Spring Is In The Air

 At least for today, spring is in the air. Here in Colorado, spring is much different than anywhere else. March is typically our snowiest month. That's a good thing as we always need the moisture. But it is also when spring fever hits, so it can be a challenge. After living here almost 20 years, I am almost used to spring snows. But back today......

I woke up to a beautiful morning. A bit of chill in the air but you could also feel that spring was arriving soon. I got Hazel dog and the kitties taken care of and I was out the door by 6:30am. I headed down to my favorite spot in Lakewood. It has been quite a few weeks since I got out to photograph, so I was very excited. I jumped out of the car and headed for the main lake. 

A male golden eye flew in to say hi.....

A male bufflehead dove for some breakfast.....

The red winged black birds were singing up a storm as they established their territories...

There was still a big group of northern shovelers. They will be here a bit longer before heading north for the summer.

  A group of ring billed gulls were enjoying the morning sun.

and a handsome ringnecked duck was hanging out too....

Mallards were all over the place......

A male golden eye trying to attract the ladies....

And here is a female mallard coming in for a landing...

I usually do at least two laps at Belmar lake but after just one, I felt like I'd seen everyone. So I got in the car and headed up to Prospect park.
I walked over to check on the pair of great horned owls. A fellow photographer had let me know that they were on the nest.  There was no sign of the female on the nest. She may have been taking a break or she was just hunkered down so that I couldn't see her. Oh well.....

I headed out to the three lakes to see who was around. Here is a female golden eye....

At Tabor lake there is an island where the cormorants and great blue herons nest. The cormorants are not back yet but there was a pair of GBH setting up their nest area.

They took flight as a big gust of wind came up. This isn't a great pic but what I liked was how the color of the GBH is the same as the lake water.....

On Bass lake, there were a few pairs of hooded mergansers. So cute.....

Next I spotted a red tailed hawk perched in a tree. She was quite comfortable with me walking by, so I got some nice pics!

The wind was starting to kick up, so I headed home. I decided to take the back roads home instead of the highway. I am so glad I did! As I turned onto McClasin, there was a hawk hovering about a field. He was fighting the big gusts of wind looking for a meal. I quickly pulled over and grabbed my camera. I learned a while ago to always keep my camera on the passenger seat just in case.....so I got some shots from the car and then jumped out to get more.

How cool huh? These are my favorite pics of the day! 

What a fun morning I had. The last 6 weeks have been a blur of being busy with work, hiking with Hazel dog and dealing with sub zero temps. So it felt so good to get out for some photographing on a beautiful day. Enjoy!