Revealing the Hidden Beauty of Colorado
Environment:Start Time: 6:40 AM Temperature: 67 degrees Sky: Mostly sunny. No breeze. Sightings:Birds: Mallards, Starlings, Osprey, Barn Swallows, Cormorants, American Robins, Canada Geese, Northern Flicker, American Kestrel, Common Grackle ,Mourning Dove, Great Horned Owl, Great Blue Heron, Red-winged Blackbirds, Belted Kingfisher, KilldeerCritters: Cabbage Butterfly, Prairie Dogs, Monarch Butterfly, Rock Squirrel, Mule Deer Gear: Nikon D5600, 55-300mm
Environment:Start Time: 6:50 AM Temperature: 64 degrees Sky: Mostly sunny. No breeze. Sightings:Birds: Mallards, Starlings, Osprey, Barn Swallows, Cormorants, Eastern Kingbirds, American Robins, Canada Geese, Northern Flicker, American Kestrel, Common Grackle, Mississippi Kite, Mourning Dove, unidentified Sandpiper-like wading bird, Great Horned Owl, Blue Grosbeak, Wood DucksCritters: Cabbage Butterfly, Prairie Dogs, Viceroy Butterfly, Stink Beetles Gear: Nikon D5600, 55-300mm
Here are a couple of Great Horned Owls living on the bluffs that border the Rock Canyon area of Lake Pueblo State Park in Colorado. The duo are quite distant from the camera about 100 ft up the cliff face.
Environment:Start Time: 6:55 AM Temperature: 61 degrees Sky: Wildfire haze filtered sunshine with a few clouds More fuzzy light and oppressive humidity (by Colorado standards) made for an okay outing today. Not too much bird activity on the walk with the best two shots posted here – an American Bushtit in a rare moment of inactivity and a Great Blue Heron (below) staring into the morning Sun. There was some Osprey activity but none of them were fishing – at least not while I was watching. The real excitement of the day happened after I had finished my normal walk….
Environment:Start Time: 6:35 AM Temperature: 62 degrees Sky: Wildfire haze filtered sunshine Sightings:Birds: Mallards, Starlings, Osprey, Barn Swallows, Double Crested Cormorants, Western Kingbirds, American Robins, Canada Geese, Mississippi Kite, Mourning Dove, Northern Flicker, Hairy Woodpecker, Redheaded Woodpecker, Orchard Oriole, Red-winged Blackbird, unidentified long legged wading bird, Great Blue Heron, Blue JayCritters: Cabbage Butterfly, Prairie Dogs, Mule Deer
Environment:Start Time: 6:35 AM Temperature: 63 degrees Sky: Sunlight. Light breeze. Sightings:Birds: Mallards, Starlings, Osprey, Barn Swallows, Double Crested Cormorants, Western Kingbirds, American Robins, Canada Geese, Common Grackle, Mississippi Kite, Mourning Dove, Northern Flicker, Common Crow, Great Horned OwlCritters: Cabbage Butterfly, Prairie Dogs, Mule Deer, Squirrel, Widow Skimmer, Stink Beetle
Environment:Start Time: 6:35 AM Temperature: 63 degrees Sky: Sunlight. Healthy breeze. Sightings:Birds: Mallards, Starlings, Osprey, Barn Swallows, Double Crested Cormorants, Western Kingbirds, American Robins, Canada Geese, Eastern Kingbird, Common Grackle, Mississippi Kite, Mourning Dove, Red-winged Blackbirds, Redheaded Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Green Heron, Great Blue Heron, Blue JayCritters: Cabbage Butterfly, Prairie Dogs, Mule Deer
Environment:Start Time: 6:45 AM Temperature: 59 degrees Sky: Mostly sunny. Light breeze. The Sun was finally able to muscle through the haze and clouds this morning and shed some glorious light onto Lake Pueblo State Park. A light breeze made walking quite pleasant. Even though birding was pretty much limited to the usual suspects, there was one bit of excitement on the banks of the Arkansas River. A Belted Kingfisher had caught what looked to me like a crayfish and was flying over to a perch when a Grackle (I think) swooped in to try and steel the Kingfisher’s prize….
Environment:Start Time: 6:35 AM Temperature: 64 degrees Sky: Cloud filtered sunshine. Moderate breeze. Much less haze today but the clouds did a nice job replacing it. Third day in row with muted sunlight. Makes for good walking but not so good for photography. Fortunately there was not a lot to photograph this morning so I guess things worked out. Today’s feature image (above) is the group of Cormorants that have chosen to make this particular tree overlooking the Arkansas River their gathering place. In this picture they seem to be having a group grooming session. I did also stumble across…
Environment:Start Time: 6:45 AM Temperature: 61 degrees Sky: Wildfire haze and cloud muted sunshine. No breeze. Sightings:Birds: Mallards, Starlings, Osprey, Barn Swallows, Cormorants, Western Kingbirds, Eastern Kingbird, American Robins, Canada Geese, American Kestrel, Common Grackle, Mississippi Kite, Brown-crested Flycatcher, Downy Woodpecker, Mourning Dove, Red-winged Blackbirds, Yellow-headed Blackbird, House WrenCritters: Cabbage Butterfly, Prairie Dogs, Mule Deer, Butterfly