Lake Arbor

Lake Arbor, about a 10 acre or so urban lake is about a half mile down Pomona Drive from our house.  Rocky and I - Connie also on weekends - walk around it almost every day.  There's always waterfowl on the lake.  In the winter it's the colorful winter ducks.  This time of year the summer residents are coming in plus lots of migrants passing through.  Some days I take my camera to document what we see. There are a lot of huge carp in the lake that are just now starting to jump.  Will be another couple weeks before they start thrashing around in the shallows spawning.

Cattle egret in breeding plumage at Lake Arbor, Arvada, Colorado, April 26, 2017.

Another cattle egret at Lake Arbor.  Been four to six at the lake flying around and grazing for several days.  

Always quite a few double-crested cormorants working the lake, but this morning I counted 22.  I think a lot  are migrants. 

Have seen eared-grebes at the lake on several occasions in the spring.  This one was here on the 26th.

Black-crowned night herons are common summer residents at the lake.  This one was fishing on the 26th. 

Curved-bills and More

Been down to Lake Pueblo State Park several times this winter and spring.  They have been upgrading the electrical campgrounds so there was no electricity available.  Rocky and I had to boon-dock it, but we do just fine.  Wait for some milder weather, and we can heat with my Little Buddy propane heater, and we can recharge our batteries every day with my 100 Watt, portable solar panel.  Sure nice to have electricity in the winter, though, as the little electric cube heater does a nice job, and nice to have better lights with those long winter nights.

We've seen all the usual suspects down at Lake Pueblo - curved-bill thrashers, canyon towhees, Townsend's solitaire, and a few others.  This last trip we camped under a thrasher's favorite tree so we enjoyed his bright, mockingbird-like song most the day.  Nice to wake up to, as well.  The thrashers and towhees hang around camp looking for crumbs.  I've even seen both fly into the camper looking for goodies if I left the screen door open.

Got a few shots from around town here to include, too.  Had either a Cooper's or sharp-shinned hawk at the pond earlier in the winter.  It was a nice day and I had the waterfalls running when I looked out the window and saw a larger bird fly down to the pond.  Ran to get the cameras, but it was gone when I got back.  But, it came back and I managed to get a shot or two.  The pond attracts quite a variety of birds.  Makes the pond even more enjoyable.  All of my fish survived the winter, even the one native born here managed to grow up and not get eaten by the adults.

Curved-bill thrasher singing so bright on an April morning at Lake Pueblo. 

Curved-bill thrasher at Lake Pueblo

Curved-bill thrasher doing some grooming. 

Rocky and I were out walking around near-by Standley Lake earlier this spring when we spied a large coyote walking down the road.  He was a pretty big one and didn't seem to mind us at all.  There are a couple other misc. shots I'll include and describe them in the captions.

Either a Cooper's hawk or sharp-shinned hawk at the pond.

Looked up one afternoon this last fall and saw this great horned owl sitting up in the neighbor's maple tree watching us. 

A fluffed up canyon towhee on a chilly morning at Lake Pueblo. 

Large coyote at Standley Lake park.

Pair of green-winged teal on Clear Creek in Wheat Ridge

One of our camps at Lake Pueblo.  Note the solar panel to the left of the truck.

King fisher along Clear Creek in Wheat Ridge.

Townsend's solitaire at Lake Pueblo

Plains, Cranes, and Trains

Back in late October Rocky and I set off to watch the Union Pacific #844 pass thru western Nebraska on the way to the Great River Crossing celebration in Memphis.  There was cold rain falling out of low gray skies as we left Denver.  I wondered if we'd made a mistake, but as we got closer to Sterling, the skies cleared and the temps climbed back into the low 50s.  We camped at North Sterling Reservoir State Park out on the eastern plains.  Its up in the sand hills a few miles north of Sterling.   Nice big vista in all directions, especially of the higher ground of Petz Table to the north where there is a huge wind turbine farm. I was sitting there in the sun reading when I heard the sound of sandhill cranes.  I was having a hard time determining where the sound was coming from when I realized it was coming from the sky.  Way way up high were wave after wave of cranes migrating south.  The were so high it was difficult to see them with the naked eye.  I had to really zoom in to bring them into clear view.  They kept coming over all afternoon, and finally about dusk a flock settled in a field off to the east.   Out across the reservoir, which was down by like 40 feet, were hundreds of white pelicans.  Hundreds of them.  The shore was white with them.  The morning of the second day we got up and drove about 40 miles northeast to Lodge Pole, Nebraska where the #844 was scheduled to stop about 11AM for servicing.  On the way we drove by a marker for the Pole Creek Pony Express station.  We got to Lodge Pole in plenty of time, which was good because the train was early.  I could hear that steam boat whistle for miles as it worked it's way west.  Rocky did not like the huge smoking, hissing, clanking machine, so I took him back to the truck while I watched the crew service the engine.  We stopped in Sidney, Nebraska on the way back for a runza - German cabbage burger.  Love em.

