The Red Morph

The Red Morph

The Eastern Screech owl in an owl no bigger than a pint glass. Common east of the Rockies in woods, suburbs, and parks, the Eastern Screech-Owl is found wherever trees are, and they’re even willing to nest in backyard nest boxes. These supremely camouflaged birds hide out in nooks and tree crannies through the day, so train your ears and listen for them at night.
Eastern Screech-Owls can be either mostly gray or mostly reddish-brown (rufous). Whatever the overall color, they are patterned with complex bands and spots that give the bird excellent camouflage against tree bark. Eyes are yellow. In the Western edge of its range, rufous owls account for only about 15% of the population so they are extremely rare out here in Colorado.

While the Grey Morph is more predictable and easier to find, the Red Morph is very elusive. We only see the Red Morph about 1 in 15 times that we see the Grey Morph, and we only see the Grey Morph about 50% of the time so you do the math.

The Red Morph lives to sit near a Juniper tree about 50 yards East of where the Grey Morph lives to sit. It can mostly be seen near sunset when it becomes more active and begins to hunt.

I was fortunate enough to see the Red Morph hunting. What a great day that was.

The Red Morph in the Grey Morph hole

Can you see me? I can see you.

My Favorite Spot Along the River

My favorite spot along the Poudre River

The entire length along the river is beautiful. In fact, the Cache la Poudre River, also known as the Poudre, is Colorado's only federally designated Wild and Scenic River. This designation applies to a 76-mile section of the river, starting from the headwaters in Rocky Mountain National Park and extending downstream.

The Cache la Poudre River got its name from French trappers who, during a severe blizzard, buried some of their gunpowder along the riverbank. The name, which translates to "hide the powder," is a French phrase signifying where the powder was hidden. This event occurred sometime between 1824 and 1835, with the most accepted version being that the trappers, led by William Ashley or another fur trading company, were traveling north and were caught in a snowstorm, forcing them to lighten their load. To-date, the cache has not been found.

Every time we walk along the river I come by this spot because it's always changing with the seasons. During Winter, the log is covered with snow and ice and the river meanders underneath. During the Spring run-off, the river covers most of the tree and only a small part can be seen.

Just out of view on the right the river gets deeper and forms a swimming hold of sorts and during the Summer, many families picnic in this area and enjoy the cool water of the river on a hot Summer's day.

If you're in town, remind me to take you for a walk by my favorite spot on the river.

Cattails

Cattails

 As short walk along the Poudre Trail from Lee Martinez Park, just past the Eastern Screech Owl's usual spot you'll come across a chorus of Cattails.

I was fortunate enough to wander by during Golden Hour when the Cattails were backlit by the setting sun.

Often times this area is marshy and many birds such as Redwing Blackbirds, Chickadees, Chickadees, and other songbirds can be seen here.

Linden Street Lights

 

Linden Street Lights

The Linden Street Renovation project turns Linden Street between Jefferson and Walnut Street into a “convertible street"—a roadway that can be closed to vehicular and bicycle traffic and transformed into a pedestrian gathering space during special events.

To accomplish this, the City planned significant urban design and landscaping improvements, gateway elements, roadway/pedestrian improvements, and utility improvements. The conceptual design phase was completed in 2014 and the final design was completed in 2019.

Construction was originally planned for 2020, with the entire project built at once. However, due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the City postponed construction and ultimately broke the project into two phases. This was done in part to mitigate as much disruption as possible to the business community.

With construction and modifications to Linden Street now complete, it stands ready to serve as a convertible street.

Summer Time

Summer Time

Old Town during Summer is a beautiful place. The city plants colorful flowers everywhere and they seem to always be in bloom. But all this doesn't just happen on a whim. This is very carefully orchestrated project every year and is a part of the City Budget.

The City of Fort Collins Parks Department is proud runs the Flourishing FoCo, Downtown Flower Project. The Parks Department works diligently to provide and maintain the flower beds in Downtown Fort Collins. The beautiful and memorable displays take a great deal of planning, partnerships with local organizations, sustainable and environmentally friendly efforts, and provide a sense of place to the Fort Collins community.

Planning, Sourcing, and Design

The Downtown Flower Project is refreshed annually with the thoughtful care and consideration of the Parks Department Horticulture Team. The Horticulture Team works diligently to plan the flower beds throughout the downtown Fort Collins area, they source specific flowers and plants from local growers, and expertly design all flower beds and pots.

About 45,000 flowers and greenery are planted each summer by Parks staff, and placed throughout Downtown Fort Collins.

