Wildlife Sightings - Bear Aware!

Black Bear

7/15/17 Black Bear - Colorado Mountain Estates, Florissant, CO

7/16/17 Rufous and Calliope Hummingbirds, Florissant, CO

7/22/17 Wild Turkey, Florissant, CO

Help our furry friends this year.  I awoke to dog's barking, cats cackling and a terrible smell in the night.  You guessed it, BEAR.  This is my first sighting in 3 years and it said to me "I'm Hungry!" This year has been extremely hard on our bear population with early rising from hibernation, food shortages and strange weather patterns.  Bears have been eating anything and everything that they can and it has sent them to our neighborhoods and houses.  Being bear aware is common for us mountain folk but now city dwellers are having to learn too.  Remember, when fall comes around the bears will be even more active, packing it on for winter hibernation.  Please follow these simple steps to minimize bear encounters:

PROTECT YOUR TRASH - Use a bear-proof trash can or bring trash in every night.

PROTECT YOUR BIRD FEEDERS - If you are feeding the birds you will possibly feed the bears too.  Please bring in your feeders every night to minimize the temptation.

PROTECT YOUR BBQ GRILL - Burn food off and clean after each use.

PROTECT YOUR HOME - Keep all bear-accessible windows and doors closed and locked, including home, garage and vehicle doors.

PROTECT YOUR VEHICLE - Don’t leave food, trash, coolers, air fresheners or anything that smells in your vehicle.

PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY - Pick fruit before it ripens, and clean up fallen fruit.

PROTECT YOUR NEIGHBORS - Talk to your neighbors about doing their part to be bear responsible and watch out for each other.

For more information or any questions you may have contact Colorado Parks & Wildlife.

http://cpw.state.co.us/learn/Pages/LivingwithWildlifeWildBears.aspx

Wildlife Sightings

Mule Deer Fawn

6/16 Pronghorn – Florissant Fossil Beds

6/23 Mountain Bluebirds – Goldfield

6/26 Mule Deer with newborn - Florissant

6/26 House Wrens - Third Brood of Babies in Nest - Florissant

Wildlife Sightings - Babies, Babies, Babies!!

6/5/17 Baby Field Mice

6/5/17 Mommy and baby Rocky Mountain Elk, Florissant Fossil Beds NM

6/6/17 Mommy and baby House Wrens – Feeding and Flying, Florissant

6/7/17 Mommy and baby Evening Grosbeaks – Feeding, Cascade

6/7/17   Pygmy Nuthatches, Florissant

6/7/17   Black-tailed Prairie Dogs, Teller County

6/8/17   Red-winged Blackbirds, Teller County

Other Sightings in Teller County:

                Painted Lady Butterflies

                Golden Banner Wildflowers

                13-Lined Ground Squirrels “Chipmunk”

                Golden-mantled Ground Squirrels

Widlife Sightings to Date

Male Western Tanager

5/9/17 Western Tanager - Cascade
5/13/17 Brewer’s Blackbird Pair - Downtown Florissant
5/18/17 Black-headed Grosbeak - Cascade

5/21/17 Birds - Evening Grosbeak, Black-headed Grosbeak, Pygmy Nuthatch, White-breasted Nuthatch, Red-winged Blackbird, Mountain Chickadee, Pine Siskin, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Hairy Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Steller's Jay, Dark-eyed Junco, Brown-headed Cowbird, American Crow, Common Raven, Turkey Vulture, Red-tailed Hawk, House Wren.  Mammals - Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel, Abert's Squirrel, Fox Squirrel, Vole, Red Fox, Coyote, Mule Deer - Florissant

Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel

Wildlife Sightings To Date

Male Evening Grosbeak

 4/20/17 1^st Broad-tailed Hummingbird

4/24/17 1^st Brown-headed Cowbird

4/30/17 Bighorn Sheep CR1 and Dome Rock

5/1/17 Pack of Coyotes Singing in Florissant Fossil Beds at midnight.

5/3/17 Painted Lady Butterfly on Dandelion flower

5/3/17 Prairie Falcon flew over the Florissant Valley.

5/3/17 Barrel Cactus are blooming.

5/7/17 House Wren returns to nest under my deck.

5/8/17 Aspen are leafing.

5/12/17 Evening Grosbeaks are everywhere!

5/12/17 Black-headed Grosbeak

 I was so excited to see the hummingbirds return to the mountains.  I always get questions about why they don't come to the feeders when they migrate in.  The hummers are migrating along the front range and heading to the higher altitudes where they nest.  Competition is fierce and nesting takes precedent over eating.  When they have established their nesting area they then come to the mountain feeders to replenish their energy.  The lower elevation folks won't see them on a regular basis until they are finished nesting.

The Brown-headed Cowbird is famous for its nesting behavior.  Have you ever seen a tiny bird feeding a baby twice their size?  This is because the Cowbird relies on others to raise their babies.

They wait until another bird has laid their eggs and then push the eggs out of the nest and replace them with their own.  Wow, I guess it takes all kinds!

The House Wren has such a gorgeous "burbeley" (listen to it on https://www.allaboutbirds.org/) song.  It feeds mostly on insects and rings in the warmer months.  I have a nest under my deck where it had built a nest in one of my decorations and it has come back year after year.  Some birds need the nest to be cleaned at the end of the season to stimulate nesting the following season but the Wren does not.  If you have nests do some research to see what you should do for your birds.

The Aspen trees are leafing out and I look forward to the quaking sound in the coming months.  It is very easy to see which stands have died over the winter months, but leave them if you can, some woodpeckers and other birds use these trees to create nesting holes.

It is fantastic to have the Evening Grosbeaks at the feeders but I took a double take when I saw a Black-headed Grosbeak among them.  This is the first time this species has been at my feeder - does he know I just bought that feeder?

Spring and summer months are a great time in Colorado.  Enjoy all the plants, wildflowers, babies and birds that spend the warm months with us.

Wildlife Sightings for the 2nd Week in April

First Gnat of the season (4/11/17)

First American Robin of the season (4/12/17)

Mule Deer (5) at Skyline and Majestic in Woodland Park (4/12/17)

Mule Deer (6) on Highway 67 and Research Drive (4/12/17)

Evening Grosbeak female(4/13/17)

The first Gnat of the season was hovering over my bananas in the kitchen, this means the insect eating birds will be coming soon and so will more gnats.

The first American Robin of the season was singing it's spring song.  The distinctive song of Cheerio, Cheerio, Cheerio, Cheerio caught my attention.  This bird has about 126 different songs in his repertoire. This bird is not for the beginner when learning to bird by ear, unless of course its spring!

The Mule Deer seen in Woodland Park are the locals that like to hang out in these neighborhoods.  This is one reason why we love to live here.

A female Evening Grosbeak came to my feeder and it was a lovely sight to see.  She was very cautious as she fed, looking around for any predators and spilling seed along the way.  Even though the female is more drab than the male, she still has the lime green beak and black wings with white.

Hope you enjoy next week.  I will be watching for wildlife, stay tuned!