Colorado Nature Narratives

This summer, my husband and I took our traditional July hike on one of our favorite trails south of Creede, Colorado. As we hiked the familiar Ivy Creek Trail, we saw many fir and pine trees that were dead, and many that had been cut and pushed off the trail. Then, after hiking 3 miles, our way was blocked. Blocked by fallen trees that looked like giant toothpicks interlocked in a chaotic jumble.

Ivy Creek and dying forest

This summer, the forests near Creede were noticeably changing. From a distance, the evergreen forest had a reddish tinge, the first obvious sign that trees are dying from the Mountain Pine Beetle infestation. Some forest landscapes were totally gray, indicating that the needles, hence the trees, were already dead. All the infected trees will eventually die, lose their needles, and then fall over. The San Juan Mountains are now experiencing the outbreak of diseased trees that other areas of Colorado, including Summit County and Steamboat Springs, have been dealing with for almost a decade.

It is difficult for me to see breathtaking Colorado mountain views now marred by dying forests. But that’s the reality. Eventually, the evergreen forests will regenerate as sun-loving aspen trees will flourish and then provide a microclimate where spruce, fir and pines will thrive again.

So, our hike was bittersweet, and I didn’t even want to write about it for awhile. We saw such beauty on the shady path – shade-loving wildflowers of Red Columbine and light blue Jacob’s Ladder growing along the creek. Will they be there when their shade is gone?

Red Columbine

Jacob's Ladder

Photo Credit: All three photos by Les Goss

Frequent readers of my blog may be wondering what happened to the mother bobcat and her kittens that I wrote about earlier this summer. Our westside Colorado Springs neighborhood proved to be a good wildlife habitat for the bobcat family.

The mother bobcat successfully raised all 4 of her kittens in our neighbor’s (the Bracketts) backyard until the kittens were ready to move to a new territory. The kittens practiced climbing trees, and as they got older, climbed the Bracketts’ backyard fence to follow their mother, probably to learn how to hunt squirrels and rabbits. On hot days, the kittens stayed in their den until early evening. All of our neighbors were alerted about the bobcat family, and there were no negative encounters between “our” wildcat and pets or people. Soon after the first week of July, the mother bobcat and her kittens left “the nursery” and haven’t been seen since. I still miss them. Many of my neighbors also observed the mother bobcat during her 10-week stay in our neighborhood and we were all fascinated by this glimpse of one of Colorado’s most beautiful species of wildlife.

Mother Bobcat in early July

To read earlier posts about the bobcats, click on the “Bobcat” category.

Photo credit: Les Goss

Hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park earlier this week, my friends and I got an early start to beat the afternoon heat and possible thunderstorms. Beginning our hike at 9400 feet at Bear Lake Trailhead, we followed the forested trail up and over a glacial moraine on our way to Lake Helene. We also traversed wildflower meadows where white “cottonballs” of Bistort flowers and Purple Asters danced in the wind. As we approached the subalpine forest at 10,500 feet, the trail crossed very rocky terrain (a scree slope) that seemed bare of wildflowers. But it wasn’t. Somehow, the most beautiful Colorado Blue Columbines had found enough soil to take root and grow toward the bright sunshine. When I returned from my hike, I was eager to read Ann Zwinger’s description of the Colorado Columbine in her book, my favorite, Beyond the Aspen Grove:

The blooms seem suspended above the green leaves like tiny birds, and tremble in the slightest breeze. Their lavender is the depth of aspen shadow, their yellow that of the first sunlight.

Colorado Blue Columbine, July 27, 2010

The lovely Columbine is Colorado’s state flower. It was chosen not only for its beauty, but also for the symbolism of its colors. The blue and white blossom symbolizes Colorado’s blue skies and white snow. The word “Columbine” comes from the Latin word “columba” which means “dove” as the flower’s white petals resemble the wings of a dove.

Photo Credit: Melissa Walker

Visitors to Colorado Springs may be surprised to see new snow on Pikes Peak in July, but longtime residents know that it may snow on our “Fourteener” any day of the year. Still, there is an element of surprise when afternoon rain clouds clear, revealing new snow on the Peak. Such was the case yesterday, July 8.

