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Category Archives: wildlife encounters
Object of Attention
One of the things I’ve missed most in this dry and largely snowless winter has been seeing animal tracks. The clean surface of a light snowfall is like a tightly-stretched painter’s canvas, ready to receive marks that reveal ongoing bustle … Continue reading
Posted in wildlife encounters
Tagged animal tracks, Colorado wildlife, mountain lions, predator-prey relationships
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Winter Companions
On a February afternoon, I have company on the way back from a walk down the road. About two dozen dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis) are foraging for seeds on the shoulder of the gravel road. They’re bouncy little gray birds, … Continue reading
Posted in birds, wildlife encounters, winter
Tagged Colorado birds, dark-eyed juncos, Junco hyemalis
8 Comments
Landscaping in Slow Motion
Most of the landscaping around here came with the place. Contracting crews working on the house in 2002-03 were flustered that we were such sticklers about maintaining a tight construction envelope around the site, but I’m glad every day we … Continue reading
Turkey (Photo) Shoot
Wild turkeys are always in motion. Their persistent mobility has been brought home to me (literally) this winter by a flock of about a dozen that frequented the district around our house. The big dark birds would show up every … Continue reading
The Long View
The iconography of changing colors garners plenty of attention this time of year. Deservedly so, I suppose; even here, where the most charismatic foliage species are pretty rare, there’s a good show. The mounded forms of currant and mountain mahogany … Continue reading
Posted in change of seasons, color, fall, observation, wildlife encounters
Tagged autumn in Colorado, bugling elk, fall foliage
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A Secret in the Garden
One afternoon back in early June, a junco exploded from underfoot when I was in the garden. I didn’t think much of this, even though the same thing happened (in about the same location) a couple of days later. Dark-eyed … Continue reading
Posted in birds, wildlife encounters
Tagged bird eggs, Dark-eyed juncoes, fledgling birds
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Dusk
A couple of weeks back, after about a half-inch of snow had fallen overnight, Doug came back inside from feeding the horses their morning hay with a report: “Ummm, I’m pretty sure there are cat tracks on the driveway,” he … Continue reading
Posted in horses, humans and wildlife, observation, predators, wildlife encounters
Tagged animal tracks, mountain lions
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