The Wild Archive

08/27/2026

08/26/2026

🌳🐿️ The Peanut Heist at Sterling Park 🥜🐦

I rolled into Sterling Park on the Walmart side of town and pulled up near a tree when I spotted this adorable little squirrel stopping by for a snack. I sat there for a while photographing it as it happily worked on its peanuts, climbing around the tree and giving me plenty of opportunities to capture its personality.

Then suddenly, a Blue Jay flew in. 🐦

The two started barking back and forth at each other, and apparently the Blue Jay had a plan. 😂 It managed to distract the squirrel enough to get it to leave a peanut sitting on the ground. The Jay immediately swooped down, grabbed the peanut, and flew off with its prize.

Absolutely robbed. 😂

Of course, the squirrel went right back to doing its thing, giving me even more opportunities to photograph it. And honestly, this little guy was just ridiculously adorable.

Sometimes you head out looking for wildlife and end up getting an entire tiny neighborhood drama instead. 😂

Just another reason I love wandering around Sterling with a camera. 📸🌿

Wildlife doesn't have to be rare to be worth documenting. Sometimes the everyday animals give you the best stories.

08/25/2026

A LONG RUN THROUGH THE TRAILS — AND A LOT OF WILDLIFE

While testing my stamina and seeing if I could hit the entire trail system — or at least most of it — in one long run, I ended up finding a hell of a lot more than just a good workout.

I spent the day moving through the trails and river corridor around Sterling, Colorado, and somehow managed to encounter eight different kinds of wildlife along the way. From insects tucked into flowers to a mink moving along the river and raptors overhead, every section seemed to have something different going on.

Here's everything I came across:

🦦 American Mink — Neogale vison

American Mink are sleek, semi-aquatic members of the weasel family that spend much of their time around waterways. They're quick, agile predators and can disappear into vegetation or along the shoreline incredibly fast.

This was one of the encounters I absolutely wasn't expecting to have during the run.

🐦 Red-headed Woodpecker — Melanerpes erythrocephalus

One of the most striking woodpeckers around here, the Red-headed Woodpecker is almost impossible to miss when that bright red head catches your eye. They forage around trees and open woodland habitats, searching for insects and other food.

Seeing one of these while moving through the trail system was definitely worth stopping the run for.

🦅 Red-tailed Hawk — Buteo jamaicensis

Red-tailed Hawks are powerful raptors that are right at home around open fields, grasslands, and woodland edges. Young birds don't yet have the famous red tail of adults, but their powerful build and broad wings are still unmistakable.

Another awesome find overhead while making my way through the trails.

🦋 Monarch Butterfly — Danaus plexippus

Monarchs are one of the most recognizable butterflies in North America, with their orange-and-black wings making them stand out almost anywhere. Adults spend much of their time visiting flowering plants for nectar.

I came across this one during the day's wildlife search and couldn't pass it up.

🐝 Morrison's Bumble Bee — Bombus morrisoni

These big, fuzzy western bumble bees are important pollinators that spend their time moving between flowers collecting nectar and pollen. Their thick yellow-and-black coat makes them especially impressive when you can get close enough to see the details.

I found this one working through the flowers and managed to get some really nice close-up shots.

🐝 Digger Bee — Anthophora sp.

These little bees are seriously interesting when you can get close enough to see the details. The huge pale eyes, fuzzy body, and unusual facial features make them look completely different from the larger bumble bees nearby.

I had no idea I was going to find one of these, and getting those close-up views of its face and eyes was one of the coolest surprises of the day.

🪲 Large Milkweed Bug — Oncopeltus fasciatus

Large Milkweed Bugs are hard to miss once you notice them, with their bright orange-red and black coloration. They're commonly associated with milkweed and spend much of their time around the plants they feed on.

Another one of those tiny creatures that you can easily walk right past until you slow down and actually start looking.

🐉 Common Green Darner — Anax junius

Common Green Darners are large, powerful dragonflies that spend much of their lives hunting other insects in flight. Their bright green bodies and enormous eyes make them especially impressive subjects when you can get close enough for a photograph.

This was another unexpected little encounter during the run.

Eight different wildlife encounters. One long run. And a whole lot of stopping to take pictures.

That's probably my favorite part of exploring these trails. You can start out thinking you're just going to get some exercise and end up spending half the day chasing wildlife with a camera.

I started this run wondering how much of the trail system I could cover.

I ended it wondering how many more animals I would've found if I'd had even more time.

08/25/2026

🐝🦋🪰 BUGS OF THE TRAIL

Another collection of some of the smaller wildlife I came across while out documenting the trails around Northeast Colorado. It’s pretty wild how much you can find when you slow down and start paying attention to the flowers and vegetation around you.
🪰 Dark-edged Bee Fly | Bombylius major

This one was a particularly cool find because it looks almost exactly like a tiny fuzzy bee at first glance, but it’s actually a fly. The dark-edged wings, hairy body, and long mouthpart give it away, and the adults feed on nectar while their larvae develop as parasites of solitary bees.

🐉 Green Darner | Anax junius

One of the larger dragonflies you're likely to encounter, the Green Darner is an impressive aerial predator that spends much of its adult life hunting other insects on the wing. Its aquatic young develop in ponds and other freshwater habitats before emerging as adults.

🦋 Monarch Butterfly | Danaus plexippus

One of the most recognizable butterflies in North America, Monarchs are famous for their incredible migrations and their close relationship with milkweed. Finding one out among the vegetation was definitely a welcome addition to the day's wildlife list.

