On the way home I saw a variety of wildlife. First it was the pronghorn antelope. They sometimes show up near the base of Coffee Divide (we drop from our area to a lower level where Granby is surrounds by ranch lands) in the spring through fall months. There was a small herd, with a couple of the females closer to the road than the rest of them.
Then, as I came past one of the marinas, I glanced to my right and saw a Great Blue Heron hunting along the edge of Lake Granby. I think it may have been a male in breeding plumage - see the long plumes on his head? I got off a few shots and continued toward home.
A little further along was a flock of Western Grebes. We first saw them yesterday. Tom tried to count them yesterday and there was a group of about 40, another group of at least 30, and some others scattered between the larger groups. Neither of us remembers ever seeing more than just a handful at a time before. I'll keep checking on them - I'd love to see their mating dance. Of course, they could be just resting on their way to their breeding area. I can hope, though.
Then, the most special sight of the day ... a pair of ospreys bathing along the edge of the lake. I got a few still shots and a short video. I'll post the video on YouTube once I go through it and see if I need to do any editing. The funny thing is, I've never caught them bathing before, but yesterday we saw one osprey bathing in the same spot. Right after than I saw one dive and come out with a fish, but the photo came out too blurry to share.
The "pelicans" I thought I saw turned out to be leftover piles of snow along the edge of the lake that were just about the right size ... but, still no pelicans yet this spring.
All on all, not bad for a return from the grocery store, wouldn't you say?
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