Colorado Nature Narratives

The bright, white Niobrara Ridge is one of the rock ramparts that seems to guard the eastern approach to Pikes Peak. The Ridge can be seen from almost anywhere in Colorado Springs and is a prominent feature in two of the city’s most spectacular places—Garden of the Gods Park and Red Rock Canyon Open Space.

At Garden of the Gods Park, the Niobrara Ridge is in the foreground, with Kissing Camels and Pikes Peak beyond.

Recently, on an unseasonably warm afternoon, I began hiking east from the Garden’s south parking lot toward Rock Ledge Ranch. Then, I turned southward to traverse the Niobrara Ridge trail, “prospecting” for some of the Park’s many natural treasures. Along the way, I narrowed my attention from the expansive views of the Park and Pikes Peak, to birds foraging in the piñon and juniper trees, to rocky remnants of ancient life.

Ammonite fossil and the author's hand

Scattered throughout the Niobrara’s fractured white limestone are fossils of marine animals. Upon close inspection of the white rocks, I discovered circular shapes of ammonite fossils, their rough outlines catching the sun’s rays and casting curved shadows. Ammonites were similar to today’s chambered nautilus and had coiled or straight shells to protect their soft bodies. The ammonite fossils and white limestone of the Niobrara Ridge reveal a time in Earth’s history when a vast seaway covered one-third of the North American continent, including all of Colorado.

Widening my focus from the rocks, I was immediately rewarded by the twisted shapes of the one-seed juniper trees. Their roots push between the fractured rocks of the Niobrara Ridge and somehow find enough moisture to survive. The tiny blue berries of the junipers are actually miniature pinecones, and are a favorite food of the gray townsend solitaire, a year-round bird of the foothills.

Intermixed with the juniper trees are fragrant piñon pines. Both the piñons and the junipers are drought-tolerant tree species that grow primarily in the American Southwest. After checking several piñon pinecones, I found a few nuts hidden within the cones. In Colorado Springs, these evergreen trees are at the northern edge of their growing range, so the piñon nuts are usually very small and dry, unlike the plump nuts found in piñons growing further south.

Piñon nut near center of resin-covered pinecone

The quiet of the afternoon was broken by birds gleaning insects from the piñon-juniper woodland. Blue-gray gnatcatchers, black-capped chickadees, and dark-eyed juncos were in small, separate flocks, softly calling as they flew from tree to tree. Soon, the natural treasures of the Niobrara Ridge will increase as migrating birds return and spring wildflowers bloom. And, I will return to look for them.

Notes:

All three photos by author Melissa Walker

For a trail map of Garden of the Gods Park, visit the following webpage – http://www.springsgov.com/units/parksrec/maps/pdfmaps/gogs-pg1.pdf

At 5:00am, I was treated to my first unexpected view of the pre-dawn world. I opened the curtains of my west-facing window, and there was the constellation of Orion setting over Pikes Peak. The three bright stars of Orion’s belt glittered just above Pikes Peak like a crown of diamonds. The bright, very full moon gave no hint of what was to come.

However, by 5:45am, a hazy shadow began to shroud the upper left curve of the moon. My husband and I were now at our viewing location at the entrance to Garden of the Gods Park. We watched in silence as the Earth’s shadow began to cloak the top half of the moon. The December dawn sky presented other treasures. Sirius, the brightest star in our sky, was setting behind the pale saddle of Gray Rock, and the bright stars of Gemini sparkled high overhead.

Eclipsing moon setting before dawn, Garden of the Gods

Just as the top half of the moon was beginning to take on a faint red glow, matching the reddish hues of the towering sandstone rocks of Garden of the Gods, the moon slipped below the mountains of the Rampart Range. In the stillness of dawn, we could hear a great-horned owl hooting in the distance.

Photo Credit: Thanks to my husband Les Goss for capturing this moment.

A celestial event in the early morning hours of December 10 will add a new dimension to one of the most beautiful views in the world – Pikes Peak framed by the red rock spires of Garden of the Gods. On that morning, an eclipsed moon will set behind Pikes Peak. According to SKY AND TELESCOPE magazine, the Earth’s shadow will begin to eclipse the moon at 5:45 a.m. (Mountain Standard Time), and by 7:05 a.m., the moon will be in total eclipse.

Image via Wikipedia

Over the years, I have seen the Garden of the Gods’ magnificent red rocks and Pikes Peak cloaked by the snows of winter and the thunderclouds of summer, and illuminated by the bright light of dawn and the last rays of sunset. But I have never seen a shadowed moon set behind the famous view of the red rocks and Pikes Peak.

The weather forecast for December 10 is clear, yet I don’t know exactly what time the moon will disappear behind the western mountains, or how soon the light of the rising sun will fade the colors of the eclipsed moon. But I will be up early and watching, as there is always something new to discover.

