Never a Dull Moment

tanjabrittonwriter 66 Comments

It has taken me some time to learn that it’s best for my mental health to set out on a nature walk without any preconceived notions or expectations. While some birders are predominantly chasers, who look only for new or rare species to add to their life list, many more simply sally forth to explore an area to see what birds might be out and about, or what other fun encounters might be in the air (or in the water, or on the ground), and I belong mostly to the latter group. I’m not beyond chasing, especially when I have the opportunity to meet a bird for the first time in my life, but in the vast majority of my outings, I simply keep my eyes and ears open to the world around me.

When I visit Garden of the Gods on this sunny but breezy February day, I suspect that the wind will keep avian activity at bay. I am proven right and don’t get a glimpse of the hoped-for Prairie Falcons who make their home in the steep red cliffs of our local landmark (which also happens to be a National Natural Landmark, one of sixteen in Colorado). I have seen falcons here before, but months have passed since my last sighting. A few ravens follow their inscrutable trajectories in the sky, with destinations known only to themselves. Robins and solitaires feed on juniper berries, and the resident Rock Pigeons* wheel through the firmament before alighting on a ledge in the lee of a vertical slab of stone, seeking refuge from the gusts. By living in this spectacularly rocky realm, these pigeons are true to their name.

To enlarge a photo, click on it. To read its caption, hover your cursor over it.

Central Garden
Pikes Peak seen from the Garden
True Rock Pigeons*
American Robin

My earthbound trajectory passes through a parking lot. When I behold a number of fellow park visitors with cameras poised, I know they have made an exciting discovery. A boulder blocks my view, but when I clear it, I can understand the reason for the cluster of photographers, as well as the traffic jam on the road, with passengers leaning out of their car windows, smartphones at the ready.

It took me years of searching before I finally found my first local herd of Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis), a joyful occasion some of you might remember from a previous blog post, where I also explain how the errant ancestors of these imposing animals ended up in the foothills of the Rockies, which is not their natural habitat.

Not having had the good luck of running into them for a year or two, today I’m very happy to join the growing crowd of admirers. The herbivores graze on the dry grasses next to the road, but the mounting commotion convinces their leader and his all-male retinue to leap across a fence to a rocky, more remote hillside, where they continue their meal.

Bighorn Sheep next to the road
Bighorn Sheep on a slope next to the road
Bellwether
Close-up of the bellwether, showing the details of his impressive horns

As I continue on my path, I’m grateful for another reminder that there is never a dull moment in nature, if only I remain open to what she has to offer.

PS: A note about Rock Pigeons. According to Cornell’s Birds of he World: “Introduced to North America in the early 17th-century by colonists who brought domestic pigeons to Atlantic coast settlements, the Rock Pigeon (formerly the Rock Dove) is now feral and lives broadly on the continent. Wild Rock Pigeons, native to Europe, North Africa, and western, southwestern, west-central, and southern Asia, gave rise to domestics as a result of artificial selection by humans. Domestics readily go feral, and have done so widely throughout the world.”

66 thoughts on “Never a Dull Moment”

  4. I agree totally. Nature is about the big picture, about appreciating the commonplace as well as rarities. All living things, and landscapes, are worthy of our attention. Having said that, I love to see Bighorn Sheep, and particularly like your close-up portrait of the head honcho.

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    • You are so right when you say “all living things, including landscapes, are worthy of our attention.” Sometimes I’m upset with myself if I fall back into the pattern of wanting to see a particular bird and being disappointed when I don’t, even though are were so many others to appreciate and enjoy. I think it’s a human trait and it reasserts itself on occasion, but then I have to remind myself of the errors of my ways. 😊

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  5. Like you, Tanja, I often set out without a plan these days and just remain open to whatever the day and path have to offer. What a gorgeous and dramatic part of the world you live in, and those sheep are real head turners.

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    • Thank you, Michael. I’ m thankful to live in such a spectacular setting and to get spoiled with sightings such as these. Seeing Bighorn Sheep is by no means a regular occurrence, and it’s always appreciated. The rewards of being present without preconceived notions are great indeed.

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  7. Very nice photos. We enjoyed Garden of the Gods on our last visit. However, we were only treated with a single bighorn. Stunning nonetheless. Thanks for sharing.

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  8. You bet! Wonderful post. Being open to what is around you is the best way to experience just about anything. Those rock pigeons look exactly like the ones we have wheeling through our little town. Are they the same species, do you think? Also, the swirl of the horns of the bighorn sheep reminds me of the swirl of mountain rock.

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    • Thank you, Laurie. Nature has so much to offer and it’s my loss if I limit myself to looking for only one entity.
      I also admired those swirls in the sheeps’ horns, and your comparison to mountain rock is very apt.
      Your Rock Pigeons are the same as ours, and all are derived from domestic, introduced birds. According to Cornell’s Birds of he World: “Introduced to North America in the early 17th-century by colonists who brought domestic pigeons to Atlantic coast settlements, the Rock Pigeon (formerly the Rock Dove) is now feral and lives broadly on the continent. Wild Rock Pigeons, native to Europe, North Africa, and western, southwestern, west-central, and southern Asia, gave rise to domestics as a result of artificial selection by humans. Domestics readily go feral, and have done so widely throughout the world.”

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  11. Your caption “True Rock Pigeons” implies others that are non-true: what are those?

    Like you, I mostly head out into nature not knowing what I’ll find but confident, based on experience, that I’ll find something. Nature rarely disappoints.

