Nesting Bald Eagle

Today I did some birding in the Breeding Bird Atlas "latilong" (the area covered by one degree of longitude and latitude that is used for atlas surveys) that contains Fremont County and checked on a long-standing Bald Eagle nest. According to the Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas , the earliest date that Bald Eagles were found on the nest was Feb 27 so I thought it was worth a try. Indeed I found a Bald Eagle sitting on this nest.

Yes, this is an awful photo of that Bald Eagle on the nest, but it does show the humongous size of the nest and the eagles white head is visible (yes, that's what the arrow is pointing towards and all that dark area beneath it is the cup-shaped nest). But the photo ain't bad considering that this nest is located about a quarter mile off the road on private property. This nest, like many in Colorado, is in a large cottonwood tree and is more than 50 feet above the ground.

SeEtta

Eagle Day at Pueblo Reservoir

What a beautiful day today turned out to be. After all the snow and terribly cold temps it got to the 50's this afternoon (winds made it chilly, but nothing like the below freezing we have had). Mid-morning was great, with no wind to speak of and above freezing temps. Much snow was melted with both the warmer temps and the chinook (meaning snow eating)winds that drove the increase.

Though the recent bad weather reduced the numbers, there were still around 200 or so people who attened Eagle Day activities. Eagles, at least 7 were spotted today, were fairly cooperative so most were able to view them thru spotting scopes set up for the public. I saw several adult Bald Eagles though not the immature bird that was reported by others.



I was not able to get a photo of any of these eagles as they were too distant for even my 12X digital zoom and I don't have equipment to digiscope. But I did get this photo of a female Bufflehead and other photos I will add to separate posts.

SeEtta

Pueblo Reservoir and Eagle Day

I stopped by the Pueblo Reservoir this afternoon on my way to a doctor's appointment. Thought there is ice on the reservoir, much of it is open and there are multitudes of birds taking advantage of this. I didn't have much time but saw a number of Common Goldeneye (though I have seen posts showing Barrow's Goldeneye as well) in addition to the hundreds and hundreds of gulls. Those that I could identify were Ring-billed Gulls, common here in the winter.

Eagle Day, an annual event held at the Pueblo Reservoir, will be held on Saturday Feb 3. The event’s co-sponsors are the Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW), Lake Pueblo State Park, Pueblo Zoo, Greenway Nature Center of Pueblo, The Pueblo Raptor Center, Aquilla Power Company and the Arkansas Valley Audubon Society (my Audubon chapter). Events at the day-long event include live bird demonstrations, bird watching classes, wildlife viewing stations and the release of three hawks that were nursed back to health by the Pueblo Raptor Center.

All of the activities are free and open to the public, but vehicles must have a valid Colorado State Parks pass to access activities on the north side of the park. A Park’s Pass is not required to attend activities at the Park Headquarters Building on the south side. Most exhibits and indoor events take place at the Headquarters Building. There will be free boat rides on Lake Pueblo for eagle viewing, on the hour every hour depending on weather.

This photo is one I took of "Hali", a Bald Eagle at the Pueblo Raptor Center.

SeEtta