The best time to start the hike around Barr Lake is early in the morning. I mean it... as early as you can get out of bed, preferably
right before sunrise... If you can do it, the reward is great... pure
liquid gold spilling over the horizon line and everything looking like
it was made of 24 karat gold.... Beautiful, isn't it?
But the shadow side of the trail still looks dull and grey. So grey
that even the colorful pheasant looks almost indistinguishable from the
grass...
A couple of deer looked at me suspiciously for a few minutes before turning around and disappearing into the trees out of my sight. No complaints though... they let me take one picture and this was more than I expected ;)
When you are there early, the birds are everywhere. Sparrows and
Red-Winged Blackbirds let you see them and enjoy their conversations (or
quarrels)...
When that robin turned towards me with that evil look, I backed off and decided to take another trail. I
really
didn't want to cross the
path
of this mean bird ... not a fan of angry birds...
In a few minutes I approached the shallow waters and found this
magnificent bird... I had never seen a Grey Heron before and held my
breath with excitement... but the heron took off and flew away
graciously...
What a disappointment, I thought, but the heron didn't really want
to fly away, it flew about 10 feet and landed lazily before starting to
walk along the water's edge...
I stayed around for a while before moving on down the trail.
I soon encountered another American Robin, and this one seemed much
friendlier. Although it didn’t take long before it whistled and flew
off to join its friends.
If you live in Colorado, you know that there's one bird you get
tired of in the winter - the Canada Goose. They’re just part of the
landscape and follow you everywhere you go. So seeing them at Barr Lake
wasn’t a surprise. Not at all…
At this point, I turned around and headed back to the parking lot, still looking for some more birds to capture...
And
again
I ran into a Grey Heron, which was now wading in the shallows looking for breakfast.
As I turned off the lake, I spotted a Red-Tailed Hawk landing in a
tree not far from the trail. This bird is usually seen soaring high in
the sky, and this was a great opportunity to see it so close.
Another Robin (one of many I had seen this morning) was running
between prairie dog's burrows and I thought the color of its breast
matched the color of the sky as the sun peeked over the horizon before
taking off to begin its daily journey across the sky...
It was a nice short hike (even though the air was below freezing
when I started) and it was just what I needed to shake the fatigue of
the week behind and prepare for a week to come...
The pictures were taken on March 15, 2025.
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