Quiet in the San Luis Valley

A couple of weeks ago one would have thought spring was on its way. Not the case now; we're blanketed in snow more than 7" deep. Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) of snow in the yard is 1.37". Mountains are getting snow as I type this. Bald eagles have been making more of an appearance in the area. A belted kingfisher has been seen & heard over by the Empire Canal, and the male red-winged blackbirds are making their territorial sounds over in the cattail area in the Rio Grande SWA. Our firewood supply is quickly dwindling, and soon we may have to ration fires. So, yeah, maybe spring really is on its way!

Owls, heron, deer

Went for a walk over in the Rio Grande State Wildlife Area the other night. The great horned owls were hooting from nearly every direction - I probably heard four to six individuals. At one point, I was walking on entrance road to the wildlife area, and had a sudden urge to look up. A large great horned owl was sitting up in a tree about 20' off of the ground staring at me. My eyes felt riveted to hers/his. It was such a neat experience!
Then we saw the great blue heron that seems to like hanging out around the Empire Canal. Again, I wonder how it survives the winter.
And on the way home, strolling through the Veteran's Center, the deer were out on the lawn feeding and pooping (Caddy loves to eat the latter).
It has been fairly mild here during the day lately, in the 30s and 40s. Today, however, signaled a change in the weather with steady snow beginning around 11AM or so, and continuing through the evening, at least. Mountains (eastern San Juans) are getting hit hard with two to five feet of snow! Blizzard warning in effect for the mountains, and Highway 160 over Wolf Creek Pass was closed at 6PM today due to poor driving conditions.

Found: Old, frozen, Canada Goose eggs

On our morning dog walk today, we passed by a nesting platform at the Rio Grande State Wildlife Area. Likely designed for Canada geese (maybe other birds also), the flat nesting platform is attached to a roughly 6'-high post, and the platform itself is surrounded by a fence-like barricade - maybe to keep the eggs & mother from rolling or falling off to the ground?

As we walked by the platform, Bruce noticed that there were three lone goose eggs sitting on the otherwise-empty platform. Since I'd never had the opportunity to hold a goose egg, I instructed him to gather all three of the eggs so I could pocket them for the walk home, to examine later. We surmised that something had happened to the mother goose during the spring '09 nesting period, thus leaving her eggs bare & unprotected. What was surprising is that the eggs were still completely intact - no cracks or anything. Why had no opportunistic predator come for this protein-filled treasure?

(The photo above shows a brown chicken egg--for scale--along with the three goose eggs.)

Once I returned home, I lightly rapped one of the eggs with a stick of wood, and it cracked open with a sound like gunshot! Since the contents were frozen, the shell was under some pressure. Sadly, in the one egg that I opened, evidence of an interrupted incubation was found by the presence of an incompletely-formed gosling.

These unfortunate eggs and their contents will become organic matter in one of my several compost bins, so their death won't be a total waste.

Frozen water barrels and everything else

I've been absent for a while for work, and have returned to water barrels that have thick layer of ice on top. It probably would be a good idea to empty them or I'm going to suffer cracked barrels. Nighttime temperatures for the past week+ have been in the low to mid single-digits, and highs in the 40s. There is still snow left in all shaded areas from the snowfall we had over a week ago. I'm sure the soil is drying out already, and the forecast through Thanksgiving is more continued dry conditions.
The sparrows and a couple chickadees are attacking the suet outside.
A great blue heron has been hanging out over at the Empire Canal, and deer are making a strong showing at the Home Lake Veteran's Center next door. Our front yard has small piles of deer scat; that's their calling card from eating the fallen crab apples from this fall. T'was a great crop of apples.
We alpine skiied at Wolf Creek last Sunday, and conditions were excellent--they couldn't have been any better, remarkable for November 15. Though there were a few covered stumps and rocks, their presence paled next to the amount & quality of the fresh snow, and few people.

Active life in State Wildlife Area

Low temperatures overnight made vegetation frosty & white. On a morning walk at the Rio Grande State Wildlife Area, we were fortunate to view abundant birdlife -grebe, ducks, Canada geese, sandhill cranes, probable marsh hawks, and at least one other type of hawk sitting on a fence post.

A beaver family has, over the past couple of months, established a lodge and food stash in the SWA in a place we've not seen one at before. The water near which the lodge sits has already begun to freeze over. The warm weather to come in this week will probably thaw it. Dog sits there for scale.

Sandhills & geese amidst impending storm

The sandhill cranes and Canada geese have been gathering the past few weeks in the cut barley field west of our house. I like pretending they're gearing up for a mass liftoff in advance of tomorrow & Thursday's coming storm. The storm's initial clouds and darkness are hovering above the mountains in the image.
Lots of sandhill cranes have been circling overhead on a daily basis and can be seen & heard frequently. I'd guess they'd be heading south soon; maybe this storm will push them a little more.

