Let The Bugling Begin!

It's that time of year when we head into the mountains to see some golden aspens and hear the bugle of the bull elks as they round up their 'harem' of cows. Why do bull elks bugle? During the September-October mating season, bull elk stage their own passion play of sorts. The characteristic rutting call of bulls can be heard from just before dusk to dawn. We head to Rocky Mountain National Park to view these elegant creatures as they have come down from high country to participate in this annual ritual. It's a cold and rainy day as we drive along the parkways looking for the gathering of these small 'harems'. . This is one elk that is 'bugling' his mating call to warn off the nearby waiting younger bulls.Frankly, these two younger males do not stand a chance with this regal bull with his large rack of antlers. During the winter months when grass is not plentiful the elks will eat the bark from the aspen trees. Here you can see the scarred aspens.
The higher we drove into the park, our rainy day turned to a snowy day! What a treat to see those lovely large snow flakes dropping from the cloudy sky. The temp also dropped to 32 and snow was sticking to trees, ground and unwarmed surfaces.
Back on the plains, we stopped in the small town of Niwot where we ventured into the local coffee shop for some liquid refreshments.
Riding the back seat offers the opportunity to do some knitting and work was done on fingerless gloves, Full o' Win Mitts. Photo to follow on next blog--want to tie up the loose ends and find some nice hands to model!