Morning Photos from Easter Saturday & Sunday
Two Mornings of Birding Along the Front Range!
Loveland and the Front Range is definitely paying off for me! I am finding a wide range of feathered subjects. Of course, it helps to have local friends that occasionally advise me of the ever changing wildlife ⏤ both featherd and furry!
As I mentioned in the earlier page, Spring comes early here!
Posted April 9, 2023
For these images, I got up early, and headed out just as the sun was coming up. I was back at home by 10:30 am each day! I kept moving hoping to find a wide variety of birds. Note: All of the images on this page were taken on Saturday and Sunday of the Easter Weekend.
Osprey
Osprey are back in good numbers! This Osprey circled the lake, then made a quick descent and a big splash. It came up with a nice sized trout.
Great Blue Herons
Over the past few weeks, I’ve found several Great Blue Heron rookeries. On this morning, the males were returning with new nest building materials.
Great Horned Owls
I went to this location on both Saturday and Sunday morning. I was hoping to find one of the adults feeding the chicks, but other than the change in light, the scene was essentially the same each day. There are three Owlets in the fork of the tree, but one stays low and out of sight most of the time. The two parents were sleeping in nearby trees.
Cormorants
Cormorants are apparently common around here, but while living in Jackson Hole, I never had much of a chance to photograph them. They are interesting birds! After getting wet, cormorants find a perch or exposed rock, then flap their wings to remove most of the water. Afterwards, they spread their wings to dry their feathers.
Eagles
With the warm temperatures and abundant open water, Bald Eagles have now spread across the front range. Many of the adult pairs are nesting now.
Geese & Ducks
Canda Geese are plentiful here. From what I can tell, many of them are paired up and nesting. Likewise, Mallard Ducks can be found in most ponds and lakes. I see a few Northern Shovelers in some of the area lakes but they are far less common. I photographed one or two Wood Ducks off and on throughout the winter, but on Saturday, I saw four males and at least two females.
White Pelicans
White Pelicans recently returned to the area’s lakes and ponds. Loveland Lake is still very low, which is where I photographed them late last summer.
Turkey Vultures & Screech Owl
As I was driving from one location to another, I found a tree with 20 or more Turkey Vultures just beginning to wake up. I could have found different angles to catch a few of them taking off, but I didn’t want to invest too much time there. The small Screech Owl was sleeping at the entrance to a nesting hole. They hunt at night and sleep all day.
I went to several of the same locations on each of the two days. As it usually goes, the places that were good one day were not as good on the second morning. At the same time, some of the locations I returned to on the second morning were more productive and interesting than the day before! The poor trout is going to have an extremely bad day! >MJ