The Downtown Flower Project is funded through a partnership between the City of Fort Collins and the Downtown Development Authority (DDA).

• Annual flowers in Old Town Square are funded through a partnership with the DDA. Two-thirds of the funding comes from the DDA, and one-third from the City of Fort Collins Parks Department.
• Annual flowers in enhanced downtown alleys are funded by the DDA.
• Annual flowers in downtown public right-of-way such as Linden Street, College Avenue, Oak Street Plaza, and downtown side streets are funded through the City of Fort Collins Parks Department.
• Flowers are sourced locally from nearby greenhouse, Plantorium. A few common species of flowers included in displays are Dahlias, Petunias, Coleus, Calibrachoa, Petchoa, Zinnia, Strawflower, Canna, Verbena, and Gomphrena.

The Parks Department collaborates with Colorado State University’s Horticulture and Landscape Architecture team to select the best varieties of plants. Each season, staff from the Parks Department visit the nearby Annual Flower Trial Garden and choose flowers that are grown for optimum performance in Colorado’s climate. Learn more about the Annual Flower Trial Garden

The Horticulture Team follows the design principle, Thrill, Fill, and Spill on each flower pot. "Thrill" indicates the larger, showstopping plants in the center of the pot. "Fill" points to the plants that help fill out the center and provide structure for the overall design. Then, "Spill" showcases the plants that make up the edge of the design and expand past the perimeter of the flower pot.

Most plants in the Downtown Flower Project are grown in Ellepots. Ellepots are plant holders made from environmentally-friendly paper, suitable for propagation.

Ellepots eliminate excess plastic containers, allow plants to take root more quickly, and reduce staff time required for planting.

Sustainabillity

From water usage to compost efforts and everything in between, the Parks Department ensures every possible effort is as sustainably friendly as possible.

The Parks Department mixes Hazel Dell Mushroom Compost into each and every flower bed in the Downtown area. The compost is derived from a mushroom substrate, primarily hardwood sawdust. The best news is that there's no manure so Downtown Fort Collins is left smelling fresh and clean.

Smell something chocolatey in Downtown Fort Collins? It might be the mulch in the flower beds! Each bed is filled with a mixture of cacao husks which act as a fantastic all natural fertilizer.

Almost all plants you see in Downtown Fort Collins are grown in an Ellepot. Ellepots cut back on plastic and are a completely natural and biodegradable container for growing seedlings into the beautiful plants you see today.

Also, all plastic trays and containers that are used for plant delivery are returned to Plantorium after initial planting.

At the end of the flowering season, approximately 20,000 pounds of plant material is composted each year.

The Parks Department's expertise of water efficiency results in a healthy and thriving plant environment in Downtown Fort Collins. With several key combined factors including - the development of soil structure and health, the fertilization process, and the daily care via deadheading, pruning, and weeding - plants are provided with the appropriate water they need to thrive in the Downtown Fort Collins environment.

All in-ground flower beds throughout Downtown Fort Collins have been converted to a drip irrigation system. Drip irrigation delivers water directly to the roots of the plant, eliminating overspray and reducing water loss.

When someone comes to visit Fort Collins, where do you take them? Downtown of course!
While wandering downtown you'll notice a strong resemblance to Disneyland's Main Street USA - we’re proud to say that it is modeled after our very own Downtown Fort Collins. The alleys have European-style walkways with potted flowers and lighting to make the experience beautiful. Streets a lined with nature including stunning flower beds and trees most of which are maintained by the Parks Department. 

The sense of place and community-centeredness provided by the Downtown Flower Project is part of what makes Fort Collins so beautiful and memorable.

Flowers attract all sorts of pollinators through their vibrant colors, distinct scents, and various shapes. Insects, birds, butterflies, bats, and bees are common pollinators we see frequenting the flower beds of Downtown Fort Collins.

Aside from the pollinator communities that visit the flowers, thousands of people frequent the 500+ shops and restaurants of Downtown Fort Collins every summer. The flowers are a special and welcome addition to those enjoying the Downtown area.

In the background of this photo you can see the old Firehouse. The Fort Collins firehouse, now home to Old Firehouse Books and Happy Lucky's Teahouse, has a rich history as the original fire station for the city. Built in 1882, it housed both the Fort Collins Hook and Ladder Company and the Collins Hose Company, which merged to form the Fort Collins Volunteer Fire Department in 1888. The building also served as the police department, jail, and city hall at various times. It transitioned to a full-time, paid fire station in 1915 and was expanded several times.

