Author: Amy Law
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Windy Mountain Shrub Ecosystem Hike
With the leaf canopy of the big trees fill in and the baby Great Horned Owls fledged, my husband and I decided to take a hike in the foothills west of our house. This hike took us through the Mountain Shrub plant community — the boundary between the High Plains and the Ponderosa Pine plant…
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Birds and Bunnies
An American Goldfinch has been at the feeder for the past two days. Thirty years ago, I saw one of these guys and thought somebody’s parakeet had escaped. Researching what it was started me on a lifetime of bird watching. White-breasted Nuthatch making off with a sunflower chip. If you look closely at this shot,…
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Birds Around the Neighborhood
Ever since I almost missed the Cedar Waxwings at the beginning of March, I’ve been toting my camera along when we take the dogs on their morning walk around the neighborhood. That thing weighs six pounds! But it is worth it. Part of our normal walk takes us through an “old growth” part of the…
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Sleepy Owls
I haven’t had a good look at the baby owls in the nest along the creek west of Denver yet this season — until yesterday. At least two — yay! I have been told there is a third baby, but I couldn’t confirm it. But they’re huge! All I had seen until yesterday were balls…
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Woodpecker Week
It was Woodpecker Week these last few days! The Front Range has three different common types of woodpecker, and at least one of each kind came tapping around our neighborhood. First up: The bird every homeowner loves to hate — Northern Flickers. This male demonstrates why. This is the red-shafted variety of Northern Flicker. Both…
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Leave it to Beaver …
I have always wanted to see a beaver in the wild, but have never quite gotten it done. Although the Creek where my husband and I are now walking on a weekly basis has beaver in it, they are nocturnal and I am most definitely diurnal. So I was resigned to having to make a…
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Cedar Waxwings
There is a tree along the walk that my husband and I take every morning with the dogs. It’s a chokecherry tree. Every spring it is covered in beautiful pink blossoms. But in late winter, it is loaded with last year’s chokecherries. And sometimes, the cedar waxwings visit. I think they are very beautiful birds…
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It’s Beginning to Feel A Lot Like Spring!
In the past week, the temperatures have warmed up along the Colorado Front Range — a lot! As a result, it’s beginning to feel a lot like spring. There have been dozens of robins flying through the neighborhood. Robins have a special place in my heart for two reasons: first, they were the first bird…
Amy Law, Science Geek 