Environment:
Start Time: 8:55 AM Temperature: 52 degrees Sky: Brilliant sunshine with a healthy (but not cold) breeze.
Check out last year’s walk on this day!
I don’t think I could have ordered a nicer day for walking if I had had the opportunity to do so. Photographically I would have added a side of fluffy white clouds in the sky and maybe a few more birds to the order. Still, both activities – walking and photographing – were more than satisfactory. The highlight of the day was coming upon a big group of Cedar Waxwings working over one of the bare trees by the Arkansas River. I really think these are the first Waxwings I have seen this year and certainly the most cooperative ones I have ever encountered. One of the better portraits is posted here. I caught another Audubon’s Warbler and for today’s featured image I offer (yet another) Black-capped Chickadee who was not at all cooperative. The mini-gallery below features some “across the river” shots for a little variety.
Sightings:
Birds: Mallards, Blue-winged Teal, Double Crested Cormorant, Canada Geese, Starlings, Great Blue Heron, Northern Flicker, Gulls, Audubon’s Warbler, Killdeer, Cedar Waxwings, Black-capped Chickadee
Critters: Prairie Dogs, Tree Squirrel, Grasshoppers, Mule Deer, Butterflies (Monarch, Orange Sulphur, Cabbage)
Gear: Nikon D5600, 55-300mm
Three Killdeer enjoying the morning along the Arkansas River at Lake Pueblo State Park, Colorado October 03, 2021 
Great Blue Heron fishing by an old Highway 96 bridge abutment in the Arkansas River at Lake Pueblo State Park, Colorado October 03, 2021