Some Wildlife Photo Ops

Friends we met at the lodge manage a waterfowl refuge. The woman's father had owned much of the land when she was a child and had put in a trout hatchery using artesian wells as his water source. He later sold much of the land to the state and now his son-in-law manages the original land, in addition to several hundred more acres, as a waterfowl refuge. When we visited them it was 'banding' day for ducks. Here Dave prepares to release a mallard hen that has been captured, checked and recorded.






Ever wondered how to tell the gender of ducks when they are too young have any color differences? Here Becky learns 'more than she ever wanted to know' about ducks as one of the workers conducts a duck sex education class. Somehow I don't remember this much detail in my tenth grade biology class!!!












Currently funded by various government agencies - including this study by one of the Colorado Universities - much of the money for the reserve has come from Ducks Unlimited.
Our friends have designed a water distribution system using several artesian wells with numerous canals with water gates which allow them to flood the entire area in the winter using only gravity! They leave it flooded for the waterfowl when they come north in the spring. They use only natural plants as feed and try to keep the area as much as possible like it was hundreds of years ago.











Very hard to see in this photo but right in its center is a badger we encountered. This one was shy but our friends told a story from their youth of a badger backing down a bear!!! Not a critter to mess with.

















Here we have found a deer who has found the perfect place to hide. She has plenty to eat, a cool place to lie down and a great hiding place. She must have felt safe as we drove quite close to her without her ever moving.








Another good hiding place. We almost missed this one as we were driving up the valley one day. She made the mistake of moving a little and caught our eye. I am not sure what she is but she reminded me of the grouse we use to see in the Yorkshire Dales.

















Back at Love Lake we found more ducks - this being a family of mom and little ones. They too showed little fear of humans as they swam right up to the bank where we were fishing. The little ones were as fearless as momma.