We recently spent a week in Estes Park, Colorado, and it’s time for our annual wildlife report.

We usually see A LOT of elk – not this visit. We didn’t see this one until our last day there:

The turkeys, however, were plentiful, complete with a bit of showing off.

While not wild, I don’t remember seeing these beautiful draft horses before at the Jackson Stables at YMCA of the Rockies where we stayed. Look at the size of their hooves:

Finally, while we are very familiar with deer and magpies, I’d never seen them together. This is right outside our cabin:

Turns out magpies like to eat the ticks off of deer. It’s a win-win.

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all. – Cecil Frances Alexander

God blessed them and said, “…let the birds increase on the earth.” … And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1.22 – 25, NIV)