During one of our late October trips to Lake Pueblo I could see the Junkins fire still burning on the slopes of the Wet Mountians a few miles west of the park.  It flared up pretty good one afternoon.  I didn't see any slurry bombers working it but with binoculars I could see the flash of helicopter rotors as they did bucket drops on the hot spots.  The tankers had been flying in days previous.  They worked out of the Jeffco airport near the house.  I heard and saw them taking off and landing all during the day for several days.  One big C-130, an old Neptune piston with jet assist, and a small four engine jet tanker I had never seen before.

Early November was very very warm and sunny, so Rocky and I took off to look for the super moon down at Lake Pueblo.   We saw the usual suspects of canyon towhees, curved bill thrashers, and scaled quail.  The later drove Rocky nuts.  They would march into camp and then when they discovered Rocky they took off running enticing Rocky to chase them, but that's not permitted.  He finally became content to just watch them.  We sat by the campfire waiting for the super moon to rise in the east.  Man that thing was bright!  Lit up the landscape most of the night, while owls hooted in the trees.

Also during that November warm spell we had a great horned owl land in the neighbors tree one afternoon.  He posed for pics for all the neighbors.

The last couple of days we've had an immature bald eagle hanging out down at Lake Arbor.  We saw him two days straight either out on the ice eating some fish and a dead goose, or sitting on a perch in a cottonwood that over hangs the lake.  He was gone today.  I wonder if it was a wintering eagle or offspring of the breeding pair over at Standley Lake not far from here.  I know I saw two eaglets in their nest in the spring.

We're into deep winter now.  Days are short and while I'm anxious to get out and camp, those long cold nights are not very appealing even though we stay nice and toasty warm in the camper.  I just need some good sun and a good meal in the dutch oven.

Historical marker for the Pole Creek Pony Express station near Sidney, Nebraska.

Waves of migrating sandhill cranes above North Sterling Reservoir State Park.

More cranes at even higher altitude.

Union Pacific #844 being serviced at Lodge Pole, Nebraska.

The Junkins fire was still burning on one of our early fall trips down to Lake Pueblo.  I could see helicopters doing bucket drops when the fire blew up in the afternoon. 

The curved bill thrashers always visit camp down at Lake Pueblo.  If I leave the camper door open by accident they will even go inside looking for a goody.  

Another usual suspect down at Lake Pueblo are the scaled quail.   

View from camp on the super moon trip to Lake Pueblo.  

The super moon over Lake Pueblo. 

You don't see a lot of prairie dogs down at Lake Pueblo anymore, but every now and then you find one. 

Connie and Rocky on a winter's day walk around Lake Arbor looking for the eagle.

Immature bald eagle at Lake Arbor in Dec. 2016.

The eagle had just finished eating a fish it had snatched away from a gull.

The Lake Arbor eagle again.

We hear owls hooting in the neighborhood every now and then.  This one spent an afternoon trying to snooze in the neighbors big maple tree.  He was quite a hit with all the neighbors.  

Huge flocks of white pelicans at North Sterling Res. in late Oct. 

Pueblo Spiders

Year or two back I was camped at Lake Pueblo State Park, having dinner on a beautiful, warm, late Sept. evening.  Out of the corner of my eye I caught movement down around my feet.  I jumped up when this big tarantula marched by - a big brownish tan spider.  I thought, what the hell.  Is that thing a pet escapee from a near-by trailer?  I ran to the truck to get my camera, but by the time I got back I couldn't re-find the giant spider.  It was trucking right along when I first saw it.  In the morning when the ranger came by checking camping permits, I told him about the spider.  He said, oh, yes, some falls they come out in great numbers, mostly males looking for mates.  In all the years I had been coming down to Pueblo I had never seen one before.  I had no idea we had tarantulas in Colorado.   I did some research when I got home and found out they are quit common in the southeast corner of the state, and indeed, some falls the males do come out in numbers looking for mates.  You never see them the rest of the year.  I guess sometimes they are so numerous there will be hordes of them marching across the roads.

