Environment:
Start Time: 7:45 AM Temperature: 55 degrees Sky: Sunny.
Walkus Interruptus
Today’s walk took a weird turn pretty much right from the start. I had just gotten to the river and was starting to head East down the paved trail when I saw something odd in the water. A closer examination revealed this odd thing was an Osprey just standing waist deep in the water (if Osprey have waists) close to one of the broken concrete bridge pylons left over from the original route of Highway 96. All of today’s images are of this poor creature. This was around 8 AM – give or take. So I got on the phone to try to get some help for my soggy friend. I called the Nature Center / Raptor Center and got only the answering machines. I called the Park Office and got another machine. I called the Sheriff’s office. They directed me to the Colorado State Patrol who took my number and said that they would have someone from The Colorado Department of Wildlife give me a call. They did not call. I finally got through to the LPSP office and they said someone would call me back, They did not. A couple of other park patrons were involved by this point – one bicyclist locating some Park employees by the Anticline Fishing Pond who did not seem to grasp the urgency of the situation. Finally around 9:30 a couple of Park Police Officers showed up and looked at the bird with binoculars. They said they would contact the Raptor Center to see if it “..was something they wanted to deal with.” At this point I got into my car and drove to the Raptor Center where one of the staffers told me that they had gotten a call and that they were heading out to help the stranded Osprey. I plan to contact the Raptor Center later today to see how things went.
Sightings:
Birds: Mallards, Osprey, European Starlings, Double Crested Cormorants, Great Blue Heron, Killdeer, Sparrows, Blue Jay, Turkey Vulture, Gulls, Belted Kingfisher
Critters: Prairie Dog, Cabbage White Butterfly, Wood Louse
Gear: Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II, Panasonic Lumix 100-300mm
