Bald Eagles at Barr Lake

I recently discovered a state park that is known for being a premier bird-watching area; in fact, more than 100 bald eagles were spotted over the past weekend! We couldn’t miss the opportunity to see them for ourselves, so we went up the following weekend hoping to see just as many.

Barr Lake State Park was not what we expected. There was a large visitor center that lent out binoculars and other resources to assist in bird-watching. It also offered free rides to and from the main dock that overlooked the lake. That day the rangers counted 25 bald eagles, most of which were gathering around a thawed portion of water across from the dock.

Dave and I thought we would have some trouble finding them, but directly across the lake from the pavilion were 10 bald eagles! One was sitting in a nest with two others nearby. And just to the right of that were SEVEN just perched in a small tree in the middle of the water. Most of the eagles were juveniles, so they didn’t have the classic white and black coloring yet.

We stayed and watched them for a little while as they flew around, sometimes landing on the ice to look for food. We’ve actually been pretty lucky this past year with several bald eagle sightings around our home, but seeing them in a large group, and watching their young learn how to fly and hunt was definitely something special to see.

And just a small disclaimer, the eagles were really far away and I do not have a telephoto lens, so the photos are still pretty distant. There is one photo that Dave took on his phone looking through the binoculars that is probably the best one we have!