4th of July at Button Rock

Since Hazel and I had so much fun at Button Rock a few weeks ago, we decided to celebrate the 4th by doing a hike there. We got there by 7am and headed out for a fun morning! Of course I love photographing wildlife but I also thought I'd pay some attention to all the amazing wildflowers! So that meant I needed to bring two lenses. My telephoto for the birds and a short lens for the flower pics. 

As soon as we hit the sleepy lion trail, I spotted these beauties!

As I was enjoying the flowers, I heard some singing. This chipping sparrow finally came out of the brush to give me this pic.....

Here's what much of the trail looks like....

Here's what the meadow looks like. No bear sightings today. The flowers were spectacular but challenging to capture their beauty digitally.....

one type of flower in the meadow....

more flowers along the trail.....

my favorite hiking companion.....

tree growing out of the rock....

playing around with texture.....

more flowers.....

The sleepy lion trail ends at the bottom of the dam. Then a trail goes up along side the dam to get to the reservoir. It's a bit of a butt kicker but Hazel needed some swimming time, so up we went. Boy does she have a good memory! As soon as we got up to the water, Hazel started asking for the ball to be thrown. She remembered from last time that the tennis ball appears when we got close to the water.
So she got her swim fix in and we hiked back down to the dirt road. As we walked along, I could hear lots of different birds. Finally I was able to see them and got this pic. I had no idea what kind of bird this was. I tried looking it up but still no luck. There's a very active birding FB page, so I posted the pic there and had an answer within ten minutes! It's a macGillivray's warbler...cool! A life bird for me!

more flower pics....

I have no idea what this is but it's cool looking....

Shortly after I saw the warbler, I heard some more singing. At the very top of the tree was a this bird. I'm not sure who this. I want to say it's a blue grosbeak but the rust coloring on the chest is throwing me. It is the coloring of a western bluebird but the beak does not look right.

Oh well, he was fun to see even though he was high up in the tree.

Here's an uncropped pic so you can see how far away he was.....

Whew! Hazel and I had a great time! The hike down the main dirt road was a bit hot but well worth it. I got home in plenty of time for a nap before heading out to a BBQ and ladder golf tournament! Good times for sure!

thanks for reading!