To refresh your memory, here is the photo from July’s Bird Quiz. The bird was seen in Colorado during the month of July. Don’t read any further if you want one last chance to identify this bird.
Author: LAH
Wildflower Hike, part 2
If you’ve just joined us, we’ve been taking a hike to look at some early summer wildflowers. See last week’s post for plants along the dry, sunny trail.
We wake from our unintended nap, eager to continue on our hike. After a couple of miles, we finally reach the stream we’ve been hearing. The trail steadily gains in elevation as we move upstream, and we find ourselves breathing a bit harder. The plants here are more adapted to partial shade, and thrive in damp conditions.
The first flowers we notice are a scattering of Shooting Stars (Dodecatheon pulchellum). May’s rain has resulted in a profusion of their delicate blooms, and they grow in the saturated stream-side soil.
July’s Bird Quiz
Can you identify this bird? The photo was taken in Colorado during the month of July. The answer will appear next week.
A Virtual Wildflower Hike
The soggy May we endured may have been dismal and frustrating, but now we’re reaping the rewards of all that rain. As the sun has come out and the weather has warmed, we’ve been gifted with an abundance of wildflowers. This is the perfect time of year for a wildflower walk. Let’s take a hike up the mountain and see what we can find.
In Defense of Prairie Dogs
A huge new mall is being built about 40 minutes north of where we live. The site was formerly home to one of the largest prairie dog towns in the state of Colorado. In order to start construction, the prairie dogs had to go. The colony was poisoned and hundreds of prairie dogs died.
Public response to this mass execution has varied from demonstrations against the cruelty of a prolonged, painful death, to cheers that one more population of pests has been eliminated from the prairie. Some of my friends participated in the demonstrations. Others planned future shopping excursions.
Planning the Planting
With the hardscape decided, it’s finally time to consider the plants—my favorite part! Since our home came with a certificate good for a free garden design (e.g., they make you pay for it in the price of the house), I decided to hire a professional. She asked for a scale plan of our property and a list of plants I particularly like. I gave her four pages worth! (Really, I tried to only list my favorites). I also included a shorter list of plants I do not want in my yard—with junipers in the number 1 slot. (See last month’s post.)
Birding the San Luis Valley
With my recent weekend in the mountains still fresh in my mind, I was eager to return to the San Luis Valley, in south-central Colorado, to look for more birds. The conference field trips had been crowded, and I figured that ditching the entourage should help me get closer views, and hopefully photographs, of the birds we’d seen the previous weekend. And it just so happened that Pete and I had scheduled a date day. How convenient.
Grow This Iris for Foliage, Not Flowers
While most people grow bearded irises for their rainbow of spectacular blooms, Variegated Sweet Iris (Iris pallida) is prized for its striking variegated leaves. Yes, it blooms in late spring with lovely violet-blue flowers, and your nose will appreciate their delightfully heady fragrance.
But long after the flowers fade, the stiff, sword-like leaves, with their vertical stripes of green, white and cream, will remain an exclamation point in the landscape. Plants grow two to three feet tall, and clumps spread over time.
Saturation Birding
I just spent five days in one of the prettiest parts of Colorado. Even better, those days were spent looking for birds. Over 200 birders gathered in the charming town of Salida to talk about birds, learn more about birds, and best of all, see birds! Yes, it was the annual Colorado Field Ornithologists’ convention.
Imagine five days of total avian immersion: a banquet with an entertaining guest speaker, tempting vendors, scientific papers, an evening game of Jea-birdy (I’ll take “Avian Newcomers” for $200 please), and the primary reason everyone came—birding, birding, and more birding!
Rocks Rock!
We’d been working hard all week, moving slowly but determinedly through our list of move-in chores. It was time for a break. So… being the romantic sort (on occasion), my husband asked me if I’d like to go out for the evening—to look at rocks.
Sure, I answered. While not a huge fan of gravel and mulch, going out, even to look at rock piles, sounded tons better than another night spent discussing the placement of dressers and hanging pictures.
Mountain Plover 