Reflections and Birds

 These are the two main reasons we spend time in St. Vrain State Park in the summer.  Established in 1965, the park has 87campsites on 50 acres of land and 80 acres of water.

In 1958 the Colorado Department of Transportation purchased land along the St. Vrain River to mine for gravel needed to develop highway 87 into an interstate highway. That required lots of gravel.  The gravel pits were turned over to the State Parks Department for recreation.

Today the park has 87 campsites.  By 2005, trees had been planted in the park to augment the large cottonwood trees that grew along the St. Vrain. It is the winter home of bald eagles and hosts the largest blue heron rookery in the state.  It also has the only known nesting site of Great Egrets in Colorado. White pelicans and osprey also find seasonal homes at St. Vrain.

There are 14 ponds in the park, accounting for the reflections.

This is one of the osprey in a dead tree.

A nesting platform for bald eagles.

Blue heron are often difficult to photograph, but here we saw them numerous times during our stay.

This is some kind of snake—possibly a bull snake—swimming in one of the ponds.  Yuk!

Cormorants resting on a log.

American white pelicans.

One day we saw some turtles.

This osprey seemed to be posing for us.

Then it flew away.

So did this heron.

This is a red-winged black bird.  My dad grew up in Illinois and this was a bird he knew from there and often pointed them out when we saw them.

I will take photos of reflections in ponds and rivers, wherever I find them.  At St. Vrain, I am never disappointed.

We also have great views of snow-capped mountains along the Front Range of the Rockies.  

When they were developing this park, we looked at a treeless hill with some campground hookups. We asked, why would anyone camp there?  Today, you can see why we love it.

Reflections and Water Fowl

We are spending several days at St. Vrain State Park near Longmont.  It is good to have spacious sites and the park is a photographer's paradise because of the numerous ponds and birds.

This is a view of the Rocky Mountains west of the park.  The large mountain may be 13,501 ft. Arapahoe Peak.

Don't we have a good looking truck and trailer?

This heron obviously summers here.  We have seen it both days during our morning walks.

Here is a shot as it flew off.

                   
                                 

And another photo as it perched in a tree.

There are numerous American pelicans enjoying the ponds. These are floating on Pelican Pond.

I found a great reflection photo of this cormorant.

Last night we had a glorious sunset.

These flowers--some sort of "weed" or wild flower--remind me a little of sunny-side eggs.

And one last reflection on Bald Eagle Pond.

Refuge hike

There are two National Wildlife Refuges near where we are parked, Alamosa and Monte Vista.  The entrance to the Alamosa refuge is right down the road.  Yesterday we drove there and hiked on a trail around the meadows and ponds.

The refuge contains 12,026 acres of land that support a variety of wildlife, including songbirds, water birds, raptors, deer, beavers, coyotes.  We certainly heard the songbirds and also saw some large birds.

The most common bird was the redwing blackbird.  They are so beautiful in flight.

This is  a view across the wetlands toward the mountains.  That may be Mount Blanca in the background.

It always amazes to see small birds chasing off larger ones.   It happens often when  the large bird tries to steal the eggs or baby birds from a nest.

This is some kind of heron. We watched it fly off as we approached.

In 2012 we volunteered at Santa Ana NWR on the southern border of Texas, along the Rio Grand River which divides the US and Mexico.  Now we are not far from the headwaters of the Rio Grand, which flows from the mountains of Colorado.  During our time at Santa Ana, we developed a real interest in the lands that are protected in these refuges.

Walking in Gilbert

Our daily routine includes walking 10,000 steps, which is about 5 miles.  Most of the time we walk around our resort but sometimes we want a change of scenery.  One day we ventured out to the Gilbert Water Ranch.  There are several ponds where the water district stores their water.  In a desert, the water quickly attracts birds and other water-loving wildlife.

We saw these turtles sunning themselves on a log.

There are numerous varieties of ducks and other water birds, including the long-legged stilts in the upper right of this photo.  Their colors make them look like they are wearing tuxedos.

We enjoyed this egret.  It was standing still, waiting for a fish to swim up for dinner.

Once in a while, we will look for more interesting places to walk.

Birds and More Birds

We spent a week at St. Vrain State Park, right off of I-25 and east of Longmont.  The park has several lakes and they attract numerous birds.

We saw pelicans.  Often there are several floating together.

There is at least one great blue heron.

These cormorants were soaking up the sun and drying their wings.

But the most spectacular site was an osprey that had just caught a fish.  The wingspan on these birds can reach up to 7 feet.

The osprey flies over the water until they see a fish, then dive rapidly into the lake, grab the fish in their talons and fly up to a tree to eat.

While the bird was eating it would take a bite out of the fish then raise its head to scan the sky for predators.  We had already seen an American bald eagle and learned that the eagle often steals food from other birds.

The eagle swooped down and the osprey took off with the fish.  We saw the birds sparing with one another until they were out of sight.

This is a photo of the eagle, taken before it attacked the osprey.

The osprey is an impressive looking bird.

We caught this cool photo of the osprey flying with it's fish.

Another day, we again saw the osprey with a fish.  It was in a different tree this time.  I don't know if you would say this is a balloon's eye view of a bird or a bird's eye view of a balloon

A better view of the feeding osprey.