We put bird feeders out two weeks ago and have been attracting the usual feathered critters - gold finches, sparrows, red-headed blackbirds. The squirrels are back too now, since they have food to try to obtain. Mountain chickadees are coming to the suet as well.

Rain, weeds, rain, weeds, rain, weeds

It looks like the land of Russian thistle here; if there were more weeds I could easily identify I'd list more. Over the past week we've gotten nearly 3/4 inch of rain, which for this high, arid desert seems like a lot. I'm seeing growth in plants that haven't done a thing the past 3-4 years.
All of my yarrow are blooming, rabbitbrush is just beginning to put on beautiful yellow flowers, Russian sage is looking great, as are gaillardias, monarda, Mexican Hat, and more. Jupiter's beard, planted less than five weeks ago, is blooming. My Scarlet Runner pole beans (planted just for the hummingbirds) are climbing rapidly and beginning to flower; nearly endless squash blossoms but I'm not doing a thing with them. By the way, I had my first cheese-stuffed squash blossoms at Rino's Italian Restaurant in Salt Lake City back in late June - was very yummy. I'm pretty sure I don't have the patience to make something like that.
Lettuce, greens, Swiss chard are all being harvested in abundance, kohlrabi in less abundance but still good.
I purchased 35 lbs. of canner tomatoes at a local greenhouse and will be spending quite a few hours making "Firey Salsa". My recipe includes jalapenos, onions, garlic, lime juice, red bell peppers, tomatoes, cilantro, vinegar, & salt. I found this recipe in Parade magazine (Sunday Denver Post insert) a couple of years ago, and it has become my favorite salsa recipe.
Whew, that's all for now.

Wow, time flies during planting season

Can't believe it's been nearly a month since I've written. We were on vacation and then I spent every waking hour (or so it seemed) outside in the garden. When we returned to town on June 1, the yard and area looked like WI, because RAIN had actually come down during our absence. Granted, not much rain, but for here it was significant - over the course of 10 days about 1" total. So nothing died from lack of precipitation.
WE've already been fortunate enough to harvest greens and spinach, and radishes will probably be ready within a week. I madly planted annuals, herbs, and many more seeds this past weekend - the seeds that went in were more carrots, various green beans, more lettuce & greens, parsnips, sunflowers, more kohlrabi, and don't remember what else.
I'm in Cortez working this week, and indulged in a shopping spree to Four Seasons Greenhouse this evening. Some people shop for clothes, some for expensive cigars, but Marianna goes to greenhouses to spend her money.
I have vowed to stay away from perennial plants that have failed in the past - that list is getting mighty long. Ice Plants are at the top of the list, along with Alpine Poppy, Colorado Gold Gazania, and at least a dozen more. Am getting weary of spending money on plants that last only a season, and then kapoof! they're gone.
Bruce emailed me today that we have a fledgling robin and a parent hanging out in the yard; let's hope Caddy the pooch doesn't find them.

Sandhill cranes & companions out & about

Sandhill cranes (see image), Canada geese, various ducks, and red-winged blackbirds were in abundance, both visually and vocally, this evening on my dog walk. The ice on Home Lake is beginning to show puddles of water on top. With a high today of 52 degrees (F), it really felt like spring! Pretty difficult not to think of gardening, planting seeds, etc. right now. But ground is way too wet. Will have to settle for looking through the seed catalogs instead. Our yard still has snow cover on about 50% or less of its area. I actually did some pruning yesterday on some crabapples and a mountain ash.

Worms slowly adjust to "remodeled" home

The worms always seem to take a while to adjust to their new, poop-free digs. Of course, I don't know what I expect them to do---jump up and down in glee, sing my praises for providing them new, clean bedding, what???? How in the heck can I tell if they're adjusting slowly or quickly, they're worms, for gosh sakes! Okay, enough anthropomorphising.
Today was a spectacular day, 41 degrees F, clear, blue sky, sandhill cranes & Canada geese flying all around, more snow melting. The yard is still about half covered with snow, but it is dwindling rapidly.
I inventoried my vegetable seeds today to see what I need to purchase. Many of the packets are fairly old (two to six years) so I need to check my seed-starting book on germination rates for these guys. I also started a list that contained many gardening-related entries, but I guess since the ground is still frozen and we're going to get at least a couple of snow storms, I should calm down a bit. Last fall Bruce happened to come across a Green Cone composter unit that was being sold down the street from us at a garage sale ($7, WHAT A DEAL). I had hoped to get the hole dug for it prior to freeze, but didn't happen, so now I want to get that done this spring. Just one of the many tasks I want to do......

Beautiful winter & seed catalogs!

Blizzard warnings today, mostly in the mountains. Overnight last night it was very windy, and many drifts had appeared by morning. At 7AM it was 31 degrees, now at 1:30 PM it's about 28 degrees.

