Along Elk Creek (Part 2)

Continuing on from yesterday's post about my scenic drive in the NE foothills to Vanocker Canyon, I left off with my stop at the bridge over Elk Creek...

Where this mighty oak tree presides...how old do you think it is?? I wonder...my camera only captured 80% of the tree, there's more above and below...

And in contrast, a timid Mt. blue-eyed grass peeks up from the grass, half-hidden on the edge of the road...the flowers are less than an inch across...

Further up the gravel road, I stopped at Elk Creek Trailhead and found a pair of wister coralroot, the first wild orchid spotted this year...

Further still, a busy chipmunk skittering about near the road...

The Rocky Mt. irises bloom wild here and there in the woodland...always nice to see, they are short-lived...

Once in Vanocker Canyon, I headed right for a favorite spot where a gravel road follows Elk Creek away from the main road. There are many types of trees, a would-be birding hotspot if the birds weren't so skittish...this red admiral posed nicely however, in a hidden niche between a hill and bramble...

Oh yes, the non-descriptive bird is the one I can count on to get photos of, me always looking up into the sunlight for a back-lit, unhelpful photo, Arg! I still think it's the Western wood-peewee.

The blue columbine isn't much easier to find than the red columbine, but I've found a few spots where it grows yearly, including that hidden niche off this gravel road near Elk Creek...

The little blue butterflies like the gravel here too...a Boisduval blue I think it is...

The silver-spotted skippers like it here too...

The houndstongue is growing, easy to find in the Hills...can you see where it got its name? I guess the flowers look more like a tiny tongue when they're only half open...

Also enjoying the muddy gravel road were the duskywing skippers...along this path, the butterflies are everywhere this time of year...

Walking down the road a bit further, there's a rock wall on the opposite side from the creek...where leafy phlox is growing on a ledge, several feet above my head...

Across on the other side of the creek, a movement caught my eye, near the water's edge...a song sparrow moving about...

I can see why the birds are so happy here...

Walking back up the road, I spied a mourning cloak, drinking nectar from a Northern hawthorn bush...

And there's an un-ID'd moth, tiny fellow in the gravel, such striking markings...

Another heart-stopping discovery! As I was giving up on seeing a single bird of interest, this pretty fellow appeared, voila! An American redstart as it turned out, another lifer for me.  :o) I managed to get several iffy photos, thanks to the poor lighting...then off he went...and I skeedaddled to the car, before the approaching storm let loose, and headed home.