Note: to read about the last total eclipse in Colorado on December 20 – 21, 2010, please visit my blogs dated December 15, 2010 and December 21, 2010 entitled “Anticipating the Total Lunar Eclipse on December 21, 2010″ and “It’s Midnight and the Moon is Slipping into Earth’s Shadow.”

Photo Credits: Partial Lunar Eclipse via Wikipedia;  Garden of the Gods with Pikes Peak by Nature Narratives author Melissa Walker

When I first moved to Colorado Springs, I was an 18-year-old college student. More than anything else about that first year, I remember the thrill of waking up every morning and looking out at Pikes Peak. My parents saved the letters I wrote that fall, letters full of long descriptions about the clear, crisp weather, the sky that always seemed to be blue, and the new snowfall on the tops of the mountains.

Having grown up comfortably enveloped in the hardwood and pine forests of Louisiana, I simply felt different in Colorado. I felt as tall as any tree as I gazed out at the expansive horizon. Views of horizons were new to me.

Here in this place, I could see where I wanted to go. I wanted to go around Cheyenne Mountain to see what was on the other side. I wanted to explore the upended rocks of Garden of the Gods. I wanted to climb Pikes Peak.

Then, I found that wherever I went in the Pikes Peak Region, I could see where I had been. On top of Mt. Cutler, I could see my dorm back on campus. On top of Pikes Peak, I could see the cottonwood trees marking Fountain Creek’s path to the Arkansas River—a river that eventually met the Mississippi and flowed through my home state. Like so many before me, I was captivated by this place. Now it is my home.

In the ensuing years, I have discovered that alongside this Region’s stunning beauty are unforgettable stories of its people; inseparable from its beauty are its native plants and wildlife; and the foundations of its beauty are its rocks, canyons, mountains and horizons.

Pikes Peak on the Horizon & Indian Paintbrush

Photo by Author Melissa Walker

Late in the afternoon on September 10, volunteers and friends met in Garden of the Gods Park in Colorado Springs to observe the White-throated Swifts and their sunset flight behavior. The fast-flying birds are one of the reasons that the Garden of the Gods is a National Natural Landmark, as the Park is one of the largest summer and migratory roosting sites for the White-throated Swifts along the Rocky Mountain Front Range.

When our group gathered on the west side of North Gateway Rock, the Swifts were flying so high overhead that they were difficult to see without binoculars. Then, as the sun sank lower toward the horizon, the Swifts lowered their circular flight pattern over the Park’s Central Garden area. We could hear the birds twittering as they flew in wide circles near their roosting sites. Then, as the sun dipped behind Pikes Peak, the Swifts began to funnel into a long crack on the west side of the Tower of Babel in North Gateway Rock, their primary roosting site. It took about ten minutes for the Swifts to disappear into the large rock crevice and smaller roosting sites nearby.

Swifts flying at sunset, Garden of the Gods

In 2009, I observed that the Swifts migrated on September 23, just before a cold front brought snow to the foothills. This year, Lenore Fleck watched for the Swifts’ departure. On September 25, 2010, she wrote, “No change in weather, still warm and dry. Yesterday, the Swifts were circling at six-o’clock. Today, silent skies.”

The Swifts migrated to the southwest border of the United States and farther south into Mexico where they will find abundant flying insects to sustain them through the winter. At the Garden of the Gods, we will be watching for the Swifts to return in early April as they complete another full circle of their annual migration journey.

Swift Rescued

This fall, Haleigh Shafer, Garden of the Gods Park Intern, rescued a White-throated Swift that she found lying in the Visitor Center parking lot. Before the bird was transported to a wildlife rehabilitation center, Haleigh took several photos. In this photo, note how the bird’s folded wings are longer than its tail. The Swift’s wingspan is 15 inches and its body is only 6.5 inches. The photo shows how small a Swift really is, about the size of a cell phone, yet it migrates hundreds of miles every fall and spring.

Swift rests next to cell phone

Photo Credits:
Swifts flying next to North Gateway Rock by Dave Meyers.
Swift resting next to cell phone by Haleigh Shafer.

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

Since mid-March, I have been watching for the return of the White-throated Swifts. Last fall, they “disappeared” from Garden of the Gods Park on September 23 on a very blustery day. Their disappearance was expected, though, and happens every year when the Swifts migrate south for the winter.

Today, it was snowing at dawn, but by mid-morning the snow had ceased and the clouds were beginning to lift. I decided to go ahead and hike in the Garden to look for the Swifts. Since the Swifts left on a very blustery day in September, perhaps they would “reappear” on this very blustery day in April.

