When it's springtime in the Rockies, you are guaranteed a wild run of weather:
Thunder and hail storms, hot sunny days, spitting snow, whipping winds,
and late afternoons when cumulous clouds build into towering anvils.
It's a great, ever-changing show that I never tire of watching.
Here are some of photos of this year's show
near and along a stretch of Piney Creek in Aurora:
Drenching Rain
Aurora, Colorado
May 15, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Pounding Hail
Aurora, Colorado
May 15, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Noisy Grackles
Aurora, Colorado
April 9, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
A Strutting Grackle
Aurora, Colorado
May 16, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
The trees are dioecious,
with male and female flowers
occurring on different trees.
Male Catkins
(staminate flowers)
Aurora, Colorado
May 8, 2013
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Pollen from male cottonwood trees is carried on the wind.
Plains Cottonwood Tree
Aurora, Colorado
May 15, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Emerging Female Catkins
Emerging Female Catkins
Plains Cottonwood Tree
Aurora, Colorado
May 3 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Wind-born pollen pollenates female catkins (pistillate flowers).
Plains Cottonwood Tree
Aurora, Colorado
May 15, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Cottonwood seed capsules develop after fertilization.
Plains Cottonwood Tree
Aurora, Colorado
May 17, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Seed Capsules and New Leaves.
Along Piney Creek
Aurora, Colorado
May 17, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Bursting New Leaves
Along Piney Creek
Aurora, Colorado
May 17, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Snow in June
Cottonwood seeds are released on the breezes.
Along Piney Creek
Aurora, Colorado
June 25, 2013
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Harbinger of Spring
Male Robin
Along Piney Creek
Aurora, Colorado
April 26, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Our Local Fire Station
"Thank You First Responders!
You Are Loved!"
Aurora, Colorado
April 25, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Local Heroes
"Thank You First Responders!
You Are Loved!"
Aurora, Colorado
April 25, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Male House Finch
Aurora, Colorado
May 17, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Earlier this month I spotted the first muskrat I have seen
since a flash flood scoured Piney Creek in our area almost eight years ago.
That doesn't mean muskrats disappeared after the flood.
It means I couldn't find them.
I've been trying to capture this pesky rodent
with my little point-and-shoot Canon ever since.
All I've captured are the ripples marking its dive
and a glimpse of its head in the reeds.
and a glimpse of its head in the reeds.
Muskrat Ripples
Along Piney Creek
Aurora, Colorado
May 17, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Muskrat Feeding on Reeds
Along Piney Creek
Aurora, Colorado
May 17, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Squirrels Frolicking
Along Piney Creek
Aurora, Colorado
March 24, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Spring Equinox
Along Piney Creek
Aurora, Colorado
March 21, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Blue Jay
Along Piney Creek
Aurora, Colorado
April 9, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
More Happy Talk
Aurora, Colorado
May 17, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Spring Butterfly
Aurora, Colorado
May 17, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Spring Butterfly
Along Piney Creek
Aurora, Colorado
May 17, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Baby Green Leaves
Bursting Out #1
Along Piney Creek
Aurora, Colorado
May 17, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Baby Green Leaves
Bursting Out #2
Along Piney Creek
Aurora, Colorado
May 17, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Comforting Rock Talk
for a Challenging Time
Aurora, Colorado
May 17, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Cumulus Clouds
Aurora, Colorado
May 20, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Male Plains Cottonwood
Flowers Gone, Baby Leaves Bursting
Along Piney Creek
Aurora, Colorado
May 17, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
If anyone had told me that I would spend well over a decade
snapping photos in all seasons along a small stretch of Piney Creek,
I wouldn't have believed it. But I have.
Springtime is my favorite season,
until the next, and the following, even winter!
until the next, and the following, even winter!
Towering Anvil
Aurora, Colorado
May 20, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Till next time ~
Fundy Blue
On the Bay of Fundy
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
For Map Lovers Like Me:
Location of Aurora, Colorado, USA
Area Where I Took the Photographs
(by the asterisk in the lower middle)
Map Data © 2018 Google United States
Southern Aurora and Northern Parker
Map Data © 2019 Google United States
Adapted from a Sign in the Park
Red-Tailed Hawk Park
Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Those are some beautiful shots.
ReplyDeleteWondered where muskrats live. Hopefully you didn't see any spring muskrat love...
Thanks, Alex! No muskrat love, only dragonflies, squirrels, and trees. Have a happy and safe weekend!
DeleteHow beautiful. Oh, and just look at all that pollen.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Diane! Nature is awe inspiring. Your webinar last night was packed with content ~ very informative. Thank you! Have a happy and safe weekend!
DeleteNice pictures of nature
ReplyDeleteThanks, Adam! It keeps me sane. All the best to you and Daisy!
DeleteLovely stroll with you along the walkway. The Eastern Cottonwood, or Populus deltoides , we had one at our other place, and the cotton balls were blown onto the lawn, like fluffs of snow. So pretty.
ReplyDeleteHi, Jean! It's always fun when the cottonwoods release their seeds. Since I'm homebound for now. I hope to catch our "snow in June" this year. It's quite something to see the cotton fluff on the female trees, floating on the air, and drifting on the ground. I hope that you and Hugh have a happy and safe weekend! Take care!
DeleteLovely photos! You've been a busy bee with that camera of yours!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Debra! I do have so much fun with my camera. I'm stalking that muskrat. I'm determined to get a good picture, but damn it's sharp-eyed and fast! LOL Wishing you and your Rare One a great weekend!
DeleteBeautiful uplifting photo's Louise, Thansk for sharing.
ReplyDeleteHave a good weekend.
Take care.
Yvonne.
You have a good weekend, too, Yvonne! I'm glad that you enjoyed my photos. Take care, my friend!
DeleteI love all of your pictures! You're a talented photographer! The squirrels and muskrat are cute.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sherry! I have a lot of fun with my camera, and it's gives me pleasure to share my photos. Your book on "Big Dig to China" arrived this afternoon. I'm really looking forward to reading it. All the best to you. Have a fun Memorial Weekend with your loved ones!
DeleteAre you sure that was muskrat ripples? You didn't just throw a rock in there and pretend? Hmmm the cat on to you? lol
ReplyDeleteSure lots going on at your sea. Snow though. Bah, that can stay away for a while. Gotta love the frisky squirrels still having fun.
Hi, Pat! Yes, that was a muskrat where I'm at. I just moved my camera up to my eyes, and it was gone before I could click. And muskrats can swim a long way underwater, so I never know where it will surface. I have to find action where I can! Have a great weekend, my rhyming friend!
DeleteHi Louise,
ReplyDeleteyou live in a beautiful place and are very talented in taking pictures. I love all creatures and get many birds in our back garden. The picture of the balcony of a house gives a lovely country view as well.
Thanks, Brenda! I have lots of fun with my little camera. That's our balcony. We live in a townhome overlooking a golf course. Kind of funny since we don't play golf. I grew up with nature all around me, so I am grateful to have a feeling of space and to be able to see almost 180º of the horizon. I love all creatures, too. We see all kinds of birds from our balcony (or deck, as we call it here), everything from tiny house finches to red-tailed hawks. Wishing you a lovely weekend!
DeleteYou too Louise, you are very blessed, and the view from your balcony is beautiful.
DeleteSorry, I should have said 'deck' :-)
DeleteI remember those cottonwoods—the first house in Utah had one thanks to being on an irrigation ditch. Then I moved to a yard of juniper and pinion. Great photos!
ReplyDeletewww.thepulpitandthepen.com
Wonderful nature shots, Louise. Glad you were able to finally glimpse the muskrat!
ReplyDelete