Environment:
Start Time: 8:05 AM Temperature: 38 degrees Sky: Sunshine few clouds with biting breeze.
Today’s featured image (above) is just a sample of the snow that greeted me this morning in Rock Canyon. This is my favorite kind of snow – it falls overnight and is mostly melted by morning. The big activity today has to center around the Swallows that were swarming the Arkansas River. Just below are my attempts to capture them on my memory card. The results are at least good enough to make a positive ID – Violet-green Swallows. The mini-gallery at the bottom of this post is two frames of a Common Merganser who it turned out was having breakfast. He and his lady were floating around and then suddenly lunging after their preferred fare – I got one action shot of this activity. Also out on the river this morning were two Black-necked Stilts that surprised me when they took off – successfully avoiding being photographed.
Violet-green Swallow at rest at Lake Pueblo State Park, Colorado April 25, 2022 
Another attempt to capture a Violet-green Swallow in flight at Lake Pueblo State Park, Colorado April, 25, 2022. I’ll keep trying.
Sightings:
Birds: Mallards, Gadwalls, Wood Ducks, Blue-winged Teal, Cinnamon Teal, Canada Geese, Common Mergansers, Osprey, American Robin, European Starlings, Double-crested Cormorants, White-crowned Sparrows, Mourning Doves, Turkey Vultures, Barn Swallows, Violet-green Swallows, Black-necked Stilts, Belted Kingfishers, Great Blue Heron
Critters: Tree Squirrels, Mule Deer
Gear: Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II, Panasonic Lumix 100-300mm
Common Merganser on the Arkansas River at Lake Pueblo State Park, Colorado April 25, 2022 
Common Merganser lunging after something attractive in the Arkansas River at Lake Pueblo State Park, Colorado April 25, 2022