NO CO WILDLIFE REPORT

I got a great DSLR courtesy of my sis-in-law Nancy and have been shooting hundreds of less than impressive pieces.  The raptors of this area are my favorites - we have bald and golden eagles and numerous hawks and falcons.  I joined the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program (RMRP) and the information offered is fantastic.  This is in addition to their very successful efforts at rehabbing and releasing injured raptors (after the raptors pass a hunting/survival test in a flight aviary).  Here are some of the locals:

Bald eagle fishing at dusk Pelican Lake

Another baldie surveying his kingdom.

These are all 1-3 year old bald eagles who are staying on for the summer
instead of heading north to nest.  The nests in the tree are actually heron nests.

Baldie coming in for a landing.

All settled down now.

Following are a couple of photos of RMRP raptors. They are birds who could not be released due to the nature of their injuries and their compromised hunting and self-protection skills.

This is a rough-legged hawk, blind in one eye.

Now THIS is an  ambassador - a  HUGE golden eagle.
 I'm proud that RMRP published this photo on its FB page.  As you
can see, he's a bit ruffled up over me pointing a camera at him.

BRRRR...SPRING IN NO CO

Well, March came in and is going out like a lion!  Thank goodness for snow, no matter when.  Last year's terrible fires were as a result of a very mild and virtually snowless winter.  This year we've been luckier and the jet stream has dipped low enough to include us in the cold weather.  Oddly enough, the Fort Collins/Timnath area gets less snow than points south and east.  We are protected somewhat by our location in the shadow of the Rockies.  We've had several great snow events and one qualified, sort of, as a blizzard.  Excitement!  The latest significant snow was on March 23, following the pronouncement that winter was over.

AJ fascinated with snow.

There are many birds in this tree.

Robin in the snow.

House finches eating.

Aidan thinks Timmy is crazy!  Tim is allowed out under close supervision.

Aidan turns his back on the whole mess.

WOODY MILLER

This is Woody, a Downy Woodpecker who loves the suet blocks in my back yard.

NEW YEAR'S DAY IN TIMNATH

I've decided to host a New Year's Day open house every year and 2013 marked the inaugural event.  A great time was had by all and lots of folks drifted in and out.  Here are a few photos:


Dr. Morganne Pastterson, one of our vets with Timmy from Timnath

The food was pretty darn awesome

Sandy Jo and Val - my CO best friend

Valerie,Terri, Michael, Susie & Stacie - the 5 Miller kids

Larry and Bentley

Sandy and Ken (newly engaged)

Party folks

Stacie and hubby Mark



Susie and Bentley

Mike in the tiny NY hat

Morganne and Steven



Stacie and Val

Larry, Val & neighbor Karen

Timmy says Happy New Year 2013!

AJ MILLER AND FRIENDS

This is a bit out of time sequence, but deserves a separate post.  On an utterly mundane day in late October, through serendipitous timing, I added a little brown dog to my family.  My sister Stacie is the office manager of Mountainwood Pet Hospital in nearby Windsor. My best CO friend Sandy was supposed to drop by my house on her way to the vet clinic and take something to Stacie.  We missed our connection on that so I cruised on over myself.  As luck would have it, Rocky Mountain Puppy Rescue had several dogs in for spays, neuters and minor medical treatments.  Stacie showed me an adorable young puppy and as I was leaving, Dr. Janie Wagstaff called to me from a treatment room where she was cleaning up a small leg wound on a tiny light brown dog with long legs.  She looked like a fawn!  One year old with a rough history behind her, she was repeatedly passed over at adoption events because she was so shy.  I held her and the deal was sealed!  I barely had time to go out for some dog things and I came back for her that very afternoon.  The Mountainwood staff vouched for my qualifications as a pet guardian and that was that! 

Presenting Miss AJ (Alma Joy) Miller:


Coming home October 25, 21012

Dr. Morganne Patterson, Valerie, AJ and Dr. Janie Wagstaff
at Mountainwood Pet Hospital



Hello, I am so sweet and demure - NOT!!!!!!

Go away!  I hate my Christmas presents!  I said I wanted more bones!
 

AJ turns out to not be shy at all.  She gets on famously with the cats, especially young Timmy and she likes dogs equally well.  She has a play date once a week with her boyfriend, black and white chihuahua Pepe Juan Carlos, who is Dr. Janie's recent rescue. 

Pepe spent a week with us over the New Year's holiday so his moms Janie and Gail and their kids, Claire and Luke, could have a winter vacation. 

Here are some shots of the two pups and Timmy, their unindicted co-conspirator.  It's curtains for the free world if these three ever break out!

Pepe Juan Carlos and AJ in their snuggler.

Now I've got you on the ropes, senor Pepe!

Suggling on the heated blanket.

Pepe likes a curly haired black kitty named Timmy of Timnath.

Oh hello, you again with the camera!

AJ is foraging for bird seed.

Pepe is going home today and I'm sure AJ and Timmy will miss him.  Aidan is quite disapproving of all the ruckus and generally avoids such foolishness.  He and Timmy get their snuggles in while the dogs nap.

WINTER BIRDS AND SNOW

We haven't had much snow so far this winter and I keep expecting we'll get slammed hard soon.  Time to get the photos up of what's happened so far.  In November we had two small snow events and while short lived, they created beautiful scenes in my back yard.

The birds love their suet in winter, as it provides lots of fuel to keep them chubby and warm in the cold.  Speaking of birds, the bald eagles are back from their journeys farther north and the Swainson's hawks have departed for the pampas lands of Argentina, where their favorite grasshoppers are plentiful.

It is so exciting to spot these majestic raptors, which are growing more plentiful after being nearly driven extinct by poisoning from pesticides.  I never dreamed I'd live somewhere where you see bald eagles on the way to the grocery store!

Here is a photo I took earlier in the fall of a juvenile Swainson's hawk watching a prairie dog field near my house.  He's long gone now, but we'll see them in the spring again.