New Snow on Pikes Peak - July 8, 2010

It doesn’t seem that summer snows and freezing temperatures would be compatible with wildflowers. Yet, many species of wildflowers thrive above 10,500′ in the subalpine and alpine elevations of Pikes Peak. Every summer, I journey to Elk Park on the north slope of the Peak to seek out the beautiful bright flowers. Especially adapted to high altitudes, these hardy perennial plants bloom and form seeds quickly during their short growing season. Sometimes, I will find “bouquets” of wildflowers nestled against the pink granite rocks that provide some shelter from the wind and intense sunlight. This is where I found two of my favorite subalpine wildflowers, the purple Dusky Penstamon and blue Chiming Bells.

Dusky Penstamon and Chiming Bells

The Alpine Sunflower is so bright and showy that it is easy to find. Its large 3″ blossom tops its short stem, making it look top-heavy. The plant’s stem and leaves are covered with wooly-looking hairs that have led to the wildflower’s nickname “Old Man of the Mountains.” The white hairs serve as insulation, an adaptation that helps protect the sunflower from the frosts, summer snows and drying winds of the subalpine and alpine climate. The “Old Man of the Mountains” flowers always face the rising sun, receiving the sun’s warming rays after cold summer nights on Pikes Peak.

Alpine Sunflowers on Pikes Peak

Photo Credits: All three photos by Melissa Walker

And what is so rare as a day in June?
Then, if ever, come perfect days…

Whether we look, or whether we listen,
We hear life murmur, or see it glisten…

by poet James Russell Lowell (1819 – 1891)

Wild Iris (by Winston Walker)

Northern Flicker tends nest in Cottonwood Tree

Cottonwood seeds blowing in the wind

I was leading a bird walk in Garden of the Gods Park this morning, but the bright wildflowers were so beautifully “distracting” that the focus of the walk quickly widened. Light blue Penstamon, creamy white Yucca, light pink Wild Roses and orange-red Indian Paintbrush competed with the birds for my attention.

The rains and late snows of this year’s spring season brought adequate moisture to nurture this year’s healthy bloom of the Plains Yucca. The tall stalks of white flowers cover many of the hills and mesas in the Pikes Peak Region almost every year. The pale blossoms attract night-flying moths that pollinate the yucca. Then, within a few weeks, the flowers become bulky, 2 – 4 inch seedpods. The seeds are a good source of food for wildlife. Even after a deep snowfall, birds can fly to the tall yucca stalks and feast on the seeds.

Plains Yucca with needle-sharp leaves

Always a favorite, the orange-red Indian Paintbrush flowers really do look like paintbrushes dipped into bright paint, then set out in the foothills to dry. Indian Paintbrushes at lower elevations are usually red or orange in color. Higher in the mountain, paintbrushes of rose and light yellow are more common.

Indian Paintbrush

Adding to the beauty of the wildflowers is the sweet fragrance of the Chokecherry shrub. This member of the Rose Family has tiny white flowers arranged singly on a dangling 4 – inch flower stalk, called a raceme. After the flowers are pollinated, they change into green seeds. By late summer, the ripe seeds, now red, are called chokecherries and are a favorite food of birds, bears and other mammals.

Chokecherries in full bloom

On June 1, Laura Brackett, my neighbor across the street, called with exciting news. “The bobcat is in my backyard and has 4 kittens!” So, the bobcat that has been ranging in our westside Colorado Springs neighborhood since April 22 is definitely a female and has found adequate food, water and shelter to make this her temporary home. The bobcat has hidden her den and kittens underneath thick juniper bushes in the Brackett’s backyard.

During the past week, Laura and I have tried to photograph the growing family without disturbing the mother bobcat. We quietly observe and photograph from the Brackett’s second-floor deck. We think that the kittens are about five weeks old and were kept hidden the first few weeks.

