OpalOpal.com PresentsA SPRING DISPLAY Having created a popular show of fall in our area, I have been asked to show a view of our Spring. While I am happy to so, I am also aware that a great deal of the actual Spring season would look very much the same to a viewer. The temperatures and general weather change as we enter Spring, but March and April are still very snowy months. It is different from winter in that the snow that we got one night is likely to be melted within a day or two, unlike the cold winter when we may wear our blanket of white all winter long. As I write on April 12, 2001, We had snow last night that still covers our view this morning, by afternoon much of it will be gone. The photo below was taken on May 3, 2001. It was snowing when I took this photo and it continued to snow until May 5, 2001 leaving us with an accumulation of over 2 feet of snow. It had started snowing the night before. Notice that even in this photo the tall grasses, rocks and some of the bushes have already been covered by snow and it continued to come down for most of the next two days. Some of our migratory birds have already arrived and are staying near our bird feeders. The first of the hummingbird varieties will be here by the May 15th. The bears are up and about so the annual struggle for sugar water between the largest and smallest of our creatures will begin again.
This is Doc starting to dig out one of our vehicles on May 5, 2001 when we decided we needed to go to the grocery store.
The central mountain here is Silverheels which sits just in front of the Continental Divide. The mountains behind it are on the Divide. There were a number of small and larger clouds floating over the mountains casting shadows in the snow when I took this photo about nine o'clock this morning.The view below was what greeted us on May 21 early in the morning. The morning already has the sunlight on it, but our immediate area is still in shadow. There was only about three inches of snow the night before, but it did interfere with my planned outing to photograph the wild flowers that are blooming.
Our view will look very much like this until late May and early June, so you would certainly get bored tracking the progress of Spring as it comes to our area. It will continue to snow here and there throughout this month and sometimes into May. Our broadtail hummingbirds show up about the middle of May and I can remember several times when we have gotten a pretty good snow after their arrival. Of course, I can remember a couple of times that it has snowed on the Fourth of July in the last few years. Gradually the native grasses will take on a green cast and the snow will subside. The snow of the high mountains will gradually melt away, though some years it never completely vanishes. I will show it to you as there are changes of consequence to view. In the meantime, to get a breath of Spring onto the web site I am inviting those of who would like to participate to send me photos of Spring in your area, photos of wildflowers would particularly be appreciated. You may email them to me or send them snail mail to our address at the bottom of the page. Perhaps we can create a view of Spring in many areas on this page. I invite your participation in creating this Spring Display. Gail sends us these beautiful daffodils and pussywillows. These are gorgeous colors. Idaho
From Arizona, John sends us these two wonderful photos of Lupines and Poppies. I had no idea that wildflowers grew in such abundance in that area. John tells me that their wildflower show is just about over. (4/12/01) Thanks for sharing these beautiful photos with us. Arizona
Arizona
May 23 I took a walk with the camera in search of wildflowersThis is a view of Silverheels on the left and Boreas on the right. The row of mountains in between is the Continental Divide.
Now Boreas is on the left and additional mountains are on the right. In the summer when the road is open we can drive over Boreas Pass to Breckenridge. Several different peaks and mountains are in the cluster on the right including Whale mountain.
The view below shows Silverheels through the budding aspen trees from the woods adjacent to our house.
I caught this little chickadee among the budding aspen leaves that I was photographing. One of our littlest birds, these little chickadees live here year round.
A walk through the woods shows one of the aspen that some creature, probably a deer has gnawed on during the winter. When the snow is several inches deep, there is very little for the deer, elk, etc. to live on.
I am always amazed to really look at the "white" aspen trunks.
You can see below why the native grasses make our area look a rather grayed green. The new grass grows up through the old growth from prior years. That dead grass combined with the natural mulch on the forest floor that you can see in the photo above, are the reason that forest fires are such a hazard in these areas.
This hairy woodpecker was pecking loading on this aspen when I passed by. There is a miniature version of this same woodpecker called a downy woodpecker that also lives in our woods.
The air is scented with the aroma of the wild sage that grows in abundance around our house. You cannot walk without stepping on it and smelling the familiar aroma.
The first wildflower to cross my path this year was a dandelion. Wouldn't you know.
These little flowers grow in tight clumps like this. They are small but bright. I am not going to bother with the scientific names this year, but perhaps another time.
The last wildflowers that I found in bloom on May 23 were a few wild strawberries that I found already in bloom. We will have many more varieties before summer's end.
June 4, 2001
We were able to add the photos below to our gallery of currently blooming wild flowers. These small daisy like flowers are about the size of a nickel.
These stemmed clusters will exist in abundance and decorate the landscape before too long.
Our first glimpse of an Indian Paintbrush. We will eventually have them in two different shades of red/orange.
As of June 4, the dandelions still dominate in our immediate area.
These are very small white flowers, smaller than a dime.