Today in Garden of the Gods

My friend and I hiked on the trail that leads from the Main Parking Lot to the Twins Rock Formation. Along the way we saw flocks of Dark-eyed Juncos, cavorting Ravens, a pair of Scrub Jays, several Spotted Towhees, and heard the two-note whistle of the Black-capped Chickadee. But no White-throated Swifts.

Hiking back, we were surprised to see Wild Turkey tracks in the snow – the first such tracks I’ve ever seen in Garden of the Gods.

Wild Turkey Tracks

We also saw Rock Pigeons, an American Robin, a Bushtit, several Black-billed Magpies, heard a Canyon Wren, and watched a fast-flying Prairie Falcon circling North Gateway Rock. Then, I finally heard the familiar, high twittering of the Swifts. There they were, flying high over Gray Rock! Welcome back, White-throated Swifts, to your summer home.

(For more information about the Swifts, visit my very first Nature Narrative Blog dated February 8, 2010.)

I have had the privilege of closely observing wildlife in Garden of the Gods Park for almost 20 years. One of my annual spring challenges is to locate the nest of the Prairie Falcons. Usually they nest high on the east face of North Gateway Rock in a weathered hollow in the sandstone. Every year, the birds perform their courtship rituals, lay eggs, and raise their fledglings – while seeming oblivious to the many park visitors who hike on the trail 200 feet below the nest.

The Prairie Falcon is a bird of prey built for speed. It is streamlined with a sleek head, long pointed wings and a tapered tail. These features enable the Falcon to overtake its favorite prey of White-throated Swifts and Rock Pigeons and snatch them out of the air.

Another hunting technique is “stooping.” Flying at great heights, the Falcon targets a bird, then folds its wings and dives at almost 200 miles per hour to strike its prey with such tremendous force that it knocks it out of the air. I witnessed this dramatic event one morning while hiking in the Garden. A White-throated Swift was flying incredibly fast just 3 feet off the ground when all of a sudden, a Prairie Falcon appeared out of nowhere and knocked the Swift to the ground. I cautiously approached the Swift. It was already dead from the impact. Then I waited about 100 feet away to see what the Falcon would do. It again appeared as if out of nowhere, landed next to the dead Swift and immediately began to tear it into bite-sized pieces and consume it.

In Colorado’s Pikes Peak area, the Prairie Falcons can be found year-round in the cliffs and canyons of the foothills. In Garden of the Gods Park, close observers may see Rock Pigeons and Swifts scatter whenever a Prairie Falcon takes to the air.

In 1992, paleontologists from the Denver Museum of Nature & Science discovered a Stegosaurus fossil in the Garden Park Fossil Area north of Cañon City, Colorado. This nearly complete dinosaur skeleton showed conclusively, for the first time, the exact position of the Stegosaurus’s tail spikes. The four knife-like, 12-inch spikes are attached to and point outward horizontally from the end of its tail, rather than upward as previously thought. Paleontologists concur that the Stegosaurus used its spiked tail as a weapon against predators.

One of the first correct depictions of a Stegosaurus dinosaur with outward-pointing spikes was painted in 1995 for the Jurassic Mural at Garden of the Gods Visitor & Nature Center by artists Jans and Debra Vriesen. The Stegosaurus is depicted in its Jurassic landscape of conifers, seed ferns and horsetail plants. In designing the scene, the Vriesens consulted closely with paleontologists of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, where the artists also created murals for the award-winning Prehistoric Journey exhibit.

Continue Reading »

Location: Southeastern Colorado Birding Trail: Pikes Peak Region
Garden of the Gods Park
1805 N. Street, Colorado Springs, CO  80904

Description of April 27, 2009 Bird Walk:
It was a perfect Colorado day for a morning bird walk in Garden of the Gods Park. The week’s rain showers had left the air fresh, the sky cobalt blue and Pikes Peak glistening white under a new blanket of snow. My friends and I decided to begin our birding at the east Rock Ledge Ranch entrance of the park so that we could walk through a variety of habitats from the Ranch to the towering rocks in the heart of the park.

Sandstone pinnacles in the heart of the park

As we neared the Ranch pond, we saw our first migrant, a Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon’s), flitting among the willow branches. We then watched as a female American Robin, its beak packed with insects, furtively made its way to its nest in a tall White Fir tree. In contrast, a male Red-winged Blackbird broadcast its presence with its piercing call and showy red wing patches.

The tranquility of the pond was broken by two male Mallard Ducks fighting over one female. The two drakes fought in the middle of the pond, biting each other’s heads as they whirled in circles, loudly splashing the water. Meanwhile, the female climbed out of the pond and disappeared into the willows, and eventually, one of the drakes gave up the fight and flew away. Continue Reading »