RMANWR

… because Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge is a mouthful.

Invasive European starlings and cowbirds can both be found hanging out with livestock like these bison. Can’t tell the difference? These are starlings. You can tell because of how they are.

Just kidding. Starlings have a short, sharp tail and a pointy, longer beak. Cowbirds have a longer, fan shaped tail and a thicker, cone shaped beak.

The RMANWR American bison (Bison bison) herd contains around 250 more or less free-roaming individuals. They have a lot of land to meander through, so they can be tough to spot. I had to loop around the 11 mile driving tour route 3 times before they wandered into my vicinity.

I saw some people being really idiotic this day. For the love of whatever you hold sacred, don’t get out of your car on this driving tour. It’s self guided and honor system based. Don’t ruin it for the rest of us.

Can you imagine what this place looked like just a couple hundred years ago? Goosebumps.

The cattle egret was a paid actor.

It was so cool to see the mountains, the city, the refuge, and the wildlife. And y’all… it’s only like 10 miles east of Denver and it’s completely free. Obsessed.

But you should definitely stop at the gift shop and make a donation and/or buy something. Places like this are so special and deserve our support.

Just a photo of some vegetation. Nothing to see here, really.

Honestly, same girl. Same.

A tiny baby prairie dog soaking up a little sun.

Through a large stretch of the driving tour, you pass through a massive prairie dog town. They are EVERYWHERE, so use caution and drive the speed limit.

I had such a great shot lined up. It would have been AMAZING. If the bird had done what I anticipated it to. It did not. So here we are.