Bobcat Mother and Child

This morning the rabbit that is wintering in the wood shed was acting up. Soon, it became clear why.  I've been seeing a bobcat in the area lately.  Today bobcat mom and child spent about half an hour trying to flush out the rabbit from the wood shed, without success.  However, it was a great photo opportunity.  Enjoy.

Bobcat mom leads the way. The child has a distinctive fur pattern, but the mom is a more uniform brown.

 

Bobcat mom.

 

Bobcat child.

 

Bobcat child with distinctive spots and strips. By the way, the ground is covered with snow earlier than usual this year. 

 

 

Rain - Finally

After a dry spell that seemed to last weeks, we finally got some rain.  Up on James Peak, it even snowed.  However down here, aspens are still going strong.
Also, what does the current El Nino mean for Colorado? According to FOX31,

For the Front Range and Denver, when you look back at history, most of the big upslope snowstorms have occurred during El Niño years. My feeling is that we’ll end up with normal snowfall, and, yes, the possibility of one or two larger upslope snowstorms is there.

Consider yourself warned. 

Turning Aspens are right again

In the last few days, I've been watching the aspen leaves turning yellow  It's been nice and warm with almost no rain.

However, last night, it got down to almost freezing.  The thermometer next to the house read 33 Fahrenheit just before dawn.

Shown right is James Peak, with a forest of turning aspens in the middle left. 

Mushroom Season

We've been having a lot of rain lately, and the forest floor is covered in mushrooms. Lately, I've supplemented my lunch and dinner with Boletes, Chanterelles, puff balls and corral mushrooms.

We had a great soaking rain yesterday about midday, and the mushrooms are out like crazy.  So, I decided to see how much I could pick in half an hour, right outside my back door.  Ready for this?  5 and 1/4 pounds!

To be fair the Boletes are some poorly identified species, but they taste just like the King Boletes, of which I've found a few.

I'll probably dry them all, since I already got enough for a couple of dinners earlier today.

The reference knife is 7 inches long.

Mamma Moose and Other News

Yesterday, on my way up to the top of the ridge, skis in hand, I waited for Mamma Moose and yearling to cross the trail in front of me.

Don't mess with moose, especially in protective mamma mode.  They can sprint to 50 miles an hour, and weigh only slightly less than a freight train.  A couple of my mountain bike neighbors got treed surprising Momma. I'll take the hint. thank you.

Pm the subject of skiing - the snow is deep enough now, and the forecasted  temperatures cold enough  so that it is worth laying down a good solid track.  Looks like I'll be making good use of it the next couple of weeks.  There are usually one or two weeks in the winter where it days below freezing for the whole week.  We had one such stretch around the new years, and it looks like there is another one coming up, starting in a couple of days.

BTW, looks like my moose encounters are part of a trend:
http://www.denverpost.com/colleges/ci_27579837/colorado-state-still-has-work-do-ncaa-tournament