Colorado Vacations in the Early 1980s

Before we moved away from Texas in 1983, we made two summer road trips to Colorado. We loaded up the car and headed to the mountains where it was bound to be cooler that Texas! We were always thrilled to get into Colorado and away from the very flat – often boring – land between Dallas and Colorado.

The first trip was in August of 1980 and everything in Colorado was new to both of us.

We spent some time enjoying the sand dunes (Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve) that collect at the edge of the Rockies before we headed along the southern part of the state camping at National Forest campsites along the way. There was a beaver lodge on a pond near one of the campsites and we saw beavers actively working on it and slapping their tails on the water’s surface.

In July 1982, we made a second road trip to Colorado and focused on Rocky Mountain National Park – further to the north than we had been before. We camped again but in the National Park at a more developed campground than the campgrounds we had stayed in before.

It was thrilling to see the snow on the peaks and the lush growth in the valleys.

Above the tree line – the tundra was a new experience for us and so was the occasional wildlife sightings.

After the national park, we camped again in the National Forest and roaming backroads. Just as we do now – wildflowers,

Interesting clouds,

And birds were topics we chose for photography.

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is a favorite outing during our Tucson vacations. The drive through the Tucson Mountain Park to get there just sets the stage for a day enjoying all the wonders of the museum. There are lots of different kinds of cactus – of course. I tend to look for cactus that have something a little different: bigger spines or spines in an interesting pattern, colored fruit or spines…or outer flesh that is not green at all. I like the landscapes of different kinds of cactus growing on hillsides.

 There is a hummingbird aviary and hummingbirds outside too.

There was an Anna’s hummingbird at a feeder that moved slightly and the color of the head changed completely. Hummingbirds have prism-like cells within the top layers of feathers on their heads…and the color we perceive varies based on the refraction from those prism-like cells.

Some other birds that we saw:a female Gila Woodpecker (since it did not have any red on its head)

And male Gambel’s Quail.

There were a few plants that were blooming. I didn’t notice the aphids on the close-up I took of one small flower until I looked at the image on my computer monitor!

And then there are rocks…some with brilliant colors

And some just a collection of small stones between plants

And an outcrop on a hillside – red with its iron.

Tomorrow I’ll write a second post about the Raptor Free Flight programs we saw on our visit to this museum last month.

Madera Canyon

The drive between The Paton Center for Hummingbirds and Madera Canyon was scenic … through the Santa Rita Mountains. We had visited the canyon back in June 2013 and headed straight for a bird watching area near a gift shop that we had stopped at previously.

I saw a woodpecker as I was getting out of the car…did not manage a good picture…and then did not see it at the feeders at all.

Then again – is this an Arizona woodpecker? They are brown and the female does not have any red at all so I think it is. I didn’t realize what I was getting when I took the picture.

There were squirrels cleaning up the seen under the feeders --- but the feeders are positioned to keep squirrels from getting the seed directly.

There were quite a few Mexican Jays at the feeders

And the nearby trees and railings. Some of the railings have numbers to help people talk to each other about the location of a bird they are pointing out to someone else.

The biggest birds were the Wild Turkeys. They too were under the feeders although the adults spent most of their time parading. Two of the juveniles managed to fly up to the feeders – perch on the roof – and eat the seeds.

There were a few hummingbirds. This is the only one I saw well enough to identify – as an Anna’s Hummingbird.

The Yellow-eyed Juncos were fast but I was patient enough to get one good picture! I had a hard time identifying it as I was writing this post because it is not in All-About-Birds!