Snowy Welcome



An overall easy trip mostly north to our new destination of Barr Lake State Park in Brighton, Colorado, outside of Denver. This was our first April in North country for many years, and Toby’s first experience with snow. Here, Toby adapts to the chill by hanging out in his bed.



Shovelers
Our campsite was just 100 yards from Barr Lake. I’m not sure whether it was the cold, the wind, the time of year, or just happenstance, but one late morning Jan alerted me to a large raft of shoveler ducks huddled together at the edge of the lake near us. I did a quick estimate and, conservatively, there were 800 within splashing distance—an impressive sight!









Barr Lake State Park
The park is known as a birding hot spot, smack in the middle of the spring and fall migration paths. They have a good variety of raptors and are known for their eagles that stay year-round. Here is an adult bald eagle in flight and a youngster on a perch, probably on lookout for a snack or a meal.





Prairie Dogs
What do you call a family of prairie dogs? I didn’t know either! A “coterie” consists of one adult male, three or four adult females, and their young up to a year or two in age. Lots and lots of black-tailed prairie dogs are our neighbors living in a colony of several acres.



OK, one last bit of prairie dog trivia: What is the nickname of the prairie dog? In 1804, Lewis (of Lewis and Clark fame) called them “barking squirrels”.

See you soon.

Tags: Barr Lake State Park, Brighton, Colorado, shoveler ducks, Bird photography, Nature Photography, pet photography, Wildlife photography