Posts from — January 2010

Here in Colorado, January is a time of muted shades—tan grasses, soft yellow willows, maroon sedges, gray seedheads—and erratic weather. Highs in the 50s are immediately followed by snow or a sub-zero wind-chill. I was craving green leaves, bright colors, tropical humidity against my chapped skin. In the midst of suspended existence, I needed a fix of fecundity. So last Saturday, my husband and I paid a visit to the tropics. We drove to Broomfield, just west of Denver, home of the Butterfly Pavilion.

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Blooming? In January?

I spent a day last week at the Denver Botanic Gardens. The weather was sunny and warm, with highs in the 50s, and I just couldn’t stay indoors. I figured I’d walk around and take pictures of the dormant plants—some look better than others at this time of year—and hardscape features. Well-designed gardens have appeal in January as well as July, and these certainly qualify as well-designed.

As I expected, the conifers and evergreens (such as Mahonia) dominated the landscape, along with the warm golds and coppers of the ornamental grasses. I was happily snapping photo after photo, enjoying the beautiful day, when I saw something peeking out from under some melting snow—several somethings—yellow and purple somethings.

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Growing one’s own food is back in vogue. Community gardens are springing up in cities, suburbanites are trading lawns for lettuce, and even the White House is cultivating everything from arugula to heirloom tomatoes.

If you’ve never grown vegetables before, the task may seem daunting, but it really isn’t that hard. For one thing, there’s plenty of advice available. However, not every suggestion deserves a place in your yard; some sources are more reliable than others. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of plain hogwash being circulated as garden advice.

If you are planning on growing vegetables—or fruit, or any kind of garden, really—I highly recommend you do some research before beginning. It’s a good idea to look for local sources of information, as growing conditions vary so much from place to place. Generalized gardening books and magazines are helpful, but most tend to be slanted toward the eastern part of the country. Growing anything in Colorado is a much different challenge.

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It’s 15 degrees outside, the snow is not so much falling as being hurled against the windowpane, and the highway patrol has just closed the interstate. You are itching to go birding. What’s a snowed-in birder to do? One solution is to grab a fuzzy blanket, a nice cup of  hot tea, and hunker down with a copy of Brushed by Feathers, by Frances L. Wood.

Starting in January, Wood chronicles a year of birdwatching from her perspective as a naturalist, artist, speaker and writer. While the material is factual and informative, the true worth of this book is the way in which it is presented. The author comes across as an old friend sharing her birding journal with you.

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Our recent warm spell is lovely, but it’s still January. Temperatures swing back and forth between cool and freezing. Trails are icy, and sometimes blocked by snow. This is traditionally a time to hole up and hunker down. We are attracted to warm firesides, hot chocolate, and snugly quilts. But if you, like me, are passionate about nature, and birds in particular, can we be content to sit by the fire? Just because the temperature outside is in the single digits, are we to ignore our obsession and hibernate like bears?

Of course, some birds have opted for tropical vacations, and I’m sure we would love to do likewise. But if the schedule and budget don’t allow for a trip to Central America, be encouraged. There are plenty of birds to be enjoyed right here. A surprising number of species hang around for the season.

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We got the call yesterday afternoon. “Come quick! I’m staring at a Snowy Owl!” Of course, we dropped everything, grabbed the scope and camera, and went running. Amazing—a Snowy Owl turning up just 20 minutes from our home near Colorado Springs. That doesn’t happen every day.

It’s a good thing Pete was driving—I probably would have had a hard time keeping to the speed limit. We pulled up behind the line of vehicles, and half a dozen people glanced up from their spotting scopes. I jumped out of the car while Pete helpfully assembled camera and scope. I had just gotten the adapter last week—a late birthday present—and barely knew how it all went together.

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Canada Geese are everywhere. They blanket golf courses, leave droppings on city park lawns, and foul ponds. They are a significant agricultural pest, especially of winter wheat. They’re even implicated in plane crashes, such as US Airways Flight 1549’s emergency “splash down” in the Hudson River last January.

You can find them on any body of water, even transient wetlands devoid of food. You hear honking and look up to see them flying east or west as well as north and south, arranged in their ragged v-formations. They seem so abundant that it’s hard to imagine they were ever endangered, but at one time the “Giant” subspecies (Branta canadensis maxima) was thought to be extinct!

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