Showing posts with label Colorado Wildlife. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Colorado Wildlife. Show all posts

Monday, November 17, 2025

Fall Is My Favorite Season!


 I showed the beautiful autumn colors in Rocky Mountain National Park a few posts ago—click here to read that post—but fall has been equally beautiful where I live along the Colorado Front Range. This year, we did not have our usual snowfall in October or November, so fall leaves lingered longer.


Fall is my favorite of the four seasons, and I always look forward to seeing its bright, warm colors all along our neighborhood parks and open space trails.



Now, in mid-November, the leaves are slowly falling from the trees and the hills are turning from gold to brown. 

I think this quote describes this part of the fall season perfectly:

“It looked like the world was covered in a cobbler crust of brown sugar and cinnamon.”

~ Sarah Addison Allen


We have an Emerald Ash Tree in front of our home, and I love the fall colors it shares every Autumn, as seen from both outside and inside my home. It turns from green to yellow, then to shades of orange and red. 

Sadly, the invasive  Emerald Ash Borer has been spreading in our part of Colorado, and we hope to protect our tree from it with special treatment by a certified arborist in the spring.


Fall is a time I enjoy baking and making warming soups for dinner.

A recipe for my Pumpkin Buttermilk Bundt can be found here.

Pumpkin bread is here.

Spicy Apple Nut cake is here

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup is here.

Lentil Soup With Sausage and Escarole is here. 

(Sadly, escarole is not easy to find in Colorado, so I often substitute kale or spinach for it in this soup)


November has been a month of beautiful skies and sunsets, and yes, the amazing sight of the colorful Aurora Northern Lights seen a few nights in a row! 


It is always a thrill to see a large antlered buck in our back yard this time of the year...


...and this fall, we have been seeing the same doe and her fawn, who often nap in our yard.  

It feels as if we have a pet Bambi!


It has been a wonderful fall, and now I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving!




"Fall has always been my favorite season. The time when everything bursts with its last beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale."

~ Lauren Destefano

To all who celebrate this week....have a very 
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
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Sunday, September 15, 2024

Oh Deer!


 I haven't had the chance to write much about what's been happening in our local area this summer, and now it's almost fall! I didn't plant my usual vegetable and flower garden this summer because we traveled to New York and went on an East Coast Cruise in June. In a way, I'm glad we didn't plant anything because this trio of animals has been hanging out in my backyard almost every day, eating everything. The doe looks thin in this photo because she was still nursing her twin fawns. She's now back to normal weight as the fawns are older, and almost exclusively eat plants.


It has been nice looking out my windows to watch the fawns grow up!


This week I noticed that the fawns lost their spots and were growing their winter fur! It has been getting cooler at night although our daytime temperatures have been above normal for this time of year.



This is another deer trio that has been visiting lately--three young bucks!


They have also been eating all my shrubs!

I know I can spray a deer repellent on the shrubs to deter them,  but I don't like to apply chemicals that can affect the birds, insects and bees, rabbits, squirrels, etc, that also visit my backyard, so I've learned to tolerate them munching on everything.




Speaking of wild rabbits...we have many that also eat everything! They had a hard time with the high temperatures this summer and I often saw them sprawling out on a patch of dirt under a tree to cool off. Their poses made me laugh!




To successfully grow any plant that grows, I have found that I need to protect it by surrounding it with chicken wire fences. As a result, a handful of perennials have been able to bloom this summer, along with some vibrant sunflowers. It was nice to see a bit of color!



Fall in Colorado is beautiful, and I look forward to sharing some photos soon.

Be sure to check back!

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Sunday, July 28, 2024

Peach Custard Tart, Smokey Skies and a Moose on the Loose!


Peach and Cream Tart

 It's fresh peach season!  I never miss the opportunity to buy fresh peaches this time of year as they are among my favorite fruits. 



If you've followed my blog over the years you might remember that I've shared many peach recipes, which you can scroll through on this Peach tab on my blog.

I also have a Pinterest Peach Board devoted to both sweet and savory peach recipes--right now there are 621 pins of peach recipes on that board and I'm sure I'll be adding more as I come across them




Special friends will visit us this week and I wanted to make a dessert they would enjoy. A Land of Lakes recipe for a Peach Custard Tart caught my eye while browsing Facebook this morning. You can read their recipe at the link above, but I made a few modifications which I'll share here.  