We have this particular variety in yellow and white, I am sure some of you will recognize it.
These are beautiful yellow waxy flowers.
The specimen below is locoweed, not a favorite of the local ranchers.
The quakie leaves have now emerged.
While photographing the wildflowers I came across this hummingbird moth. Actually there was a pair of them. I managed to get this photo to show you.
June 9, 2001 This is the first photo that I have managed to take of a bear this year. He was about one quarter of a mile from our house and had just crossed the road. He is the third bear that I am aware of that is in our immediate area this season. Our bird feeders have been visited almost every night by one of them. You can see that this bear is a large one. It is truly a black bear, but black bears are not necessarily black at all. They seem to run the course from blonde, red, brown to black. There is one color referred to, locally at least, as Cinnamon Bears, and that pretty well tells you what color they are. This photo was taken early afternoon by the way, and the bear was not in a hurry to get any where. He was heading toward a place where some people had been camping. No doubt to make a raid on any food or trash that had carelessly been left behind.
June 12 offered these additions to our visible floral display.
This is the beautiful wild iris that grows in damp areas for a brief period in the spring. They are known locally as blue flags.
Another plant that grows near the wet areas in the bush shown below. In this photo they are just starting to have their bright yellow flowers. Later on the bush will have many flowers.
These tiny white ground flowers are scattered about.
These purple flowers with the fern like leaves also grow very close to the ground.
These bright yellow blooms are actually clusters of many small yellow flowers.
This butterfly or moth ? flew into our view while we were taking flower photos. I thought the patterning on its wings was quite interesting.
One other variety of tiny yellow flowers was growing.
On June 14 we were greeted by snow once again. The mountains had received a dusting on the night of June 13th as well and snow had flown through the air here, but the morning of the June 14th offered an actual small accumulation. We have lived here for nine summers and during that time I have seen it snow on the 4th. of July twice. Snow in July is late snow in our minds. Snow in August is early fall snow. The reality is that at these elevations there is always a potential for snow and cold.
June 20, 2001The bush below is one that is starting to be covered in the yellow flowers that are pictured in last weeks photos above.
Below is a view of a few of them that are beside our house close to the woods. Some are just starting to bloom.
The delicate flowers below eventually become a sticker like annoyance that adheres to show laces, socks, pet fur, etc. during walks across country.
These beautiful blue flowers are just starting to show up. There will be many of them.
Another member of the blue family that is just making its appearance.
I have shown these small daisy like flowers previously, but cannot resist showing them in this grouping.
This is a peculiar looking flower for this ground cover type of plant.
Another variety worthy of revisiting is the Indian Paintbrush. This is the orange/red one that we have. Soon there will be coral/orange ones as well.
An overview of how some of these flowers actually look in the landscape. Later on there will be an abundance of them to see in one spot.
This photo was taken early in the morning of July 2, 2001. I was impressed with how green everything looked. This is about as green as it gets in our area. We have had some nice rains recently as these cause the native grasses to turn green and more wildflowers to bloom. Notice that there is still some snow on the mountains. Some years it never all melts before we start to get our next seasons snow.
The next series of photos was taken on July 7th. We have had many afternoon thunder/electrical storms lately, not unusual summer time weather for the mountains.These delicate flowers are called wild geraniums locally. The blooms range from a delicate pink to a purple. In the fall the leaves turn beautiful shades of red.
One of the bushes that by now is pretty covered in the yellow blossoms.
Beautiful stalked blooms that are collections of small flowers.
The Indian Paintbrush below are an example of the lighter color variety that grows here. The other are pictured above and have a bright red/orange coloration.
One of the wild geraniums mixed in with more stalked purple blooms.
The blooms on these white flowers are another cluster of small flowers forming larger blooms.
The flowers below are the tiny first blooms on one of our fernlike ground covers.
I love the way these yellow flowers look.
These tiny star like white flowers are seen abundantly in the forest next to our house.
Another scene from the forest floor.
The colors in these flowers are hard to believe.
A storm is approaching.
The wild flowers are starting to take over the ground outside of our house with several varieties evident depending on where you look.
The approaching storm finally drove me into the house and ended my photo taking for that day.
A quick walk around the our house on July 15 brought these images. It was very windy so I did not stay out photographing for long. The temperature at 66 degrees explains why people from hot climates love to come to these mountains during the summer.The blue flowers below tend to polka dot grassy areas.
These purple flowers are one of my personal favorites, growing on tall stalks here and there.
Naturally, they grow wherever they choose.
The single flower below is one of a variety of flowers that I see scattered about in various colors.
I am aware that it is officially now summer, but our wildflowers here in the high country are just getting started, so keep checking back to see the continuation of our Spring Display.Keep watching for more additions as Spring advances. We will add our mountain wildflowers here as they come into bloom, along with Spring views from other areas.
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