Today we hiked up the South Mesa Trail. The weather was cloudy and rainy and we experienced some hail partway through our hike. We saw the spotted towhee, which was a species of bird we hadn't seen before. We also some familiar species such as a bald eagle and Veronica, a purple flower. We saw some more flower species popping up such as the prairie false dandelion and some Lillies.
Today we shuttled up to Long Canyon along Flagstaff rd and walked to Gregory Canyon. The weather was 60 degrees, sunny, and a bit breezy. At the beginning portion, the trail was shaded and still had snow. We saw many familiar species like douglas fir, mullen, gopher holes, and mistletoe. We saw some mule deer and a parasitic plant known as pinedrop which laches onto the roots of pine trees. Then we talked about the most southern colony of pine birches and talked about horse's hair. The trail took us to an outcrop where we sat for a 5-minute contemplation and enjoyed the view. Finally, on our descent we walked by many flowering plants and spotted two stellar's jays.
We arrived at Deadman Gulch around 1:30. It was sunny with dry ground. It was a rocky/canyon landscape with Ponderosas and some Douglas firs. We followed a creek all the way up to our first presentation spot where there were steady pools with some caddisflies. We heard about Rocky Mountain Uplift from Will and then Fire and the Front Range from Alex. After that we went up the mountain side and continued with the third presentation about Generalist vs Specialist species by Zakary. Some things we saw along the way include: spring beauties, golden flax, pasque flower, geranium, and some bones possibly from a deer.
Today the weather was 45 degrees, sunny, and breezy. The trail was through a mostly Ponderosa-dominated forest but we did notice some Douglas Firs. We noticed many flowers including spring beauty, Oregon grapes, violets, golden flags, and pasque flowers. Most were yellow (og, v, gf). We discussed the advantages and disadvantages of being an early flower that is the same colors as other early blooming flowers. There was a hummingbird that kept whizzing by but I never got a chance to see it and did not hear it on the descent. I caught a look at a flying insect I thought was a bee but turned out to be a bee fly which is a fly that hoovers! Our presentations were on Rocky Mountain uplift, fire in front-range ecosystems, and generalists vs. specialists.
It was a gorgeous spring Boulder day- sunny and about 70 degrees. The painted turtles agreed, and they were seen sunning themselves on a log in one of the back ponds along the trail. We made our way from SEEC along the trail, where we saw red-winged blackbirds, grackles, lots of different ducks (most notably, some Greater Scaup ducks), and geese. Colorful grasshoppers where all over the place, and I tried (and failed again) to catch some early season White Cabbage Butterflies. Early season flowers are making their way to the sun as well. We ended in the greenhouse to observe our final day of our seedling project. My dirt from Nederland didn't grow anything :( but many others had spouts, flowers, and vines (oh my!).
We arrived at Realization Point Trailhead around 1:15pm, partly cloudy, some wind and trails with little to no snow besides some icy spots. It is a forest and mountainous area filled with ponderosa pine and junipers. We took time for two presentations including Grey Horned Owls and Mountain Pine Beetles. We found an area with many birds flying from tree to tree and we identified some of the birds as Mountain Chickadee, Nuthatches, and Creepers. The Creepers were almost hoping up the tree bark and then would fly down from the top. Then we took time for the third presentation on Bobcats and after had silent observation time where the prompt was to relate the environment we were in to one that we thought was similar or had similar characteristic. On our way back to the cars we took time to look at the open view of mountains in the distance and then made our way back.
Joder Ranch Trail and Buckingham Park - February 16, 2023
Weather: sunny skies, fresh snow (snowed yesterday), slight wind, around 27 degrees F
We began our trip at Buckingham Park. Took a short stroll to the stream and did not find many any plants or animals that stood out.
We then walked throughout Joder Ranch Trail. There was a fair amount of snow covering the ground, though there were not many animal tracks to be found. Throughout the trail we spotted pine trees, yucca plants, aster plants, cacti, and different grasses. Near the end of the trail we spotted two different types of lichen on large rocks. We saw many different animals but I was unable to get pictures of them. We saw a red fox and were even able to see its den. The birds we saw were magpies, chickadees, and robins. There were plenty of deer around.
I just realized that I accidentally posted this to my personal journal a while back instead of the class journal so I am re-uploading it here
We began on the Marshall Mesa Trailhead in Boulder around 1:20. The weather conditions were sunny, slightly cloudy, and fairly windy. The temperature was around 53 Degrees. The hike was reasonably flat and is an area that was affected by the Marshall fires. Along the way we observed many plants including a Missouri foxtail cactus, a flowering plant that seemed to be in the geranium family, Great Plains yucca, currant/gooseberry plants, and milkweed. The currant plant was particularly interesting because it seems as if the plant was burned but the roots survived, allowing the plant to continue to grow. Many of the trees in this area were burned from the fires. Other interesting things that we saw were owl pellets, red-tailed hawks, a downy woodpecker, and harvest ant. Finally, we heard 3 presentations: bird migration, moose, and coyotes.
