Little House on the Praire

Taken north and a little east of Fort Morgan, Colorado. The house looks like a likely home for barn owls.

Volunteer Sunflowers

This field of sunflowers are actually "volunteers" that came up in the stubble from the year before. They were thick enough to be harvested. This shot was taken outside Weldona, Colorado in the summer of 2008.

Fall Foliage

The plains cottonwood, Populus deltoides sargentii, is the largest of two native tree species in eastern Colorado and provides the riparian zone with the bulk of its fall colors.

TENDING HIS FLOCK

Many of the professional sheep herders in Colorado are Basques who work from camper trailers and, with plenty of assistance from trained dogs, move their flocks from one field or range to the next.

A MILE WIDE AND AN INCH DEEP

It's not much as rivers go, but it is the life blood of most of the agriculture in northeast Colorado. The South Platte River's waters are diverted and recharged into the river over and over before the river flows into Nebraska at Julesburg.

ARROYO IN WILDCAT CANYON

Wildcat Canyon is a shallow canyon cut by Wildcat Creek. The side arroyos are strewn with rabbitbrush, buckbrush, and sandsage and support mule deer and desert cottontails.

CANFIELD SLOUGH

The South Platte River runs as much underground as above. Along its length the water seeps back to the surface every few miles and runs parallel before rejoining the river. Many sloughs acquire heat from below ground and stay open all winter.

CHARTIER'S POND REFLECTION

This beautiful little pond is on the Larry Chartier Farm adjacent to Brush State Wildlife Area on the south side of the South Platte River. The property is open to the public on a conservation easement.

FALL PRAIRIE IN MORGAN COUNTY

The golds of freshly ripened grasses are accented by yellow rabbitbrush and late season sunflowers.

GEESE AT PAWNEE POWER STATION

The 140 acre manmade lake that supplies cooling water to the Xcel Energy coal-fired generation plant is a refuge for thousands of fall and winter geese of five species. The flock in the foreground appear to be mostly Canada and cackling geese, but there a

LONELY WINTER ROAD IN MORGAN COUNTY

A view of the western horizon from a ridge south of Fort Morgan. 14,00'+ Long's Peak shows on the horizon.

OPEN CORN PILE

The weather is so dry and the humidity is so low in northeast Colorado that farmers who intend to use their corn crop to feed stock sometimes leave it piled in the open right through the winter.

POWDER RIVER COAL HEADING FOR THE FRONT RANGE

Much of the electrical power for the inland West comes from coal. Power plants along the Colorado Front Range, in New Mexico, and even El Paso, Texas are supplied with coal from northeastern Wyoming's Powder River Basin via the Burlington Northern-Santa F

PRAIRIE WINDMILL

The little pond beneath this windmill is a magnet for passing shorebirds. I've seen spotted and solitary sandpipers, long-billed dowitchers and greater yellowlegs at this spot.

PREDAWN FARM ON ROAD 25

I pass this scene on my way to work every morning. It's a rough commute!

SUGAR REFINERY AT DUSK

The Western Sugar plant in Fort Morgan operates about 4 months a year and refines white sugar from sugar beets grown in the region.

SUNSET BEHIND THE SUGAR PLANT

It's one of the few plants left that burns coal without treating the emissions. According to the Bush Administration it doesn't pollute if you average the 4 months of emissions over the twelve months in a year. Georgie and Dick should live downwind for a

WINDMILL NEAR SNYDER