BIRDING IN NO CO

Lots of nests, including my own personal robin's nest right outside my dining room window.  Here is Rosie giving me the stink eye for opening the shutters.

Next up is a great horned owl's nest in the adjacent town of Windsor.  Actually, this is one of the parents standing guard over the nearby nest where three owlets are growing up.

Then today was osprey/bald eagle nest day.  We had heard of a baldie nest up in the foothills on the property of a water treatment plant in an area called Bellvue.   Took a run up there and the boss was nice enough to lead us out to where the (unoccupied) nest is located.  The last heavy wet snow we had on May 1 did a lot of damage to nestlings and eggs.  Nests without good drainage were reduced to ice because we had two nights of freeze immediately following the snow.  Many eggs and chicks did not survive and the nests, for this year, are called "failed" nests.

These photos show the gorgeous area and perfect location of the bald eagle nest and they will return.  The tree is right next to the Cache la Poudre River, which is running great guns right now.  Fish is the favorite food of ospreys and bald eagles.

 Here are some shots of the gorgeous countryside of this perfect area for raptor nesting.

Next up was to check the three known osprey nests in the Fort Collins area.

This nest is called the Hwy 287 nest.  The female is with the chicks in the nest and this male
became her mate after her first mate was killed by impact with a car.

This is called the Shields nest.  Note one adult in the nest with chicks and another on the power pole on the right.

This nest is the Prospect nest.  Last year these two ospreys built their nest on an electrical set up so the utilities people erected this platform nearby to encourage them to build in a safer spot.  Success!

I have become so fascinated with the raptors of Northern Colorado and am learning a lot about them from the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program.