What better way to celebrate my birthday then to head out to do some photographing! We had a rainy weekend but by Tuesday morn, it was a beautiful day!
I decided to head out to the Barr Lake area and then work my back towards Boulder. I checked on my burrowing owls first. I saw one but it was pretty quiet, so I drove over to the DIA loop. I was still on 120th and spotted a pair of swainson's hawks........
Then a few hundred yards away was another swainson's.....
Got to the beginning of the loop and spotted this red tail. He put on a nice show for me.....
After exploring the DIA loop, I circled back to 120th and head back to Barr Lake. OMG! IT was swainson hawk central! They were all over the place!
I even had a pair of them circle over me to make sure I got some great shots! That was so fun!
After enjoying the hawks, I headed into Barr Lake. I was headed over to check on the barn owls when this cute wren got my attention......
Then I spotted this guy swimming by. I knew it was a grebe but had to wait until I got home to find out it is an eared grebe. Supposedly they are the most common grebe in the world but I had never seen one until today!
Another wren singing away!
The shovelers are still around and doing some serious courting....
I love seeing them doing this. There's one female surrounded by her admirers.....
Sure it's a common canada goose but loved the pose on the log......
Cinnamon teal! My favorite!
I was hoping to see more kestrels but only saw this guy.....
After enjoying Barr Lake, I headed over to my favorite spot in Lakewood. I quickly spotted mr and mrs lesser scaup........
Yea! The yellow jumped warblers are back! There were plenty of them but they move so very fast. It took awhile to get a decent pic or two.
Even the turtles were out enjoying the amazing day!
Other than that, my favorite spot was pretty quiet so I headed home to get Hazel out for swimming!
I had not been over to check on my owl friends since last Thursday. So I figured that would be a great way complete my day of photographing. I got over there around 5:30pm. I crossed the green pipe to see if I could spot the second owlet who had left the nest the night before. Instead I saw a raccoon come up out of the drainage ditch and head towards the base of the tree where the owl nest is. Momma Cher was nearby and immediately flew towards the nest to protect her owlet. I quickly got back across the pipe and there was the raccoon searching the stream for some food. My guess is she has the nest down the path and couldn't wait for darkness to get some dinner......
After the raccoon left I went back over the pipe to see owlet #1 who is now been named Clarence! Two crows showed up and were hassling Clarence. He was one chill dude and calmly sat there. Finally the crows got bored and left......
Here's owlet #3 and I am guessing he/she is pretty damn happy to have the nest all to himself!
And finally to cap off the day, my friends Mary and Sherry took me out for a beer, nachos and wings! The food was great and the company excellent! The perfect way to celebrate my birthday!
Thanks for reading!
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