Impression Evergreen

"Great Blue Heron" Colored Pencil Near the edge of a small pond, a Great Blue Heron remains motionless. It waits patiently for a chance to strike at its unsuspecting prey. I was excited to discover this large bird spear-fishing at Buchanan Ponds. It was like meeting up with an old, familiar friend. As a kid living in Western Nebraska the Great Blue was a common sight during our excursions on the North Platte River. If we interrupted its hunting foray, the irritated bird would let out a loud croak and then fly away to a more secluded area. This large heron’s plummage is an elegant blue-gray. Indigo and ultramarine accents on the back and wings glisten in the summer sun. The long, sinuous neck is slightly reddish and a beautiful white stripe is flecked with a black pattern. A white head is capped with deep blue and the bright yellow eyes have a dark outline. The sharp, yellow bill is a lethal weapon. Although the Great Blue Heron is common in North America, I didn’t re

I'm drawn to water - lakes, ponds, waterfalls and especially rivers. Being near a still lake or reservoir has a peaceful, calming effect. I prefer rivers because they have an essence of ebb and flow. A wild river sculpts the land and is always changing. It's dynamic, constantly seeking a new course to carve its bed and flooding its banks to deposit fresh silt. A riverine landscape improves the scenery and offers the chance to study a wide variety of plants and wildlife. Throughout human history rivers have been the scene of important milestones. They have been crucial in determining political boundaries and defending countries. Most major cities of the world are situated on the banks of rivers. A river can be a great source of abundance or catastrophic destruction. As a result, people have developed ways to manage and control rivers to make them more useful and less disruptive to human activity. This summer we visited three rivers. The Rio Grande near Alamosa, Colorado, the

"Red Fox" Colored Pencil Foregoing the comfort of a den, this red fox has chosen to sleep in the open on a bed of sticks and grass. The long, bushy tail wrapped around his nose acts as a warm cover. His red-orange coat is contrasted against the soft, blue-green background. In some corners of the world, the red fox is reviled and hunted as a pest. Not here, we find them friendly and their always entertaining behavior fun to watch. The resourceful red fox has adapted well to human environments and is now geographically widespread. From farms to suburbs, to the interior of big cities, its range has actually increased alongside human expansion. Usually nocturnal, we see them here at any time during the day. The kits are playful and seem more curious than frightened of people. The adults use creative hunting tactics that employ exceptional cunning and trickery. If strategy doesn't work then spinning, jumping and pouncing appear to be very successful. Because of their

"Mountain Lion" Colored Pencil Reclining lazily on a rock ledge, a contented Mountain Lion basks in the warm summer sun. It's interesting how much it resembles, in both pose and manner, a domestic house cat. But don't let its graceful nature fool you, this long, sleek feline is a fearsome hunter. The Cougar is probably the most dominant predator prowling the Colorado Rockies. It inhabits the Montane Zone staying close to its favorite food source, the Mule Deer. This king of the mountain beasts is beautifully robed in golden ochres and warm brown tones with a bleached underside. The face is remarkable, featuring various colors including a pink nose and vivid, green eyes. Dark black trims the muzzle and the always expressive ears. The black tipped tail is outrageously long and the paws are huge. I've never been lucky enough to catch a glimpse of one of these elusive cats in the wild but I know they're around. Wherever there is an abundant supply of deer