What to See Now: Mockingbirds
In celebration of the Year of the Bird, we will highlight some of the birds and their behaviors that you can observe at certain times throughout the year. Read more
Category Archives: Outdoor Adventure
Congrats to the 2018 Photo Contest Winners!
The votes are in and the 2018 Colorado Public Lands Day Photo Contest winners have been selected! With hundreds of submissions, photographers around the state captured an amazing variety of photos – highlighting Colorado’s diverse landscape and recreational opportunities. We congratulate all of the winners and we thank one and all for sharing their images and participating in the voting for this year’s “people’s choice” winner. Please view this year’s winners below and continue the celebration by getting outside and enjoying our unparalleled public lands. Read more
Video: ‘Livin’ the Wildlife’ Red Fox
Sibling rivalry at its best: Fox kits pose for a photo at a den near Evergreen, CO. Photo by Jerry Neal/CPW.
The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) is the largest and most common fox species in Colorado.
Known for its cunning nature and intelligence, the “sly” fox is a skilled predator and scavenger. The fox is also well adapted to live among humans, and it often dens and hunts in urban/suburban areas. Read more
What to See Now: Western Meadowlarks
In celebration of the Year of the Bird, we will highlight some of the birds and their behaviors that you can observe at certain times throughout the year.
A male western meadowlark in the Pawnee National Grasslands. All photos by © Wayne D. Lewis/CPW.
While driving along a gravelly country road, I notice a squat shape sitting on a fence post bracing itself against a stiff Colorado breeze. To me, it looks a bit like a crude grade-school art project where the assignment is creating a bird by applying a chocolate chip beak and popsicle stick tail to an egg — a dull, mottled, grayish brown, grumpy egg. But then it raises up, exposing its bright yellow and black “V for varsity” sweater vest and bursts into song. If its melody isn’t the official song of the prairie, it deserves it as much or more than anything on country radio. Whether the song of the western meadowlark is cheerful or soulful is up to the listener, but the melody signals spring in Colorado’s grasslands. Read more
K9 Cash: A Nose for Natural Resources
How long would it take you to locate a rare toad in the mountains of Colorado? How about spotting a federally endangered black-footed ferret hiding underground in one of Colorado’s many prairie dog towns? Both species are extremely rare and elusive, and are always on the radar of Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) biologists and wildlife officers. To get a leg-up on this challenge, CPW launched a K9 pilot program, enlisting a pair of highly trained working dogs who use their natural abilities to find what the human eye often cannot see. Read more
WHAT TO SEE NOW: GREAT HORNED OWLS
In celebration of the Year of the Bird, we will highlight some of the birds and their behaviors that you can observe at certain times throughout the year.
A young great horned owlet shares its nest with its mother and two siblings. All photos by © Wayne D. Lewis/CPW
Nothing sparks the attention of a neighborhood like a new family moving in. On a quiet block of well-kept, mid-century homes, an unlikely pair took up residence in a penthouse condo formerly occupied for years by . . . red-tailed hawks?? Yep, these aren’t the typical new suburban arrivals, they are great horned owls. This pair, and especially their offspring, have united neighbors much more than backyard BBQs and block parties ever would. Read more
Southern Colorado’s Largest Outdoor Expo Returns June 2
The Colorado Springs “Get Outdoors Day,” southern Colorado’s largest outdoor expo, is back at Memorial Park on Saturday, June 2, 2018.
The all-day event runs from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m., and it features outdoor fun and adventure for the entire family.
More than 30 different activities are available, including biking, boating, kayaking, climbing, archery, shooting, fishing and fly fishing. Read more
What to See Now: Red-winged Blackbirds
In celebration of the Year of the Bird, we will highlight some of the birds and their behaviors that you can observe at certain times throughout the year.
A male red-winged blackbird. All photos by © Wayne D. Lewis/CPW.
If you cruise along just about any road in Colorado that passes through marshy or wet land, or hike by a lake or stream, you are likely to see red-winged blackbirds. Sleek and black, with bright orange, red and yellow shoulder patches, the males are what you will notice first — sitting on a cattail, wire fence or power line singing their conk-la-lee! song. Males sing to mark their territory and attract females, both of which they will aggressively protect. I once saw a red-winged blackbird repeatedly dive-bomb a belly boater that had ventured too close to its territory. Read more
Photo Contest: 2018 Colorado Public Lands Day
Share your best photo taken on Colorado’s public lands for a chance at winning a prize package, annual Colorado State Park pass and a subscription to Colorado Outdoors Magazine. Submit your photo by May 21 and encourage your friends to vote! Winners will be selected by CPW and Colorado Outdoors — the photo with the most “likes” will win the “people’s choice” award. Read more
Grouse Getaway
Greater sage-grouse display on a lek in northwest Colorado. All photos by © Wayne D. Lewis.
In the pre-predawn haze on a northwest Colorado prairie, every dark spot, smudge or blot you see is a greater sage-grouse — until the gathering light proves they’re not. As sunrise approaches, the “sage-grouse” become the rocks, sagebrush and clumps of dirt they actually are. But you know the birds are there because you hear them — everywhere. It’s not the distinct call of a western meadowlark (also heard in the mix) or other prairie bird, but much more otherworldly. It’s like the sounds the exotic-cute indigenous critters would make as they surround the Zachary Quinto version of Spock on some far-off planet in a Star Trek movie. Whether we know it it or not, the occupants of Mick and Nancy Sommer’s 4Runner are in a contest to see the first real greater sage-grouse. I end up taking bronze. Read more
