Kountze Lake, May 2026

After a wonderful morning at St. Vrain State Park, I had the time and inclination to see more!  Another photographer mentioned there being American Avocets at Kountze Lake, which was arguably on my way home.  So Kountze Lake it was. :)

Pond Sliders were taking full advantage of the warm, sunny day.

So was this monstrosity.  I'm fascinated at how this Common Snapping Turtle has so much algae growing on it.

I only found a pair of Avocets, who stayed frustratingly far from shore.  I do love how elegant they look with those long, curved beaks.

While there may have been disappointingly few Avocets, there were an abundance of babies!  Mallards...

... and Canada Geese.  Almost teenagers, really, though still patiently escorted by Mom and Dad.

The Mallard babies -- like most kids -- were having big fun playing in the mud.

I could followed these little ones around for hours, but eventually bid them farewell.  Delighted, though, to have made two photos stops before lunch!

Related Links:

• Kountze Lake and South Platte Park, December 2019
• Kountze Lake, June 2015: Part I
• Kountze Lake, June 2015: Part II
• Kountze and Harriman Lakes

Kountze Lake, June 2015: Part I

I decided to visit Kountze Lake in Belmar Park on Day 2 back in Colorado. I've seen terrific shots of Great Blue Herons and American Avocets taken here by members of the Front Range Wildlife Photography Facebook group, but never visited it during warm weather myself. Today provided the perfect opportunity to correct that.

A couple of American White Pelicans first caught my eye.  Their size and bright feathers make them hard to miss.

I'm glad I shot them when I did, because they didn't stick around.  Before too long they'd both flown off to parts unknown.

I was surprised to also see a pair of Snowy Egrets.  Like they do in Texas, they come to Colorado for summer breeding season.

I took up position on the shore to focus on Great Blue Heron nests on an island in the middle of the lake.  I apparently did a nice job of being unobtrusive, as a Mama Mallard brought her brood of six little ducklings swimming by.  It was cute to see them work on their dabbling.

Mama was doing some feeding of her own, but never stayed under for too long before returning to watching her six youngsters.

The Great Blues are really the star attractions.  Between their size and having their nests on a small island, they command attention even when not spreading their immense wings.

After sitting fairly still and doing little more than preen for an hour, these fledglings erupted into squawking chaos when an adult returned with food.

When you're just learning how to use your wings, I suppose it's inevitable that you'd hold them in awkward-looking poses like this one.  It certainly didn't look comfortable.

More to come!

Kountze Lake, June 2015: Part II

Click here for Part I.

I often wonder what attracts animals to a particular spot repeatedly for nesting or feeding. Like the UT Southwestern rookery in Dallas for herons and egrets, or Brainard Lake for moose. Kountze Lake seems similar for its population of wading birds. I look at other areas nearby these places that would seem just as appealing if not more so -- say, with less human activity. But since I'm neither a bird nor a moose, I suppose I don't really know what's best for them. That's a concept that would likely benefit me to apply to other areas, too.

Barn swallows had nests under the roofs of the wooden boardwalk.  Conditions were too dark for me to get shots of the babies.  But when one landed briefly -- the only way swallows seem to ever land -- on an exposed piece of wood I managed to get a shot before it flew off.

The heron fledgling on the right was doing some gular fluttering as the day began to heat up.  The other three seemed engaged in some sort of bizarre staring contest.

I only saw one Black-crowned Night-Heron.  And like the ones in Dallas, this one was not interested in emerging from beneath sheltering trees to give me a shot with consistent contrast.

There were many Cabbage White butterflies flitting about, enjoying the wildflowers.

This Western Painted Turtle had a different reaction to the warm sun than the fledgling heron did.  He seemed to be quite fine with it.

The elegance of this Snowy Egret searching for food in the shallow water seemed better suited for black and white.

Great Blue Herons seem simultaneously powerful and effortless when they fly.  It's an odd apparent contradiction.

This American Robin was sitting quite contentedly on the ground.  A little too contentedly, so I was concerned it might be hurt.  But as I approached it eventually got up and ran off a short ways and then took flight.

