The post whore thread.

[Gman]

Saw a beautiful hummer up in WA a couple of days ago that had a shiny pinkish head. Amazing color.

[Mazin]

Hope all the Ho's had a happy safe 4th!

[OtterbatHellcat]

Watched a younger tarantula do some creepy shit around the house tonight. I get being able to scale siding if you're a bigger spider, but it kinda surprised me he could cling to a smooth electrical panel/pvc conduit.

He came into the garage twice and I got him back out without hurting him...little bastard.

[MrPrena]

It was raining like crazy yesterday. So I did not turn on the lawn. Soil is extremely dry.

Many states with same temperature as we do usually turn on their sprinklers 1-2/week.

Cost of living in place with low humidity.

[Great-Kazoo]

Watched a younger tarantula do some creepy shit around the house tonight. I get being able to scale siding if you're a bigger spider, but it kinda surprised me he could cling to a smooth electrical panel/pvc conduit.

He came into the garage twice and I got him back out without hurting him...little bastard.

Just wait, until one of those tarantula wasp goes after them. The king snake make an appearance, lately?

[Irving]

How's the truck project going?

[OtterbatHellcat]

Haven't seen a king lately, or the sonoran coral that was hanging around.

[OtterbatHellcat]

Finally got all the titles and three of the four plates remaining. The truck plate seems held up due to the "vanity factor".

Two wiring glitches are messin' with me on the truck, I'll get to 'em eventually.

[Hummer]

Hummer, can you post some pics or link to site for commonly seen in Colorado?

I have enjoyed watching them my whole life but could not identify a single one.

Buffalobo, my suggestion is to start with a good field guide. The only one I recommend for a primary guide is the Sibley Guide to Birds, 2nd edition. Other guides can be useful for further study but this is the best. https://www.amazon.com/Sibley-Guide-Birds-2nd/dp/030795790X

If you want more detail about hummingbirds I recommend A Field Guide to Hummingbirds of North America: https://www.amazon.com/Field-Hummingbirds-America-Peterson-Guides/dp/0618024964

Sibley will give you enough to ID most birds. I don't use any particular ID websites but there are countless ones out there. A good friend has http://www.hummingbirds.net, and it's pretty good.

In Colorado, hummer ID is pretty simple as there are only two breeding species normally found in the state, the Broad-tailed Hummingbird of the mountains, and the Black-chinned Hummingbird of the plains, suburbs and dry mesas. Broad-tailed can be seen anywhere in migration. A very small breeding population of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds is likely present around Lamar.

The only other regular hummingbird species are the migrant Rufous Hummingbird and the Calliope Hummingbird. With rare exception both are seen only in the fall or southbound migration beginning around July 4 through mid September.

So, search on the four regular species and you will have ~99.9% of the hummers in CO. As you delve into the ID you'll find that each species, sex and age have different characteristics of plumage, flight pattern, wing sounds and vocalizations. That's where the fun and challenge is. I usually can ID CO hummers to species and sex and sometimes age with my eyes closed as they fly by from their wing sounds and vocalizations alone.

Oh, if you know of any other species in CO, I want to know about it. Part of my work is documenting rare, out of range and out of season species.

Good luck!

[Mtneer]

I really like the free Merlin Bird ID app. It helps narrow the list in a hurry.

I struggle the most with Calliopes but don't think we get them often. It's easy with the rufous since they're such a-holes.