Valentine For My Valentine

Lark and I hiking in Costa Rica

When I was younger, public displays of affection were the last thing I ever wanted to do.  Perhaps it was because I lived in the rural South where such things could and did cause harm.  I was lucky, the worse thing ever done to me was my car was scratched and ketchup was left on my door handles. My crime was that I held hands for a second outside the confines of my privacy.  

Now many things in the world have changed and though old habits are hard to break, I do have more bravery, less fear, and more to look forward to as the world changes for the better.  So today, I interrupt the normal schedule of natural history and birding tales to send a little valentine to my valentine. 

Celebration - New Job, Master's Degree, New Beginnings

Today I finished my Master's of Science in Recreation & Parks Management.  This three year endeavor has been stressful at times, fun at others, but tonight I completed my final requirements in the presence of a few dear friends and my advisor.  I am indebted to each of my cohort peers, my family, but ultimately a huge thanks to my lovely Lark for always supporting me.

The other big news is I also just finished my last day of work in Colorado (for now) and am officially moving to New York to join the Audubon as their new Hog Island Program Manager.  I'll be in Ithaca for Fall, Winter, and Spring and in Breman, Maine for most of the long summer.  I can't wait to start this new chapter though the road may be bumpy at times.

Hog Island, Maine

Colorado will be missed but I'll focus on the future for now and who knows, we may one day be back.

Lark

To my favorite birder and partner in many life adventures.  Thank you for the past four years. 

Rocky Mountain Sunset

Friday evening we drove over Trail Ridge Road to Grand Lake but as the clouds gave us a break we jumped out for a quick look around Rock Cut Trail.  We searched for a Ptarmigan but despite the Horned Larks and the distant bugle of a male Elk, we came up short.

Our closest wildlife encounter was with the Marmots that littered the sides of the trail.  After that it was just a thousand rocks that all looked like a Ptarmigan in the afternoon sun.

We eventually gave us birding and took in the beautiful vistas and completely empty trail at Rock Cut.  It was surreal being up above treelike on a busy trail with NO ONE in sight.  Even the cars going by on Trail Ridge were few and far between.

It was a glorious start to a relaxing mountainous weekend.  I am so grateful to live in such a beautiful world and have Rocky Mountain National Park in my backyard.

Cache la Poudre

The Cache La Poudre is a beautiful sight and luckily we live even closer to it now.  On Saturday we took an afternoon swim at Picnic Rock and on Sunday we drove down the canyon and made a brief stop at the Ouzel Picnic area to walk the pups by the banks.  

Emily walked up on a snake by the bank, while I scanned the rocks for a Dipper.  We didn't stay long but our brief stay was made better for the calming sounds and smells of a mountain river.

As we walked the little public trail by the parking lot we came upon a makeshift memorial.  After a little inspection we realized it was made for the two young people that died this spring in the river.  We were coming back from the Western Slope this Memorial Day when we saw the steady stream of emergency vehicles.  A young boy fell in the river while fishing and his young uncle jumped in after to save him but neither made it.  The river gives and it takes. 

We were certainly given many gifts this weekend by the Cache La Poudre. I miss the ocean, the steady waves, the salt air, the breeze but a walk by the Poudre is close to recreating this experience.  I love the chill in the air, the crispness, the sounds of the river, and of course the beauty that abounds all around the banks.  

Urban Gardening

Life begins the day you start a garden. ~Chinese Proverb

August provided a change of scenery for our little family, a move across town, a new garden to love.  As we settled into our new home in the Campus West community of Fort Collins, we were most excited about the little garden that gives.  Tomato plants brimming, basil, mint, and strawberries ready for harvest.  Truly it was a delight of the senses and a welcome surprise for two tired movers.  

The garden also provided us with flowers, butterflies, bees, and the sweet smell of herbs.  Last night I spent the afternoon dimming to dark as a Wilson Warbler fed on insects in the garden. We were fretting the move but this little garden has made the hard work worth it!  

There's a certain comfort that comes from eating food out of your own garden, making your own minty mojitos, and inviting friends over to share the bounty. Everyone should have a garden or at least a few plants.  I'm glad we've found a new home with a perfect garden space. 

There can be no other occupation like gardening in which, if you were to creep up behind someone at their work, you would find them smiling. ~Mirabel Osler

Painted Redstart & CO Birding

One of the things I miss the most about Florida is all the birds, just everywhere.  I could drive in downtown Miami and see half a dozen species from the car window.  A spin around a small trail could tally another 30-40.  That's one species every minute of the walk!  But Colorado birding seems to be a different beast.  Birds come in waves and they are harder to see but when they show up, they are pretty stunning.  Whether it's hummingbirds migrating through or winter finches coming off the mountains, you never know what you may see.  So in early May I got wind of a Painted Redstart only 30 minutes away.  I failed to share some of the photos with all of you so here were my best of the afternoon.  Mind you, I mostly watched through my bins but a few shots for memories sake was definitely in order.  Emily basically had to pull me back in the car so we could get home on the school night in decent time.

