Author: Amy Law
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Pika Patrol, 2019 Edition
End of summer. It’s time for Pika Patrol! Due to complications last summer, my husband and I weren’t able to volunteer with Front Range Pika Project last fall. We were determined to make it this year. If you have been following my blog for several years, you might remember that two years ago, in 2017,…
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The Day the Dinosaurs Died
I had always wondered how the dinosaurs died out. I couldn’t understand how just getting hit by an asteroid, or having volcanoes spew out ash could wipe them all out. Then I heard about some research that pinpoints the moment the asteroid hit. That seemed like a promising place to start my research. Scientists still…
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Glitter-glam golden dragonfly
I went out to get the mail during the heatwave last week, and saw sparkles in the air. Then I realized it was a dragonfly. I was sure some six-year-old girl must have dusted it with golden glitter. Further inspection revealed that this was an all natural glitter-glam golden dragonfly, known to scientists as a…
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Monarch on Milkweed
Monarch butterflies are beginning visit our milkweed plants, which always makes us happy. Although milkweeds can be a trap for honeybees (https://amylaw.blog/2016/07/17/bees-and-butterflies/), they are required for Monarchs to feed and lay their eggs. Monarchs are in steep decline due to habitat loss and herbicide use, so we try to help them out when we can,…
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Denali National Park and Preserve Bus Tour
My son and his girlfriend are in Fairbanks, Alaska, for the next few years for graduate school. We went up to visit them earlier this month. Fairbanks is only two and a half hours away from Denali National Park. So we all piled in the car and went! There is only one road in Denali,…
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And they’re off!
It’s been almost a month since I last posted about the eagle chicks. A lot’s happened in that time. Before they can live independently, the chicks need to learn how to eat on their own. The parents have brought the chicks a rabbit to eat, but then they left. The chicks have to figure out…
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We all know we’ve been cool and wet, but WOW!
It has been a wet winter and spring where we live. If you are in the continental United States, it’s been cool and wet where you live, too. This has been the wettest 12 months in the history of the United States. (https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/Wettest-12-Months-US-History) According to NOAA’s drought monitor (https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/), almost no place in the US…
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Say’s Phoebe at the Feeder
The weather the last few days has been rotten — hovering right around freezing, enough snow to break branches off trees that thought it was spring, for crying out loud, and put out leaves. The cold and wet has driven lots of birds to our feeders, too. This is one I have never recognized in…
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Spring storm brings cold, wet; hummers come to feeder
As a violent spring storm crosses the country, the temperatures along the Front Range of Colorado are hovering in the low 40 degree range, and may dip below freezing tonight, and the drizzle we’ve had all day may turn to snow. Yet hummingbirds have been in the area for a month. These little guys have…
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Prepping for Take-off
The day after I last posted, I noticed new behaviors with the Bald Eagle chicks — they began stretching and flapping their wings… …and they began feeding themselves — just a little at first, but it’s a milestone. As with all new skills, wing-flapping takes a lot of practice, and the willingness to fail. They…
Amy Law, Science Geek 