Barr Lake Day

Time to go see some burrowing owls! So darn cute and very photogenic too! The best place I knew to go see them was out near Barr lake. So I was up and out the door by 5:20am.

I drove by the burrowing owl area on Piccadilly road but no one was around. So I headed into Barr lake to see what was going on. As soon as I was out of the car, I could hear all the kingbirds singing!

Here is a western kingbird......

The wrens were also singing up a storm!

I headed over to check out the barn owls nesting box. Looks like they are home! And I'm guessing there are young in there based on the bird poop stains. Maybe this year I will get lucky and see some young barn owls. That would blow my mind!

 As I was watching the barn owl nest, a beaver swam by! So cool! I had never seen a beaver here, so I was pretty excited! Didn't get any good pics  but was thrilled to see one. One of my first summer jobs as a college kid was working at a small nature preserve. There was a family of beavers there that I enjoyed watching.....

Here's an eastern kingbird. They look much different than a western kingbird but their song is very similar.....

Last month when I was here, I met up with a very protective canada goose parent.  The kids are bigger but he still gave me the hairy eyeball when I needed to walk by them....

Here's one of the kids. A face only a mother could love......

I continued on towards the gazebo. I happened to look up and spotted two great blue herons perched up there........

More young goslings.....

The bullock's orioles were quite plentiful but a challenge to get pics of. They are quite busy getting their nests built. I spotted this female pulling material from this old nest for her new nest. Recycling at it's finest!

I made it out to the gazebo and saw the western grebes were still in courting mode.....

Mmmmmm breakfast!

The light was behind them but it was still cool to see them in courting mode with the water plants.....

The pelicans were all over the place.......

After enjoying all the action around the gazebo, I headed back down the trail. I spotted this guy flitting around. I'm pretty sure it's a wood-pewee. Very cute!

Oh yea! I heard the yellow warblers singing all morning and finally one posed for me!

Sweet! My first young robin of the season! He/she was waiting patiently for someone to deliver breakfast. I was hoping to see a feeding but no luck......

Then I heard lots of commotion from the magpies. It took me a few minutes to figure out there were young magpies calling for food! So cute!

Yellow headed blackbirds are less common than the red winged blackbirds. The light was getting pretty harsh but got a few decent pics.....

Another female bullock's oriole!

I was walking back over the boardwalk and this mourning dove flew in with some nesting material.....

And finally I spotted a pair of downy woodpeckers working on the their nest.

So I headed back over to see if the burrowing owls were around. It was very quiet but I spotted a horned lark......

I really wanted to see some burrowing owls, so I drove the DIA loop to check out the other owl spots. 

Score! As I turned the corner, I noticed one perched on a road sign. I quickly pulled a U turn and got a few pics. Another car did the same thing as they noticed him. Luckily they left after a few minutes and I got to enjoy him all to myself. He allowed me to get pretty darn close!

Finally, I pulled myself away and headed home. What a fun morning and I got my burrowing owl fix!


I do have a request for the people that get my blog e-mailed to them. If you still want to get it e-mailed to you, please let me know that you enjoy getting it.  Just leave a comment below or e-mail me at alexaboyes@mac.com. No pressure, just updating my contacts and making  sure anyone receiving my blog  actually wants to.......
Thanks!