Colorful Morning Hike–Mueller State Park, CO

Mueller State Park is about 28 miles into the mountains from Colorado Springs. Covering 5,121 acres with ponds, rock outcropping, mountain views in every direction, and amazing aspen groves, a walk this time of year will be spectacular! Grab your water and get ready because we start our hike at about 9,650 feet and it will be a down and up huffer puffer as we drop 500 feet to Preacher’s Hollow and Never-Never Pond. We’ll take it slow because the thin air at this elevation will take its toll on us both!

Let’s Go, Trails #4 and #5

Let’s Hike Garden of the Gods–It Is About Time!

It has been quite a while since we hiked together, so it’s time to head out for a three-mile hike in Garden of the Gods. Arriving at 6:15am, we have golden light, trails you have never seen, and huge rocks, particularly red rocks, everywhere. Now I know what so many country songs mean when they talk of “red-dirt”! We’ll be brushing it off our shoes and if our shoes “breath”, we’ll be washing it out of our socks. Ready to head out? The Bretag Trail awaits!

Let’s Go . . .

Oh Look!! An LBJ!

Hello and hope you are doing well in this strange summer minus much travel and vacationing. I thought I’d take you to a few local places in search of LBJs. What is an LBJ you ask? If you have never spent time looking at birds or searching field guides to find their official names, it is a name you can use and people will think you have an inside scoop on bird ID. How can that be bad? I know, rather lame, but still fun.

Actually LBJ is a fun as well as good initial identifier–Little Brown Job. With so many darting brown to grayish brown smallish birds, it is a quick naming start as we look for indicators that will lead to identification such as its size, body shape, size and shape of bill, color pattern, habitat, and behavior.

So here we go, looking at some of the many LBJs here on the Front Range of the Rockies. I’ll be giving you a link to each LBJ to explore more as you desire. Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology has wonderful online bird guides which explain so many amazing aspects of their unique lifestyles!

Let’s Go!

Songbirds–Gems of the Sky

Hi all, have missed you! Hope you are well, taking precautions, and figuring out life again. While staying closer to home longer than I’m used to, been hiking locally and seeing many new birds in the parks and open spaces. Some staying for the summer, some just passing through, some year-round residents. Come along to see the beauty of these Gems of the Sky!

Look, over there!