I love my mother-in-law. Sometimes I actually feel like I get along better with her than my own wife does. Today, my wife spent the day with a friend and I was left to chill with Carolyn. We went up to Barr Lake State Park just northeast of Denver in hopes of catching some good bird sightings. We went to the nature center and they told us to be on the look-out for the nesting Bald Eagle at the 2.5 mile marker on the trail. We hiked our way to the spot, checking off a few birds on the way (Northern Flicker, Red-Winged Blackbird, Belted Kingfisher).
We finally spotted the lone tree out over the water. Built within the upper branches was an enormous nest built for an avian king. Atop the huge nest of large sticks sat the mother of all birds – the bald eagle. We weren’t sure if it was the male or the female, since they both have the bald white head. We were told that mama eagle was sitting on her eggs which were about to hatch any day now. We never saw any chicks pop up out of the nest but we did get quite a show from the eagle itself.
About a minute into watching the nesting eagle, it jumped up, spread its majestic wings and dove towards the water. We lost sight of it as it descended behind some trees. About a minute later, it re-emerged into our view and approached the nest. This time, it had some lunch in its talons (either a fish or another unlucky bird). Perhaps it was feeding itself or it was bringing food to the new chicks down in the nest – we couldn’t tell if there were any little ones. Either way, it was a magnificent sight.
On the way home from the park, we stopped for lunch at, you guessed it, Chick-Fil-A.