Laura and her husband Dave observe the bobcat family in the morning and early evening when the mother nurses her kittens next to their juniper-sheltered den. Watching with binoculars, Laura and Dave report that the mother bobcat is successful in finding prey for her kittens. In addition to a fox squirrel, the Bracketts have also seen the remains of both a red fox and a skunk.

On June 9, the mother bobcat nursed her kittens closer to the house and Laura captured some great images. My thanks to Laura Brackett for providing the following photos that record part of the mother bobcat’s daily life.

Bobcat Kittens in constant motion.

Bobcat nursing her kittens

Bobcat Kitten after nursing

Kitten plays in leaves

Mother bobcat & curious kittens

Almost finished nursing

Morning feeding completed

FYI: The white object visible in some of the photos is part of the drip sprinkler system. For more information and photos about our neighborhood bobcat, please visit my April and May Colorado Nature Narratives Blog postings.

It has been one week since our last sighting of “the backyard bobcat.” On that day, May 17, the bobcat surprised us at 7:00 p.m. Right after dinner, my son exclaimed, “It’s the bobcat!”

The bobcat was sitting down with its back to us, about 15 feet from the sliding glass door to our sideyard. While my husband Les Goss rushed for the camera, my son and I noted how similar the wildcat looked to a really big house cat. We also noticed the prominent black and white markings on the back of its ears. The bobcat’s triangle-shaped ears are tipped in black with a white rectangle shape at the base of each ear. The bobcat then began to move, and for several minutes was out of sight on the other side of our deck.

Then it jumped up onto our fence.

And looked into the neighbor's yard.

It marked territory in 3 locations in the neighbor's yard and covered up its scat.

Then the bobcat leaped back up our 5.5' fence.

And back down into our yard.

It didn't take much foliage for the bobcat to begin to disappear. Its protective coloration definitely works.

We have seen the bobcat 8 times in the last 5 weeks:
April 16 at 4 p.m.
April 18 at 6 p.m.
May 8 at 2 p.m.
May 9 at 9 a.m.
May 10 at 9:30 a.m.
May 12 at 10:30 a.m.
May 13 at 9:00 a.m.
May 17 at 7:00 p.m.

Perhaps the bobcat ranged through our yard on other days but we didn’t look out the window at just the right time to see him.

So when will the bobcat reappear in our backyard? That is the question.

For more information about bobcats in general and this particular Colorado Springs bobcat, please visit my two previous posts dated April 22 and May 12. Les Goss, my husband, took all the bobcat photos. Thanks, Les!

It is 4:30 in the morning and the strong voices of the American Robins are already carrying the melody of a new spring day. The nearest birdsong seems amplified as if the Robin is singing into a microphone while dozens of other Robins blend their harmonies throughout the neighborhood.

At 4:50, a Spotted Towhee adds its three-note trills. Two more Towhees awake and sing at 5:10. The pre-dawn sky is beginning to lighten. I hear a train’s long, sorrowful whistle in the far distance. As if prompted by the train, a Mourning Dove begins cooing at 5:16, immediately echoed by another Dove. At 5:22, a Chickadee contributes its “dee-dee-dee” and a Crow its “caw-caw-caw.” By 5:30, the beginning movement of the Dawn Chorus is concluding as the Robins yield Nature’s sound stage to the House Finches and Towhees. It is barely light.

Pre-dawn Sky

After a two-week hiatus, the Bobcat is again ranging through our backyard. We have seen it four out of the last five days, including today. Last Saturday the Bobcat was rolling around in the tall grass in our aspen grove; on Sunday, it was drinking from the filter tank of our backyard pond; yesterday it was carrying its prey – a fox squirrel – in its jaws; and this morning it simply ambled through the backyard sniffing the air. In my April 22 blog “A Bobcat in the Backyard,” I expressed my wish to see the Bobcat again. That wish has come true. Seeing the magnificent Bobcat reminds me of one of my favorite quotes:

“Those who dwell among the wonders and mysteries of nature
are never alone or weary of life.”    by Rachel Carson

Bobcat in Backyard Habitat, photo by Les Goss