Awoke early and headed east with intentions of stopping at the Kingfisher Point Natural area then walking across the road to the ponds. However, there are now private property signs all along this area. I do not remember them in the previous visits, of course it has been a while. Usually if they are trying to restore an area they post it as such. So, I stayed on my side of the street. Everything is green and lush right now.
Thought I’d include some history of Kingfisher Natural Area from the CSU website. In 1998, the Fort Collins Natural Areas Program (NAP) purchased the dried waste ponds and has worked since then to rehabilitate the soil, remove non-native plants, and create places for urban recreation. Further south, NAP also added land that includes floodplains ponds, possibly the site of earlier gravel mining like those at Cattail Chorus and Riverbend Ponds, to Kingfisher Point to create a more hospitable area for water birds. After a century and a half, the city mostly has returned water at Kingfisher Point Natural Area to wildlife and environmental protection while simultaneously creating green spaces for residents to recreate.
They say you can see great horned owls as they’re known to occasionally nest in the area. As the name implies you will see kingfishers, along with wood ducks, pelicans and western tanagers. On a warm evening, you might hear chorus frogs. Good morning from Fort Collins!
