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Picket Wire Canyonlands Guided Auto Tour

Picket Wire Canyonlands Guided Auto Tour

October 16, 2021 my friend James and I drove East into the rising Sun to La Junta, Colorado to join in one of the auto tours presented by the U.S. Forest Service. The full day tour is the title of this post and you can learn more about it by clicking here. The canyonlands are located on the Comanche National Grassland some distance South of La Junta on Highway 109. Participating in the tour requires a high clearance four wheel drive vehicle – and they aren’t kidding about that. We drove in on a very clear dry day and it…

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Landmarks Landscapes
October 16, 2021

October 16, 2021

Check out last year’s walk on this day! Today’s outing took me to the Comanche National Grassland area near La Junta Colorado. My friend James and I took a guided driving tour of the Picketwire Canyon area. I took a lot of photos and will be making a more complete post in the near future. The featured image above was taken on the Purgatoire River at a famous location where there are many preserved dinosaur tracks to be seen. Gear: Panasonic Lumix GH4, Olympus Zuiko Digital 14-54mm

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Birds Critters Landmarks Landscapes Sightings Wildlife
September 11, 2021

September 11, 2021

Environment:Start Time: 7:10 AM Temperature: 72 degrees Sky: Sunshine, few clouds, some haze, moderate/heavy breeze. Check out last year’s walk on this day! Sightings:Birds: Mallards, Osprey, Double Crested Cormorants, Canada Geese, Starlings, Northern Flicker, Mourning Dove, Blue Jays, Red-tailed Hawk, Great Horned Owl, Belted Kingfisher, American KestrelCritters: Prairie Dogs, Woodlouse, Mule Deer, Whitetail Deer, Monarch Butterfly Gear: Nikon D5600, 55-300mm

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Birds Landmarks Landscapes Sightings Wildlife
September 01, 2021

September 01, 2021

Environment:Start Time: 7:10 AM Temperature: 60 degrees Sky: Few clouds, heavy haze, frequent sunshine, no breeze. Check out last year’s walk on this day! Sightings:Birds: Mallards, Osprey, Double Crested Cormorants, Canada Geese, Mourning Doves, Starlings, Blue Grosbeak, Red-winged Blackbirds, Great Horned Owl, Black-capped Chickadee, Blue Jay Critters: Prairie Dogs, Mule Deer, Tree Squirrel, Stink Beetle Gear: Nikon D5600, 55-300mm

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Birds Critters Landmarks Landscapes Sightings Wildlife
April 19, 2021

April 19, 2021

Environment:Start Time: 9:35 AM Temperature: 57 degrees Sky: Mostly sunny with light to moderate breeze Predicted late afternoon wind (and “possible” rain) got me out for a morning walk today. I adjusted my walk to take me past the Osprey nest that sits just outside the Swim Beach grounds. I saw one of the current tenants out snapping nesting material off the tops of some trees early on and when I made it to the nest I saw both birds engaging in an intimate moment. I guess if you are going to fix up a nest – may as well…

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Birds Landmarks Landscapes Sightings Wildlife
March 16, 2021

March 16, 2021

Environment:Start Time: 11:05 AM Temperature: 45 degrees Sky: Mix of Sun and clouds, light breeze The sunny weather that greeted me as I woke up this morning started to deteriorate as noon approached. So I adjusted my walking plans and decided to have a stroll by the river before lunch. My flexibility was greatly rewarded when I spotted what I first though was a Red-tailed Hawk perched high up on one of the (too many) power poles that march through Lake Pueblo State Park. I did not change my mind about the bird until I heard him/her speak out clearly….

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Landmarks Sightings
January 17, 2021

January 17, 2021

Environment:Start Time: 2:20 PM Temperature: 46 degrees Sky: Mostly sunny, few clouds, light breeze Yet another stellar day for walking along the Arkansas River. I was certainly not the only one who felt that way because there were many folks out walking the trail with me – many with their best four legged friends. I don’t know if this excess traffic was to blame for the serious lack of birds making themselves visible but I guess that is as good a reason as any. I did get another shot of an American Kestrel but I had a Kestrel in my…

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Landmarks Sightings
October 24, 2020

October 24, 2020

Environment:Start Time: 1:15 PM Temperature: 65 degrees Sky: Sunny, high clouds, no breeze Colder mornings always lead to later walks. Really quiet out at the river, birdwise. Peoplewise things were hopping. Once again I was armed for scenics and closeups which, obviously, was a good decision. The color is starting to tone down as we get deeper into Autumn, though the problem may simply be the lack of the morning low angle light. Today’s images are on the boring side. The featured image is some more Autumn (non-Aspen) leaves and below I have posted yet another portrait of Liberty Point…

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Landmarks Landscapes Sightings
October 22, 2020

October 22, 2020

Environment:Start Time: 8:15 AM Temperature: 52 degrees Sky: Intermittent sunshine, high clouds, no breeze Pleasantly warm this morning and, from my kitchen window, apparently quite sunny. These circumstances led me to decide to focus on shooting the Fall colors instead of birds. This meant I arrived at Lake Pueblo State Park with my vintage wide-angle lens attached to the GX-85. The funny thing was that the second I set foot out of the car the sunshine dimmed significantly due to a thick layer of high clouds drifting in. The light necessary for capturing decent color was only occasionally available. I…

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Landmarks Landscapes Sightings
September 11, 2020

September 11, 2020

Environment:Start Time: 8:35 AM Temperature: 43 degrees Sky: Heavy Fog, no breeze Foggy “Summer” Morning The weather seemed promising this morning when I set out but as soon as I got out of my neighborhood I realized that there was a good bit of fog lurking about. Even so I decided to throw caution to the wind and head for Lake Pueblo State Park anyway. When Whisper and I arrived we discovered a gloomy scene and it was a bit chillier than we have become accustomed to over the Summer. I took one picture of the fog rising off of…

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