Jackson Lake State Park, established in 1965, sits in the South Platte Valley, NNW of Wiggins, Colorado. As my wife and I discovered today, the park is crowded with campers, fishermen and water sports enthusiasts on summer weekends.
Seeking an escape from the congestion, we headed to to the Jackson Lake State Wildlife Area, which stretches along the north shore of the 2500-acre reservoir. There we found near solitude amidst a mosaic of lakeside woodlands, scrubby grasslands and a tree-lined irrigation canal. American white pelicans and double-crested cormorants were abundant on the lake while Swainson's hawks, northern harriers and kestrels patrolled the grasslands. Killdeer noisily foraged in the clearings and an excellent mix of songbirds moved among the trees; the latter included Bullock's orioles, blue grosbeaks, a lone brown thrasher and an abundance of eastern and western kingbirds. Finally, huge flocks of cliff swallows strafed the lake and fields, nesting beneath bridges on the adjacent rural roadways.
Once again, we found that wildlife areas, lacking the human amenities of State Parks, offer both solitude and pleasant settings for wildlife observation. We are more than willing to forego the congested campgrounds, beaches, boat docks and "comfort facilities."
Seeking an escape from the congestion, we headed to to the Jackson Lake State Wildlife Area, which stretches along the north shore of the 2500-acre reservoir. There we found near solitude amidst a mosaic of lakeside woodlands, scrubby grasslands and a tree-lined irrigation canal. American white pelicans and double-crested cormorants were abundant on the lake while Swainson's hawks, northern harriers and kestrels patrolled the grasslands. Killdeer noisily foraged in the clearings and an excellent mix of songbirds moved among the trees; the latter included Bullock's orioles, blue grosbeaks, a lone brown thrasher and an abundance of eastern and western kingbirds. Finally, huge flocks of cliff swallows strafed the lake and fields, nesting beneath bridges on the adjacent rural roadways.
Once again, we found that wildlife areas, lacking the human amenities of State Parks, offer both solitude and pleasant settings for wildlife observation. We are more than willing to forego the congested campgrounds, beaches, boat docks and "comfort facilities."
