December 25, 2008

Christmas Walk in the Mason Gulch Burn


Looking SE into the Mason Gulch Burn (July 2005).M. and I went for a walk in the Mason Gulch Burn today. It was a sort of "edge day" for weather -- a storm to the west, clear skies to the east, and us right on the boundary. Part of the time it was sunny, while at other times fingers of snow squalls reached for us, and the skies clouded over, as in this photo.
Mule deer in Babcock HoleThese mule deer does were feeding back in the shadows ... ... and so were some little dinosaurs, a/k/a wild turkeys. Me, I wonder if Santa might have a better telephoto lens left over in his bag.

3 comments:

Beverly said...

Happy Holiday, Chas...

Lovely photos there! And, I have a question for you. What does Colorado DO with a burn area? Do you know if they will leave well-enough alone so that birds can enjoy it? Please tell me they won't go and try to cut down every single snag!

Beverly

Chas S. Clifton said...

Aside from some private cutting of easy-to-reach standing dead trees for firewood, I have not seen much happening at this end of the burn, which totals more than 11,000 acres.

There may have been some aerial grass seeding, I forget. But I think the standing dead trees on the higher and steeper slopes will be left alone until the wind blows them down. Some of them are already blown down.

Anonymous said...

Beverly,

If they do as they've done at other burns, they'll let nature do it's course, wtih some very minor cutting. I've spent a lot of time in the Snaking Fire burn, and they've left all of it alone. Probably the same with Hayman. You should see all the green and small aspens coming up in those areas. The deer are loving it!