It was supposed to be a regular photo trip to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge. However as it has been so many times this summer, photography in the Refuge was a stunning failure. Birds we have seen in abundance the last few summers are strangely absent. The coyotes were sleeping and the bison nowhere to be found. That’s when it began… our short road trip was extended.
Kevin and I decided to take the short jaunt up to St. Vrain State Park where we expected to find a new crop of juvenile osprey circling the lakes with frequent dives into the water as they practice fending for themselves, before their parents leave for South America for the winter.
Eventually the young ones will get the message that the weather is becoming hostile, and will also depart for their winter refuge. I’ve always wondered if the siblings make the journey together. Actually we don’t really know if the adults even spend the winter together with their lifetime mate.
At first the osprey were nowhere to be found, in fact nothing was anywhere to be found. After a while we decided to go into town and get some lunch, with the hope that birds would begin to appear.
As we were driving out of the park, we spotted a number of osprey stands, each occupied by osprey families. We made a note of the location and proximity to water, vowing to return and expand our search.
Upon our return, we drove in to explore a previously overlooked lake, and American white pelicans began to appear. We could see osprey circling overhead, but nfortunately we had seen this behaviour before and thought it unlikely that they would be diving for fish in the middle of the day. Perhaps the bright sun reflecting on the water prevents them from seeing fish in the depths.
Soon great blue heron began flying in to join the crowd. One landed in the water about a half mile ahead of us, so we quietly hiked in behind the trees to get a closer look.
The great bird cooperated and took his time enjoying a good fishing spot along the shoreline, while we captured dozens of images.
Eventually the burst of action subsided and we decided to head for home. I didn’t want to face the Friday afternoon Denver and I25 traffic, and this was the moment a 200 mile road trip turned into a 400 mile all day excursion. I checked the map, and it looked like a nice idea to take the Diagonal over to Boulder, followed by a quick jaunt up to Nederland where we could make our way south to Georgetown and then over Guanella Pass. We hoped that we might see elk or moose in the afternoon light to round out the day.
As luck would have it, a small herd was making their way through the mountain grass on their way to higher ground for the night. Unfortunately they were moving pretty fast, and we scrambled to grab our cameras before the herd disappeared into the dense pine forest.
When we got down from the pass it was only a few more miles over to Jefferson where we thought we might be able to spot a moose, or some hawks or maybe eagles. We didn’t have much luck there, but we did capture a few of my favorite images of the day in the desert grass on the edge of the high plains. A little herd of pronghorn were resting in the warm afternoon sunshine, and graciously posed for a few pictures in gorgeous late afternoon light.
Finally we were on the home stretch. Another 50 miles down Tarryall Road back to Southern Colorado. Off to the east barely visible in the last vestiges of light, another herd of elk was lazily making it’s way across the foothills of the Lost Creek Wilderness. We got out to shoot, and I noticed my camera struggling in the low light. ISO 32,000 was required at the shutter speed I was using, and that is supposed to be beyond the usable limits of my camera. I took a few that way, and eventually dialed back to a slower shutter speed, and ISO 16,000. I’m surprised at the results, but I actually got some usable pictures in near darkness in a Rocky Mountain valley, even with ISO 32,000.
As the heat of the day subsided, the little ones were quite active. They put on a good show, running circles around the herd of cows. I followed their actions with the camera’s animal subject recognition, but I feared nothing but blurry pictures with the slow shutter speed I was forced to use. Much to my surprise, I still managed to get some nice ones!
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Steven W. Krull is a renowned photographer and author who has been photographing and writing of the beauty and wildlife of the Colorado Rocky Mountains for over two decades. Please visit his website at S.W. Krull Imaging to view his work, including thousands of prints for sale, stock images for commercial use, and his library of published books.
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Colorado Photographer / Author / Wildlife Advocate | Steven W. Krull 