Birding The Big Thompson - Join Me!

As winter approaches - I'm inspired to begin a series of monthly walks along the Big Thompson River here in Loveland. There is some great habitat along our Loveland Rec Trail, especially along the Big Thompson River.

The first walk of the series will be on Saturday, November 20th at 8:00 A.M. We will meet at the trails western edge on Wilson Avenue. Please be prepared for the weather as we will be walking slow and standing around - you tend to stay cooler than if we're walking steadily, so dress warmly. Expect to walk up to 3 miles round trip. Bathrooms are few and far between.

We will be mostly on the concrete trail, but will go off trail a bit if the birds dictate! Bring binoculars if you have them. We'll be looking at all the birds we find, not just the "special" ones.

This walk is, of course, free! No sponsors, no gimmicks, just out for a walk with someone who loves birds and sharing this love with others.

Please email me at zblueheronATgmailDOTcom or leave a comment here if you would like to come.

Find me on Facebook and Twitter too!

www.aslansown.com

A New Field Trip Model? Urban Birding & Thrift

My sister Lauren Burke lives in Broomfield, a town about 45 minutes south of me. Today was the second time we went Urban Birding & Thrift Store shopping. The first time we birded and shopped around Fort Collins I think, maybe Loveland.
Our first stop, Tom Frost pond yielded Red-winged Blackbirds, Mallards, and a Kestrel.
The fall colors were lovely.
It was a bit breezy and the cattails were blowing in the wind.
Next we visited Plaster Reservoir. It was teeming with ducks of many kinds.
Cool grasses, and a muskrat. And Song Sparrows, Juncos and House Finches.
And cool views.
Did I say there were lots of ducks? My fav was a little Ruddy Duck female with her perky tail.
I was having too much fun with my iPhone Hipstamatic App to take bird pictures.
Wait.
Did I just say that?
See the ducks?
We walked through a cottonwood forest. And found a Marsh Wren in a ditch and a Red-tailed Hawk on a house roof. The we got hungry, the wind came up and we decided to hit Qdoba, then check out the thrift stores.
I found this cool table. I put it in our basement kids rec room.
And these cool pillows. $2 each. Seriously.
And, well, of course a BIRD print. JJ Audubon to be exact. Guess how much??
$12.50.
The most impressive thing of all were the things we DIDN'T bring home!!

Now I'm thinking we need to do this in another town.
Where next Lauren?

I Thought My Jeep Was Going To Disappear

Continuing on my journey from Buckhorn Road I came to the start of Flowers Road. I was pretty excited about taking this road and a tad bit nervous about what I might find in road conditions.
I found a lovely Hairy Woodpecker busily hunting for food.In the wet, low lying areas Robins were everywhere. Zooming chasing and bombarding each other while hogging all the mud holes. I even crept up on a small flock of Wild Turkeys. Sweet.Much of the road was rocky and dry, but every so often I came upon this kind of stuff which was no big deal.
The views were stunning.
I walked around this pond and meadow for awhile. It's interesting how much your body AND mind are AWARE of everything going on when you are way, way out in the middle of nowhere.

Alone.
This was a pretty steep downgrade, no problem really.
But. BUT. There was a hole, a very, very BIG hole, that scared me enough that I forgot! to take a picture of it. Seriously. It was preceded by several small holes on one side or the other. I started out on the left, chickened out, backed up, and went to the right. Either way I was SURE I was going to slide down into this hole. Forever. And ever. I was mentally preparing for a six mile walk in the wild, wild, west, alone, to Carol's house.

But I made it.
No kidding.
After a huge sigh of relief and a prayer of thanks, I kept going on.
Then I found this nice spot, parked, climbed up on the top of my car and had a nice lunch.

There were several more holes, steep drops and rocky areas after that, but none as scary or impassible looking as the monster hole.
I got out many times to walk and explore this gorgeous country.

Ending my day at my friend and birder Carols house for a chat.
It was a good day.

My October Backyard

We have had a lovely fall here in Colorado this year. It's given me extra time to really tuck the garden in before snowfall.I've still got Marigolds, Cosmos, and several kinds of lettuce growing well.
I've been hanging out on the patio and enjoying the birds daily.
Look at this beautiful Freckled Romaine. Yum.
I'm trying something new this year - hoop houses.
I hope to keep things like spinach, lettuce, carrots, brocolli and kale going until the end of the year. Have you ever tried this?
This is the first time I've ever planted garlic, can you see it growing in the very front bed? It will over winter and be ready in June I think.
Here is a pile of compost, lasagna style. I'll be curious to see how it does.
My yard has been teeming with birds again, at last! I had an influx of Yellow-rumped Warblers the other day, all thirsty and dirty apparently.
MY Juncos are back. Yay, yay, yay.
Flicker! Since we had to cut down three big Russian Olives a couple of months ago, the flickers have been scarce. But they're coming back now.
I've had a couple of sneaky Towhees around too.
And this lovely creature visited me the other day too. He was much more tame than the Black Swallowtail I had here a few weeks ago and let me get quite close as he busily fed. Do any of you keep a yard BUTTERFLY list?

Buckhorn Road

Every now and then I like to take a day drive somewhere around Colorado. This time I wanted to do a loop that required some 4-wheeling. I headed out for Buckhorn Road, but I didn't get more than about 4 miles from my house when I saw a bunch of folks on the side of the road. I figured Elk. That's what usually stopped them. But no, this was no elk.
My first Colorado bear! I spent some time photographing it and drove off quite happy. Not a bad sighting to start out with!

Pretty sight in Buckhorn Canyon. I came upon a beautiful Townsend's Solitaire drinking in the stream, but wasn't fast enough for a photo.I surprised these Mule Deer a little further down the road.
I love it when the pavement ends! How beautiful.
A lovely old barn with a new roof. This was right near the turnoff to Monument Gulch Road. I was sorely tempted to take this road, but I had left my travel plans at home and knew I shouldn't change them, so I didn't.
Another view of the barn.
Higher up in the mountains now. Screamin' blue sky.
I know we don't get the reds and oranges like my homeland in Connecticut, but the yellows and golds were stunning. Aspen at their finest.
What's fall like where you are?