Flora and Fauna of Colorado!

As I sit at my work desk overlooking the local airport and northern foothills, this is the second day a white pelican has flown by. Usually I am entertained by Peregrine Falcons, Flutter Hawks (Kestrels), Swainson Hawks, Red Tail Hawks, sky divers and the occasional Blue Heron and Osprey. When I first arrived in Boulder 12 years ago I first noticed these white pelicans in the summer. I kept thinking what a pelican would be doing in Colorado when we are a high plains desert. Colorado is greeted each year by these pelicans which have taken summers in the ponds and small lakes. This is just something we am more prone to seeing in Florida where they are everywhere taking plunges into the water in search of a meal.

Yesterday I was up mountain biking at Heil Ranch just due west in the foothills. Most days I ride with earphones cranking out some tunes but I decided not to today. Consciously wanting to listen to the wind (40 mph gusts) and some of nature's sounds. I was lucky enough to hear a rattle when riding through a small meadow. I turned around and went back, cautiously, I might add, and saw a Western Diamondback with a reddish, copper, sand coloring on it crusing the tall grasses along some rocks that lined the trail. It shaked its rattle of probably 6-8 individual rattles at me while I tried to scoot him off the trail with a stick. The first rattler of the year! So if you just pay attention and listen you get better opportunities to see the lovely flora and fauna. One more reason to not wear headphones while riding cause I would have totally missed that snake. Which could been a bad thing in many different ways.

This past Wednesday was the second Short track bike race of the season. They usually start the first week in June and go through mid-August. It is an opportunity for all of the local bad asses to come out and put it down for 20-30 minutes of full on gut wrenching sprints on technical, fast dirt track. Last week we were rained out half way through the race but this week we got our race on and it hurt and I still have short track "Hack"!