A Sad Day in America

Unbelievably, the majority of Americans (at least the majority of those who cared to vote) have re-elected a supreme narcissist and would-be dictator, who should have been charged with sedition four years ago.  One wonders whether this vast populace truly feels aggrieved by American Democracy or are merely demonstrating their greed, racism and misogyny.

Facing four more years of Trumpism, one doubts that he will do anything to re-unite the country, let alone strengthen our alliances across the globe.  Freed from Federal charges that may have put him in prison, he will seek revenge on those who launched the investigations and led the prosecutions.  His staff and Cabinet appointees are bound to be chosen primarily based on their loyalty to Our Dear Leader.

Unable to rely on the Federal Government, we must now direct our support toward organizations that defend human rights and protect the environment while preparing for relentless attacks on truth and on our Democracy.

A Late Dusting of Snow

Light rain overnight turned to even lighter snow this morning, leaving a white dusting on our Littleton farm.  While we will take any precipitation that we can get, this atmospheric gift will not begin to dent our ongoing drought.  Worse yet, this meager amount of snow is about two weeks late compared to the average first snowfall in Metro Denver.

Fortunately, a significant snowstorm is forecast to arrive by mid week, with optimistic expectations of a half-foot or more of accumulation.  That storm, now developing in the Pacific Northwest, will hopefully set us on the pattern of alternating snow and sunshine that tends to characterize the Front Range winter and spring.  Of course, the mountain snowpack is especially important and the projected storm should significantly boost that vital resource, which is off to a sluggish start this year.

In this semi-arid environment, snowstorms, isolated thunderstorms and monsoon rains are the primary sources of precipitation.  Climate change may increase or decrease the total amount we receive; alternatively, it may alter its pattern and/or composition (i.e. rain vs. snow).  However and whenever the moisture arrives, water conservation remains critical to the welfare of this region. 

Siberian Elms

Native to Russia and northern China, Siberian elms have been widely introduced across the globe; unfortunately, they are now classified as an invasive species in most areas.  Since it is a hardy tree that favors a cool, dry climate with abundant sunshine, this elm is common along the Front Range.

We have six large Siberian elms and numerous offspring on our Littleton farm; the latter often grow in bushy clusters.  Since seed production is abundant and since these trees also spread by suckering, they are truly "weed trees" that must be pruned to prevent them from crowding out other vegetation.  On the other hand, many songbirds, especially finches and siskins, feast on their buds and seeds each spring.

Fast growing, Siberian elms often develop dead zones and thus drop a significant amount of woody debris in the course of a year; they also leaf out in early spring and hold their leaves well into autumn, making them especially prone to snow damage.  Fortunately, our large elms are not near the house and their fallen branches just become additions to our numerous log and brush piles.   

Autumn Windfall

When I returned to our Littleton farm, two weeks ago, I was greeted by colorful shrubs and trees; of course, here along the Front Range, those colors are primarily various shades of yellow and orange.  Since then, winds associated with two storm systems have brought down most of those leaves and they now cover our driveway, "lawns" and pastures.

I could get our the rake or (God forbid) buy a noisy leaf blower, but, over the next month or so, nature will provide the cleanup service.  Unless the leaves are temporarily held in place by a heavy snowfall, they will swirl about in the changing wind, scattering across the dry landscape until they come to rest beneath our shrub and tree lines.  There they will slowly decompose for the next six months, feeding a wide variety of invertebrates and nourishing the foliage.

If we are patient and accept her untidy style, Nature provides both the cleanup and the fertilization that her landscapes depend on.  We, in turn, are rewarded with their beauty and with the time to explore them.  

Scary Times

Never mind the pirates, goblins and witches that will appear on our porches this evening.  Far scarier is the fact that nearly half of Americans support a horrible and dangerous human being for our President.

Some do so to protect their own substantial wealth.  Many support him due to their inherent racism, misogynistic tendencies, religious zealotry or susceptibility to lies and conspiracy theories.  Others simply accept his unAmerican rhetoric or enjoy the chaos that he incites.

Enhanced by a relentless barrage of polls, texts and political punditry, this fear of a Trump victory is difficult to shake.  The cure: Tune out and vote Democratic.   

A Vanguard of Ring-Necks

After a slow start to the autumn waterfowl migration, a large flock of ring-necked ducks appeared in the South Platte Valley this morning.  Whether they are just stopping by or will spend the winter here will depend on the weather in the coming weeks and months.

Other waterfowl sightings included mallards, American wigeon, gadwall, green-winged teal, hooded mergansers, buffleheads, a lone common goldeneye and, of course, Canada geese.  A steady north wind kept songbirds in the thickets and few were encountered on my walk.

That wind was courtesy of a Pacific cold front that may bring the first snow of the season overnight or tomorrow.  Perhaps it will also bring down more ducks! 

Flashback Post LVIII

As we approach Halloween, pumpkins adorn homes, shops and garden centers across the country.  It seems like a good time to republish a post from 2007, released less than a year after this Blog was created. 

