Thursday, November 5, 2015

All With The Family


The Matthew-Reeser's Bird Sanctuary
Another October flew by much too quickly. I was joined by my dear friend Kathie and family members for the Big Event in Estes Park, Colorado.

Mountain Chickadee
While there, we celebrated several days of birding, shopping and exploration.


Estes Park is a smaller town situated at the borders of the majestic Rocky Mountain National Park.

My sister and her daughter at Rocky Mountain National Park
While we were there, we soaked up as much wilderness as we could.

Kathie and Jared watch the children climb the now rocky Alluvial Fan
At our cabins, we created a bird sanctuary.  My family would laugh at us from their cabin patio.  Why?  Well, Ms. Kathie, Micheal and myself picked up a lot of bird seed and wood.  We'd sit around the fireplace and watch birds.  We had hundreds of them come and visit our cabin.  And all we had to do was just sit and watch them from the living room window:)

Black-billed Magpie
The evenings were wonderful.  Everyone sat around the large outdoor ramada sharing stories and drinks together.


As is tradition, my family puts together a dance for the big day.  Our wonderful dance was a mix of popular science fiction movie tunes and finished off with a childhood favorite, "Xanadu!"

Pic courtesy of Kathie Brown.  Awesome shot of everyone!
At times it was windy. Or snowy.  Or rainy.  But always COLD!

A cold Steller's Jay
We birded one of my favorite spots in Estes Park which happens to be near their golf course.  

Clifford goes on assignment for a class project
 The locale is known as the Matthew-Reeser's Bird Sanctuary.  Most of the bird life is found along a wooded corridor next to a fast moving stream.  I suspected American Dippers hung out at this location, but I had "dipped" several times on this bird in June.  Persistence(and timing) paid off. 

Classic American Dipper shot
And it wasn't just a far away glance.  Both, Kathie and myself, were able to watch two of these birds nearby our trail.


And along the way, we stopped looking at the birds and just enjoyed family and fall.


But then a Steller's Jay would steal the show:)


Here is a video of our American Dipper encounter.  If you are a lover of everything wildlife, I highly recommend Estes Park.  More to come from this amazing locale.......


                                  

9 comments:

  1. That surely looks great for bonding and hobby! I love those birds with blue colors, especially that magpie with very long tail. Enjoy!

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  2. Such a perfect combination of friends, family and birds in an absolutely gorgeous setting.

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  3. Not much to add to such a great celebration in such a perfect setting. Celebration of Life above all.
    Congratulations!

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  4. What a wonderful time you must all have had - beautiful setting, family and friends together and great wildlife :)

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  5. What a fun time! and GREAT Captures!

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  6. Chris, seeing that dipper in the creek was just about the best thing besides birding with you again!

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  7. Estes Park is our favorite place to vacation. We were there in September. What a great place to bring everyone together.

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    1. I didn't know that! It really is a great place. My family had never been so it was fun watching their faces as they explored this amazing locale. Very special place.

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