🐝 Digger Bee | Anthophora sp.

These chunky little solitary bees can easily be mistaken for bumblebees at a glance. Digger bees get their name from the underground nests they excavate, and Colorado is home to numerous Anthophora species, so I'm keeping this one at the genus level rather than pretending I can confidently call the exact species from these photos.

🐝 Morrison's Bumble Bee | Bombus morrisoni

This was one of my favorite bee finds of the day. Morrison's Bumble Bee has that distinctive mostly-yellow appearance rather than the classic black-and-yellow striping people usually associate with bumblebees, and it's particularly associated with dry western landscapes.

🐛 Large Milkweed Bug | Oncopeltus fasciatus

Another little specialist hiding among the plants. Large Milkweed Bugs are strongly associated with milkweed, feeding on the plant and its seeds, and their striking orange-and-black coloration makes them surprisingly easy to spot once you know what you're looking for.

It's honestly becoming one of my favorite parts of these trail days — you start out looking for birds and mammals, then suddenly you're stopping every few feet because there's another tiny creature doing something interesting in the flowers.

08/25/2026

BIRDS OF THE TRAILS — STERLING, COLORADO 🐦

While testing my stamina and seeing how much of the trail system I could cover in one long run, I ended up crossing paths with some pretty incredible birds along the way.
The day brought me three very different kinds of encounters — a powerful raptor overhead, one of Colorado's most striking woodpeckers, and an incredibly fast little swallow working the air around the trail.

🦅 Red-tailed Hawk — Buteo jamaicensis

Red-tailed Hawks are powerful raptors of open country, commonly using grasslands, fields, river bottoms, and woodland edges where they can hunt from elevated perches or soar above the landscape. Their broad wings and characteristic reddish tail make them one of the most recognizable hawks in North America.

Another awesome find overhead while making my way through the trails. There's something about seeing a big hawk moving across the sky that makes you stop whatever you're doing and look up.

🐦 Red-headed Woodpecker — Melanerpes erythrocephalus

These absolutely gorgeous woodpeckers are hard to mistake, with their brilliant red heads, clean white bodies, and contrasting black-and-white wings. They favor open woodlands, mature trees, and areas with dead timber, and they're unusual among woodpeckers in that they frequently catch insects right out of the air.

I spotted this one while moving through the trail system and immediately had to stop. That red head against the surrounding greenery is one hell of a sight.

🐦 Barn Swallow — Hirundo rustica

Barn Swallows are incredibly agile aerial hunters, spending much of their time flying low over fields, water, and other open areas while catching insects in midair. Their deep forked tails and blue-and-rust coloration make them beautiful birds, but watching them maneuver through the air is probably even more impressive than seeing them perched.

These little guys are fast. Watching one zip around the trail was a completely different kind of challenge compared with photographing the hawk or woodpecker.

Three birds. Three completely different lifestyles.
That's one of my favorite things about these trails — you can be looking up at a Red-tailed Hawk one minute, searching the trees for a woodpecker the next, and then suddenly have a Barn Swallow ripping through the air right in front of you.
Not a bad way to spend a run. 🐦

08/24/2026

I started my day behind the Sugar Factory at the Overland Recreation Pond Trail, made my way down Penny Lane, moved over to the Rumbling Road trail network, then headed to the Eagles Nest parking entry bridge, and finally finished up at Dons Pond.

It took a bit of exploring, but here's a few of the amazing animals I was able to photograph along the way.

Here's a few of my favorite Logan County animals all in one!! 🐦🦎🦗

A few of today's encounters:

🦅 Turkey Vultures — Cathartes aura
Common Colorado scavengers and incredible soarers. Found gathered on the irrigation equipment in the field behind the Sugar Factory.

🦎 Six-Lined Racerunner — Aspidoscelis sexlineata
A ridiculously fast little lizard that spends its time hunting insects through open, sandy and grassy habitat. Found along the Rumbling Road trail network.

🪲 Damselfly — Zygoptera sp.
Small aerial predators that spend their lives around water and vegetation. This one was resting on leaves along Penny Lane.

🦗 Green Katydid — Tettigoniidae sp.
A beautifully camouflaged little insect hiding among the vegetation. There was also an insect nearby making a sound that reminded me of a rattlesnake!

🦗 Grasshopper — Acrididae sp.
Another little resident of the vegetation along Penny Lane. Easy to overlook until you stop and start looking closely.

🐦 Swallows — likely Barn Swallows, Hirundo rustica
Fast-flying insect hunters that spend much of their time catching prey in the air. These were hanging out along the entry bridge to the Eagles Nest trail network near Nichols Tractor Village.

🐦 European Starling — Sturnus vulgaris
An introduced species that's now widespread throughout Colorado. This was actually my first time consciously spotting and photographing one!

There's something really cool about spending an entire day moving from trail to trail and realizing just how much wildlife is living around these places. You don't always have to go somewhere exotic to find something worth photographing. Sometimes you just have to slow down and look. 📸

08/23/2026

Barn Swallow | Hirundo rustica

These little aerial hunters are incredibly agile, spending much of their time catching insects on the wing. Their pointed wings, quick movements, and habit of gathering around structures make them especially fun to photograph when you can catch them at the right moment.

I found these swallows gathered along the entry bridge to the Eagles Nest Trail network, back near Nichols Tractor Village in Sterling, CO. They were perched along the railing, with one taking off while the others watched from nearby.

I could have stayed there trying to catch that takeoff shot all day.