I hope you will try either recipe during sweet peach season!


Peach Custard Tart

Tart Crust:

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon fine salt

Grated zest of 1 lemon or 1 small orange—or a little of both (about 1 tablespoon)

1 stick plus 3 tablespoons (11 tablespoons total) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and zest in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Pulse briefly to combine. Distribute the butter around the bowl and pulse until the mixture is crumbly. Add the egg and egg yolk and process until the dough begins to clump together.
Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface and gather it together into a ball. Form the dough into two disks, one slightly larger than the other--the smaller dough will be for the top of the tart. Wrap each disk tightly in reusable or plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or until well chilled (overnight is fine). Remove the dough from the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before rolling it out.


The Filling:

6 large peaches, peeled, sliced

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons of Fiori di Sicilia flavoring (or 2 teaspoons of vanilla flavoring)

*You can substitute frozen sliced peaches, thawed, well-drained. Pat frozen peach slices dry with paper towels thoroughly before placing them in your tart.


Make and assemble the tart crust: Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. Have ready a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom.

1. Lightly dust a work surface and rolling-pin with flour. Roll the larger disk of tart dough into an 11-inch circle, lifting and turning the dough as you roll to prevent sticking and create an even round. Gently wrap the dough around the rolling pin and unroll it over the tart pan. Gently press the dough into the pan without stretching it. Use the palm of your hand or the rolling pin to trim off the excess. Refrigerate while you roll out the second piece of dough.

2. Roll the smaller piece into a 10-inch circle and use a fluted or smooth pastry wheel or a knife to cut it into strips from 1/2 inch to 1 inch wide and reserve for the top.

3. Add the sliced peaches to the tart crust and spread them as evenly as possible.

4. Make the Custard Combine all remaining filling ingredients in a bowl and mix well with a whisk. Pour the filling mixture over the peach slices and criss cross the top with the reserved pastry strips.

Bake 32-40 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the filling is set. Cool completely. Store refrigerated. Enjoy!



I dusted the tart with some powdered sugar and I'm sure it would be extra nice served with a scoop of ice cream!




Sadly, the wildfires in California, Oregon, and Western Canada have sent much smoke to our skies along the Front Range of Colorado! We had many days of hazardous air quality alerts.  We had some improvement this weekend, but the local news told us a return of hotter weather this week will trap the smoke again in our skies.

 I have kept my windows closed, and my air conditioner on, and we used our two HEPA-filtered air cleaning machines non-stop, all of which have helped when the air quality was bad.

If you are in the US and would like to check your air quality go to Airnow.gov and enter your zip code.




A surprise in our neighborhood last week was the appearance of a young moose!  Our area is not their natural habitat and this one was obviously lost. Residents were excited to see him but were also worried, as an angry or scared moose could be dangerous.  He wandered out of our neighborhood by that evening, but I read a few days later that he moved into an even more populated area so Colorado Parks and Wildlife had to sedate him and transport him back to the wilderness in a higher elevation. I'm glad he is safe. and that so are we!


Enjoy the end of July--on to August!


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Sunday, August 6, 2023

Bear Aware!



Happy August!

It has been a very active bear season in our community this summer.  
 My neighbors have been sharing these photos of multiple bears that have been roaming around on our community Facebook group.




We live on the Colorado Front Range at the beginning of the foothills and near some wilderness, so it should not be a surprise that we get wildlife visitors from time to time. 



Bears have a super sense of smell and a veracious appetite.

Sadly, even though people are asked to take down birdfeeders in spring and summer and not store garbage cans outside or place them out at night, many forget or don't heed the warnings.



Colorado Parks and Wildlife has reported sightings of at least six different bears in our area this summer.  They tell us to haze them away by making loud sounds, such as shaking rocks in a soda can or banging on a pot, and of course, keep our garages and cars closed and locked and remove all food sources. 




No one wants to see the bears euthanized, especially the Momma bear that visits who has three cubs!


Click on this photo to enlarge it

We do have warning and informational signs on our trails about the wildlife that frequents our area.



It may have to soon add moose to that sign, as there have also been moose sightings in our community this summer! They are often sighted in the mountains, especially on the western side of the Continental Divide, but more have been heading to the more populated eastern side of Colorado in the past few years.  They look friendly but they have a lethal kick and are naturally afraid of dogs which they perceive instinctively as wolves.  If you ever see a moose with its ears pinned back be extra careful as it is distressed and may attack. Happily, this moose found its way back to the wildness again.