The Painted Redstart was very cooperative and the 2-4 birders in the area got great looks.  It was joined periodically by a few warblers but mostly kept to itself.  We watched it feed, preen, and flit about the tops of the trees in the Pawnee Grasslands campground.  It was not my first Colorado lifer but certainly one I will always remember.

To top it off, on the way home I spied some White-faced Ibis in the highway ditch area.  Another lifer and one that I was expecting at some point but not while chasing a rare bird.  All the same, we spun the car around, watched from the shoulder as this group feed in the shallow waters.  The Glossy Ibis that were a daily bird for me are long gone but it's good to know another species is there to take its place.  In 2015, Andy Lantz and I are going to attempt simultaneous Big County Years.  I will tackle Larimer County, in which I live and he will pick a county in Nashville, TN.  It won't be the same as birding along side my favorite dude but it will be a nice way to connect a country away from each other.  That's the nice thing about birding, even if it can be a solitary activity it's a community of people all together.

Summer Road-trip: South Dakota

With a long weekend ahead we packed up the car and hit to the road north to South Dakota. We traveled the winding hills of green prairie for 5 hours and then we were at camp.  At first light we drove the 5 minutes up to Mount Rushmore.  Surprisingly, we enjoyed the Presidents and the sculptor did a wonderful job of using the natural rock design in creating this one of a kind memorial.

After that we hit the road to explore the Black Hills.  Our only life bird of the trip came next after breakfast where we were given 2 beautiful Red Crossbills.  Then we kept on driving the scenic highways that flow in and out of Custer State Park.

Little Baba Ghanoush had her first experience swimming - the water was frightfully cold but she did well.

The Needles Highways proved to be everything it was hyped up to be.  We went through single lane tunnels, switchbacked by beautiful pinnacles, and enjoyed the scenery.

Some of the tunnels were exceptionally tight but that just added to the mystery.  After a fun day of hiking, driving, and sightseeing we went back to camp and enjoyed a relaxing evening by Grizzly Creek.

Notable birds of Grizzly Creek Campground: Black-headed Grosbeak, Pine Siskins, Violet-green Swallows, Western Tanager, Common Nighthawk, and an Empid flycatcher that gave me quite a show.  I believe it's a Western Wood-Pewee after inspection, please let me know in the comments if you think my little one may be of another variety. 

Cripple Creek & Victor

On our recent vacation near Divide, CO we took a day trip to the nearby mining towns of Cripple Creek and Victor.  In the late 1800's, this area experienced a mining boom and towns were lined with gold.  It's interesting to see a piece of history, still surviving but somehow a shell of its former self.  Look at the view above of Cripple Creek below and the 13,000ers in the background.

Everywhere you turn there are old relicts of the mining days.  A shaft here, a old piece of machinery there.  I know that mining was definitely destructive but it was so much prettier back in the day.  Compare the above mine shaft to the present day mining operation seen between Cripple Creek and Victor, photographed below.

One photo paints a photo of what life must have been like, with opportunities but also hard labor.  The current mining operation just seems so stark and sad.  The hillsides devoid of all vegetation and lined with roads and plows.  I just couldn't find any beauty there and was glad when we left the road to come into the cute town of Victor. 

Cripple Creek is now a gambling town lined with casinos.  In contrast  Victor is a small mountain town with a few open shops and interesting artifacts of better times.  We went into a broom shop where we watched them hand-make brooms with a 100 year old machine.  It was a work of love and craft.  The lady behind the counter had been making brooms for 30 years and it shows in the work.  The Victor Trading Co. is a must stop if you're in the area and have a love for letterpress, cookie cutters, or homemade brooms.

We perhaps never would have visited this area if my mom hadn't been in town.  Thanks to her we could be tourists in our own backyard.  It just reminds me that I need to keep exploring and enjoying the Colorado mountain life.

Devil's Backbone with friends

Devil's Backbone is this really great hogback ridge near Loveland, CO.  There's a nice down and back trail that runs the length of the ridge and this is also the area that Em and I did some volunteer rattlesnake research this fall.  So when our dear friends Kristy and Ashley came to town, we couldn't think of a better place close by to go for a stroll.

