NATURE NOTES
FROM
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK

Things I've Noticed Lately

Too often during the coming months we will encounter the following questions from a hurried visitor—"What can I see in half a day?" Too often we will not stop to explain that half a day is altogether too brief a time to really see anything. Such a visitor is not especially desirous of seeing anything which brings me to this conclusion. Man is able to see a great deal in a short time if he looks for it—or he can see nothing in a long time if he is so inclined.

A few days ago I left the office for a couple of hours for the expressed purpose of seeing what I could find in that length of time. Nothing startling, but I assured myself that Nature was still functioning as usual. I saw—:

My first Audubon Warbler of the season flitting about the willows with his mate in the vicinity of Mary's Lake.

Wonderful beds of Pasque flowers in full bloom from 7,000 to 9,500 feet. They are painting the roadsides blue up beyond Longs Peak Inn.

A Picket Pin pausing before his burrow with mouth full of nesting material. Within a short time the inquisitive babies will poke their heads out into the sunlight,

The delicate wax-like blooms of Kinnikinnic showing themselves among the dark green foliage on the forest floor.

Pin-cushion Cacti in full bloom. This plant may be scorned by some but to me it bears one of the most beautiful flowers in the hills.

That the snowshoe Rabbits are rapidly turning from their white winter coat to the darker pelage of summer. Where did man get the idea that he invented the art of camouflage?

A few hardy Larkspurs putting forth their deep purple blossoms at the lower altitudes.

A marmot flattening himself to an almost unbelievable size on a pile of rocks in an attempt to escape my observation.

Scattered beds of Chiming Bells blooming on the south side of Moraine Park.

That the frogs are singing loudly all along the Thompson river above Tuxedo Park.

A Mourning Dove watching my approach from his station in a dead spruce, and then suddenly taking fright and wheeling away with that soft whirring sound.

That the cottagers in Moraine Park are going to arrive too late to enjoy the Capnoides and Chiming Bells which are now blooming profusely in their yards.

COLORADO BLUE SPRUCE
(courtesy Nature Magazine)