Simon Is Thankful, And So Are The Birds

My beloved husband Al hung up my bird houses recently. It was a sunny February afternoon. Perfect for climbing twenty-plus feet up in the air on a big ladder with heavy birdhouses and a drill. 

I appreciate it, I really do.

 Al used to be a cable TV Advanced Tech and spent a lot of time on a ladder like this high in the air. I think this ladder weighs like 90 pounds.

 Here he is:

 And here is the big, heavy flicker house now in place.

This one was tricky as the tree is small, down a hill and right by the lake. 

A Downy Woodpecker house.

Al is installing a nice WBU Robin's ledge house on the shop.

He's even smiling. He loves me. Up he goes with a Chickadee house to install on a Russian Olive tree.

I wonder who will use it?

 Now he's heading up high to install a Chickadee house on an Ash tree. You try climbing a ladder with both hands full!

He doesn't even mind when I tell him exactly where to hang it. 

"Tell me what to do, but don't tell me what to do."

 Hey! Simon's back! He certainly approves. It's been a long, dark winter in the shop for him. Look for him next time you visit.

Cowboy Messing Around At Starbucks

Here is a little video of me training Cowboy. He is learning the different movements that go with the cues of "stand" (stand) "park" (sit) and "squish" (down). Once we have the behavior I want it I'll add the correct name. Stand is pretty good, so I didn't give it a beginner name.

Please ignore the extensive luring and cueing of "squish". He's good on carpet, but didn't like the chilly concrete!

Curious Colorado Conifers and a Bird.

My February adventure at the Gardens. My February trip to the gardens was a fun one. Before I left I was perusing the Denver Botanic Gardens website and found this walking tour for February about Ponderosa Pines. As many of you know I have a serious conifer (cone-bearing trees) addiction. I printed out the tour, and off I went.

 Pinus Ponderosa Tour, by John Murgel, Horticulturist. Thanks John!

After figuring out where I was in the gardens and spending 5 minutes oohing and ahhing over the wrong kind of pine tree, I got on the right track and visited these "Ponderosa Pines in the late juvenile stage". 

Upon closer inspection of the bundles of needles, called " fascicles" I was amazed to discover, yes, it's true! Ponderosa Pine needles come in groups of three. Imagine!

 As I made my way to the next Pine exhibit, these Lodgepole Pines called out to me.

 "Hi!" They said, "Look at our straight poles and our lovely cones!" So I did.

These lovely ancient Bristlecone Pines were much more stately in their greeting, gently nodding their branches as I passed by.

 Then I was distracted by this curious tree - Paperbark Maple. Curious indeed.

 Ahh! Here we are! The next trees on our tour are actually Austrian Pine, common trees that are often mistaken for Ponderosa. They have more of a grayish bark, and this: 

TWO needles per bundle. Seriously cool. 

 Now feeling quite confident in my navigational abilities I found, on my own, with out circling the wagons, the "Dwarf Conifer Collection".  It was all I could do not to grab a shovel and take these babies home.

This is a Ponderosa Pine! They call these little beauties "sports or witch's brooms" that have been pruned out of mature trees and grafted onto rootstock. This one was maybe 3 feet tall.

 Here is a little Colorado Blue Spruce. I will be taking Pat Hayward's Conifer Class in April and I can hardly wait.

On to the next point of interest. A grove of trees in the Gates Montane Garden.

Here is a lovely group of Douglas Fir, Ponderosa Pine and Mexican White Pine.

Heavenly.

 Bark of the Mexican White Pine.

Needles. Of course I don't remember how many needles per bundle.

 Bark of the Ponderosa Pine.

 Beautiful Ponderosa needles.

Curious bark of the Douglas Fir.

Interesting and soft needles of the Douglas Fir.

Last stop on the tour for me was the tallest Ponderosa in the gardens.

While I saw and heard very few birds this visit. I did hear a flock of juncos in the trees.  Found this beautiful female Slate-colored Junco. 

Nice ending to a perfect outing!

Hey! Bird Walks in Loveland Again.

Birding Loveland, We're Crazy Around Here.

Saturday, February 23 8:00 a.m. Downtown Loveland.

Meet and park at the south Chilson Rec Center parking lot. Look for my red Xterra. We will walk through the neighborhoods in the area. Birding downtown can be pretty interesting in light of all the great plantings and trees. We will end our walk with coffee at the Coffee Tree afterwards for those who want to. Expect to walk a couple of miles.

Saturday, March 23, 7:30 a.m. Namaqua Park.

Meet at the park. We will be birding the park and along the river. Meet at the Coffee Tree after.

Saturday, April 27th, 7:30 a.m. Chapungu Park at Centerra.

Park at the North end. We'll bird the park. Coffee at the Barnes & Noble after. 

Come join us. You never know what we might find!