After my recent locomote to beaches too coastal wetlands of the Southeastern U.S., I idea I would take in Coastal Colorado today, a term I accept previously applied to the lakes, gravel pits, sloughs too canals across the South Platte Valley of northeastern Colorado.
Unlike the Southeastern wetlands, those of the South Platte Valley are non characterized past times lush, verdant vegetation. Rather, inward this semiarid climate, trees (mostly plains cottonwoods) are constitute exclusively along the river, its top dog tributaries or irrigation canals. Since this summertime has been specially hot too dry, the natural grasslands accept browned, adorned exclusively past times clumps of prairie sunflowers too rabbitbrush. Though I saw hundreds (if non thousands) of American white pelicans (especially at Barr Lake State Park), close avian species were express inward number; amid these were Swainson's hawks, American kestrels, western grebes, cattle egrets, Franklin's gulls, American avocets too shorebirds that were also distant to identify.
I accept been visiting this percentage inward slowly summertime for to a greater extent than than 30 years, enjoying the mosaic of shortgrass prairie, cropfields too ranchlands that surroundings the river, lakes too wetlands. In recent years, however, fracking wells too fossil oil storage tanks accept begun to dominate the scene inward approximately areas too i wonders what comport on they volition accept on the lineament of the H2O too the welfare of the aquatic ecosystems.
Unlike the Southeastern wetlands, those of the South Platte Valley are non characterized past times lush, verdant vegetation. Rather, inward this semiarid climate, trees (mostly plains cottonwoods) are constitute exclusively along the river, its top dog tributaries or irrigation canals. Since this summertime has been specially hot too dry, the natural grasslands accept browned, adorned exclusively past times clumps of prairie sunflowers too rabbitbrush. Though I saw hundreds (if non thousands) of American white pelicans (especially at Barr Lake State Park), close avian species were express inward number; amid these were Swainson's hawks, American kestrels, western grebes, cattle egrets, Franklin's gulls, American avocets too shorebirds that were also distant to identify.
I accept been visiting this percentage inward slowly summertime for to a greater extent than than 30 years, enjoying the mosaic of shortgrass prairie, cropfields too ranchlands that surroundings the river, lakes too wetlands. In recent years, however, fracking wells too fossil oil storage tanks accept begun to dominate the scene inward approximately areas too i wonders what comport on they volition accept on the lineament of the H2O too the welfare of the aquatic ecosystems.
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