See: Pumpkins

The Last Autumn Warbler

Yellow-rumped warblers breed across Alaska and Canada and southward through the Western Mountains, Great Lakes and New England.  Late autumn migrants (relative to their many cousins), these hardy warblers winter throughout most of the Eastern U.S. as well as California.

Here in Colorado, they begin to drift down from the mountains in September and may be seen along the Front Range urban corridor through October.  Since they feed on berries as well as insects, they are in no hurry to move southward.  Indeed, while most of our other warblers winter in the Tropics, the majority of Colorado yellow-rumps likely winter in Texas or Mexico.

Early this evening, I watched a pair of these warblers flycatching from bare, sunlit branches in the canopy of our large honeylocust.  Perhaps they'll hang out for a few days before moving on. 

Wind Dancers

Yesterday afternoon, as a strong, southeast wind raked Metro Denver, I caught sight of two double-crested cormorants, circling high above our farm.  Powerful fliers, usually seen making beelines across bays or lakes, they do often soar during the warmer months.

This pair, not content to merely soar, engaged in brief dives as they danced in the clear blue sky, a behavior I had not seen before in that species.  As they moved on, a pair of red-tailed hawks took the stage, seemingly prepared to outshine the cormorants.  Of course, their agility was far superior and some of their dives were breathtaking.

Were this a competition, the medals would go to the hawks.  But, at least for this judge, the cormorants earned points for originality.  Note to fellow birders: don't forget to look up; you just might miss the show.

An Extensive Drought

As of this week, almost all areas west of the Appalachians, in addition to coastal areas of the Northeast, are experiencing some degree of drought.  While flooding from Hurricanes Helene and Milton has deservedly received a great deal of attention, the widespread drought is potentially even more devastating.

Many areas of the U.S. have received only a negligible amount of rain throughout October and above normal temperatures are forecast for the coming week.  Mountain snowpack is off to a slow start in the West and river levels are falling across the Heartland.  The risk of wildfire has increased significantly in most regions of the country.

Warm, sunny weather is appealing to most humans and we tend to focus more on storms than on drought.  In that regard, another tropical storm appears to be brewing in the Caribbean.  One hopes it might move northward and spread welcome rain across the Plains and the Midwest but it would have to cross the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico en route, likely spawning another destructive hurricane.  Slow-moving, Pacific cold fronts would offer a better and less damaging remedy for the drought but our changing climate seems to yield extremes at every turn.

Those First Juncos

Dark-eyed juncos don't garner much attention from non-birders.  They are just among those small songbirds that feed along roadways or beneath the shrubbery.

Common winter residents in most regions of the U.S., juncos are not prized inclusions on birding lists during those colder months.  But their first appearance in autumn is always a treat, at least for this aging birder.

Having just arrived at our Littleton, Colorado, farm, I encountered the first small flock of the season, comprised of two subspecies (Oregon and slate-gray); the regional gray-headed juncos, which descend from the nearby mountains and foothills for the winter, should arrive any day now.  By mid November, we'll have dozens of juncos on the farm and their presence will be taken for granted; then, come mid-April, when they head for cooler landscapes, they'll be missed once again.  If only they knew. 

Climate Change and Deveaux Bank

In the Autumn, 2024, issue of Living Bird from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, an article describes both the importance of and threat to Deveaux Bank, an offshore island at the mouth of the Edisto River, near Charleston, South Carolina.  Long known as an important breeding site for brown pelicans, black skimmers and other marine birds, it gained special notoriety in 2017 when it was documented to be a rest stop for 20,0000 whimbrels, migrating between the Arctic and South America.

As is reported in the article, Deveaux Bank was significantly eroded by Hurricane Idalia and another powerful storm last year, though some acreage has since been added back by river sediment.  Knowing its importance as both a marine bird nesting site and as a rest stop for half of the whimbrels in Eastern North America (in addition to other shorebird migrants), the island was closed to human use for seven months (March 15-October 15).

This saga highlights the fact that humans are not the only species affected by climate change (though we were the only species to cause it).  Then again, many, if not most species are more adaptable than we are; nevertheless, we must intervene on their behalf whenever possible. 

First Creeper

Sitting on our back deck on this mild, sunny afternoon in central Missouri, I observed my first brown creeper of the season.  Among our most aptly named birds, its unique silhouette caught my attention as it circled up the trunk of a large maple tree, searching for insects or their eggs.

Having summered and bred in Canada and southward through the mountain corridors, brown creepers generally turn up in October as they migrate south or stop here for the winter.  Whatever the circumstance, they are generally found alone though they may appear in the company of chickadees, titmice and nuthatches.

Arriving with the cool autumn weather, they are always a welcome visitor.  Unobtrusive and easily overlooked, their insect control service is also under appreciated. 

Vote for Future Generations

The upcoming U.S. Elections are critical for so many reasons.  Among the most important is the need to mitigate climate change.

