Exploring New Places

Since I moved to Longmont a few months ago, I've been wanting to explore the new "hood".

Not that Longmont is that far from Boulder. It's about a 1/2 hour northeast of Boulder but when I lived in Boulder, I usually headed east or south to go photographing. So today I decided to go check out St. Vrain state Park. It's only about 15 minutes from my house, so

 I got to sleep in if you call getting up at 6:30am sleeping in :)

Colorado has 42 state parks which is amazing! I really like Barr Lake SP so wondered what ST Vrain SP would be like. I drove in and paid the entrance fee. As I was getting back in the car, I spotted a pair of bald eagles down the road! Sweet!

The sun was just coming up so the light was not good but I always have to try......

After enjoying the eagles I continued on to find some parking. Seems this is a favorite place to go ice fishing. Not my cup of tea as it seems pretty boring and cold but to each his own I guess.

I drove in as far as I could, parked and headed down the trail. What a beautiful day! The mountains have been getting so much snow as you can see! Great for the skiers and for 
our water supply!

Even though we have been having warm days, the ice was still pretty thick so I doubted I'd see much water fowl.
But it was beautiful day, so I enjoyed exploring the park as I walked around a large pond. I got to the north end where a stream runs along the boundary and spotted this coyote. He saw me first and was already heading away from me.
Look at how he just blends into the grasses! If he laid down, you'd never see him.

Usually in my experience, the coyote will stop and turn to give me a nice pic. But this guy was pretty nervous and high tailed it out of the area......

Not much else was going on, so I headed back to the car. On my way out, the eagles were still in the same tree enjoying the day!

Well, I was not impressed with this SP. It was right next to I-25 which is a very busy highway and they also allow camping. There weren't many campers now but I could see during the summer this place would be very crowded and noisy. So I doubt I will go back any time soon.

So next on my list was to go check out Golden Ponds in west Longmont. I'd been there once before and had fun watching some bald eagles. But today was very quiet, so then I went to check out Rabbit mountain. I always see birder postings of what they saw there 

so I drove over there. Not much was going on there either. So I headed over to Hygiene road. I remembered a fellow photographer talking about seeing a pair of bald eagles out there.

I came around a turn and saw a birder with a spotting scope. Hmmmm I wondered what he was looking at. I drove a bit further and there was a photographer on the side of the road.

Just then a bald eagle flew right over my car. So I made a u-turn and parked on the side of the road. I always have my camera ready to go on the passenger seat, so I jumped out and grabbed these pics!

After this eagle did a few laps around the field, he/she landed in a large cottonwood tree in the middle of the field. Then I spotted the other baldie....so cool! I hung around for a bit to see if one of them would do another fly by but they looked pretty comfortable in that tree....

So I decided to head home and get Hazel dog out for a walk. On the way, I pondered about seeing two pairs of bald eagles today. Not that it's unusual as eagles are common around here. But with all the craziness going in our country and the eagle being our country's symbol, I wondered about the significance.
So I googled spiritual meaning of bald eagles and here's what I found......

" when an eagle appears, you are on notice to be courageous and stretch your limits. Do not accept status quo, but rather reach higher and become more than you believe you are capable of. Look at things from a new, higher perspective. Be patient with the present; know that the future holds possibilities that you may not yet be able to see. You are about to take flight!"

Wow! Pretty powerful message for all of us as our country enters the unknown........

Thanks for reading!