Arrived this morning with the sun (6:40) and a pleasant 62 degree temperature. No clouds, no wind.
Along with it being a great walking day it turned out to be a great birding day, too. Once again I spotted what I believe to be a Cooper’s Hawk while I was escorting Whisper on his brief tour. The bird was waaaaaay up in a tree and appeared to be having a little something for breakfast. Then, when I headed out on my own I saw a lot of my old favorites a few of whom challenged me to photograph them. I did get pictures of a Flicker and a Blue Jay but determined them (the photographs) to be unworthy of this post. The big event was when I got to the Arkansas River and spotted a Great Blue Heron on the opposite bank. S/he was a little antsy so I hung back a little and was fortunate enough to get a series of shots of the magnificent bird taking flight. A sampling of the photos are in the gallery below. Then when I went to see if there was any doin’s at the Osprey nest (there weren’t) I got some pretty good shots of a Hairy woodpecker who was quite tolerant of my presence. The woodpecker is today’s featured image.
Sightings:
Birds: Osprey, Cooper’s Hawk (possible), Flicker, Blue Jay, Great Blue Heron, Hairy Woodpecker, Mallard Ducks, Canada Geese, Swallows, Barn Swallows, American Kestrel
Critters: Mule Deer
Gear: Nikon D5100, 55-300mm lens
