Hummingbird Moths in Colorado

On June 15, 2020June 15, 2020 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Colorado8 Comments

Generally speaking, we are not a fan of moths as they are not usually as colorful or pretty as butterflies. That doesn’t mean that we haven’t seen some that are quite interesting, even if still a little disturbing. Perhaps it is because moths often fly out of dark places when disturbed that make them even more freaky in addition to their furry bodies. We did, however, have a visitor come to our patio this past week that was both a little creepy and yet interesting, it was a hummingbird moth. We had never heard of such a thing until we saw one in our yard and looked it up on the internet.

After a long day of working on our yard, we sat out on our patio to relax at the end of the day. We have a couple of honeysuckle plants at the edge of our patio that will often attract hummingbirds to our yard. As it had gotten dark, we were preparing to go inside when we saw what looked like a hummingbird buzzing around one of the honeysuckle plants, but we knew that a hummingbird wouldn’t be at out in the dark. We took our phones a took a couple of photographs, but the pictures weren’t able to capture any detail. It was clear that it was a moth, but that was all that we could discern.

Photograph from Our Phone. It Looks Like an Alien and You Can See How Long the Tongue Is.

Later in the week, we had a couple more hummingbird moths show up and drink nectar from the honeysuckle plants, so we grabbed our actual camera. We were able to capture the moths and actually see their colorful wings. That doesn’t mean that they aren’t still a little creepy when you see them buzzing around in the dark, but at least we know that they aren’t as ugly as we had first thought when all we had were shadowy images. Have you ever seen a hummingbird moth before and, if so, what did it look like?

It Looks Like It Is Going to Give the Flower a Hug

People Never Look Up

On March 13, 2020 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Photo Challenge2 Comments

It is a proven fact that people generally don’t look upwards and tend to keep their eyes forward or down. It is a shame sometimes as they are likely missing out on some beautiful scenery. We’re not saying that we are better than others at it, but we do try to look up at times, especially when we go hiking. We have seen a variety of birds and other animals by scanning the tree branches above us for anything that might be moving. Although things don’t appear to be looking up in general, here are a few images to help us all look up.

Obelisk Reaching to the Sky in Luxor, Egypt

Paint Mines Interpretive Park in Colorado

On October 24, 2019 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Colorado4 Comments

Located near the town of Calhan, about a half hour outside of Colorado Springs, is very interesting park, called the Paint Mines Interpretive Park, with trails that wrap through colorful rock formations. We visited the park while there was still snow on the ground, which made for some difficult hiking at times. Generally speaking, eastern Colorado is pretty much just open prairie land with farms and ranches, however, the Paint Mines Interpretive Park is a geological site that is very interesting and worth the visit.

Paint Mines Interpretive Park near Colorado Springs

The formations in the park were created by geological forces over millions of years. Oxidized iron deposits created fascinating clay formations with dramatic colors. Over 9,000 years ago, the first inhabitants of Northern America, the Paleoindians, were thought to have made pottery out of the colorful clay. The hoodoos (also called tent rocks or chimney rocks) that raise out of the ground are truly spectacular. The 4 miles of trails that loop through the park allow you to get close to these unique formations and see how spectacular the geology of the earth can be.

We will definitely go back to the Paint Mines Interpretive Park during the spring or summer when the ground isn’t covered in snow. The trails were actually streams at certain points due to all of the melting snow making it hard to get to certain formations. Where there wasn’t running water or snow, the clay ground was a muddy mess and we ended up with our shoes layered in colorful mud. Even though we couldn’t get to all areas of the park due to the condition of the trails, we had a wonderful time hiking through the formations. It is amazing to find such a wonderful geological and archeological site located in a place where you would never expect it.