My alarm sounded long before sunrise and I struggled to open my eyes. A few seconds later, and I had vanquished the unwelcome noise and sat up in a daze. What was the reason for the rude awakening? I gathered my wits and remember that it was Friday, our day to get an early start for a photo adventure in the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.
I’m always looking for the grand vista and the majestic beast to photograph, but sometimes that just doesn’t work out. When that happens though, one just needs to adjust the view a little bit to see all kinds of beauty to photograph. I was out hiking a couple days ago, early in the morning hoping for deer or elk in the meadow in the high meadow.
We had a twofold reason for choosing the canyon as our weekly photo adventure. The first being that it is a great place to get close to some of the more majestic birds of Colorado, and second, we could check on the eaglets.
The plan was to arrive at the lake for a morning of red-winged blackbird photography. I was awake way early, but decided to start up the coffee pot… and my day. I checked my weather app, wondering what yesterday’s snowstorm had wrought. When I saw it was only 9 degrees outside, the thought crossed my mind to back out! However, there were still a couple of hours of darkness remaining, and I hoped the morning sunshine would warm the air a bit, by the time we arrived.
There is no greater evidence of God's work than the majestic osprey. Yesterday's visit to this year's new crop of osprey in the canyon only added to the anticipation of one His greatest mysteries.
Summer isn't giving up yet in Eleven Mile Canyon, or probably anywhere in the Colorado high country. Osprey and great blue heron, and even a bald eagle were enjoying the morning along the rich fishing waters of the South Platte River, and many took the time to stop and pose for our cameras on Friday.
Action with the great birds in Eleven Mile Canyon got off to a slow start on Friday morning. Crowds of fishermen arrived early, filling the canyon with dust, and scaring away the birds. As we were repeatedly passed by anglers from the city roaring up the canyon, we knew our morning was going to be limited.
Many mornings as I sip my coffee, I try to think of locations where I might find new adventure and capture amazing scenes that I haven't yet experienced. Most of the time nothing comes to mind, and I just head out to my nearby trail for some exercise. However, I'm also often astonished at the surprising experiences I encounter there.
I love this time of year in the canyon. Young wildlife is past the newborn stage and are just now experiencing the joy of their new legs and wings. Young osprey are especially excited about their newfound powers and unlike their more mature parents, they spend much of their day in flight. They don't realize it yet, but their games are preparing them for a 4000 mile journey that will begin in about a month.
A sure sign of the advancing season is the arrival of juvenile osprey to the canyon. Each spring our osprey nesting pair returns to mate and raise a new family of chicks. They travel thousands of miles from their winter vacation to meet at the same nest and greet their lifelong partner for the joyous event. As August nears, their young gain stength and skill and finally take flight in a burst of energy, hope and a bit courage too I imagine.
Colorado Photographer / Author | Steven W. Krull 