Bald Eagle Winter Photography

I vaguely recall an area in Colorado that has been hightlighted as an area to photo bald eagles. I have hit the internet and can't find a resource but for some reason, the Gunnison area rings a bell. Does anyone have any info on wintering bald eagles in CO? I know there are many around in 1's and 2's but for some reason a wintering site sticks in my memory. Any help would be appreciated before I spend a few hundred bucks on a trip to AK.

Fossil Creek Reservoir in Fort Collins has an average of about 20 BE's roosting each night right now but.... they are a long way from public access so... you have to find them either flying or out feeding during the day. Other areas to try are the feed lots, last year's big competitions were won by Rob Palmer with in flight shots of BE's catching small birds, all taken at feed lots. Hope this helps Mike.

Mike, Bill is correct. If I recall, those feedlots were down around Alamosa somwhere. not sure of the exact location, or I would be out there myself. Not sure what part of town you are in, but Barr Lake usually gets a fair amount of balds as well.

Not much help here, but a little historical trivia: the San Luis Valley and Monte Vista NWR near Alamosa used to get large numbers of Bald Eagles(600+), before the duck flocks in the area started getting avian botulism, this was about 20 years ago. The NWR then began intensive persuasive techniques to keep the duck population density lower, which resulted in Balds flying elsewhere. I've heard Cherry Creek Reservoir in Denver has a few balds.

I just returned from 3 days in Gunnison - lots of eagles in The Basin, but not concentrated in any one locale. I saw a couple along the river at Almont, one eating a dead deer on Blue Mesa ice, 2 golden eagles on the Curecanti Cliffs, many eagles flying across The Basin, and one on a snag at Blue Mesa dam. There's a small area of open water there.