Category: Colorado Mileposts
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BioBlitz 2012 — Climate Change in the Soil
Over the weekend, my son and I went to BioBlitz in Rocky Mountain National Park – twenty-four hours of counting plant, animal, insect, fungal, and bacterial species in the Park. As a bonus, we met hundreds of scientists passionate about species diversity. It was awesome. BioBlitz is the brain-child of legendary evolutionary biologist, E.O. Wilson,…
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American White Pelicans Thrive in Colorado
My son had his Eagle Project last weekend at Bear Creek Lake Park east of Morrison, creating a wetland to filter runoff from a new subdivision before it hits the flood-control reservoir. Everything went wonderfully, and the wetland looks like it will work perfectly. While we were there, we were treated to the sight of…
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Waiting for the Monsoons
You know that it’s been hot when 95 degrees is comfortable. The National Weather Service says that Friday we will drop below 90 for a high – comparatively chilly. The cool weather will be nice. But what we are really waiting for are the monsoons. I always feel weather forecasters are a little presumptuous calling…
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Colorado Fires
Colorado is burning. Or at least it seems that way. Everyday we hear about a new fire – Paradox, Pagosa Springs, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, and the High Park fire west of Fort Collins. The hot dry windy conditions let the flames jump through the forest faster than fire fighters can evacuate homes. Why are the…
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Hummers Are Back
Hummingbirds are back! I was alerted to a hummer at our feeder by a distinctive ringing zip overhead. All hummers make a buzzing or humming sound that gives the birds their name, but only one hummer makes that metallic zip sound: A male broad-tailed hummingbird. A male broad-tailed hummingbird has an iridescent green back and…
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Bald Eagles Over Littleton, Colorado
My daughter and I were at the Littleton REI on South Wadsworth this spring, when she looked up and pointed. “An eagle!” In Littleton? Disbelieving, I looked and squinted at the bird. It was big, and dark. It held it’s wings flat. And then it banked and the sun flashed off it’s head and tail. …
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Coopers Hawk Misses Dinner
It was an cold and wet weekend. Pouring rain alternated with a light drizzle, and the temperature hovered in the mid-fifties. Perfect weather to suck the warmth right out of your bones.You could tell the little brown birds – sparrows, finches, goldfinches and a few chickadees – were feeling the weather. Probably twenty little birds…
