Foothills west of Denver, CO...various parks

[edesign]

Since these parks are free and only cost me gas to get to that's about all I've done since moving here...great exercise too, best shape I've been in in many years.

Only recently started flipping rocks in search of hidden "gems"...nothing too spectacular yet though.

Mount Galbraith...my most recent hike, some pics may appear underexposed as I was trying to compensate for the intense sunlight that day:

Environment pics

Parking lot is behind that ridge just off the highway

Golden, CO with Denver in the background

Where they make that nasty rustwater beer (imho) called Coors, I still plan on doing the tour just because :}

And now some live critter pics

Unknown flower...pretty though. My gf is the plant "expert", she's still learning the local fauna

Flowering "globe" cactus...that's what I call them anyway lol

Not flowering. Largest one we saw was about 7-8" in diameter...have not seen them at any other parks we have been too. Just the "prickly pears".

Some kind of Snapdragon?

Jumping spider...Phiddipus sp. probably, wouldn't stay still for a good pic up close, even jumped on my lens one time (I knew it would)

Found this lil girl under a 30-40 pound rock, quite unexpected actually but I had been noticing a bunch of Latrodectus style webs all over

About a quarter mile up the trail I was surprised to see another one but this time a good 12-16" above the ground working on it's latest prize, a small honey bee

Unknown lizard...I'm not a herp person, there was a lighter variation of this one around too.

Pseudoscorpion!!!! Had no clue they even lived here...surprised I even noticed it considering how small they are and I wasn't looking for them

Also next to the same rock as the pseudoscorpion was this ball of bubbles. I seem to recall some insect using this as protection but can't recall what it is. Doubt it's reptile related due to the very arid environment, we've heard frogs in other parks but they always had bodies of water around

I'll add more pics as I get bored... lol

 

[Triggerman73]

sooooo...thats where all the honey bees have been disappearing to....darn true spiders! haha

 

[edesign]

hahahaha...yeah, there were a fair amount out and about (bees). There's actually a good size nest on the walking/biking trail behind my apartment. I'm surprised nobody has reported it yet to have it destroyed. They're not Africanized bees as I've gotten almost right up to the hole in the tree and they have showed zero aggression.

 

[Triggerman73]

hahahaha...yeah, there were a fair amount out and about (bees). There's actually a good size nest on the walking/biking trail behind my apartment. I'm surprised nobody has reported it yet to have it destroyed. They're not Africanized bees as I've gotten almost right up to the hole in the tree and they have showed zero aggression.

thats good, well no harm to hikers no harm to bees should be the morale going through there. But the day an allergic to bees child gets to close to that tree and decides to throw something in there or stir the tree, the park will kill them all quicker than you can say pollinator(although those are very coincidental actions)

 

[edesign]

Meyer Open Space Park

my gf named this chipmunk "Nick"...

Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum...I smell critters!

Little wolf spider...little compared to what we had in south Louisiana

Some common millipede, find them all over the place...

Some butterfly...I don't know butterfly genus species to save my life. Quite common around 6000-7500' I've noticed.

Enjoying the view of Aspen Park and the Rockies beyond...

First time above 9000' (barely), felt so good! Air was very refreshing

A wood elf...wait, no, that's my gf lol. Last two pics were taken atop that rocky outcrop

Nothing that we hadn't seen at Deer Creek Canyon or Red Rocks here so I didn't take too many pics...

 

[Widowman10]

hey edesign, good shots!

the red flower is a pretty common paintbrush if your GF was wondering.
also, the jumper is probably an audax, they are common in the state.
and i've also found pseudo's here, unexpectedly! in black forest.
and of course i like the Latro shots

 

[edesign]

Thanks for the flower ID, I'll pass it on to her...do they come in multiple colors? She had found a similar looking (to me at least) flower but it was more of an orange color...her macro shots were way out of focus so I didn't post them, I'll have to help her practice to get some better pics.

In a way I like the fact that the bugs here are much smaller and less of a nuisance (I barely notice them) than in south Louisiana...on the other hand I miss the large arachnids and insects like the banana spiders, wolf spiders (often had 2-3" LS specimens on my back porch), and whatever else happened along lol.

 

[Widowman10]

i should say "indian paintbrush" to be a little more precise
they seem to come anywhere from red to orange.

and yes, in a way, the lack of bugs ROCK! we still have some pretty sweet critters, but we definitely lack the annoying bugs.

 

[TheDarkInfinity]

Awesome pics! Makes me homesick , I am from Confier, and am stuck in Hawaii... Lots of sweet bugs down in the Platte area! I had no idea we had Pseudoscorpion in Colorado. I have lived there for 21 years and never saw one!!

 

[arrowhd]

Great photos. Looks like fun.

 

[Noexcuse4you]

That looks like a nice place to be! Good thing I have a 24" monitor so I can see those ginormous pics! Great photos!

 

[edesign]

Good thing I have a 24" monitor so I can see those ginormous pics! Great photos!

lol...yeah, I resized them to 1600 X 1200 from somewhere around 2200+. They look great on my 50" monitor too :} I've seen photos posted where you can click them for full size but I don't know how to do that (is it a feature when you upload to AB's server?).

DarkInfinity, you're not the only one I've talked to here that did not know we had psuedoscorpions. I wasn't looking for them, just stumbled across it.

 

[Galapoheros]

Wow that's awesome! It makes me think of what the Big Bend area in Tx would look like with more water. Feels great to get out and hike around, helps to relax and get in shape like you said. Pretty cool!

 

[TheDarkInfinity]

Edesign, the other thing I have found on the front range is solifugids. They are small like the psuedoscorps, but I have found several of them. Do you think that the altitude and cold are a major reason that their size is so small?

 

[upwith inverts!]

Hah! I've been above 14,000 feet! Yeah, It rocks here though. I have these foothills literally 50 feet from my yard.

 

[edesign]

Edesign, the other thing I have found on the front range is solifugids. They are small like the psuedoscorps, but I have found several of them. Do you think that the altitude and cold are a major reason that their size is so small?

Could very well be as the bugs back in south Louisiana at 20-40' and hot, humid air are generally large lol. I don't know how efficient book lungs are compared to mammals but it does seem that higher elevations tend to support smaller forms of life over larger ones. Not to mention the cold tends to stunt growth.

Hah! I've been above 14,000 feet! Yeah, It rocks here though. I have these foothills literally 50 feet from my yard.

Lucky bastid! I will this summer or next winter...I love skiing, just too broke to go since I moved here. Working my way up to it...after living at sea level for so long my lungs have a long way to go to adapt

 

[Widowman10]

you'd be amazed at how quickly your body adapts.