Birding Broomfield in Fall

It’s a good thing I don’t judge my trips merely by the number of birds I see or by the number of new birds I see, or my recent trip to Colorado via Yellowstone, The Grand Tetons, and the Canyonlands National Park would have to be considered a flop. Despite a few disappointments, just the opposite is true. Although I saw very few birds, or animals, for that matter, it was a great two weeks.

Although birding in Broomfield wasn’t as good as early in summer, I did see a number of birds I’ve seen there before, like this Great Blue Heron that was posing on the fishing dock when Jen and I took a quick walk my first day there.

 Great Blue Heron

Logan and I saw even more birds on the next day when we walked the same area. We saw one of my favorite birds I often see there, a Kestrel.

Kestrel

Logan and I especially enjoyed watching this Red-Tailed Hawk swoop down into the grass

Red-Tailed Hawk in grass

and then fly off with a snake in its grasp.

Red-Tailed Hawk with snake

When it first landed, I thought about walking through the grass and trying to get a closer shot. When I later realized that it was grasping a snake, I was glad that it took off so quickly that I didn’t follow my first thought. I’m not fond of snakes, particularly rattlesnakes.

The best bird of the trip, though, had to be this Pygmy Nuthatch with a ladybug in its bill.

Pygmy Nuthatch

We saw it on our hike above Boulder. I knew as soon as I saw it that I’d never seen that bird before. It was quite close, but I was only carrying my 200mm lens because I thought I’d be focusing on scenics and because I’m really not in good enough shape to be carrying two cameras while climbing the hills above Boulder, not without longer than four days to acclimate myself to that altitude.

One thought on “Birding Broomfield in Fall”

  1. While the photos go from large to small birds, the pleasure increases down the page. Great photos. The lady bug is a great catch–and the pattern of the bark almost a thing in itself. kjm

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