We took a special trip out the Monte Vista NWR with our son Reed, who
drove down from Denver for a visit. All his life Reed had heard us talk about
the sandhill cranes, but growing up in Colorado Springs he hadn’t had the
opportunity to see them. We timed our twilight field trip perfectly and were
rewarded with waves and waves of sandhill cranes, Canada geese and ducks soaring
in and landing on the open water. Rather than trying to identify waterfowl
species, we instead enjoyed the big picture – the vast skies of the San Luis
Valley, the glorious hues of the Sangre de Cristos at sunset and the bustling
commotion of hundreds of birds. We took time to observe two bald eagles sharing
a meal of what we presumed was once a duck, now reduced to feathers and gore
spread across the ice. On the auto route
we saw a hawk sitting on a kill while a prairie falcon (which was probably
trying to reclaim its dinner) swooped and dived at the much bigger hawk.
Several nearby mule deer were oblivious to the raptor drama. Thanks for sharing
a fantastic evening with us, Reed!
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