FAIRY RINGS

There is a lovely small grass pasture adjacent to the Peak to Peak Highway between Nederland and Ward, Colorado.  Each summer I have noted multiple rings in the pasture, with the ring being a much darker, more robust-looking green.

I did a bit of research and found quite a bit of information about "Fairy Rings"of which there are three general types - green ones as shown above, brown rings and ones consisting of rings of mushrooms.  Each are basically an every-expanding ring of fungi that expand from a few inches to several feet per year.  The elevation of the pasture is around 9000 feet [2745 meters]. A detailed description of fairy rings can be found here and a research article can be found here.  Fairy rings seem to be a turf problem, especially for golf courses.  Below are a couple of pictures of the mushroom type of fairy rings.

Not related to the rings, but along the Peak to Peak I have seen a variety of wildlife, including an especially beautiful black fox, coyotes, deer, bears, and moose.