Delta coaches Luis Meza, center, and Clayton Curtis congratulate 152-pound senior Hunter Brasfield after an upset win sent him into the 4A Region 4 semifinals.
Hotchkiss senior Joe Boyle controls Ruben Chagoya of Basalt to win a 3A Region 1 title. He is one of 7 Hotchkiss state qualifiers.
Hotchkiss and Paonia boys will square off this week on the basketball courts. Both are 6-4 in league play.
Delta senior Brooke Taylor scores two of her 12 points against Summit after grabbing an offensive rebound.
Paonia 195-pounder Tyler “TK” Kendall sets Rangely’s Drew Collins up for a pin.
Paonia freshman Bo Pipher sets TJ Richard of North Park up for a pin in Saturday’s regional semifinal round. He is one of 13 Paonia wrestlers headed to state!
Surrounded by coaches and his dad, Conner Beard signs Letter of Intent to play football for the University of Nebraska Kearney.
Hotchkiss' Jacobe Galley signed a Letter of Intent to play football and study engineering at Colorado Mesa University.
Hotchkiss senior Cody Bartlett signed his National Letter of Intent to run cross-country for Hawaii Pacific University.
Photo by Tamie Meck Delta’s 3200m relay team placed fourth at last weekend’s 4A state track meet in Lakewood. Its time, 9:32.92, set a new DHS record. Team members are; left to right, Clarissa Whiting (Sr), Mykayla Music (Fr), Skylyn Webb (Sr) and Cleo Whiting…
Photo by Rich Meck Hotchkiss distance runners, and sisters, Natalie Anderson (left-center) and Mae Anderson start the 3200m run together on the opening day of the state track meet. They were fourth and fifth in the 3200 and fourth and sixth, respectively, in…
Photo by Tamie Meck Andy Pipher and son Bo meet Bo’s opponent during the Parade of Champions at the 2013 state wrestling tournament. Pipher was recently named 2013 Colorado Coach of the Year by the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA).Paonia…
I've been concerned with the identification of these small raptors for months, in hopes that when they appear in our valley for winter I'd be more adept at identifying the sexes. And here they are — I counted seven on the way to town.
Female KestrelCompare the photos from AnimalDiversity.org, University of Michigan. The male has blue on his wings. The tail is barred at the tip, but is plain rufous otherwise. In contrast, the female has no blue and an obviously barred tail. These birds are also noted for the black streaks down the face, called "whiskers."
With a wingspan of about 22 inches, these birds are only about nine inches long (a bit less than a robin), and weigh about four ounces. They've been called "sparrow hawks" but they're clearly too small for that! Grasshopper hawk is more like it!
They're often seen perched on power lines, waiting for prey: insects of all kinds, rodents and small reptiles (note the small snake in the female's talons). They will hover above an area where prey might occur, such as a newly plowed field. This "wind hover" is actually a controlled stall with the bird moving its wings to match the prevailing wind. Quite a feat!
Both parents build the minimal nest in a tree cavity, along a cliff or in a nest box. They incubate the four or five eggs for a month. The chicks are immobile, downy, with eyes closed and must be fed.
Kestrels summer and nest to our north, winter into Panama, and are regularly seen in the United States. But it seems to me that they're more abundant during the winter months in our area. They appear to be about the size of a robin, but are usually sitting still on a power line. Keep an eye out for these colorful little raptors.