We loaded up the dogs and headed to Devil's Backbone.  It was a gorgeous winter day and the trail was in good condition despite the melting snow. Our friends also seemed to enjoy getting out on the hike.

The trail provided us with a great lookout spot of the sun setting over the Rocky mountains. We watched the last sun drop over the mountain horizon and then we headed back to town.  Our final stop was the Big Beaver Brewery and Blown Spoke Cidery for some tasty spirits.  It was the perfect end to a wonderful visit from our friends.

New Year's Day Birding

On New Year's Day, after watching Chickadees and Blue Jays in the backyard, we took a few birding stops.  First we went to Lake Loveland to look for Iceland Gull but it was a bust.  On the way back to Fort Collins we had killer looks at a Rough-legged Hawk.  First lifer of the year.  Our last and final stop was at Grandview Cemetery where we found a Townsend's Solitaire that gave us great views on top of a gravestone.  It was a day of white-cheeked geese, robins, starlings, Ring-billed Gulls, and Red-tailed Hawks.  Not so bad for just a few hours of birding and a great way to kick off the new year!

Chilly Evening Hike

Over the weekend Emily and I took the dogs out for a short hike at Pineridge Natural Area.  From the parking lot we spotted two Bald Eagles soaring over Horsetooth Reservoir.  The cold wind picked up and birds were rare so we headed back to the car.  We decided to drive up to the top of the reservoir for a few family photos since the birds were scarce.

2013 has been a crazy year full of big changes. We traveled to Costa Rica, moved to Colorado, we started new jobs, we bought a new car, we adopted Daisy our silly Bulldog mix, we traveled around Colorado, and on Christmas Eve we adopted a new puppy which we named Baba Ghanoush.  Overall, I'd say it was a busy year.  I can't wait to see what 2014 has in store for the Lark Family!

Daisy, Eva & Baba Ghanoush at Horsetooth Reservoir

Douglas Reservoir Lifers

Douglas Reservoir

Douglas Reservoir is north of Fort Collins and recently there were reports of a Pacific Loon so Emily and I packed up last weekend to find it.  The access points to the reservoir are on both sides via a long gravel road but the birds seemed to all congregate on the northeastern side which is accessible only by foot paths.  With the foothills looming in the background, we found our first lifer of the day, a flock of sparrows and finches had our lifer American Tree Sparrow.  After identifying all the sparrows and goldfinches, we went in search of ducks and loons.  We found the large group of gulls and picked out a few ducks and then we saw the loon. It was different from the other birds and after making size comparisons and getting the right light we made the ID, our Pacific Loon was in the bag.  It was a great morning birding and even Daisy dog had a chance to explore the reservoir berm with us as well.  Can't wait to see what else Colorado has in store!

Birding our lifer American Tree Sparrow

Warbler Tattoo

Everyone has a spark bird or birds in my case.  I became a birder in the spring of 2007.  I had just moved to South Florida and started working at Green Cay Nature Center.  As part of my job I knew I would need to hone my birding skills beyond the very limited knowledge that I had previously been bestowing to young kids.  So I started every morning to take a walk around the boardwalk and identify the birds.  

Missing Migrants by Charley Harper - inspiration for my tattoo.

At first I thought this daunting task of learning all the birds would be overwhelming but I learned quickly and something really magical happened.  I found that birding relieved my grief of recent break-up and become meditative in a way I had never experienced.  It was the warbler family that really transfixed me and made me into a birder.  The warblers are my spark birds and I thought it only fitting to ink a few on my skin this year to commemorate my birthday.  I have always loved Charley Harper's artwork.  I find the simplicity of his lines but the intricate patterns of his work to be visually stunning.  Thanks to ELark, I was able to take my warbler idea and put it to life.

We found a great tattoo artist named Shawn Hebrank online and I found out he would be in town for the weekend, so I shot an email over and by the next day we had an appointment.  Emily was so kind to give me this permanent artwork for my birthday/Christmas present.  What better present than one I will keep with me for life!

The best thing about Shawn, other than his friendliness, is that he really does pay attention to the details.  He worked tirelessly over getting all the right colors and shapes correct and referenced the Charley Harper Missing Migrants print that I brought along.  We reworked the Northern Parula so it could fit the design and Shawn was great at making sure that every beak color and wing bar was perfect.  I couldn't have asked for a better artist!

If you're in the Fort Collins, CO area, you can get your own Shawn Hebrank tattoo.  He will be moving here in January and will be working at Tribal Rites.  This is a great tattoo shop across from Colorado State University. All the staff seemed really friendly and they even allowed many rounds of Sibley trivia as Emily tried to keep me distracted through the painful parts.