Where Eagles Soar

I'm always excited to see a bald eagle in my neighborhood!  

Bald eagles pass through Colorado every winter, stopping for a short time before moving on to their next destination.  Some stay and nest. Last year, Colorado Parks and Wildlife reported more than 200 occupied nests statewide and more than 90 on the northern Front Range from Denver to the Wyoming state line. There was a popular eagle cam located at Standley Lake Regional Park in Westminster, Colorado. Still, sadly in May of 2021 the cottonwood tree that supported the nest split in half because of age, and the nest fell down and the eaglet in it was lost.  It was a loss for the many who enjoyed watching resident eagles on the live cam feed raise their young. Bald Eagles keep adding to their nests each year, and often the structures get so heavy they eventually fall out of the tree, and the birds have to start over. There are hopes the Standley Lake eagle couple will return and build a new nest this spring.

Bald eagles are not really bald--their heads are covered with white feathers.  It is believed that the name came from the Old English term "piebald" which means "white patch."  An adult male is around eight to nine pounds, while a female is larger at ten to fourteen pounds, Their wingspans are six to seven and a half feet.  

The female eagle lays one to three eggs and incubation takes around 35 days with both the females and males keeping the eggs warm.  It can take up to five years for an eagle to develop its characteristic white head and dark brown plumage.  As juveniles, they are different shades of brown. They often nest near water as their favorite meal is fish or waterfowl, although they will also eat squirrels, rabbits, prairie dogs, muskrats, and roadkill.

They also are known to have "eagle eyes" which give them eight times sharper vision than humans and enable them to hunt at a height of 10,000 feet and also see into the ultraviolet on the spectrum which enables them to better see fish below the water.

The proliferation of bald eagles in Colorado, despite an increasing human population along the northern Front Range, has prompted Colorado Parks and Wildlife to launch a four-year study on why this is occurring.

The interesting YouTube video above shows how some of the bald eagles are being tracked by Colorado Parks and Wildlife with transmitters, to learn more about their migration, habitat use, and hunting practices to see if population growth in Colorado's most densely populated corridor between Denver and Fort Collins is interfering with their activities. 

We had more snow last week and a few days of sub-zero temperatures from an "Arctic Blast," but this week we should be back to normal with a blue sky and sunny, milder days.  

Friends from the east will be visiting us next weekend and staying with us a few days before a ski trip.  It will be fun to see them after a long time and reconnect! We will have good weather to take a few drives and show them around our area. 

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It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

It certainly is the most wonderful time of the year!  Our Christmas tree is decorated and ready for all the presents we've been buying to be wrapped and place beneath it. 

We have been enjoying holiday parties, gingerbread house making, a light parade, Santa Claus visits and church services, where we celebrated the second week of Advent this Sunday. The next few weeks I'll be busy making our favorite Christmas cookies and a favorite savory Zeppole treat.

The beautiful bright Super Moon that passed this month reminded me of the special star that heralded the birth of Jesus and which led the Wise Men to his simple and humble birthplace in a stable, where He lay in swaddling clothes in a manger. The King of Kings who came to teach us to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor like yourself."



As you can see on my Mille Fiori Facebook page on this link, we had horse-drawn carriage rides in our neighborhood recently.  It was fun to sing "Jingle Bells," along with all the riders, as we rode through the neighborhood under the bright moon.

I wanted to share this photo from my MilleFioriFavoriti Instagram feed. As you can see the Colorado foothills that surround us are dry and without a speck of snow! We have had an unusually warm autumn here this year, due to a La Nina weather pattern, and the weatherman tells us that no end is in sight. This Sunday it was 62 degrees Fahrenheit in the Denver area. We can go outside wearing only a sweater or light jacket. I took this photo because I saw this bird flying by, and from a distance, I thought it was a bald eagle. When I came home and cropped the photo I laughed, as you can see it is a crow carrying a white bag in his mouth. Maybe he was doing a little Christmas shopping? I hope this photo always made you smile!  

Enjoy this most wonderful time of the year!