So earlier this week, Rocky and I set out for Pueblo to look for giant spiders.  The first morning we had walked down to the lake shore for Rocky to take a swim.  On the way back to camp there was a spider trucking along up on the flats.  They can really move along.  Got a couple of pics.  Rocky didn't quite know what to think of it.  I didn't let him get real close.  I kind of kept my eye out for them the rest of the time we were sitting around camp.  They seem pretty docile, but I don't know what Rocky would do with one if left to his instincts.

Didn't see a whole lot of other wildlife.  Lots of bunnies, he usual curved-bill thrashers and canyon towhees were around camp. Saw the resident osprey catch a fish.  We camped in the same spot we camped in a couple weeks back in late August when we saw all the little lizards.  No sign of them this time.  I wonder if they have already gone in for the winter?  It was quite warm this trip, but no sign of them.

Camp at Lake Pueblo State Park.  Rabbit brush is about the last thing to  blossom  in the fall. 

Cruved-bill thrasher checking out camp.

Tarantula at Lake Pueblo State Park, Sept 25, 2016.

Curved-bill trasher at Lake Pueblo State Park.

Two cedar waxwings along the Arkansas River below Lake Pueblo Dam.

The morning we left we saw a flock of cedar waxwings down along the river.

Sunflower Jungle

We cut down two gangly fir trees in the backyard this spring.  We didn't have the stumps removed, but wished we had as they were rather ugly right next to the pond area.  As spring progressed, we noticed a bunch of sunflower plants starting to grow in the area around the stumps.  We decided to just let them go.  They turned into a sunflower jungle hiding the stumps.  They have also attracted a flock of American and lesser goldfinches.  They have been a joy with their constant song and bright colors.  They continue to feast on the sunflowers everyday, and have completely cleaned out maybe a third of the flower heads.  They also enjoy bathing and drinking at the smaller of the pond waterfalls.   Hopefully they'll stick around for the winter.

Our butterfly bush has attracted a number of butterflies this summer.  First it was a number of tiger swallowtails, and now in the last week a bunch of painted ladies.  I did a story once on an elementary school program where students grow and release painted ladies as part of a biology project.  I think they still do it, so I wonder if these are freshly released from a nearby school. Butterflies are just amazingly beautiful.

We don't get a lot of hummingbirds during the summer, but we do get a few in spring and late summer as they migrate.  They love the butterfly bush in the backyard.   They like the pond waterfalls, too, hovering at them to get a drink.  Haven't gotten a good sharp photo so far.

Rocky and I took a trip down to Pueblo a week or so back.  It was a nice cool, showery break towards the end of August, almost fall like.  Don't usually go down to Pueblo until later in Sept., but the cooler weather made it appealing.  Camped next to a large clump of western red cedars that was home to family of little lined lizards.  There were large adults and tiny little babies.  I think at one time I counted up to a dozen visible at one time. When the sun was out, they came out in force to sun on the south side of the cedar clump.  They drove Rocky crazy.  He kept trying to catch them, but had no luck.  They were bold, yet very fast.  They would watch him as he stalked them, then dart under the cedars at the last minute when he lunged at them.  He finally grew tired of the chase and just sat there watching them.

One morning I saw a flash of yellow and black at the pond.  At first I thought it was one of the regular goldfinches but it looked to big.  I grabbed the binoculars - male western tanager!  Grabbed the camera and managed to get a shot before he jumped up into the nearby dogwood.  We had one visit the pond this spring during migration.  I wonder if it was the same one, passing thru on his way south.  The red on the head appeared somewhat mottled, but maybe it was just because he had just taken a bath in the waterfall.

Male and two female American goldfinches enjoying at drink at the smaller of the two pond waterfalls.

Pair of goldfinches working on the sunflowers.

Male American goldfinch

Male American goldfinch harvesting sunflower seeds. 

Lizard at Lake Pueblo State Park, late Aug. 2016.

Two lizards sunning at Lake Pueblo State Park in late Aug. 2016.

Painted lady at the butterfly bush.

Painted lady enjoying nectar at the butterfly bush. 

Tiger swallowtail at the butterfly bush.

Western tanager after bathing in the pond waterfall.