Environment:
Start Time: 7:10 AM Temperature: 64 degrees Sky: Sunny with a welcome breeze
Warm again this morning. Good walking weather nevertheless. Getting out early gives me wonderful low directional light which I took advantage of to capture the Summer scenic (above) – today’s featured image. There were birds, too. I managed to sneak up on a Green Heron one picture posted below – I posted one to Twitter as well (yes, I’m now on Twitter) you can see that here. I also got a pretty good shot at a female Downy Woodpecker though she did not make it easy. There were also a good number of female Red-winged Blackbirds out and about. They were flying around in groups – I guess maybe the kids are off to school already. One of these little ladies is posted below – I didn’t like the group shot. In the Critter category I managed to shoot what I would normally classify as a Dragonfly but what Google tells me is a Widow Skimmer – pictured below.
Sightings:
Birds: Mallards, Starlings, Osprey, Barn Swallows, Cormorants, Western Kingbirds, Eastern Kingbird, American Robins, Canada Geese, Red-winged Blackbird, Northern Flicker, American Kestrel, Common Grackle, Green Heron, Mississippi Kite
Critters: Cabbage Butterfly, Prairie Dogs, Widow Skimmer, Mule Deer
Gear: Nikon D5600, 55-300mm
Red-winged Blackbird abandons her perch by the Arkansas River at Lake Pueblo State Park, Colorado July 8, 2021 
Green Heron perched along the Arkansas River at Lake Pueblo State Park, Colorado July 8, 2021