Impression Evergreen

"Butterflies" Colored Pencil “Through art we can change the world.” ~ #twitterartexhibit It’s an incredible morning in September as a profusion of painted lady butterflies migrate leisurely through the Front Range Foothills. Their fluttering course seems to be at the mercy of a fickle breeze that blows down from the snow-covered divide. During the fall, the mountain landscape is ablaze in fiery color and the sudden arrival of so many butterflies stirs even more spicy tones into the mix. Out of the thousands passing through, a pair has paused to pollinate on a purple, Scotch thistle. Intentionally constructed to be a little bit larger than life, this close-cropped composition lends the scene its dramatic sense of immediacy. The tiny niche in nature’s garden is an enlarged, abstract arrangement of hard-edged shapes and saturated color. The pure pigment is brightened by the black outlines that encompass the separate sections much like a stained-glass window. A deep

The Gazebo Boardwalk at Barr Lake Bald Eagles nest and breed in the North but in the fall many of them migrate south and inland searching for a milder climate. They prefer to spend the winter months in tall trees near a large body of open water where they can survive on fresh fish. Barr Lake is the perfect haven for these majestic birds of prey as they flock to this oasis on the eastern plains more than one hundred strong. Since it is the non-breeding season, the eagles are more tolerant of human incursion into their habitat, allowing you to catch a glimpse of what their life is really like. Surrounding the reservoir, a barren forest of writhing, twisted, tortured cottonwoods is the perfect place for the birds to perch and gaze down upon their awesome domain. They are built to withstand the cold but on the chilliest days, they remain motionless on the tallest treetops. When the weather warms, the eagles become more active and social and that is when their entertaining antics

Swainson's Hawk Soaring majestically on summer thermals, the Swainson’s Hawk is a graceful buteo of the Great Plains. It gets its name from an early 19th century illustrator of natural history, Englishman William Swainson. Found mostly east of the Continental Divide, the species’ light phase is quite elegant. This narrow-winged hawk has dark flight feathers, white underwings and belly, a finely barred tail and a handsome rufous bib. Once a mated pair finds a site near the top of a solitary tree, they build a large stick nest and aggressively defend their isolated home. They feed the chicks a steady diet of rodents, rabbits and reptiles. When not in breeding season they voraciously eat a large amount of insects. They devour so many that in some rural regions of North America they are referred to as a grasshopper hawk or a locust hawk. The most remarkable behavior displayed by this amazing raptor is the astonishing, yearly migration to Argentina. In late summer they floc

Cedar Waxwing We are in the middle of fall so most of the local birds have left for the season but some interesting species that we don’t normally see are currently passing through on their way south. Last week we watched as a flock of silky bandits raided fruit from the bushes that surround Evergreen Lake. The Cedar Waxwing is a beautiful bird painted with a shiny palette of brown, gray and lemon-yellow. It’s most striking characteristics are the regal crown, yellow-tipped tail, a devious black mask outlined in white and the brilliant-red wax droplets accenting the wing feathers. The happy, little gang of marauders gorged themselves on berries and other sugary fruit to the point of intoxication. A few of the birds ventured out over the water in order to capture tasty insects while still on the wing. They flitted about from branch to branch while calling to each other with a thin whistle and they took great delight in splashing around the shallow creek. Unfortunately, the la

Painted Lady Butterflies During a sunny Saturday while searching for the elusive Genesee bison, a seemingly insignificant insect stole the show. In one day, we must have seen a thousand painted lady butterflies perched on purple thistle and yellow rabbitbrush. The painted lady prefers the warmer climate associated with the desert southwest and Mexico but after an especially wet winter, they have migrated north en masse. During the hurried return south this fall, their population has exploded. Fueled by favorable weather conditions and abundant food, they are churning across the American landscape like a cloud of orange smoke. This rare phenomenon is one of nature’s great spectacles, containing an air of mystery and unparalleled beauty. As for the beasts, we found the buffalo grazing peacefully on a steep hillside near the forest’s edge. At one time, more than a million of these impressive animals roamed without hinderance across the vast Great Plains. With their numbers gr