    You mentioned “park visitors with cameras poised.” When strangers pass near me outdoors and see that I’m wielding a camera, the most common assumption they make is that I’m looking for birds—even when the lens on my camera at the time is short and not suited for bird photography. The next most common assumption is that I’m looking for some other sort of animal. Almost no one seems to think I might be interested in plants or rocks. Have you observed that hierarchy, too?

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    • I agree that Nature rarely disappoints, even though what humans have done to Nature can be disappointing, if not devastating, to witness.

      My use of the term “true Rock Pigeons” was an attempt to suggest that some Rock Pigeons still–or once again–live on rocks, like their ancestors. All the Rock Pigeons we see on this continent are feral forms of formerly domesticated pigeons. According to Cornell’s Birds of he World: “Introduced to North America in the early 17th-century by colonists who brought domestic pigeons to Atlantic coast settlements, the Rock Pigeon (formerly the Rock Dove) is now feral and lives broadly on the continent. Wild Rock Pigeons, native to Europe, North Africa, and western, southwestern, west-central, and southern Asia, gave rise to domestics as a result of artificial selection by humans. Domestics readily go feral, and have done so widely throughout the world.”

      I think people’s assumptions about what I take photos of differ dependent on the situation. If I’m by myself and people see that I’m wearing binoculars, in addition to my camera, they usually suspect that I’m out looking for birds. If I run into a group of people taking photos or videos with mostly smart phones, they typically are looking at something bigger than birds, which was the case here.

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  12. Good morning, Tanja! Thank you for sharing such lovely images. It is always a pleasure to see a landscape so very different from our own. Not to mention the inhabitants of such a landscape!

    “Becoming lost” in Nature is our favorite pastime! Some scientific principle is surely at work as we have discovered the more we look – the more we see.

    Enjoy your new week.
    See you out there.

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    • Thank you, Wally. Nature is far too diverse and multifaceted to pigeonhole it (bad pun intended 😊). Once I started looking for birds, I realized how much I had missed before, when I was simply walking or running through a landscape, including other critters and plants. I know I still miss a lot, and all I want is to become more alert and conscious to what surrounds me.
      So let’s keep looking–and listening!

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  16. I began roaming with my camera in 2015. Since then, there hasn’t been a day that I haven’t found something of interest as I roamed. My initial interest was flowers, but insects, birds, and even lichen-covered rocks soon made clear nature’s rich variety. I sometimes describe my approach as that of the bear who went over the mountain; I go out to see what I can see. I learned the song when I was about three years old, but its wisdom never has failed me.

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    • I like your bear approach, Linda. Not knowing the song you alluded to, I looked it up. The tune was familiar, of course, but not the words.
      Like you, I have learned that nature always holds something special in store if I simply put myself out there with an open mind. We are fortunate to be able to do so.

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  17. What a wonderful sighting! I will not deny I scan the roadsides like a determined Cylon when we pass through that country in the rare hopes of spotting this magnificent animal (yep, even takes precedence over my precious birds ha). That is a rather large specimen you captured – do they tag a lot of bighorns out there?

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    • Thank you, Brian. These sheep always draw a crowd when they are out and about and it’s easy to see why.
      This population of sheep is tagged because of where they live, which is not where they would usually be found (their ancestors landed here by accident in the 1940s, when a trailer that was relocating them broke down and they escaped). Their numbers are monitored and when the herd gets too large, some of the animals are relocated to higher mountain terrains. I don’t know if they are tagged in other areas to monitor their populations.

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  19. Thank you for sharing these beautiful images of the wildlife of an area that I may never see, but can enjoy through your posts. And I think your approach of simply going out to see what’s there, rather than worrying about finding something particular, is one that makes a happy outing much more likely.

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  21. Congratulations on another Bighorn sighting, Tanja. It’s true that we all need to spend more time in nature when we can. I’ll admit that most days I do start out with some idea of where I might go and what I might photograph but I am always open to change and responding to what is presented. Often what I had visualized doesn’t come to fruition but there almost always is something else to discover and enjoy.
    While I am not a birder and do not chase specific things, I do understand the draw people feel for rarities. Right now in Maine is a Steller’s Sea Eagle from Russia. Last year it appeared for the first time and drew thousands to see it. It’s back again this year and no doubt will again draw swarms. Quite a number of years ago we had a rare visitation by a Great Gray Owl that had people driving up here from all along the eastern coast. I only had to drive two miles. 🙂

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    • I haven’t traveled across state lines to chase a rare bird, even though I have dreamed about it. To be able to see a Steller’s Sea Eagle and a Great Gray Owl is definitely something special. I’m glad the owl was so close that you only had to travel two miles to see it!
      There is nothing wrong with having an expectation about what we might find during our nature walks. The more time we spent out-of-doors during different seasons, the more informed and refined our expectations become. And new sightings will keep stoking the flames and keep us going out. But if I keep an open mind, I will usually not be disappointed, even if my expectations are.

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  23. Tanja –
    Big Horn Sheep are such beautiful creatures. I love your pictures. I was lucky to see them at Valley of Fire State Park a couple years ago. I could watch them for hours. Thank you so much for sharing your exciting experience! -Jill

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    • Thanks for stopping by and for commenting. It’s always special to run into members of this heard of Bighorn Sheep. And because they live inside a busy park, they are often very close to people, so that one doesn’t even have to use the long lens.

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