Recent severe weather events across the globe attest to the dangers of global warming.  While most of us have been complicit in the factors that triggered this catastrophe, we must commit ourselves to minimizing its advance by voting for advocates of policies that address climate change.

We owe it to future generations to commit ourselves to this effort.  Vote Democratic at every level.  It is the least we can do.  

Western Snow

As the current atmospheric trough drifts eastward, warmer air will stream up from the south, "normalizing" conditions for mid October.  Meanwhile, out west, another trough will dip through the Mountain States, bringing the first significant snowfall to higher elevations.  Indeed, the San Juan Mountains, in southwest Colorado, may receive over two feet of snow.

While such early season snowstorms do not necessarily portend a heavy winter snowpack, they will help to suppress the ongoing wildfires.  We can only hope that the western snow season is long and prolific.

No doubt, these deep gyrations of the jet stream are a secondary effect of our warming climate.  Extreme cold and abundant snow will be just as common as excessive heat and torrential rain as the jet is energized.  Dramatic swings in our weather and more powerful storm systems will surely become the norm. 

A Gift from the North

A deep and broad atmospheric trough (produced by a dip in the jet stream) is allowing cool, Canadian air to flow southward.  Extending from the Rockies to the East Coast, this trough will bring the first convincing period of autumn for many Americans, especially for those in the Southeast.

Here in central Missouri, we expect our first freeze of the season by midweek and will experience temperatures below average for mid October.  Bringing clear skies and relief from the heat, humidity and recurrent storms, it is a welcome development indeed.

In no hurry to leave, the trough is bringing back the October of old and may just nudge migrant waterfowl southward.  Time to hit the trails to enjoy the colorful foliage, fresh air and energized wildlife! 

Vote for Kindness & Empathy

Forget for a moment the substantial policy differences between Vice President Harris and citizen Donald Trump.  Ignore, if you can, the wide gulf between the candidates on human rights, environmental protection, gun control, foreign policy, immigration, social justice and economic fairness.  Judge them purely on the basis of their character.

How do they compare when it comes to decency, kindness and empathy?  Do we not want a President with those qualities?  Do we want to be represented by someone who demonstrates no interest in or concern for his fellow human beings?  Do we want a President incapable of empathy?

I think the choice is clear at the Presidential level on down.  Vote Democratic!  

A Dry Refuge for Waterfowl

Arriving at Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area, in the Missouri River Valley, on this warm, sunny morning, I noticed that the annual signs are up, advising visitors that the southern half of the refuge will be closed from October 15 to March 1 to provide undisturbed wintering habitat for waterfowl.  At the same time, I found that this floodplain refuge is drier than I have ever seen it; I suspect the migrating geese and ducks will take note as well.

I did observe 6 northern shovelers and 6 pied-billed grebes on my 7-mile tour, hardly the throngs that one might expect in mid October.  Indeed, turkey vultures and red-winged blackbirds dominated the scene, not exactly members of the waterfowl clan; a lone, immature bald eagle was feeding on carrion in a dry crop field and a sharp-shinned hawk strafed the floodplain, likely hoping to pick off a blackbird.

Per reports that I have received, the dry landscape is intentional, necessary for the health of native wetland plants.  No doubt that is true but the waterfowl will, for now, go elsewhere.  Maybe next year. 

Finally: A Spectacular Aurora

After years of seeking the Aurora borealis across northern latitudes and a less than impressive viewing in Colorado last May, my wife and I enjoyed a spectacular display in central Missouri last evening.  Having learned that the Aurora would be especially active for the next few days, we headed up to the flat Glaciated Plain of the Midwest, about 25 miles northeast of Columbia, to escape the city lights.

Finding a secluded spot in the open cropland, we parked along a graveled road.  The sky was clear though the half-moon produced a mild haze.  About an hour after sunset, a dome of faint light, resembling a bank of clouds, stretched across the northern horizon and we began to dread a repeat of our Colorado experience.  Then, after another half-hour of anticipation, curtains of green and broad plumes of red appeared in the sky (photo by Darcy Folzenlogen).

We enjoyed the spectacle for another hour before heading home.  Our long pursuit of the Northern Lights had finally been successful, not in the wilds of the Great North but in the Heartland of America where we have spent most of our lives. 

Milton and the Front

Before Hurricane Milton made landfall, at Siesta Key, Florida, its outer bands had produced almost forty supercell tornados across southern portions of the State.  Indeed, damage from those storms might exceed that produced by the hurricane core itself.

As Milton reached the Gulf Coast, it was interacting with a front that dipped across Northern Florida, producing torrential rain on the north side of the hurricane (including the Tampa-St. Petersburg area).  The most intense winds of the eye-wall remained south of that Metro Area and the strongest storm surge hit the coastline south of Sarasota.

News of damage on Longboat Key may take a while to emerge but our primary risk may have come from surge off Sarasota Bay as well as the high winds of the eye-wall.  Overnight,  Hurricane Milton has moved northeastward along the front and across the Florida peninsula, unleashing heavy rain and destructive winds before heading into the Atlantic.