We pulled into the Center after 15 minutes on the road and were emediately greeted with a female Pine Grosbeak on the ground in the parking area. I was so excited I put the car in park and jumped out with my camera. I shot the bird a few times before climbing back into my car and actually parking in a legitimate spot. I grabbed my camera again and jumped out again as fast as I could. I saw a beautiful red male in the trees and took a few shots of him too as he posed for me. A few females hung around the male and I managed to get quite a few shots of the lot. They all seemed to be fairly used to humans, not being easily scared off, so that worked to my advantage. I had a great time shooting the birds and ended up with a few I'm really happy with. My son was very excited as well, and as soon as he was out of the car, he ran out to see the colorful birds, laughing and squealing with joy. The Grosbeaks were the only birds we saw there, but it was more than enough. It was to cold to stay there long, and after a short walk, we went back to the center to warm up. They have a nice fireplace in the center and lots of things to see in there. The women working there told us that they had not put out their feeders yet, as they were waiting for the all clear from the forest service. They need to ensure that there are no active bears around before putting food within reach. They will put out black-oil sunflower seeds and some suit cakes, which will attract all kinds of birds. I will have to come back to see what shows up, the Eagle River Nature Center has not seen the last of us! We had a fun time there and recommend visiting to anyone who loves nature.
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