Category: Colorado Mileposts
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Monarch Caterpillers!
For years, my husband and I have nurtured milkweed in the lost corners of our yard. “Remember the Monarchs!” we chant, as we carefully work around the tall milk-sap plants. While Monarch butterflies eat nectar from a bunch of different plants, the caterpillars eat only milkweed as they grow. The milky sap of Milkweeds is…
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Hummer in Blue Spruce Tree
After an intense fast moving rainstorm yesterday, I happened to look out my front window to see something I’d never before seen — a female broad-tailed hummingbird zipping among the branches of our blue spruce. Although she stopped at the end of new spruce buds momentarily, she never stayed in any one place for very…
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New Friends
We’ve had some new friends in the yard this week! A charming flock of chipping sparrows stopped by! I don’t remember seeing them before, but I suspect that is merely a reflection on my lack of recognition. Their name comes from the “chip! chip!” sound they make, which is the entirety of their song. Imagine…
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Nectar Eaters on a Cool Spring Day
It’s a cool May day, and that has made animals cold and hungry. My husband and I found a white-lined sphinx moth on the sidewalk as we were out walking the dogs this morning, slowly beating its wings as it tried to warm up. Once he gets airborne, he’ll be looking for nectar. And we…
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Hawk Conflict
My husband and I were working the backyard this morning, cleaning up the garden after a long, hard winter. The hacking, digging and trimming were beginning to pay off when both of us heard the unmistakable “Kreeee!” of a red-tailed hawk. We’ve had a red-tailed hanging around the neighborhood for the last few winters https://amylaw.blog/2018/12/13/red-tailed-hawk/,…
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Earth Day
Corona Virus has brought illness, death, and economic devastation. Too bad that’s what it takes to show us what clean air looks like. Maybe we can take this horrible disease and use it as a pivot point to treat the Earth a little nicer. Nature seems to respond positively when we do.
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Tegan, the Aspiring Therapy Dog
This is Tegan. (https://amylaw.blog/2017/01/29/puppy-play/ , https://amylaw.blog/2017/02/19/what-went-into-this-mutt/) She loves to go up and say hello to people. Her life-long goal is to be a Pet Therapy dog, but like so many dreams, it’s been put on hold by the coronavirus. Still, she wants people to be happy, and she knows how hard that is right now.…
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Turkey vultures have returned to Front Range
Some people watch for the first robin of spring. In Capistrano, they look for the return of the swallows. I know it’s spring when the turkey vultures return to the Front Range of Colorado. (https://amylaw.blog/2013/04/08/it-must-be-spring/) Turkey vultures are big birds — the biggest you are likely to see, with the exception of an eagle or…
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Nuthatches
We’ve had lots of charming visitors to our birdfeeders over the winter, including both red-breasted and white-breasted nuthatches. This is a male red-breasted nuthatch. As with just about every bird species, the males are more distinct in their plumage. Actually in nuthatches, the difference is not so dramatic — his head is capped with black…
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Welcome to the First Day of Spring, 2020
Four inches of snow, two more expected tonight. Happy first day of Spring, 2020!
Amy Law, Science Geek 