November 27, 2025: Bear Creek Greenbelt
This Thanksgiving I had already finished all of my cooking duties ahead of time, and so I decided I'd start the day by relaxing and revisiting my patch. I've been trying to rededicate myself to the greenbelt in recent months.
The birding was fairly standard - a lot of the familiar fall/winter birds are firmly in their routines by now: Dark-eyed Juncos and White-crowned Sparrows among them. I did spot what I believe was a dark-morph Red-tailed Hawk, which is uncommon enough to do a double-take. I don't believe it was a Harlan's Hawk, but it was gliding high above and away from the park.
I decided I'd check out some of the new trail system that was created south of the creek and west of Estes. There is a sizeable Black-tailed Prairie Dog colony here and they were making a lot of noise. I just assumed it was the usual chatter, but then I spotted a beautiful coyote on the far edge of the colony from where I was. She sized me up for a minute or two before picking up her prairie dog dinner and melting into the brush.
