Rainier NP

Settling into life at Mt Rainier Park. This is one of the older parks, it was established in 1899. National Park Inn at Longmire was built in the early 1900's with an associated Hiker's Cabin. Paradise Inn at the top of the road was built in 1916.  2 million visitors are expected in 2016.       I share an apartment with 2 other ladies, and this is certainly the nicest employee housing I have lived in.  When I arrived the landscape looked like this photo to the right.
    Flowers are blooming abundantly.

 Paintbrush in magenta and pink,  Lupine, and the white flower is Bisort.

The yellow flower is Arnica, somewhat bedraggled by a recent rain shower.

Then the sun came out and the clouds melted away.  Mt Rainier has 25 active glaciers.  Wonderland Trail travels 93 miles around the base of the mountain, and is completed by many hikers in 10 - 12 days.

photo taken during a hike at the Paradise area.   Paradise in the sun.  Alpine meadows are dominated by Red Heather, Lupine, Paintbrush and  Huckleberry bushes.


The Longmire area is about 2500 ft,  and the Paradise Inn area is 5400 ft.  Rainier's summit is  14,410 ft.

endings

I am leaving Denver.  Anthem announced a large number of  employee lay-offs across the company.  Many managers, Claims adjusters, Medicare workers, Customer service people, and others were laid off.  The official reason is  "reduction in staff for budget reasons."   Rumors point to the attempted merger with Cigna.  Anthem wanted to become the largest insurance company in the US by swallowing Cigna.  Negotiations did not go well, and the process was costing Anthem alot more money than anticipated.  So they announce lay-offs.  Then the US Justice Dept, the US Attorney General specifically,  blocked the merger.  Of course Anthem is appealing that decision.
     The corporate world has cast me off and no longer has need of me.  The mountains have quickly welcomed me back.  I was accepted at Mt Rainier Park in Washington-state for the remainder of the season.
     It is true, the best laid plans of anyone will go astray.  I did not plan on this, and my crystal ball is fuzzy.
     There is not much cell phone reception in the mountains, I will have an Internet signal for email.
Photos next time.

Avocet saga

Avocets had a long courtship at Belmar Park.  In early May I thought they might be nesting, so many times I saw them feeding together away from the island that I was not certain if eggs had been laid.  Then one week the  (likely)  male was chasing all other birds away from a section of the island shore.  Even a Great Blue Heron yielded its bit of shoreline to the insistent Avocet.  One morning I saw a tiny Avocet chick on the far side of the lake with adults nearby, who were chasing off Mallard families and Spotted Sandpipers.  The next morning I saw 2 tiny fuzz-balls with legs walking the shoreline, closely guarded by parent Avocets. 
A week later they were in a more accessible location and I could take better photos.  A few days later I could see only one chick feeding along the lakeshore. Parents were not chasing away other birds as they had previously.  When I returned from my niece's wedding I could not find any little chicks, altho the adult Avocets were still feeding in the lake.  So sad to see the nesting efforts not be successful.

Chicks have big feet from the beginning.

"Mom  where are you ?"

Walking across the mudflats with those big feet.

City Park rookery

City Park is big. This land includes the Zoo, the Denver Nature and Science Museum, an area for music performances, a few lakes, gardens and more.  Double crested Cormorants have been nesting in a set of Cottonwood trees on an island in a small lake for many years.  A larger lake has an island covered with shorter trees that serves as a nesting area for Snowy Egrets and Black-crowned  Night-Herons.
     Here is Mama Night-Heron with her 2 little heronlets.   (above)

Snowy Egret parent with 4 little Egret nestlings.

Some weeks later I returned to City Park to check on the nests.   3  mostly grown Snowy Egrets from that same nest are flapping their wings and demanding more fish from the parents.

A juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron calling from the brushy tangle of branches.

At a different lake a family of Wood Ducks stands together at the edge.

Mama Wood Duck watches.











All photos are taken with serious zoom on my camera and did not always focus well.  Branches do get in the way sometimes.

Rookery report

Belmar Park has a few ponds, many trees, and nice trails.  Nesting Double-crested Cormorants and Great Blue Herons use the same nests every year in Cottonwood trees on an island in the largest lake.  Mallards, Gadwalls, Canada Geese, and a pair of Avocets are consorting and nesting.
 

 The future of Canada Geese is assured.  Several pairs have little groups of goslings surrounding them.

Goslings  afoot

 Each female Mallard had an average of 6 ducklings following her.   peep    peep   peep

Double-crested Cormorants in the wind.  The feathers of the crests are visible.

Hatchling Cormorants eat alot of fish !

 Great Blue Heronlets thinking of being big Herons

and eating as many fish as their parents can catch.

CFO at Lamar

Colorado Field Ornithology held its annual meeting and bird festival in Lamar last weekend.  Lamar is in the southeast corner of the state in landscape of arid grasslands and open agricultural fields.  Why would birds be attracted to this dusty landscape ?   The Arkansas River's riparian and some private special places have created shelter belts and migrant traps for hungry tired birds.  This area also benefits from proximity to Kansas and Oklahoma.  Birds can't tell the difference.  Cardinals are common in Kansas, and rare in CO.  The SE corner of CO is the only place to see a Cardinal in CO.  The same holds true for Orchard Orioles.
      A highlight of the trip was a Golden-winged Warbler who found himself in one such oasis, sheltering from the strong winds.  We watched an active Raven nest as the adult came in to feed the nestlings.  Bullock's Orioles, Mississippi Kites, recently arrived vireos, sparrows, flycatchers, and thrushes.  Western Kingbirds were everywhere !
      Another Internet photo of a Northern Parula.  I cannot take photos like this during such windy weather.

      Weather was sunny, wind was forecasted at 40 - 50 mph.  Afternoon birding locations needed to be in sheltered areas.  Photos are available on CFO's  Facebook page.  E-bird reports are posted for May 6th and May 8th trips. 

    
Another posting coming soon.  I took some photos today of the rookery at Belmar Park.

Owl adventure

Boreal owls are known to come into the US along the Rocky Mountains, in the Great Lakes region, and sometimes at the New England border with Canada.  A small population has been observed in Colorado at Cameron Pass (10,276 ft) along Highway 14.  I was lucky to join the adventure.  This trip was organized by the Colorado State University student Bird Club, who invited members of Denver Field Ornithology to come along.
     We arrived at the parking area and started a 2.5 mile snow-shoe hike along Michigan Ditch Rd before dusk.  The snow was firm  "corn snow"  and we did not sink in much.  Estimating by the drifts along the short bit of plowed road, the snow was 4 feet deep.  As the sun set we had beautiful views to the north of the Never Summer range.  A Pine Grosbeak sang briefly from the top of a Fir tree.
     The group of fast hikers met the slow hikers at a trail junction and we had dinner together.  The group split into 3 small groups to watch at each of 3 potential nest cavities.  No action.  Leaders cautiously played a recording, and received a response.  We returned to the trail junction.  A Boreal Owl swooped in on silent wings and sat in a Spruce looking at the 22 humans who had invaded her territory.  It was an amazing experience to see a beautiful owl watching us.
     In complete darkness we hiked out with head-lamps, thinking of the Boreal Owl we had just seen.   Photo here is from Internet. I did not take any photos that night.
    

photo of me during the snow-shoe hike.  Karen's old wooden  BearPaw snow shoes created much discussion.  The metal  "foot fangs"  on the bottoms were quite helpful.

We had a few flurries of icy snow as we were standing around listening for the owl.  



I am glad the owl trip was last weekend because this weekend the bird trip is cancelled / postponed because of a big snowstorm blowing in tonight with about 6 inches forecasted.