Earth Studies Session 4: Mammals & Tracking Comes to an end.

The Earth Studies session on Mammals & Tracking has just come to an end. We had many great days of tracking with all the fresh snow. A few warm afternoons allowed some muddy conditions for wildlife to impress their prints into which we often found frozen the next day . . . perfect for showing the details of wildlife identification through the use of track analysis!

Several areas where the snow we had about a month ago melted down kids were able to identify areas where deer had bedded down. When we examined these closely we even found some deer hair to identify and match up with the hides we have as teaching tools in the classroom. We also ran across a very interesting site where something had been killed and eaten. Although there were no bones or flesh left behind, we did find frozen blood, entrails and a lot of hair. From the hair and remains we think it may have been a raccoon, perhaps eaten by a bobcat or other predator. There were many days when these kids exclaimed that it had been the best time out to the park yet!

MPEC is now a better neighbor to the park's bears!

It is common knowledge among wildlife aficionados that wild animals, especially bears, and people's trash should not meet. It is not good for bears or people - a "trash bear" becomes less afraid of people and more likely to get into trouble (hence, "A fed bear is a dead bear"). For so many years I've been observing way too many occurrences of bears successfully getting into the park's trash cans. When MPEC took over management of the park just under 2 years ago, I said to myself that we are going to remedy this situation.

I am so pleased to say that day has arrived -- Pueblo Mountain Park is now becoming a much more bear-friendly park. Thanks to a generous grant from the Johnston Foundation, MPEC recently purchased 26 beautiful Bear Saver trash receptacles that will replace the old green trash barrels throughout the park. (Can trash receptacles really be "beautiful"? Well, the bears they are meant to protect are!) We are still in the process of installing them, but the park is well on its way to being the responsible bear neighbor that I always knew it should be. Here are a few photos - unloading them, and one installed in front of the lodge.

October color in Pueblo Mountain Park!

October arrives with lots of color - from many flowers still in bloom and leaves as colorful as flowers in their autumn look. I finally have another camera (thank you, Helene) and have stolen a few moments to try it out. Here is some of what Pueblo Mountain Park has to offer these soft autumn days: Lots of members of the Sunflower Family, and, yes, that is poison ivy (the Sumac Family). The deer are very plentiful - I saw this one walking home from the office yesterday evening around 6pm right at the entrance to the park.

Mountain Park Alive with Nature!

This past Saturday, I was out along the park's trails doing some trail maintenance, and couldn't help but notice that the flowers are probably at their peak for the park, easily 3 or 4 weeks later than usual. Pictured in this blog are senecio, yucca, stonecrop, dwarf penstemon (p. virens), and mountain harebell, a few of the many wildflowers blooming right now. And at yesterday's birding hike, we saw several western bluebirds and at least a couple of western tanagers, two of the more colorful avian species found in the park at this time. It's a great time to take a leisurely hike in Pueblo Mountain Park to enjoy Nature's loveliness.

A busy May @ MPEC!

May has been humming for MPEC in Pueblo Mountain Park. Along with lots of school programs (photo of stream ecology session of Earth Studies), we had another great Nature Toddlers session (playing drums before the hike), and a special treat when Diana Miller of Pueblo Nature and Raptor Center released a couple of flammulated owls among the ponderosa pines in front of the Horseshoe Lodge (a "flam" pictured with MPEC member and supporter Tyson Bennett).

April storm brings a foot of snow to the park!

The mud was gone, the snow was just about all melted, the land was beginning to green up, and now an April storm changes all that. About a foot of wet snow blankets the land. Some melting and settling of the new snow brings a bit of estimation to the actual depth, but I have an accurate moisture content of 1.30". Total snowfall for the season is now up to 130" (a foot above average). Yesterday, before the storm hit later in the afternoon, a grey fox was hanging around MPEC and allowed Ranger Jeff a few good photos (here's one of them). I just returned from the pond with this photo of the slushy water and snowy landscape. All this moisture should mean an excellent wildflower season. We have 3 wildflower hikes coming up so we can enjoy them: Sunday, April 27, 11am; Saturday, May 10, 9am; and Sunday, June 1, 9am - call (719) 485-4444 to register.