Environment:
Start Time: 6:40 AM Temperature: 57 degrees Sky: Sunshine, light haze with some clouds
Lazuli Bunting Sighted!
I guess the headline says it all. I got a New Bird (for me) today. The single, one and only frame that I captured is posted here but I did not think it good enough for the supreme honor of featured image. I took this shot as soon as I saw the bird (and did not know what it was) and then as I tried to reposition for a cleaner angle he flew off. In the same area where where I found the bunting I also captured a cool image of an Orb Spider (I think that is more of a category than a name) who was basking in the morning sunshine. He was not quite as big as he looks in this image but a hefty critter for sure. Then (in the same area) I got the two shots below of what I believe to be a female Downy Woodpecker. The first shot is a normal capture. She was really going after that tree so I decided to slow down my shutter speed and see what kind of blur I could capture. Kind of an interesting result. The featured image (above) is a young Blue Jay – a fledgling I’m pretty sure – who was bouncing from branch to branch trying to figure out what to do with its wings and putting up quite a ruckus. I didn’t hang around to see if he ever got airborne.
Sightings:
Birds: Mallards, Osprey, Barn Swallows, Double Crested Cormorants, Eastern Kingbird, Canada Geese, Mourning Dove, Great Horned Owl, Downy Woodpecker, Solitary Sandpiper , Lazuli Bunting, Grackles, White-breasted Nuthatch, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Flycatcher
Critters: Cabbage Butterfly, Prairie Dogs, Monarch Butterfly, Widow Skimmer, Mule Deer, Orb Spider
Gear: Lumix GH4, 100-300 mm
Downy Woodpecker enjoying a Cottonwood tree at Lake Pueblo State Park, Colorado July 26, 2021 
Downy Woodpecker shot with a slow shutter speed as she pecks away at Lake Pueblo State Park, Colorado July 26, 2021