A couple weeks ago I wrote about my enjoyment of heading down the hill in the winter to partake in capturing images of the plethora of raptors that populate and hunt the pasture-land of North Boulder County. This week is a sort of follow-up, taking a look further east in Weld County at one of our beautiful state parks and the winter migratory arrivals that call it home, at least for a little while. The location is Barr Lake, and the featured creature this week is the majestic Bald Eagle.

While we do have resident bald eagles here in Nederland in the winter, they typically only remain here as long as there is open water from which to fish. If they happen to be around, one or two can be seen at the spillway bridge in Chipeta Park, plying the frigid waters that tend to remain unfrozen for much of the early winter. Once the waters up here freeze, they make their way east to join the resident cousins on the plains, as well as the large numbers of fellow eagles heading south to warmer climes.

While the eastern plains have many lakes and wetlands from which to hunt and dine, many of these freeze over as well, leaving only the largest bodies of water with at least a little open and thawed holes to fish from. Barr Lake is prime territory, being one of the larger bodies of water in the state east of the mountains. The park boasts of a breeding pair that lives at the lake year round, but as winter settles in and eagles from north of the state are making their way to warmer southern territories, the lake becomes a temporary home for many of these majestic animals.

In peak winter season through January and into February the lake can host upwards of over 100 eagles of varying ages per day. While we are still a bit early, I am already seeing posts on social media that the numbers are growing for the 2023 gathering, and one count claimed as many as 30+ birds in a single morning visit. The park has many miles of trails, including an eight mile long loop around the entire lake, which has a long pier and gazebo from which to observe the raptors as they ply the waters for meals and fight over their catch. Their main “home” in the cottonwoods is off limits to people. However the birds often make their way past the gazebo to feed out in the more open waters, many times bringing their meals back to the trees and ice near the trail to dine.

It is amazing and incredibly heartening to see these majestic animals in such great numbers. When the Bald Eagle was selected to be the national bird for the United States in 1782 there were an estimated 100,000 nesting eagles in the country. Their population began to decline in the early 20th century as humans encroached on their territory, and by the 50s and 60s, aggressive and illegal hunting as well as die-offs from DDT poisoning put their numbers at an estimated 400+ nesting pairs. Once the Endangered Species Act was put in place in 1973, they finally made the list in 1978 and officially gained their protected status, allowing their numbers to once again flourish.

DDT is now banned in the United States, but the risks of poisoning are still very real, and continue to affect the eagles as well as all manor of raptors. With poisons still used quite a bit for rodent control, the risks are still very high for “cross-contamination,” as many times the rodents are then consumed, passing the poison on to sicken and eventually kill the raptors as well. Keep this well in mind when attempting to control the tiny critters in your own homes as they often move in numbers for the frigid winter months.

The eagles seen in this week’s image were two out of over a dozen that spent their morning coming and going from the edge of the ice. While most of the fishing was happening far out in the open waters to the east, they had chosen this waterside ledge from which to eat and squabble over their meals. A few of the elders had been picking away at the dead fish when the younger juvenile swooped in to claim a bite of its own. It is an amazing treat to share space with these stunning and beautiful creatures in their temporary home, and I highly recommend a winter visit to this beautiful wetland treasure!

For additional information about James DeWalt Photography, check out https://jamesdewaltphotography.com.

Additional information for this article about Bald Eagles came from https://eagleruleprocess.org/topic/ bald-history.