Birds Critters Sightings Wildlife
October 29, 2021

October 29, 2021

Environment:Start Time: 8:50 AM Temperature: 40 degrees Sky: Sunshine, no clouds and light breeze I guess October has been saving it for a big finish! Today’s walk at Lake Pueblo State Park was as bountiful as it was beautiful. Lots of birds and critters were out enjoying a fabulous morning. There were a bunch of mostly cooperative smaller birds that I’ve posted in the bottom gallery of this post. One, the Lincoln’s Sparrow is a new bird for me and I guess the American Goldfinch is a female. I got another White-crowned Sparrow and a Red-winged Blackbird was snacking nearby….

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Birds Sightings Wildlife
October 28, 2021

October 28, 2021

Environment:Start Time: 9:10 AM Temperature: 49 degrees Sky: Sunshine, no clouds and light breeze Much cooler this morning but also a lot more bird buddies to chase around. Today’s featured image (above) is a White-crowned Sparrow who was just daring me to get his picture. A little perseverance paid off. Also present on or near the Arkansas River were quite a few Northern Flickers and a Ring-billed Gull (pictured below). The big surprise came near the end of my trek when I spotted a good sized bird flying right at me. I figured it was a Hawk as I started…

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Birds Landscapes Sightings Wildlife
October 26, 2021

October 26, 2021

Environment:Start Time: 8:55 AM Temperature: 69 degrees Sky: Sunshine, high thin clouds and hefty (border line wind) breeze Back on the trail today with my birding kit. I think I’m going to have to start bringing my own birds. Very little activity this morning probably due to the steadily increasing “breeze”. Kind of toasty out, too, for late October. I did get an OK shot of an American Kestrel seen here clinging to a high branch. A Red-tailed Hawk also made an appearance but I missed the shot. So, once again, I shot some Autumn color (what’s left of it)…

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Featured Locations Landmarks Landscapes
Picket Wire Canyonlands Guided Auto Tour

Picket Wire Canyonlands Guided Auto Tour

October 16, 2021 my friend James and I drove East into the rising Sun to La Junta, Colorado to join in one of the auto tours presented by the U.S. Forest Service. The full day tour is the title of this post and you can learn more about it by clicking here. The canyonlands are located on the Comanche National Grassland some distance South of La Junta on Highway 109. Participating in the tour requires a high clearance four wheel drive vehicle – and they aren’t kidding about that. We drove in on a very clear dry day and it…

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Landscapes Sightings
October 24, 2021

October 24, 2021

Environment:Start Time: 8:55 AM Temperature: 50 degrees Sky: Sunshine, high thin clouds and mild breeze Instead of taking my wide angle gear like I did yesterday I brought a more mid-range lens this morning thinking it would be a good day to try some video. I did shoot a little video (to be posted at a later date) but I really regretted not keeping the wide angle lens on camera. If I’d tried birding – today would have been a disaster. Besides the few birds listed below I heard some Blue Jays and I heard a Kingfisher. Today’s featured image…

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Birds Landscapes Sightings Wildlife
October 20, 2021

October 20, 2021

Environment:Start Time: 9:35 AM Temperature: 43 degrees Sky: Sunshine, light breeze Much chillier today but only a mild breeze at LPSP. The only things in the sky that were white were the Gulls and some airplane contrails. Most of the birds (not the ducks) spent the morning dodging in and out of leafy branches or hiding behind twigs on their perches so that photography was impossible. I did manage a shot of a Red-tailed Hawk (below) who didn’t position himself quite right behind a twig so as to discourage me from shooting. Once he heard my shutter click he flew…

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Birds Sightings Wildlife
October 19, 2021

October 19, 2021

Environment:Start Time: 8:55 AM Temperature: 63 degrees Sky: Sunshine, clouds and increasing wind. Even with an above average temperature (and dry shoes) I still ended up cutting today’s outing at Lake Pueblo State Park short. The wind seemed to get stronger with every step I took. There have been windy conditions at the park over the last couple of days which is starting to effect the Autumn leaves in a negative way – by blowing them all off. I’ve been waiting to take out my wide angle equipment to get some nice color because a lot of leaves are still…

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Birds Critters Sightings Wildlife
October 18, 2021

October 18, 2021

Environment:Start Time: 9:10 AM Temperature: 50 degrees Sky: Sunshine and diminishing clouds. Back on the trail with dry shoes allowing me to go the distance this morning. Things may be starting to pick up a bit bird-wise. I captured and posted (below) a Pied-billed Grebe in the Arkansas River. I take that as a good sign. I also got a (long) shot of a Red-tailed Hawk having something for breakfast way up on top of a utility power pole. Another Hawk capture that is posted below is kind of puzzling. I think it is a Red-tailed Hawk but Google wants…

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Birds Sightings Wildlife
October 17, 2021

October 17, 2021

Environment:Start Time: 9:50 AM Temperature: 50 degrees Sky: Sunshine with NO clouds. Back on the trail after yesterday’s detour to the Comanche National Grasslands. I have to say I am still tired from that trip. So I made today’s walk a bit shorter partly because of the afore mentioned fatigue and partly because I was out in my regular street shoes. My walking shoes got kind of wet yesterday when the tour group waded across the Purgatoire River to look at some dinosaur tracks and they (the shoes) have yet to dry out. Not much was going on today at…

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