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Features

  • Midwinter thaws offer scents, sights

    What happened to the January thaw? Something I have always looked forward to just didn’t happen this year.

  • Red-winged blackbirds are a feisty...

    Usually cold and wintry, February is made bearable by the first signs of spring — nothing as showy as the first daffodil in bloom, but still good, dependable signs of spring.

  • Northern flickers make big...

    Several times each winter, we receive phone calls from someone who has just seen a “large beautiful bird” at their feeder, which they have never seen before. They describe the bird, and I say, “Yes, that’s a northern flicker.” To which their usual reply is, “Oh no, it’s not a flicker; I see them around all summer, but they are not this big or here in the winter.”

  • Shrikes common in Evergreen

    For some time now, the birds at our feeders have been nervous, flying into the prickly thickness of a nearby blue spruce or darting into the lilac bushes every time anything moves in the yard or even inside the window. Such behavior, especially in cold, snowy weather, can mean only one thing. There is a predator of some kind working in the area. But what kind? That is the question.

  • Red-tailed hawks are 'Rhapsody...

    Ames Rau called us last Sunday to say that he had been down at Bear Creek Lake Park, where he had witnessed a red-tailed hawk refurbishing its nest. It may seem odd that any birds are preparing to nest when we are experiencing well below freezing temperatures and several inches of snow cover the ground, but it is a common practice for the large resident hawks and owls to do so.

  • Birds have several methods for...

    January arrived like a lion, with cold, blustery weather. The TV weathermen are promising five days of

    warmer weather, which will be most welcome. I am ready for some warmer weather, and I presume the wild creatures are, too.

  • Takin' the plunge

    If Evergreen had a brochure, it would feature a picture of Jan. 1, 2008, as an example of why winter in Colorado is better than winter in other places.

  • Moving day

    A school can be a zany place under the best of circumstances, but on Dec. 21, Rocky Mountain Academy of Evergreen was off the hook. In the best possible way.

    That’s the great and glorious day — and it was a long time coming — that the charter school moved out of its Bryant Drive digs and into fancy new ones on Bergen Peak Road.

  • Results from the 2007 Christmas...

    This year’s Evergreen-Idaho Springs Christmas Bird Count dawned bright and clear. The temperature did not rise much above freezing all day, but with the sun out and little wind, except at higher elevations, it was not unpleasant to be afield. We certainly have had much colder counts (6 degrees below zero one year) and much warmer counts (70 degrees at noon another year), which is typical of Colorado’s variable weather.

  • Kinnikinnick, and winter in the...

    Winter seems to have settled in with a fairly stable blanket of white. However, it is not too deep for walking in most of our area, and all but the back roads are fairly passable. This makes it possible for most anyone to get out to see what winter has in store.

  • A cut above

    Early one cold and snowy morning not so long ago, a small fleet of SUVs assembled in central Evergreen and headed south, into the teeth of the storm.

  • Doves are popular in Christmas Bird...

    Once more the holiday season is upon us, and with it comes the 108th Christmas Bird Count. As usual, the Evergreen Audubon Society will participate, covering the Evergreen-Idaho Springs area. This year’s count will be held on Sunday, Dec. 16. All Audubon members, guests, friends and the public are invited to participate.

  • Tracking the ghost of Christmas...

    The mule deer that wander through our yard are exceedingly handsome right now. They are sporting their new winter coats and are sleek and fat. It has been a good year for them, with plenty of browse — to which my lilac bushes bear mute testimony. They also had a prolific crop of young, with many of the does bearing twins — and one beautiful large doe crossed our driveway one evening with triplets frolicking around her in the dusk.

  • Cattails and muskrats and long...

    The cattails are withered and brown, and ice has formed in the shallows. Evergreen Lake is about ready for its long winter sleep. Soon ice will cover the lake, snow will fall and the black-and-white world will appear rather desolate and lifeless. However, there will be more life there than most people realize.

  • Ten-gallon laughs at 'A Tuna...

    Looking for a new theater experience this holiday season? Miners Alley Playhouse in Golden has a holiday show that is sure to be the quirkiest you’ve seen in years. Opening on Nov. 16, “A Tuna Christmas” will add a little taste of Texas to your holiday celebrations.

  • Field of screams

    "On Halloween night, the Great Pumpkin rises from his pumpkin patch and flies through the air to deliver toys to all the children."

    — Linus van Pelt

    By Stephen Knapp

    Staff Writer

    Face it — the pumpkin isn’t exactly the Cadillac in the fruit showroom.