This afternoon I went and checked on the local Bald Eagle nest. Dad was standing watch on the rim and I wasn’t really seeing much but figured there had to be at least one eaglet in there. Finally I saw some movement and in his shadow I see the little bobble head! After a while, Mom returned and as she did, I got a good pic of the tiny raptor. Heavily cropped but isn’t it cute! I can’t wait to watch it grow up!
Bald Eagle brings home sushi for breakfast
After sitting stubbornly for two hours during which the photographer grew more and more bored (haha), this female finally decided it was time for action. She headed off to a nearby pond, snagged a fish from it, and then was kind enough to fly right by me showcasing her meal.
This raptor is one of a pair of eagles that has been hanging out at a local state park and has given me some nice photo ops over the past few weekends. They do appear to be a mated pair however, there is no nest nearby and if there were, they would certainly be hanging out there. I have to assume they were simply unsuccessful at mating this year so are spending their time hanging out in the park.
Video: Burrowing Owl puts on a courtship display
As promised…. Very cool video of this Burrowing Owl. Best of all, some behavior not often seen as it performs a courtship display. He was hanging out on his burrow when another male nearby began a mating / courtship call. Not to be outdone, this owl hopped on top of a mullein plant and began calling as well. I took tons of pics but he was so cooperative I switched to video for a bit. It is kind of shaky as I was resting the camera on my truck window and zoomed in fully. Still fun to see and hear.
A very focused little owl
Such a treat to be able to focus this cute, male Burrowing Owl a few days ago. Last year I just did not have good luck getting quality pictures of these seasonal visitors to the Colorado plains. This guy and his mate changed my luck finally.
The pair was hanging out by their burrow a good ways from the road when suddenly, he decided to oblige me with a perch not 25 feet from my truck! I didn’t get any flight shots but captured tons of great images as he sat on a mullein plant and took in the sunrise. In fact, he posed so long, I had time to shoot a bit of cool video too – check back this evening to see that. It is well worth it.
Burrowing Owls are considered a threatened species here in the Centennial State. Their numbers appear to be on the decline as humans take over and destroy their habitat. Many folks think nothing of wiping out Prairie Dog colonies, a keystone species itself, but don’t think of the cascading effects of that on all of the other creatures down the line, including these little guys.
A snow-covered Mount Meeker
Sometimes wildlife watching can get a bit boring but, one good thing about Colorado, when you are waiting for the critters to do something there are other things to look at. In this case, the 13,911 foot high Mount Meeker. From this angle, it does a good job of blocking its more famous and taller neighbor, Longs Peak. For climbers, Mount Meeker is actually considered a more difficult summit to attain than Longs.
Bison backed up by fire
This was a bit disconcerting to watch but it was all a very controlled event. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was conducting a prescribed burn at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge last week. While the Bison were close to the flames and seemed a bit upset by it, wildlife officials were right there monitoring the situation.
Fire is a very normal event and indeed, blazes are a necessary part of maintaining a healthy ecosystem, however they obviously can’t be allowed to occur unabated in areas near population centers. When we can’t let Mother Nature do it, man must step in and conduct them in a well-organized and planned fashion.
Such was the case here. The fires were purposefully set and closely monitored by firefighters. While the landscape is temporarily blackened, soon, fresh, new growth will return stronger than ever.
Get a room!
Get a room! Well, I am glad they didn’t.
I checked out a new Osprey nest stand near Longmont, Colorado and it looks to be a winner. Great visibility, light in the right direction and best of all, two willing photo subjects. This pair treated me to tons of pictures including a few series of wild life action as they worked to begin a new generation. 😉
Osprey are spring and summer residents of the Centennial State and spend their winters in the warmer environs of the coasts of Mexico and South America. These raptors are actually a type of a hawk.
Making them a bit unique is that they almost exclusively live near water and dine on fish. Aiding them in their ability to catch fish is an unusual reversible outer toe that allows them to get a better grasp from behind in addition to the front. Thankfully he seemed to keep those talons pulled in for this bit of fun.
"I’m tell you, that fish was THIS big!"
I took the long way home from work one day last week hoping to happen across something photo worthy and I did. A small pod of American White Pelicans was hanging out on a pond and provided some nice photo ops (until someone using a cell phone camera insisted on walking right up to them).
The big guys returned to the Colorado Front Range over the past month and this was the first real opportunity I had to take pictures of them. Best of all, as this image shows, they were quite animated giving me a lot of cool captures. Taken at the Adams County Fairgrounds, Colorado.
Male American Kestrel hops into the skies
These little falcons are very cool – but also quite skittish. It takes a lot of patience to get pics of them and even then, they don’t make it easy. I happened across this handsome guy on Friday and he soon showed his distaste for having his picture taken. Thankfully I managed this capture just as he departed for the camera-free zone.
These birds are the smallest falcon in North America averaging about 8 inches long. Don’t let their size fool you though. They are as much of an effective predator and just as vicious as any raptor.
High altitude respite
Conditions at 11,493 feet high can be challenging to say the least. Now imagine you are a railroad worker in the 1880s without any of the modern conveniences we take for granted.
The Section House was built atop Boreas Pass in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains to house workers that built and maintained the Denver South Park & Pacific narrow gauge railroad. The line ran from Como in the South Park area to Breckenridge, Dillon and Frisco.
Today, the road over the pass retraces the path the tracks took and is an extraordinarily scenic drive and certainly far more comfortable today than what folks had to endure back when it was built. This image was taken back at the end of September when it was still relatively hospitable up there.