 I'm linking this post to the following blog events:

Amaze Me Monday, Mosaic Monday, All Seasons, Blue Monday, Blogging Monday, Through My Lens Monday, Inspiration Monday, Blogging Grandmothers, You Are the Star Blog Hop, Good Random Fun, Nature Notes, Grand Social, Photo Tunes, Happiness Is Homemade Tuesday Talk, Tuesday Treasures, Our World Tuesday, Ruby Tuesday, Wordless Wednesday, Oh My Heartsie Girl's Wonderful Wednesday, Outdoor Wednesday, Wonderful Wednesday, Share Your Cup Thursday,Little Things Thursday,  No Rules Blog Linky, Travel Photo Thursday, Thankful Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Friendship Fridays, Friday Photo Journal, Skywatch Friday, Sweet Inspiration, Weekend Travel Inspiration,  Pink Saturday, Over the Moon, Happiness Is Homemade

Thank you blog hosts!

Wildflowers on Parade in South Valley Park

I am back from a wonderful trip to Glacier National Park in Montana, and the Waterton Glacier International Peace Park in Alberta, Canada!  It was a long drive, to and from, and my husband put on over 3,000 miles on our car. We loved the sights we saw along the way on our drive through three states, and we especially loved our visits to the two absolutely beautiful scenic parks. In fact my camera has now over 1,000 photos on its memory discs waiting to be downloaded, and so a lot of editing is ahead for me before I'll be able to share, but I look forward to showing you all the beauty we saw in future posts.

In the meantime, I wanted to show you another beautiful place that I visited this summer. It is South Valley Park, a mile walk from my house.  I've blogged about the two trails that we walk often, that are located in the park in the past--Coyote Song Trail, and Swallow Trail.  Now I'd love to show you the beautiful wildflowers I saw on my walks in this park this summer.  All photos and photo collages will enlarge if clicked on.

The park has natural dirt trails that are surrounded by natural grasslands, trees, shrubs, wildlife, as well as beautiful red rock formations.

On one side are the foothills, and the other side...

...a Fountain Formation hogback.  

I feel so fortunate when spring and summer arrive and bring such a wonderful array of wildflowers to enjoy in this park.  I hope you will enjoy the collages I made of many of them...please click on to enlarge them.

"Stretching his hand up to reach the stars, too often man forgets the flowers at his feet." 

~ Jeremy Bentham.

"People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us." ~ Iris Murdoch

"May your life be like a wildflower, growing freely in the beauty and joy of each day." 

~ Native American Proverb

"I will be the gladdest thing under the sun! I will touch a hundred flowers and not pick one."

~ Edna St. Vincent Millay

"Where flowers bloom so does hope."

~ Lady Bird Johnson

Even the shrubs, grasses and trees have a wild beauty.

Bindweed -- Common Mullein -- Thistle

"A weed is but an unloved flower." 

~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Even though the wildflowers I saw all looked beautiful to my untrained eye, I found out that some of them are considered noxious weed species by the Colorado Department of Agriculture.  They are non native and aggressive, replacing native species. You can see the list of noxious weeds on this link. Noxious weeds are spread by animals, humans, water and wind, They can be introduced as seeds in soil, ornamental planting mixes, nursery stock or hitch hike on vehicles.  Colorado, like most states is taking aggressive action to decrease the impact noxious weeds make on the landscapes of open space.

South Valley is a peaceful place to walk to enjoy the sights and sounds of nature...

...even the noisy chatter of crows!

Time to go as a thunderstorm quickly approaches over the foothills. I just about made it home in time before the rain came. I will be back in my next post to show more of what I have been doing in Colorado this summer.  I hope you have also been enjoying these wonderful summer days!

I'm linking this post to the following blog events:

Seasons, Weekend Travel Inspiration, Amaze Me Monday, Blue Monday, Monday of Many Blessings, Through My Lens Monday, Mosaic Monday, Life Through the Lens Monday, Mellow Yellow Monday, Inspiration Monday, Good Random Fun, Nature Notes, Grand Social, Our World Tuesday, Ruby Tuesday, You're Gonna Love It Tuesday,Wanderful Wednesday,Wordless Wednesday, Oh My Heartsie Girl's Wonderful Wednesday, Outdoor Wednesday, Share Your Cup Thursday,Little Things Thursday, Thoughts of Home on Thursday, Travel Photo Thursday, Friday Photo Journal, Skywatch Friday, Sweet Inspiration, Friday Features, Share It One More Time, Pink Saturday, Camera Critters, Saturday Critters, Today's Flowers, Macro Flowers

Thank you to all the blog hosts!

