Tour Estes Park

09/06/2026

A few plants observations today: wood rose-hip, false solomon's seal, wood horsetail

09/05/2026

I mentioned in my last post the bull elk bugle. It's a message to all adult elk, "Here I am and bring it!" Here's a video I shot late in last years rut. Turn up the volume if it won't bother anyone nearby 😆

09/04/2026

Over the next few weeks this herd of mama elk and their 4 month old calves (who are now mostly weaned) will be divided up by competing bulls into harems. A harem can consist of just a handful of cow elk to as many as a few dozen. Really as many as he can control. The dominant bulls will spend the next 60 days and nights fending off interlopers and breeding, with little time to sleep or eat, during the season called the rut. It can become quite dramatic though it's mostly bluster with occasional serious bouts of 800 lb bulls pushing and shoving but rarely with serious injuries. But always the bugle

09/02/2026

I took the day off to help the Estes Park Museum with a fundraiser and historic home tour. I was privileged to spend my time with Eric & Caprissa Frawley. They own and caretake the historic Boyd home built in 1905 on Elkhorn Ave then later moved to it's present location on Ramshorn Ave. It was pulled by horses in one piece on rolling logs about a mile up hill. James Boyd was so much more than the village blacksmith. He was instrumental in planning and building a town that would become world famous for beauty and hospitality

08/19/2026

So nice to have on tour previous guests from New Jersey who are now more than guests.... they're friends

08/18/2026

Bull elk shed their antlers in late winter which have fully grown back by now. The antler growth is spurred by capillaries within the skin covering them which we call velvet. Look closely and you'll see this bull is now shedding his velvet which is a bloody mess for but a day. It'll be stained brown soon by his activity and the tips will be polished white in time for the soon upcoming rut or breeding season

08/16/2026

08/14/2026

The National Park is still tagging moose with GPS collars designed to fall off after 5 years as the study moose behavior and their effect on the ecosystem. Got to watch rangers in action this morning on tour!

08/12/2026

Nice to see the fawns feeding themselves. They'll nurse if they can but mom will soon let them know it's time to fend for themselves. Since their birth in May they've already more than doubled in size.....