Tenney Court Alley

Tenney Court Alley

In 2004, the Fort Collins Downtown Strategic Plan identified as a "pedestrian strategy," a concept to integrate pedestrian infrastructure by dramatically enhancing alleyways that connect prominent destinations such as parking structures and Old Town Square Plaza. As a result, in 2006 the DDA funded and constructed the Trimble Court Alley and Tenney Court Alley improvements. These alley improvements integrated urban design features that significantly enhanced the visual pedestrian experience, improved safety and cleanliness, stimulated businesses to build storefronts opening to the alleys, and provided the framework and template for future alley enhancements in the Downtown.

Located just off of Mountain Ave., Tenney Court is vibrant with colorful murals. Chris Bates' "Hard to Leave" highlights things that make Fort Collins unique. Armando Silva created "Colores de la Comunidad", a beautiful mural that captures stories of the indigenous peoples that migrated to the Fort Collins area. Tenney Court is a great shortcut to the Civic Center Parking Garage and has entrances to Clothes, Pony, and Dandelion Toys, Snooze and Gilded Goat Brewery's Taproom.

I took this picture one night a few Summers ago when I decided to photograph some of the Alleys in Downtown. Interestingly while I was there with Jannis at about 9:30pm we heard a loud voice behind us saying "Have you even met a first born son of Fort Collins. We turned to see this old man about 80 years old walking toward us. He introduced himself as Dr. Ed Siegel and we all struck up a conversation. As it turned out, he owns a few buildings in town and one of them is Jannis' favorite. It's an old Art Deco storefront that appeared to be an old clothing store called "Julian's".

Ed offered to show us around the store and told us to follow him back to the store. So we walk with him down another alley and he approaches what I surmised to be the backdoor of the store. Are we about to get killed by the town serial killer I thought to myself. As we entered the store from the back, the first thing we see is a Grand Piano in the back of the retail space and a number of rows of chairs setup as if it were a small concert hall. Ed asked if we wanted to hear him play the piano and that he could play any song we wanted. We took him up on that offer and he started banging out every tune we mentioned. Ed explained that he has had this ability to play any sone he heard since the age of 4. After a fun evening getting to know Ed and listening to his piano playing, we realized it was 11:30pm and we had better call it a night. We bid farewell to Ed, but not before trading phone numbers.

The next day Ed texted us and asked if we wanted to go on a road trip in a "Classic Car". But, that's as story for another day.

The Grey Morph

 

The Grey Morph

The first time we came across this little fellow was completely by chance. Jannis was riding her bike along the Poudre Trail and she came across several people looking up into a tree. She stopped to ask what they were looking at and they showed her the owl. She texted me very excited to tell me she saw the own and when she got home she showed me a very blurry picture on her iPhone. I asked her where it was and she said there were a bunch of people there and if I went back I wouldn’t miss it. So I grabbed my camera gear and headed the 2 miles to the spot on the trail she mentioned. As I approached, sure enough I saw the small crowd so I knew exactly where to look.  Little did I know that this would be the first of dozens and dozens of time we would see this little owl.

So what kind of owl is this you may ask? This is an Eastern Screech Owl. The Eastern Screech Owl is a small but formidable predator, a master of camouflage and a quiet sentinel of the night. With its compact, stocky frame and large, round head adorned with subtle ear tufts, this owl blends effortlessly into the bark of trees, making it nearly invisible during the day. Found across wooded areas of the eastern and central United States, including parts of Colorado, it thrives in forests, parks, and even suburban neighborhoods.

Eastern Screech Owls come in two main color morphs—reddish-brown and grey—both patterned with intricate streaks and spots that mimic the texture of tree bark. Their bright yellow eyes seem to glow in the dim light, filled with an intensity that belies their small size. Despite being only about 6 to 10 inches tall, they are fearless hunters, preying on insects, small mammals, birds, and even amphibians with remarkable precision.

At dusk, their presence is revealed not by sight but by sound. Rather than a traditional “hoot,” they emit a soft, eerie trill or a descending whinny-like call, a sound both haunting and beautiful as it drifts through the trees. Their calls bring a sense of mystery to the night, a reminder that even in the darkness, life stirs and watches from the shadows.

These owls are fiercely adaptable, thriving in both deep forests and backyard trees, often nesting in hollow cavities or old woodpecker holes. Whether perched silently against a tree trunk or gliding unseen through the night, the Eastern Screech Owl is a symbol of quiet resilience, an elusive yet ever-present guardian of the twilight hours.

We have only seen two Grey Morphs together once

6 minute drive then a 5 minute walk from here