[cobirds] Mtn Shadows Fire

I would assume we have quite a few birding areas in peril of late?

Thanks Gary Lefko, Nunn

Yeah, another birding site aflame: my vantage point on the Dakota Sandstone ridge above Mountain Shadows, on Colorado Springs' Westside, where i do my impromptu COS Hawkwatch. 

Everything between the scar and there, and below it was scorched.  It had been mostly oak and some pines. Now just stumps.  Not sure how the raptors nesting in the canyons have done. Most famous were the Golden Eagles that nested in the now infamous Queens Canyon for many years.  I hope I'll be able to get back in there next spring. That was Flying W Ranch property, and that ceased to exist yesterday.  Maybe the scorching won't affect migrant raptor paths.

On a happier note - this morning I was able to find a vantage point on The Mesa where I could see that my house is still standing in the lower elevations of Mountain Shadows. Thank you to the 120+ firetrucks and crews that were there at dawn this morning saving the vast majority of houses.

And another area - Pine Valley on the Air Force Academy where I taught high school biology and environmental science, and where we erected 85 bluebird houses, and have been monitoring them for 25 years.   That area is under evacuation, and there is currently a small fire in the upper reaches of the canyon, along W Monument Creek.

Thankfully,

Steve Brown,

Colorado Springs

soon to return to Mountain Shadows.