Hello friend! It was a wonderful trip spending time with Sandhill Cranes this March. However, there was another site I know you’ll enjoy as much as I did. What a surprise to spend time with a flock of Mountain Bluebirds (Sialia currucoides). You cannot miss them hunting in the grasses. They clearly do not blend in.
Welcome back to Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge for the spring Sandhill Crane migration! Between late February and early April up to 27,000 Sandhill Cranes spend time preparing for the next, perhaps last, leg of their trip to breeding grounds primarily in the Yellowstone Eco-system. Although not near as many as travel through Nebraska heading to northern Canada, what a spectacular sight!
Thanks to Susan Alexander for the video. A good friend who loves birds as much as I do.
LET’S GO!
Many of the trails in Valley of Fire State Park are less than 2.5 miles. That’s great because we can do much more each day. Well . . . the trails may be short but often take you twice as long as expected. Learned that the hard way. Why? Most trails are sand and that’s hard walking. Then you travel over rock with some steep sections, some five +/- foot drops to negotiate, and it is difficult to keep trail markers on top of rock so were some missing? Yes. The good news is this rock is not slippery unless wet which rarely happens in the desert. In addition some trails are not well marked even on sand so walking in circles can leave you wondering. The good news? The scenery is to die for!! Off we go . . . in sand.
Hello! It has been quite a while my friend. Hope your holidays were wonderful, full of fun and blessings. All is well here in Colorado Springs except for the recent polar vortex. Our temperatures the last few days were below zero, getting to -11 last night. Not a usual event on the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. Happily today it is a “warm” 28 degrees. I’m still staying inside!
Last week I left the cold and journeyed to southern Nevada’s first State Park, Valley of Fire. What a treasure and geology wonder! You are going to love this.
