufous-crowned Sparrow.

15th Colorado: last from the Great Plains - two of Burrowing Owl; Eastern Meadowlark; and House Finch.

14th Colorado: more from the Great Plains - American Robin; Common Grackle; Northern Flicker (yellow-shafted); and White-crowned Sparrow.

13th Colorado: after the galliformes a month ago, now starting on the rest including good, bad and ugly pics. First from the Great Plains in West Colorado & East Kansas - Horned Lark, Cackling Goose, Great-tailed Grackle & Mountain Plover.

Some damsels from yesterday afternoon's outing to the Aberlady area: Common Blue Damselfly male & mating pair; Blue-tailed Damselfly female; Large Red Damselfly female @britishdragonflies.bsky.social @edinburghnats.bsky.social #Dragonflies #Lothian

Saw my first Large Skippers of the year this afternoon during a few hours in the Aberlady area. Four pics from the 9+ seen @edinburghnats.bsky.social #Butterflies #Lothian

Another Painted Lady in our garden at Longniddry today - 2 pics @edinburghnats.bsky.social #Butterflies #Lothian

Green-veined White pic taken in our Longniddry garden this afternoon @edinburghnats.bsky.social #Butterflies #Lothian

Last Odonata pics from Thursday's outing in the Gifford area - a male and a pair of mating Large Red Damselfly plus some mating Azure Damselflies @britishdragonflies.bsky.social @edinburghnats.bsky.social #Dragonflies #Lothian

Following on from the males, now a set of Broad-bodied Chaser females from yesterday in the Gifford area @britishdragonflies.bsky.social @edinburghnats.bsky.social #Dragonflies #Lothian

Yesterday in the Gifford area was also much better for Broad-bodied Chaser than 4 days earlier with about twice as many - 21+ from 4 sites. First up a set of males @britishdragonflies.bsky.social @edinburghnats.bsky.social #Dragonflies #Lothian

Four days on and back to the Gifford area for an even more productive day. This time Four-spotted Chasers were on show later than usual - first of the year for me. Four pics from the 11 seen at 3 sites

Nice to see the first Painted Lady for the year in our Longniddry garden this afternoon @edinburghnats.bsky.social #Butterflies #Lothian

Further to the Broad-bodied Chasers from the Gifford area posted yesterday, I also had 2 new for year damselflies there. Pics of male & pair of Large Red Damselfly and male & female Azure Damselfly @britishdragonflies.bsky.social @edinburghnats.bsky.social #Dragonflies #Lothian

Inland to Gifford area in East Lothian today for Broad-bodied Chaser, a fairly recent coloniser. 11 seen (8 females) from 2 of my sites. Pics of male, imm male & 2 of females @britishdragonflies.bsky.social@edinburghnats.bsky.social #Dragonflies #Lothian

Second damselfly today in the Aberlady area was Common Blue - 2 pics of adult male and 2 of imm male. Perhaps my first dragon of the year if I get out tomorrow @britishdragonflies.bsky.social @edinburghnats.bsky.social #dragonflies #Lothian

First dragonfly outing in East Lothian this year-90 mins late morning in the Aberlady area. 2 species of damselfly seen. First to show was Blue-tailed Damselfly - 2 pics of imm males plus a female and an imm female @britishdragonflies.bsky.social @edinburghnats.bsky.social #Dragonflies #Lothian

Also from Gait Barrows on Friday, 2 pics of Marsh Tit (a species I had not seen for a while and which were collecting food while I was waiting for Duke of Burgundy to show) plus one of a Brimstone #Birds #Butterflies

Trip down to Gait Barrows in Lancs on Friday for Duke of Burgundy after dipping there last year. Borderline temperature and intermittent sunny periods made it not a gimme but perseverance paid off eventually with good looks of three. Some pics attached #Butterflies

12th Colorado: last pics of Galliformes for the trip. Two of Wild Turkey and 1 of Gambel's Quail. Also seen was White-tailed Ptarmigan but I failed to get a snap. Fortunately I got good ones in Alaska 2 years ago.

Best I could do with the Woodchat Shrike at Whitesands this morning. Two when it was closer and 2 when it was distant, the last simply to show it back on @birdinglothian.bsky.social #Birds #Lothian

11th Colorado: the Sage Grouse were indeed lekking the next morning until they were flushed (including many more that were hidden in the sagebrush) by a Golden Eagle just as the sun was coming up. So these 4 pics all handheld at only 1/40th of a second.

10th Colorado: last lek nr Craig cost us a day as a snowstorm hit & the Sage Grouse did not lek. Pic of spot the bird covered in snow. Went back in the evening. Snow had cleared and 2nd pic suggested it was game on for lekking the next morning.

9th Colorado: third set of Sharp-tailed Grouse. two pics of a male which looked as if it wanted to come up and shake hands.

8th Colorado: second set - 4 of males from the Sharp-tailed Grouse lek.

7th Colorado: next lek was near Craig in NW. My favourite so no apologies for 3 sets of Sharp-tailed Grouse. Three of sparring males (action hard to get with bridge camera) & a possible female. Females can be difficult to separate from males if purple sacs on latter not visible.