March: Birds & Brews Social

Saturday, March 14

9:00am-12:00pm at the Table Public House

Open to all volunteers!

Spend a relaxing morning connecting with nature and fellow volunteers during this month’s enrichment program. Led by volunteer coordinator Jane Lee, we’ll begin with a guided birding field trip along the South Platte, taking time to enjoy the sights and sounds of local birds together. 

After the walk, we’ll head to Table Public House, located along the river, where you can enjoy a delicious lunch, and great company! If you’d like to preview their menu beforehand, please click here. Free parking is available just south of Table Public House, as well as along nearby W Warren Ave or S Galapago St.

Please bring: binoculars and your name tag.

March: Introduction to

Interpretative Techniques

Saturday, March 21

9:00-11:00am at the Kingery Nature Center

All volunteers are welcome!

Join Skot Latona, Manager of South Platte Park, for an interactive morning on the basics of resource communication: crafting a clear message, adapting to your audience, making it engaging, and inspiring action.

These skills are useful whether you’re helping at an event, leading a field trip, working in the garden, or chatting with community members. This program will be held indoors.

Space limited, register today!

Feathered Feature:

Bald Eagle

Written by: Leslie Dixon

• The Bald Eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, can be found year-round in Colorado, usually near water. They range throughout North America and are the largest raptor on the continent.
• Known for the white feathers on their heads, adult Bald Eagles are otherwise brown with white tails visible in flight. Juveniles are all brown with splotches of white which disappear as they reach sexual maturity in their fifth year. Although males and females have the same coloring, the females can be as much as 25% larger than the males. With an average wingspan of 80”, males average 9 lbs., while females weigh around 12 lbs.
• As powerful fliers, Bald Eagles can be seen soaring on thermal convections, diving after prey, or energetically flapping with a fish in their talons.
• Bald Eagles require habitats near open water and will not migrate from areas where the waters don’t freeze. Areas with large trees are preferred for perching, roosting, and nesting.
• Although most of their diet is made up of fish, Bald Eagles will also hunt smaller birds and mammals. With their strong talons and powerful wings, they have been known to fly with fish equal to their own weight. They are also known to feast on carrion and steal prey from other predators.
• Bald Eagles usually mate for life and return to the same nest every year. Their large nests are constructed of sticks high in tall trees (typically cottonwoods in Colorado) near a water source. Usually, two eggs are laid and the chicks fledge at 8-14 weeks of age and stay near the nest and their parents.
• Birds in northern latitudes will migrate south. In our area it is common to see large congregations of wintering birds near open water.
• The call of the Bald Eagle is an unimpressive weak chirp. In movies, the stronger call of the Red-tailed Hawk is often dubbed in for the eagles.
• Not just the national symbol for the United States (adopted in 1782), the Bald Eagle is also sacred to many Native Americans. Some cultures believe that eagles are the messenger between the Creator and the people.