Today’s Word of the Day (WOTD) is a portmanteau. That means it’s a combination or blending of two other words. But first, today’s hike: South Valley Park in Deer Creek Canyon, with some wildlife shots of nesting pairs thrown in for good measure.
Deer Creek Canyon Road is a narrow two-lane blacktop without much of a berm that is favored by road bikers seeking a Darwin Award. I was there around sunrise today, so most bikers were apparently just waking up. I on the other hand had already been up for hours, already had my coffee, and was ready to hit the trail in South Valley Park just across the way from the Lockheed Martin facility.
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Early summer is nesting season for many bird species, so it was not surprising to see nesting pairs of bald eagles patrolling lush grassy fields for rabbits which are plentiful this year, and egrets patrolling ponds for a breakfast of fish which I assume must also be plentiful this year, though I’m no fisherman. There was also a pair of State Patrol vehicles parked about 100 yards from each other near the intersection of Wadsworth and Deer Creek Canyon Road. I assume they were patrolling for speeders late for work at Lockheed Martin, since they both had radar guns out. I won’t comment on whether the cops were yet another example of Mother Nature’s nesting pairs. You can draw your own conclusions.
The combination of Coyote Song Trail and Swallow Trail in South Valley Park makes for a 3-mile loop from the South to the North parking lot and back. A word about trail names is in order here. Although I used to hear coyotes from time to time in our neck of the woods, they’ve been silent for a couple of years now. I’ve got to assume they’re still thriving somewhere, probably further up in the mountains where I can’t hear them.
As for swallows, they were out in force today, clearing the air of bugs around the ponds, swooping and diving and having a grand old time. In any case, they are definitely thriving, though I wasn’t able to capture any photos of them because they rarely slowed down enough to be anything but a blur. Lucky for me, the wildflowers were much more cooperative when it came to standing still for having their portrait taken.
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A hiker I passed was stopped by the ponds admiring the egrets. This woman had two hiking poles which was a sure tip-off that she (unlike me) was a Senior Citizen. The terrain in this part of the world is not all that steep, so most hikers don’t need any poles at all. But hey, who am I to judge? Maybe she was a bit long in the tooth, as my dad used to say. Anyway, we struck up a conversation about egrets and eagles, and bobcats and bears. And then she said something that surprised me.
“I’m moving to Wyoming. Fewer tourons up there.”
“Fewer WHAT?”
“Tourons. It’s a portmanteau of tourists and morons. People who live in Wyoming are used to the wind, but it does tend to blow most of the tourons downrange.” I wasn’t sure which I was more impressed by, the fact that she was moving to Wyoming, or the fact that she knew what a portmanteau was.
“Ha. I’ll keep my eyes peeled for tourons. And good luck on your move.”
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Hmmmm.
I wonder if tourons come in nesting pairs?
You know, like egrets and eagles and
State Police?
During my time at Colorado State I learned that Wyoming and morons go together like peas and carrots.