Tag: nature
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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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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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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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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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Birds coming back
We’ve been following the Bald Eagles at Fort St. Vrain power plant closely this spring. But other birds are showing up, too. Spotted Towhees scratch in the soil for insects. But in the spring, you can hear the males calling “tche-tche-tche-cheee!”as they perch on the tips of trees. (https://amylaw.blog/2014/06/02/spotted-towhee/) A pair of black-capped chickadees spent…
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One month old
This is one of the few times I have seen both the chicks go after the same morsel of food. Notice that the unhatched egg is no longer visible. I don’t know if they carried off, or if it just finally got buried in nest material. One of the things that has really surprised me…
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Ten days of growth…
Mama eagle shades the chicks. At this point, they are 9 days old. Up until this day, I hadn’t seen them out of the central depression, where the failed egg remains. But once they started exploring, they rambled all over. I’m a little annoyed, because Mama eagle is in the way of a nice shot…
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Two out of Three
It’s been ten days or so since the first two eagle chicks have hatched. They have grown and become much more active. The third egg, though, is probably not going to hatch. Today, the mother eagle stopped brooding the egg entirely. Even if the last egg did hatch, the chicks get fed on the basis…
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Two eaglets are doing fine; waiting on the third.
Two of the bald eaglets seem to be doing fine. Mom and dad take turns feeding them. But if the third egg is going to hatch, it needs to do it soon.
Amy Law, Science Geek 