Yesterday morning, Mike, Lauren, Larry and I all went on a bird watching walk at nearby Barr Lake. It was a beautiful day, but we were all a little disappointed with the bird watching experience, for different reasons. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I see the same exact birds the ornithologists were talking about in my very own backyard, all the time, and I see more of them too. I know my birds every bit as much they do, and maybe even better. I caught “the experts” making false statements a couple of times, and Larry and I pointed out different birds to them, that they would have missed otherwise, like the wild turkey and the Northern Harrier. I don’t think they believed me when I said I see the same birds and much more around my own lakes until I showed them some pictures of the birds I have taken. That being said, though, it was still a beautiful day to commune with nature, and we did still have a good time.
We saw more birds eating at the bird feeders behind the Nature Center than we did out on our walk. There were mainly various sparrows and red-winged black birds.
We saw and heard a few other various birds as well, perched in the trees.
We saw lots of birds nests, mostly bullet oriole nests all throughout the trees.
Ironically, I did not get any shots while out walking with the “experts”, but got all these shots either before or after we had finished the tour. I love these little sparrows underneath the bridge.
This little guy was looking for food by the bushes back at the Nature Center.
We saw a wild turkey out on the walk too, Larry is the one that pointed it out to the “experts”. On first glance, the “experts” thought is was a Canadian goose, but to their credit, we were quite a bit a way, though they had their big scope and should have been able to tell right away. But again, once we got back to the bird feeders, at the back of the Nature Center, sure enough, the turkey was there too, eating with the rest of the birds.
I like this shot of the turkey and the squirrel.
I really like these photos of the squirrel though. He got caught and he is 100% guilty, and he knows it!
After our bird walk, we took Mike & Lauren out to Rosa Cantina for lunch Rosa Cantina. We even embarrassed Mike and had the servers sing him Happy Birthday. They really enjoyed that a lot. We all did. đ After lunch, we took a little break, then Mike & Lauren came back over for game night. Mike said he enjoyed his birthday festivities. đ
We had a good time, and as I said, it was a beautiful day, but we all decided we got more out of it from walking around on our own than we did from the event itself. But it was free, which is good. Ironically, once we got back home, I was sitting at our dinning room table, looking out our big window that faces our lake, and just in my own trees, in my own backyard, I saw blue jays, gray-headed juncos, and a beautiful Cooper’s Hawk all within minutes of each other. Much more than we saw on the bird walk. đ
No matter what you do, make the most out of every situation. have a great day and make everyday great. May 2026 be filled with happiness, good health and prosperity for all. ‘Til next time.
A Jeanne in the Kitchen 