Most days I just see deer when I look outside my windows...




...but sometimes we may get a glance at many other wild animals.

 



It has been a summer of wild, unpredictable weather. In the afternoon hours, big cumulus clouds tend to gather.



This summer we have had frequent afternoon thunderstorms with lightning. Some parts of eastern Colorado even had tornadoes and...



...enormous hail!

Happily, my area has not seen hail like that, for which I am grateful.





In addition to the frequent rain that brings rainbows, we have also received other blessings. We have also had many days of beautiful weather, without the high heat and humidity that have been plaguing much of the US this summer. Our hills remain green and drought-free. We live in a beautiful place and even with all our wildlife excitement it has been a wonderful summer so far. I hope your summer is also a happy one!

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Sunday, April 23, 2023

Saving Wildlife


 
I love looking out my kitchen window to see a surprise such as this: a sweet young mule deer curled up and resting!




Our weather this spring has been unusually cold and damp, after a winter that has been colder and snowier than usual. In most of Colorado, the snowpack is at 132% this year.



Instead of "April Showers," we have been having "April Snow Squalls." These were the views from my windows on Saturday. More snow!  The good thing about spring snow is that it melts quickly in spring and by today most of it was gone. 



Sadly, though, I've read in The Wildlife Society that the severe weather this winter has caused the deaths of many deer, elk, and pronghorn in  Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and Montana.  

The Mountain Journal has stated that "April is typically the hardest month of survival for a range of species, particularly ungulates that include elk, deer, moose, bighorn sheep, pronghorn (antelope), and bison, says Julie Cunningham, a veteran biologist with Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks." Food has been extremely difficult for big game to find as much of it is covered by deep, hard-packed snow.

The Mountain Journal has also stated that "Looking at GPS-collared animals in the Wyoming Range mule deer herd, of the 128 does wearing collars at the beginning of winter, 35 percent currently have been lost. In an average year, adult deer mortality is approximately 20 percent. And of 92 juvenile deer collared, 90 percent of those animals have died to date."




Colorado Outdoors stated: "In addition to mortality from malnutrition, wildlife officials have seen an increase in animals injured or killed from vehicle collisions. With normal migration routes difficult for wildlife to navigate, they have resorted to using roadways as they search for food. Sometimes that food is located on a narrow shoulder along a windy section of road. Wildlife officials are also seeing animals bed down on roadways after a sunny day to get a little warmth and reprieve from the cold."




One good thing that many western states have been investing in to help save ungulate animal collisions with cars and trucks is building wildlife crossings over highways.  This is an example of one which I saw in northern Colorado when we traveled to Steamboat Springs in November.


The Road Less Traveled from monteith. shop on Vimeo.

In this Vimeo video called "The Road Less Traveled"-- click here to watch if you can not see the video player above -- a Wyoming Wildlife Scientist states; "Each year, Wyoming sees an average of 6,000 wildlife-vehicle collisions. Wildlife-vehicle collisions are costly for all of us, but it's a clear problem with a clear solution. Wildlife crossing structures like overpasses and underpasses are effective at making our roads safer for people and for wildlife."

The video shows the chronicles of a tagged mule deer and her two-year struggle for survival and trials toward raising her young, as monitored by a University of Wyoming research scientist.


So what can we do to help wildlife?

  • The best thing residents and recreationists can do to help wildlife is to give the animals plenty of space and keep pets from harassing wildlife. Keep your dog on a leash when hiking and use designated areas and trails for your winter activities. This helps wildlife retain the energy they need to survive. 
  • Never feed wildlife. Artificially feeding wildlife can lead to chronic wasting disease and is illegal. If you want to help wildlife find food in your area during the winter do not rake up leaves or remove dead plants in the fall, as they will become a food source for deer, etc. 
  • Advocate for your state to install Wildlife Crossings in ungulate migration areas or where their numbers are high to help avoid vehicle collisions. Use caution when driving when deer or elk are in the vicinity.
  • Be aware that hunting tags and permits may be reduced in number this year in many states to allow for the re-population of deer and elk, etc. 
  • Support state and national wildlife organizations 

 
I do love watching the deer visitors to my yard and I hope they will be able to rebound after this unusually harsh winter and spring. 



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