Yesterday some handsome birds from the Pueblo raptor center showed up at a store to flog birdseed.   And I was there to snap a few photos, up close and personal.   This lovely prairie falcon was showing off his beautiful wings.

Guffey the Great Horned Owl (from Guffey, CO) is your classic  owl.   One can tell that he is a male because the females are much bigger.   I do occasionally hear them hooting, but in the 23 years that I have lived in my house, I have only seen them twice.

This barn owl is from out east on the prairie.    They sound rather otherworldly, not your standard hoot.

This Barred Owl was larger than the Barn and smaller than the Great Horned.

All of the birds at the Pueblo Raptor Center have been injured in some way.    Those that can be rehabilitated and released back into the wild are, but these particular birds can’t.   So they act as ambassadors for their species and try to educate people.

This is a picture from my yard of the hidden hawk.   The hawks live behind the house and I frequently see them flying around.

Here is the the last hummingbird of the season, everyone else left a month ago.