Posted on in Birds, Nature

Winter Birding in Colorado

kettlecreeklakes_2008-11-22_lah_361rOur recent warm spell is lovely, but it’s still January. Temperatures swing back and forth between cool and freezing. Trails are icy, and sometimes blocked by snow. This is traditionally a time to hole up and hunker down. We are attracted to warm firesides, hot chocolate, and snugly quilts. But if you, like me, are passionate about nature, and birds in particular, can we be content to sit by the fire? Just because the temperature outside is in the single digits, are we to ignore our obsession and hibernate like bears?

Of course, some birds have opted for tropical vacations, and I’m sure we would love to do likewise. But if the schedule and budget don’t allow for a trip to Central America, be encouraged. There are plenty of birds to be enjoyed right here. A surprising number of species hang around for the season.

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Posted on in Birding Tips, Birds

Snowy Owl Sighting

snowy-owl_peytonco_20100110_lah_6250-1We got the call yesterday afternoon. “Come quick! I’m staring at a Snowy Owl!” Of course, we dropped everything, grabbed the scope and camera, and went running. Amazing—a Snowy Owl turning up just 20 minutes from our home near Colorado Springs. That doesn’t happen every day.

It’s a good thing Pete was driving—I probably would have had a hard time keeping to the speed limit. We pulled up behind the line of vehicles, and half a dozen people glanced up from their spotting scopes. I jumped out of the car while Pete helpfully assembled camera and scope. I had just gotten the adapter last week—a late birthday present—and barely knew how it all went together.

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Posted on in Bird Profiles, Birds, Conservation

The Ubiquitous Canada Goose

canada-goose-fcnc-2009-01-21-lah-649Canada Geese are everywhere. They blanket golf courses, leave droppings on city park lawns, and foul ponds. They are a significant agricultural pest, especially of winter wheat. They’re even implicated in plane crashes, such as US Airways Flight 1549’s emergency “splash down” in the Hudson River last January.

You can find them on any body of water, even transient wetlands devoid of food. You hear honking and look up to see them flying east or west as well as north and south, arranged in their ragged v-formations. They seem so abundant that it’s hard to imagine they were ever endangered, but at one time the “Giant” subspecies (Branta canadensis maxima) was thought to be extinct!

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Posted on in Gardening, Landscaping, Nature, Plant Profiles, Surviving Winter, Veggies, Xeriscape

Winter Color

Do weeks of staring at snowy white landscapes have your eyes screaming for color? Winter gardens don’t have to be drab, lifeless affairs. Flowers may not be in bloom, but many plants have leaves, stems, or berries in shades of bright red, golden orange, or silver-blue and plum. Put them together and your winter garden springs to life.

Mahonia repens (also known as Oregon Grape Holly)  is an attractive groundcover year-round, but it really shines in winter. While other plants shed their leaves, Mahonia’s foliage turns a stunning bright red.

Yellow flowers in spring and showy blue berries in early fall add to this native’s year-round interest. Mahonia repens is drought tolerant, and handles full sun to part shade.

Juniper horizontalis ‘Blue Chip’ is another groundcover that remains attractive all year. While many junipers grow much too large for our small yards, Blue Chip stays under a foot high. Its feathery foliage is a beautiful steel-blue all year, with the addition of silver-plum tips in winter. Plant it in full sun, where it will quickly spread up to ten feet in diameter. Junipers are very xeric once established.

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Posted on in Birds, Humor

A Birder’s New Year’s Resolutions

Once again it’s January, time for making a list of all the things you would like to do differently in the new year. If you’re at all like me, you’ll resolve to finally lose that extra weight, walk at least two miles a day, and empty the accumulation of credit card receipts out of your wallet at least once a week.  You promise to, in general, exhibit more self control over all those accumulated habits that stand between you and perfection.

But we’re not just ordinary people. We’re Birders. So it seems appropriate that we make some New Year’s resolutions specific to our particular passions. How about if we resolve to…

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Posted on in Gardening, Humor, Seed Starting

A Gardener’s New Year’s Resolutions

plants-for-sale-lowes-cs_2008aug02_lah_5106-1Lots of people like to make New Year’s resolutions. Gardeners are no exception. A quick web search turned up plenty of lists, with gardeners around the country vowing to stay ahead of the weeds, thin their carrots, and learn the Latin names of all their favorite plants. If you like to garden, you probably have your own list of good intentions. And if you’re like me, you’ll struggle to keep even one of them.

This year, I’d like to propose a list of gardening resolutions that any enthusiastic gardener can keep. Your garden may not be perfect, but at least you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you achieved your New Year’s goals.

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Posted on in Birds, Gardening, Media Reviews

Blogs I Like

Today I’d like to highlight two of my favorite blogs, one about birding and one about gardening. There are lots of other great birding and gardening blogs, so please check out the list of links to the right. I’d also love to hear about your favorites. I look for reliable information, interesting stories, great pictures. What do you recommend?

Birding

brdpics-logoBill Schmoker is a Colorado birder who teaches junior high science full time, and still somehow manages to get out and take incredible bird photographs. His pictures have appeared in a number of publications, and the American Birding Association just released Ted Floyd’s Let’s Go Birding, which Bill’s photographs illustrate.

Recently, Bill’s blog, Brdpics, displayed a remarkable series of photographs of a roadrunner and a coyote. Yes, the real thing! One picture even contained both of them at the same time! Since I will probably only get photos like that in my wildest dreams, please go look at his.

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Posted on in Gardening, House Plants, Surviving Winter

How to Grow a Houseplant: Containers & Repotting

pots-for-sale-santafegreenhouses-20089jun28-lah-132Note: This is Part 3 of a three-part series on How to Grow a Houseplant. Part 1 covered light & temperature requirements, Part 2 was about feeding and watering.

Containers
A bird has a cage and a gecko has a terrarium. Plants need a special places to live too.

You have a lot of latitude in choosing a container for your plant. Consider not only made-for-plants pots, but other bowls, cans, and even shoes. However, there are a few requisites. Drainage is paramount. If your chosen pot doesn’t have a drain hole, add one.

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Posted on in Birds, Conservation

Christmas is for Counting Birds

2008dec20-cbc-392rThis Saturday I’m heading out on Audubon’s annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC). I’ll be joining tens of thousands of other birders around the world in a tradition that is in its 110th year.

December isn’t exactly the best time to be outside birding. A few years ago, our group experienced blizzard conditions and a toasty high of six degrees F. (Amazingly, we saw over 200 American Robins in our count area that year! I kept expecting penguins.) Other years have been somewhat milder, but December in Colorado Springs is never for sissies. Why do we bundle into multiple layers of clothing and get up in the dark to spend most of the day outside counting birds?

The holiday season is also incredibly busy. Shopping, decorating, baking, parties—who has time to tally birds? Why use up a precious Saturday right before Christmas in order to take a bird census?

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