On Eagle's Wings in Cherry Creek State Park

We've had a bit of a warm front again this week, with temperatures in the 60's and 70's. Most of the snow in my neighborhood has melted and some of the trees are beginning to grow buds. Unfortunately, the snowpack in the high Rocky Mountains is below normal for this time of the year. It is not good news for the western states which depend on snowmelt in the mountains to feed their rivers and reservoirs. We may still have a few more snowstorms before spring is over, which would be a very good thing, even if having nice weather has been pleasant. This view is of Mt. Evans--the highest Rocky Mountain closest to Denver.  Did you see my blog post this summer where my husband and I took a ride to the summit of this mountain! It is approximately 14,270 feet high and the road towards the top is the highest paved road in the United States! We had to hike the last quarter mile! Click here if you would like to view that post. (All photos and photo collages will enlarge for easier viewing if clicked on)

On one of the beautiful days this week, my husband and I drove over to Cherry Creek State Park and bought a year's pass to all the state parks in Colorado.  Cherry Creek State Park is 4,200 acres large with an 880 acres reservoir, surrounded by 35 miles of mixed-use trails and natural areas. Over 40 species of animals can be seen in the park, including eastern cottontail rabbits. coyote, beavers, fox, muskrat, raccoon, ground squirrels, mule deer, whitetail deer, and prairie dogs.  It is also the migratory path for many birds and raptors. There are campsites in the park as well as facilities for model airplane flying, a family shooting practice range, horseback riding, and picnic grounds

Wetlands in the park are the habitats for waterfowl,  and they also help to filter the waters that lead into the reservoir.

Local fishermen can fish from boats or the shore for walleyes, trout, wipers, largemouth bass, white crappies, bluegills tiger muskies, and gizzard shads.

I saw and heard many nesting Black Billed Magpies high up in the trees.  Magpies have very loud voices, and a nest full of them was a cacophony of sounds. 

I was hoping to see some bald eagles and after a drive around for about a half-hour I finally spied one in a tree, far on the horizon. 

It watched a Magpie fly by.

He sat there for quite a while while I kept changing camera lenses, trying to zoom in closer.

He finally flew to the top of a closer tree top where I was able to get this last photo before he quickly flew away. I don't think I'll ever tire of seeing eagles flying overhead. They are such magnificent birds!

"They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint." ~Isaiah 40:31

I am happy to announce that the winner of my St. Patrick's Day give away was chosen by Random.Org as comment number 10.  That comment was by Sarah of the blog "Hyacinths For the Soul"

Congratulations, Sarah! This copy of Tracy Stern's "Tea Party Cookbook" will soon be on your way! Thank you to all who commented!

Eagles in Cherry Creek State Park

We have been enjoying mild and beautiful weather, for the most part, this winter, and one afternoon my husband and a co-worker decided to spend a lunch hour together walking in the park a short distance from where they work, Cherry Creek State Park, in Aurora, Colorado.  The park consists of a natural prairie environment with an 880-acre reservoir at its center. The park has 12 miles of paved roads and 35 miles of multi-use trails open to runners, cyclists, and horseback riders. The Cherry Creek Marina and Yacht club offer to moor for powerboats, sailboats, and paddleboats. The park also offers facilities for camping, radio-controlled aircraft, picnicking, fishing, cross country skiing, and bird watching.  As you can see in the center of the photo collage above, my husband spied two eagles sitting in a tree in the park!  Luckily he had brought a camera with him and captured the close-ups of an adult eagle and a juvenile eagle (lower left)

The Bald Eagle has been the national bird of the United States since 1782.  It really isn't bald but has a white feathered head when mature. They can weigh between 7 to 14 pounds and have a 7-foot wingspan.

It is always a thrill to see one!

For their first 3 to 5 years juvenile Bald Eagles are a mixture of chocolate brown with varying amounts of white over the body, tail, and underwings.

Not only do they have "eagle eyes" that see well, but apparently also very good hearing, as this eagle turned to look at my husband taking his photo from quite a distance!  He was also on his lunch break and kept flying down to the reservoir looking for a fish to eat. Thankfully, the camera was off while he dined!

My husband and I took a trip to Breckenridge, Colorado, last weekend and enjoyed its breathtaking winter scenery and some wonderful experiences--more about that in my next post!