I couldn’t have asked for a nicer Valentine’s Day! My wonderful wife packed a picnic lunch, we left the house for Chatfield and were hiking along Plum Creek by 2:00. Right off the bat we were treated to a great horned owl, which we followed for a bit and were able to photograph at close range in three different trees.
We had lunch and decided to hike out to check for the porcupine in his usual area. I soon spotted him on the ground near his tree, Shina got a real kick out of watching me waddle down the snowy hill after the waddling porcupine.
We spent some time with the porcupine, then made a long loop through the flooded, now mostly frozen area of South Plum Creek, back to the truck. We decided to head home and drove out the west side of the park instead of going south, sure glad we did. As soon as we reached Catfish Flats we spotted two coyotes on the east side of the road. We soon realized that this was a male and female, and we were able to watch them hunting voles for the next half hour. They put on quite a show – at one point the male came to within 15 feet of the truck, crossed the road to check for prey in a culvert, then crossed back and followed alongside the truck for about half a mile. He caught a vole for the female coyote and presented it to her, which she gladly accepted, but when he tried to help himself to one that she had caught he was harshly scolded. The sun was setting as the couple retreated to the trees, a great end to a perfect day in the field!
