Features

Early spring is one of the best times to listen for owls. I have written in the past about some of our small owls but not for some time about the little screech owl. Screech owls are most commonly found along stream courses where they nest in old cavities in large cottonwoods and willows. They measure about 8 inches in height, which is only about the size of a robin, but, like all owls, they sit more upright and have fluffy feathers that make them appear larger.

Last week I mentioned that our friend Margie Wing had called to report the first mountain bluebirds had returned to Indian Hills on Tuesday, Feb. 12. For lack of space, I said there would be more about them this week. Little did I know that would be the last conversation I would have with Margie. After a brief, courageous fight with cancer, Margie left this world on Friday, Feb. 15. I hope she is surrounded with bluebirds, hearing their soft, sweet warbling song.

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

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.