Can you identify this bird? The photo was taken in Colorado during the month of May. The answer will appear next week.
For answers to last week’s “Do You Speak Twitcher?—The Sequel”, keep reading….
Author: LAH
Seal Beach
What are huge and blubbery and make outlandish snorting sounds? And what were they doing on a beach in California?
We recently spent a week back in our old haunts—Silicon Valley, Monterey and Pacific Grove, the central California coast, southern California. Aside from some great times visiting friends and an abundance of scrumptious meals, the trip mostly reminded me how grateful I am to live in Colorado now. However, I do miss the ocean!
Do You Speak “Twitcher”?—The Sequel
Remember that little quiz I posted a while back? The one asking you to define a list of British birding terms? Well, I have ten more words or phrases that are equally incomprehensible to North American birders. Can you figure out what these mean? Answers will appear next week (below the bird quiz).
- Old duffer
- On the deck
- Patch
- Phase
- Plastic
- Scorch
- Stringy
- Tart
- UTV’s
- Yank
Answers: Weed? Or Wonderful?
If you’ve ever pulled out the lettuce and left the chickweed, you’re in good company. Last week I admitted my failure to recognize ragweed, one of the most irritating plants in my yard (especially to my nose!). It takes practice to recognize plants in their infancy. After all, how much do you look like your newborn photos?
If you missed last week’s quiz, you can try your hand at some seedling ID by clicking here. If you’re ready for the answers, keep reading.
Bird Photography: Keep It Simple, Sweetie
You’re out birding and you see an adorable Mountain Chickadee, busily working over the scrub oak branch looking for a snack. Happily, you’ve got your camera, so you grab a few quick shots. But when you get home and enlarge them on your computer screen, you’re disappointed. The bird is cute, but it’s surrounded by brushy twigs and dead leaves.
As I scroll through photo after photo on my various Facebook photography sites, I’m struck by the stark disparity between the experienced photographers and the obvious beginners. There’s nothing wrong with being a beginner—we all had to start there—but there is a problem if you stay a beginner year after year.
Weed? Or Wonderful?
Everything is growing. Buds are bursting, early flowers are in bloom, and millions of tiny seeds are breaking through the soil into eager growth. It’s a wonderful time of year, and a busy one for gardeners. As we sow seeds and pull weeds, the question arises—which is which? Should we dig out that clump of green, or is it a desirable plant?
This is especially difficult if it’s a new yard, and this is our first chance to see what’s growing in it. Let me tell you a short story illustrating my gardening ineptitude.
April Quiz: Answer
To refresh your memory, here is the photo from April’s Bird Quiz. The bird was seen in Arizona during the month of April. Don’t read any further if you want one last chance to identify this bird.
Finally, Manzanitas for Colorado!
Finally, manzanitas for Colorado gardeners! When we first moved to Colorado, back in 1993, I wanted to add some manzanitas to our ponderosa forest landscape, but the cultivars available weren’t deemed hardy enough for our 7000 foot elevation. I gave up and settled for Mahonia—not at all the same thing, but about the only broad-leafed evergreen I could get to grow in my yard.
April’s Bird Quiz
Can you identify this bird? The photo was taken in Arizona during the month of April. The answer will appear next week.
Yellow Leaves with Green Veins
Colorado—the word means “red” in Spanish. And Colorado’s soils are often reddish, due to the abundance of oxidized iron. Here in Colorado Springs, Garden of the Gods (right) attracts visitors with bright orange sandstone monoliths. Further north, Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre is part of the same formation. Our well water has so much iron in it that our white laundry turned pink—we had to install an iron-removal component to our water system.
So, with all this iron present in our soils, why do so many plants here suffer from a deficiency?
Mountain Plover 