Category: Colorado Mileposts
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Calliope Hummingbirds
The last of the hummingbirdsare passing through my backyard this month. I happened to get a couple of great shots of some tiny, charming female calliopes buzzing around my rosemary plants. Because the rosemary is in a planter on deck railing, the photos are looking up slightly at the hummers. I love to watch hummingbirds…
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Over Trail Ridge Road with Nathan Heffel of Colorado Public Radio
Last week, I took Nathan Heffel of Colorado Public Radio over Trail Ridge Road. As we drove, Nathan interviewed me about my book, A Natural History of Trail Ridge Road: Rocky Mountain National Park’s Highway to the Sky. (A Natural History of Trail Ridge Road) Our trip started with a gobble when we saw wild…
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Alaska Sea Kayak Whale Watching
My husband and I had always wanted to go whale watching by kayak. But something always got in the way — kids, work, other catastrophes. This year, though, we were able to make it happen. We chose Spirit Walker Expeditions out of Gustavus, Alaska, near Juneau, for our big adventure. We arrived in Gustavus on…
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Dogs and Raccoons Battle to 1-1 Draw
My dogs got me up at 3:00 this morning to tell me that the raccoon we have visiting the backyard was back. I stumbled downstairs in a waking-up-from-deep-sleep daze to let them out. I always turn the light on before I let them out, to give the raccoon fair warning that it is time to…
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Book Launch at the Tattered Cover
I launched my book, A Natural History of Colorado: Rocky Mountain National Park’s Highway to the Sky at the Aspen Grove Tattered Cover in Littleton on Saturday. I had been hearing horror stories of how an author would give a book-signing, but nobody came, as so was a bit nervous. I shouldn’t have worried; friends…
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Eight Inches of Water in a Week
Eight inches of water in a week. That’s what we got up on Green Mountain, west of Denver. That’s about half of what we normally get in a YEAR. On the other hand, it is also about half of what we got during the Week of Water a year and a half ago. The good…
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Spring Has Sprung, the Flower Show has Started.
Two years of plentiful moisture and a gently-warming spring means that the wild flowers are exploding. Right now, in the foothills west of the Denver-Boulder area, wild American plums are producing a blizzard of fragrant white blossoms. In some places, it is like walking down a corridor lined with flowers. Plums, like apples, cherries and…
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Raptor Migration in Full Swing
The annual Raptor (aka Birds of Prey — eagles, hawks, falcons, owls and vultures) migration is in full swing. The birds of prey are migrating north to their summer nesting grounds. The raptors fly up the hog back for several reasons. First, it is an easy marker for them to follow — a constant ribbon…
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A Natural History of Trail Ridge Road Is Now Out
I am delighted to announce that my book, A Natural History of Trail Ridge Road: Rocky Mountain National Park’s Highway to the Sky, is now in bookstores. I’d love to see you at a book signing. Please check this blog frequently for times and places of signings, because they do change. 2:00 May 16, 2015…
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Spring is coming. Really.
If we can just hold on a little longer, spring is coming. How do I know? Robins, dark-eyed juncos and rufus-sided towhees are back at the feeders. Also, as I was walking into to library this morning, I heard a crow making a weird ringing “B’Dong! B’Dong! B’Dong! B’Dong!” call. It drew a crowd as…
Amy Law, Science Geek 