Where eagles glare

Eagles have no use for humans. They can barely tolerate us. They nest near water, but not where humans can come close.

From the boardwalk

So we must earn our eagle time. When January rolls around, the yearning for eagles persists. Fortunately, this is when eagle couples - they mate for life - return to their nests.

They can be easily found on the Front Range. I joined my friend Karen in a 9-mile hike/walk around Barr Lake east of Denver - two weeks later than intended, thanks to erratic January weather. 

Barr Lake looked feeble this winter. Not only is Barr Lake a reservoir, but its water comes from irrigation canals. Waters fluctuate year to year, especially in the water-starved West. With work on the dam, water levels looked unhealthily low.

Where eagles stalked along the edge of ice in 2020, there was no ice or even water -red grasses sprouted below the trees where the raptors nested. We had to walk miles before the frozen waves came anywhere close to the path circling the lake. The eagles weren’t alone, as ducks and other waterfowl patrolled the open waters on the lake’s south end. Even a lone pelican stood tall above the ducks. 

Karen and I took the clockwise loop this time, but the result is the same. You can see some eagles from the boardwalk, but to have any potential close encounters requires a walk of 4-4.5 miles. 

We had to pass the massive collection of nests on a former island turned into a peninsula due to low waters. The rookery looked as healthy as last year, branches thick with nest and a few birds standing guard. 

After the last eagles faded from the treetops, we ran into a colony of prairie dogs near the railroad tracks. Once the trail dropped below the dam, wildlife slipped away for the last few miles of the loop. But we had our fill by then. 

Our mid-January trip proved fortuitous, as Colorado Parks and Wildlife closed the stretch of trail where close eagle spotting was possible. Nesting raptors led to the closure, of course. 

Less than the mile after the boardwalk, the unmistakable hard silhouettes of eagles appeared high in the skeletal trees. Even with the lake waters drawn down, eagles favored the same trees. 

We approached gingerly but it did not matter – get within a certain distance, and the eagles at rest sprang into action. They leapt from their tight resting poses and flapped those giants wings, moving far away in a few motions. 

The rookery

Sometimes they just soar, gliding off silently. Sometimes a tangle of branches will reveal a hooked beak perfectly cut for grasping fish that amble too close to the lake surface. As we approached, they pivoted their heads, looking for threats, prey and annoyances (I assumed they considered us the latter). 

Ultimately, visitors willing to tread the full loop are treated to more than a dozen eagles. Try as they might they cannot avoid you entirely, although they won't hesitate to fly to more distant perches. 

The trees at the lake’s far end hosted a variety of bald eagles, with immature eagles and more mature birds with the unmistakable brown feathers and white head. The juvenile bald eagles look akin to golden eagles, sporting darker eyes until a certain age, with a handful of white feathers spread among their brown manes. 

Whatever their ages, the sharp silhouette of a bald eagle in a distant tree is never a mystery, just a steady presence atop the food chain.