Friday Fun!

   I had so much fun yesterday that I decided to go back out today. We are expecting a big snowstorm starting tonight and lasting through tomorrow. Anywhere from 7-14 inches are predicted for my neighborhood. I for one am excited to get a good dump! We need the moisture and I don't have to go anywhere..so let it SNOW!

  So with a storm on the way, I headed out to get some pics. The clouds were already here 

so the light was not the best but I knew I'd have fun.

  I decided to stay local today, so I headed up to Union reservoir in Longmont. I go kayaking here in the summer time and always see lots of wildlife. So I thought it would be fun to go in the winter time. The sounds of spring were in the air. The meadowlarks were singing away but no one posed for me today. I did see some bald eagles. There were two adults out on 

the ice and this immature bald on the shore. He was still pretty far from me, so not ideal for 

a photo. I just took this one for the blog.

 After enjoying the baldies, I headed over to see if the great blue herons( GBH) were nesting yet. Yup! They are! GBH nest in groups called rookeries. There are probably at least 15-20 nests if not more. This rookery has been here for years and is always fun to check out. Unfortunately it is on private property, so it's difficult to get good photos cause you can't get very close.

   To the right of this photo is a very nice pond which is also on private property. There were about 4-5 different species of ducks enjoying the morning. I also noticed an immature bald eagle sitting in the trees near the GBH nests. So I was enjoying watching all the birds when all of a sudden the ducks all got nervous and started fluttering around the pond. I looked up and the eagle was flying over. He was coming right at me, so it took a moment to get some photos that were in focus. I'm sure the ducks were happy no one was breakfast for the eagle but it would have been so cool to see him do some hunting.......

   Next on the list was checking in with the owls. Once in awhile I go check out a pair of great horned owls(GHO) near Coot Lake in Boulder. They are much shyer than my owl friends at Twin Lakes, so it's usually a quick hello and they fly off.
 I didn't see the female so I'm guessing she's on the nest. The male was sitting in his usual spot....

         As predicted, he let me get  couple of pics and then he flew across the road to his 

    other favorite perch. So I headed over to see my owl friends Sonny and Cher. 

    As I was driving over I saw this sign. I just had to take a pic! I have never heard of a chinese baptist church. I make have to go check it out sometime.......

    As expected Cher was on the nest and Sonny was close by. So I said hi and grabbed a couple of pics. The owlets should be hatching any day now.....

   

 The last stop of the day was Walden ponds. There had been reports of tundra swans hanging out there. So I figured I'd check it out on my way home.

 As I was driving in there were some of the swans flying over the largest pond. I grabbed my camera and started shooting.....

  It was so cool to watch them fly over me before landing. So graceful and beautiful!

  Another fun day! The snow is on the way, so I guess I'll clean the house tomorrow :)

  Thanks for reading.....