Category Archives: Nature and the Outdoors

The Short, Sad Life of a Say’s Phoebe

Posted on July 20, 2021 by Roger

In the spring of the first full year we lived in our house, I noticed a Say’s Phoebe repeated attempting to build a nest on a narrow ledge on our front porch. The nest kept falling off the ledge long … Continue reading →

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Animal #74 — Mountain Cottontail

Posted on July 15, 2021 by Roger

sylvilagus nuttallii Goldfield, Colorado — Vindicator Valley Trail Thursday, July 15, 2021 — 2:07 pm Mountain and Desert Cottontails are both widespread in Colorado, and I’ve never found a definitive way to tell them apart—if anyone has. I saw my … Continue reading →

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Sandstone Ranch Open Space

Posted on July 10, 2021 by Roger

On the way home from Rocky Mountain National Park, I stopped and hiked four miles at a new open space north of Palmer Lake. It was about 80°, and clear, but a nice breeze off the mountains kept things from … Continue reading →

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Wildlife at RMNP

Posted on July 10, 2021 by Roger

While I was watching the White-tailed Ptarmigan at Medicine Bow Curve, I heard one of the other birders refer to a phalarope. I looked up to see a medium-sized shorebird flying back and over the tundra. It circled and landed … Continue reading →

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Bird #566 — White-tailed Ptarmigan

Posted on July 10, 2021 by Roger

lagopus (from lagos, hare, and pous, foot—hare-footed) leucura (from leukos, white, and oura, tail) Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado — Medicine Bow Curve on Trail Ridge Road Saturday, July 10, 2021 — 7:31 am When we moved to Colorado and … Continue reading →

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