Mike in the Wild

For most of my adult life, winter has meant skiing, and living in Arizona has afforded me easy access to some of the best ski resorts in the Rocky Mountains.  While packed powder slopes and parabolic skis guarantee Olympian thrills, the mountains provide some of the most sublimely beautiful scenery in the world.  Below are some pictures from a couple recent trips into southwestern Colorado - just a seven hour drive from Phoenix - where the world-class ski parks at Telluride, Purgatory and Wolf Creek promise adventures for both the athlete and the nature lover. Mountain scenery from the slopes of Telluride Ski Resort. Mountain scenery from the slopes of Telluride. Mountain scenery from the slopes of Telluride. Mountain scenery from the slopes of Purgatory Ski Resort. Scenery from the slopes of Purgatory. Scenery from the slopes of Purgatory Ski Resort. Scenery from the highway between Pagosa Springs and Wolf Creek Ski Area. Mountain scener...

Recent winter snowstorms brought a couple of feet of powder snow to southwestern Colorado's ski resorts, prompting me to make a last minute weekend trip to the area for two days of skiing.  I never considered bringing my heavy DSLR and telephoto lens on the slopes, but I nonetheless paid close attention to birds that shared the forested and snowy mountains with us skiers. For the most part,  two types of birds - both corvids: ravens and gray jays - appeared near the ski trails.  It's possible that some of what I thought were ravens, were in fact crows.  I make this speculation because some of these black birds were smaller than the turkey-size ravens I see in Arizona, and many were in large flocks. Along the roads between the Wolf Creek and Purgatory Resorts, I saw a few other birds, including yet another corvid, the magpie.  Numerous birds-of-prey, including red-tailed hawks, perched from power poles and tree branches besides the highways.  I also noti...