Bruce split a bunch of wood yesterday so we're now safe from freezing! We have this wood carrier thing that allows easy hauling of split wood. It also makes a handy dog carrier - poor Caddy is at Bruce's mercy!

I went snowshoe running over at the state wildlife area yesterday in the late afternoon - saw several hawks and many tracks in the snow. It was beautiful but cold; returned home with a frosted face.

Had to replenish the black oil sunflower seed and Niger thistle today at the local co-op---holy cow! Not (sort of) cheap like it used to be to buy that stuff for "wild" bird-feeding.

Picked up the mail today - four more seed catalogs arrived. Got one yesterday, and received a couple more several days before Christmas. I'd hate to think how many I'd be getting if I hadn't taken my name off a bunch of mailing lists! But it is making me think of seed-starting........

White stuff slowly accumulates

Snow depth in the yard as of this morning is 6.5". The mountains to the west and northwest are getting pounded with 1-2' of new snow, today and tomorrow. Backcountry avalanche hazard is high. The Christmas bird count was being done last Saturday, December 20th. I was taking the pooch for a walk and ran into a friend of mine who was with two other birders looking for birds not far from my house.

While at the Rio Grande State Wildlife Area yesterday, I saw a few hawks and lots of Canada geese, plus lots of animal tracks and a set of x-c ski tracks. An eager beaver is taking care of a cottonwood tree near the river - photo shows recent activity. The Rio Grande is in the background - not frozen like last year.

The high & dry valley is definitely dry right now. Very little precipitation during the past month of November. At our house I recorded three wienie precipitation events, all of them snow but it was snow that didn't stay. The upper Rio Grande basin is at 39% of normal right now. The river not far from our house is as low as I've ever seen it (of course, considering that I've been here for only three and a half years is not saying a lot, I realize....).

A few lingering sandhill cranes are still hanging out in the cut barley field just west of our house. They too know we're having a warm autumn and that there's no need to hurry, at least yet. Though when I went running at the nearby State Wildlife Area one morning last week in 10-degree temperatures I wouldn't have said it was mild.....

The dog knows where it's comfy.

Snow in the forecast (finally)

Today is the day before Thanksgiving, and we are finally due for some snow, though it is predicted to be only about an inch or so here on the San Luis Valley floor. The eastern San Juan Mountains just to the west of us may receive 8-12 inches by Friday morning (36 hours from now). The past five nights have been single digits, and the birds have been ganging up on the four feeders set out for them. I finally took the time to find the birdbath water heater so now they don't have to deal with the block of ice every morning. Alas, I head out of town for four days, so they'll all be on their own for food until our return.

Splitting firewood can wait until our return, as can continued garden cleaning, leaf-collecting & raking, perennial watering, and more outdoor tasks. The firewood photo is from two or three years ago - yes, we manually split all of it! We pay anywhere from $120 to $130 per cord of wood; my sister told me that where she lives in Cape Cod, MA, a cord of split wood costs about $350! Our winter last year was a bit harder than the two previous winters, and I got tendonitis from too much wood splitting. This year I'm going to try to do better with using the left arm more.

Great horned owl & sandhill cranes

I took the dog for a walk last night and saw a great horned owl - at the start of last winter I was seeing quite a few of these birds, but this is the first one I have seen so far this fall. I expect to see more as autumn passes on. I love it when they start hanging around, especially when they begin calling to one another. Last winter we had a nest not too far from the house; I hope we have another one this year. The deer near our house are also starting to follow their predictable autumn habits, and they're much more visible now during our dog walks. Sandhill cranes have taken up nearly full-time residency in a mowed barley field next door; I see them every morning on the way to work and in the evening on the way home. If we EVER get a storm they'll probably think about leaving, but the weather has been consistently sunny and warm, unlike last year when it was cold and even snowy by now. Personally I am ready for some inclement weather.
Trick or treat comes tomorrow. The time change on Sunday will be a shock when darkness falls by 5:30 pm or so, but having daylight earlier in the AM will be good for riding the bike to work.

Antics (& death of) a squirrel

The squirrel has managed to conquer the round PVC tubes hung on the clothesline and the plastic baffle that covers the small birdfeeder. Anybody who has squirrels in their yard will agree that these critters can be hilarious to watch, especially if you are a backyard bird food supplier (AKA bird-feeder). Back in her younger days, Caddy (dog) would do her best to catch them, which she sometimes did (see photo of Caddy with squirrel in her mouth). When we first got Caddy in 1995, I would be mad at her for an extended period whenever she killed an animal. She was such a great predator, even on a leash. While on a 25-foot-long retractable leash she has killed and consumed numerous rabbits of varying ages. Her lust for blood extended to mice, moles, birds, and stray cats that made the life-changing decision to unwittingly enter her yard.

Now in her advanced years of age 13+, she no longer as quickly pursues all the critters she used to, and the yard squirrels seem to know that she's not as dangerous as she was when we first moved here. But they should still be very careful......