Bird Watching at Barr Lake State Park
I recently went to Barr Lake State Park, a beautiful lake east of where I live that is known for its wildlife population. I went to this lake with a friend in hopes of seeing some bald eagles, and we were treated to a wide range of wildlife encounters! The morning started off with some white-tailed deer.
There was a group of four deer that we saw for a half mile in the early morning, foraging in the snow for food. I like the image below because the deer has its tongue out!
Our next encounter was with a northern harrier, a bird of prey that has a face shaped similarly to an owl. We saw this bird multiple times, hunting for food in the grassland around the lake.
Our next encounter was probably my favorite of the morning. This red tailed hawk was perched on a branch directly above the trail, and was very comfortable around people. We spent probably 20 minutes taking pictures of this bird while it was basking in the early morning sunlight.
Shortly after seeing the hawk, the Canadian geese population at the lake starting to leave for the day. It was an impressive scene, with thousands of geese taking off and flying into the distance. It was also quite chaotic to photograph. I was able to take this close up of the geese, creating an almost abstract scene with the individual geese creating a greater pattern. I also love how you can see these birds’ wings in different positions as they fly away.
We saw a boardwalk that led to a gazebo out closer to the shore of the lake, which made a great spot to stop for a bit and eat some snacks. While we were stopped, another group of geese flew off, so I decided to try and take some environmental shots of them with the cottonwood trees and Continental Divide in the background. As I was following them through my lens, I noticed a single larger bird flying as well! I began to track that bird and focus on it with my camera, and when I zoomed in on the back of my camera, I could tell that it was an eagle. This made for a really cool image showing off the beauty of the lake as well as the diversity of wildlife that can be found here!
At this point we decided to start heading back to the car. On our way back, we encountered the same northern harrier that we had seen earlier! This time it was low to the ground, making for a really interesting shot of it in the grass. It was stretching its wings when I took this shot. Within a few minutes it took off, and I was able to capture a great image of it in flight!
We finished off the morning with another deer sighting, this time a small buck. The red foliage on the ground around the lake made for a really interesting backdrop for this image.