Because there were no rare birds in the area, and we had a free afternoon Dad and I decided to head to Cherry Creek State Park. We birded the West Shades, Lake Loop, Pelican Point, and the Swim Beach. The lake was only frozen around the edges so there were still good numbers of waterfowl on the water. Although we didn’t see any rare birds on this trip, we saw several fun birds and their interesting behavior! Its’s nice having such a wonderful birding location just ten minutes from my house.
Kingfisher
As soon as we arrived at the lake Dad saw something drop out of a tree towards the water. He thought it must have been a Magpie. When I looked over, I saw a Belted Kingfisher with a fish almost as big as him fly into a tree near us. He repeatedly smacked it into a branch. He eventually ate the fish whole!
Diving Ducks
On the lake we had good views of several common winter ducks. They were all diving ducks and continuously dived in search of prey.
Raptors
We spotted a juvenile Ferruginous Hawk perched on the ground in an open field. After sitting in the field for several minutes he took flight into the distance. There was also a Red-tailed Hawk perched nearby.
Great Horned Owl
While walking through the woods we spotted an owl fly into a tree just above us. We slowly backed away so we didn’t spook him. He eventually fell asleep as we watched him.
What an awesome afternoon of watching the local bird life at Cherry Creek State park!
Camera: Nikon COOLPIX P1000, SONY Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V
Optics: Celestron