No American Avocets, but certainly enough other accommodating subjects that the visit was a huge success.  I was actually told by another photographer that he was pretty sure the avocets had all left a couple of weeks earlier once their babies had all been eaten.  Apparently the herons, carp, and others eat all the baby avocets every year, and yet they still come back to nest.  And I don't think one has to be an avocet to realize that they're a group that might do well to consider going someplace else!

Kountze Lake and South Platte Park, December 2019

I made my semiannual pilgrimage back to Colorado over winter break, as usual. The first full day saw comfortable temperatures and clear skies, so I headed out looking for waterfowl.

Kountze Lake was my first stop, and as I approached the water there was a small group of birds still sleeping on the ice around the shore. including this Mallard hen.

Of more interest than the Mallard, however, was a Northern Shoveler.  I'd never gotten a great shoveler pic, but this fellow let me get pretty close.  Still, he was keeping a wary eye on me.

When he finally did fully wake up, he was unhurried.  Always a good idea to limber up before getting in the water.

He moved on, and I continued around the perimeter and caught another male swimming away but also at a leisurely enough pace for me to get a nice shot.  My best shoveler images by far!

The seed heads on these cattails had burst, which I always find interesting.

A tiny bird nest was exposed just off the trail.  It was surprisingly close to a well-trafficked path, so I assume that enough foliage covers it in the spring and summer to keep it safe.

After Kountze I grabbed a coffee and headed to South Platte Park, but my luck with waterfowl returned to its traditional form.  That is to say, I couldn't get close enough to most of them to get any kind of decent shots.  The only exception were a couple of Common Merganser hens, and even with them my results were far from stunning.  Still, it's decent documentation.

 A decent, casual, low-key start to the visit!

Kountze and Harriman Lakes

I felt like seeing someplace I hadn't been before today, so I headed up to Kountze Lake at Belmar Park. I'd seen some amazing shots by members of the Front Range Wildlife Photographers Facebook group and Mile High Wildlife Photography Club from the spring and summer of herons and avocets there. I knew those would be long gone by now, but thought I might catch some interesting waterfowl.

I think this is a male house finch like I get in my backyard.  Somehow he looked more impressive in a more natural setting.

A couple of Downy Woodpeckers were vigorously searching a couple of trees.  They move so quickly I had a hard time getting them in focus and clear of intervening twigs.

This Northern Shoveler kept a wary eye on me while appearing to be at rest.

Morning yoga.

Mallards are always thoughtful enough to provide solid poses at a decent distance.

The shovelers preferred to stay a little farther out.

I chatted with a birder who suggested I head over to Harriman Lake if I was looking for more waterfowl, so I did.  The larger body of water gave the birds the opportunity to generally stay too far away from shore for me to get respectable shots.  But this American Coot came up on the ground to show off its freaky legs.

These birds look a bit prehistoric with their large, green, scaly feet.  I was just grateful this one foraged on land for a while.

Not my best outing in terms of sightings or shots, but still nice to explore some new areas!

Denver City Park: July 2015

Another photographer at Kountze Lake tipped me off to the nesting birds at Denver City Park. Having never made the trip when we lived there, I thought it was a good destination for my photo outing last Tuesday.

Most of the nesters can be found on a small island on the south side of Ferril Lake.  I was delighted to finally get a Black-crowned Night-Heron in decent light!

This Cattle Egret had the youngest babies that I could see.  She never strayed too far from the nest.

These two fledgling Black-crowned Night-Herons had a brief squabble, possibly over whose turn it was to perch on the good branch.

The earlier cattle egret in a rare moment away from her chicks.

Snowy Egrets continue to grow on me more and more.  They're typically quite elegant, though not so much in this moment.

When they fluff out their breeding plumage is when they really make an impression.

Some juvenile Black-crowned Night-Herons were testing their wings a bit, taking tentative walks out on branches ...

... and making short "hops" -- I can't really call them "flights" -- a bit closer to the ground.

This is a flight.

Duck Lake is home to a huge population of cormorants.  With all their coming and going, they provided many opportunities to practice flight photography.

At least one duck came by to remind that the lake was, after all, named after them.

A winged denizen of the invertebrate variety -- Eastern Pondhawk, I believe.

The two lakes provide wonderful visibility to the birds.  A shame I didn't visit sooner!