Perspective

A new perspective.   Its early October and I am not packing up and leaving employee housing, nor driving to a new place in a few weeks. I have not been hiking every  day-off in beautiful places of mountains and flowers.   My clothes will stay in the closet and I can find paper clips and envelopes in the same place.  I have been to a few Sunday afternoon movies.  It's a good thing.
       Last night I went to a presentation titled "Subirdia"  at the Denver Museum of Science and Nature.  The researcher had studied urban and suburban birds interacting with their habitat for several years.  It was a fascinating talk.  He found the birds in and around cities could be divided into Avoiders (avoiding human settlements if possible), Adapters (will do OK in lightly settled areas), and Exploiters (who will use human made structures to their own advantage).
       A few random photos:

 Willows by a creek

Black-billed Magpie

Showy Milkweed, a different species than the eastern version

Yellow-headed Blackbird looking at its friend, "What did you say ?"

Rocky Mt Park

Last Saturday I drove north to RMNP and arrived quite early.  Elk were very active in the meadows at Moraine.  Bugling males were very exciting to listen to. A dominant bull with full antlers sang, splashed across a creek, and battled a bush.  I did not see any fighting, the big males seemed to be more interested in the females.  One large male sat in a field 100 feet from the road and did his bugling sitting down.  Another bull walked between the parked cars and stood 10 feet away from a man doing video with his iPad.  That bull was not afraid of people !
     I drove up Trail Ridge Road to the summit, and found it very windy. Tundra plants are almost finished blooming. I felt like I would be blown off the mountain so I descended back down to the valley.  Aspen leaves are golden on some hillsides, and still green in dense clumps in lower forests.  Sprague Lake was very pretty to walk around.  I found a few birds:  Pygmy Nuthatches, Grey-headed Juncos, Mountain Bluebirds, American Pipits, and Townsend's Solitaires.
    I was lucky to get a camp space, most of the campgrounds are all reserved. 




Arctic Gentian

I was lucky to stop for a "Moose jam"  and even better to get a few photos of Mama Moose and her little calf.









The Rockies are a very old mountain range and the peaks are rounded from erosion.  This is so different from the sharp craggy Tetons that are much younger. 

I decided to post this photo anyway.  The bold Elk meets technology

early September

Smoke from the big wildfires in California and Washington covered Denver with blue-grey haze for more than a week.  I was reminded of the old saying  "Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning."  What about a red sun in the morning ?
     Local bird experts say migration has barely started.  Warm temperatures are keeping birds to the north longer than usual. Sunday a week ago I joined a day-trip to NE Colorado visiting Prewitt and Jackson Reservoirs as well as several playa ponds.  The leader did a proper ebird report and used 8 checklists !!  Highlights were Baird's Sandpipers, Stilt Sandpipers, Wilson's and Red-necked Phalaropes, Red-headed Woodpeckers, and Franklin's Gulls. A Dickcissel and a Long-billed Curlew had wandered in from another state. They are not usually found here.

     Labor Day weekend I went out each morning. Saturday with a small group at Cherry Creek State Park. A group of Forster's Terns was fun to watch. Other highlights were a Sora who came out of the reeds to be seen, a Solitary Sandpiper, and 3 species of Grebes (Western, Eared, and Pied billed).  Swainson's Hawks are gathering for their trip south.
     Sunday to Pawnee Grasslands, also in NE Colorado.  In the Cottonwood groves Wilson's and Townsend's Warblers were foraging for insects, along with the Flycatchers.  This is a well known stopover for Hammond's, Dusky, and Cordilleans.
     Monday I took Dolphin-kayak to Barr Lake State Park.  That poor boat has not been in the water for a long time.  It spent the winter and spring in a barn on my friend Sandy's property.  I was able to bring it to Denver a few weeks ago.

No photos of shorebirds or warblers.  :(   The top picture is a pond behind the library, home to a successful Cormorant and Snowy Egret rookery.
     Belmar Park has a boardwalk/ gazebo area on shoreline that is home to several Barn Swallow nests.  The 2nd photo is the only picture I was able to capture of the adult Swallow feeding a fledgling. 
     These 4 little ones are almost ready to try their wings.

August mid-season

My first living place in Denver did not work out at all, and I was out in a few weeks.  I moved a bit west to the city-suburb of Lakewood, and its much better.  Barn Swallows were nesting in the carport when I moved in.
        I joined Denver Field Ornithologists and met some nice people on field trips.  Earlier in the summer I saw Western Grebes at Barr Lake.  During a recent field trip at Barr Lake we watched Western Grebes with fuzzy gray greblings who were very interested in the minnows offered by the parent.

       Yellow-headed Blackbirds were enjoying the sunshine and preening.  
     Next weekend I will join the group for a trip to a few good shorebird places to the NE.  It seems like shorebird migration is half-over. 

Penstemon is a favorite flower.  They grow in dry, rocky, inhospitable places with beautiful flowers.

Mid-summer

Mornings dawn clear and blue, most of the time.  By lunch time there are a few clouds to the west and by mid-afternoon big cumulus clouds are growing over the mountains.  Rain falls sometimes, in random parts of the city.  When I lived in central valley California I was used to the Mediterranean-type climate where you could leave a car window open until October and not see any rain.  Not so here !!
     Last Saturday I joined a small group of birders for a walk around Echo Lake.  At 10,600 ft we walked slowly !  The restaurant is popular for breakfast and lunch.  Birders come to watch the hummingbird feeders.

     A Rufous hummingbird busy chasing away the Broad-tailed hummer males.

This Yellow-breasted Chat surprised me during a walk at White Ranch Open Space park.  even more surprising that I could snap a picture of it !!

A young Robin standing on the trail, perhaps the parents have stopped feeding it.

Anthem

     I am doing training with a roomful of people, and an enthusiastic young woman who is the instructor.  There is no thick paper manual or binder, its all on computer now.  Each new employee has their own computer.  We have adequate breaks from our chairs, and the cafeteria is at the other end of the hallway.  Considering this is an 11-story building we are lucky to have the lunch room so close.
     Dress code ?   Everyone is wearing pants, except for the obese ladies wearing dresses. 
There is a bike rack in the front of the parking garage.  Maybe Thursday I can start riding Fuji-bike to work, when the rain storms clear away.
     I spent the Fourth of July holiday weekend with my friend Sandy at her house in the forest.  We went hiking at 2 nice places to the west of her place.  This Eastern Kingbird, above, was most cooperative.


Paintbrush,  and Penstemon.  2 beautiful wildflowers of the open meadows.









Western Wallflower at Tarryall Reservoir off Highway  24                                                   

Denver

The mile high city.  I accepted the job on Friday, and confirmed renting a room in an apartment in the southeast corner of Denver.  Hurray !!  It is true I am not a city person, I am glad to end this bout of unemployment.  Bus routes look good between the apartment and the office location.
     Early morning Saturday I went walking at Bobcat Ridge.  Birds were singing in the cool morning air.  A Yellow Warbler, Western Kingbirds near a nest site, a beautiful Lazuli Bunting male, and an Eastern Kingbird.  That surprised me.  An Eastern Kingbird in the same morning on the same trail as a group of Western Kingbirds.
     I have no photos of any of those birds, so I will close with the Red Crossbill family on the railing at my friend's house.  Top photo is Dad and Mom Red Crossbil, below is their recently fledged young one.  A few times I watched it begging Dad for food.