Revealing the Hidden Beauty of Colorado
Environment:Start Time: 9:30 AM Temperature: 54 degrees Sky: Sunny. Sightings:Birds: Mallards, Gulls,Mourning Dove, Black-crowned Night Heron, American Robins, Say’s Phoebe, Red-shouldered Hawk, Yellow Warbler, Magpie, Barn Swallows, Red-winged Blackbirds, Snowy EgretsCritters: Cabbage White Butterfly, Tree Squirrel, Red-eared Sliders Gear: Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II, Tokina 400mm
Environment:Start Time: 7:45 AM Temperature: 45 degrees Sky: Sunshine with varying breeze Sightings:Birds: Wood Ducks, Canada Geese, Osprey, American Robins, European Starlings, Double-crested Cormorants, Western Kingbirds, Mourning Doves, Barn Swallows, Violet-green Swallows, Cooper’s Hawk, Bullock’s Oriole, Blue Jay, Northern Flicker, Wren, Great Blue HeronCritters: Mule Deer, Tree Squirrels Gear: Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II, Panasonic Lumix 100-300mm
Environment:Start Time: 7:55 AM Temperature: 40 degrees Sky: Cloud filtered sunshine and light breeze. Sightings:Birds: Mallards, Wood Ducks, Cinnamon Teals, Gadwalls, Canada Geese, Osprey, American Kestrel, American Robin, European Starlings, Barn Swallows, Double-crested Cormorants, Sparrows, Mourning Doves, Turkey Vultures, Cooper’s Hawks, Western Kingbird, Northern Flicker, Red-tailed Hawk, Wild TurkeysCritters: Tree Squirrels, Mule Deer Gear: Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II, Panasonic Lumix 100-300mm
Environment:Start Time: 2:10 PM Temperature: 42 degrees Sky: Sunshine little breeze Today started out a little dicey weather-wise but turned into an extremely pleasant afternoon which transported me from my couch to the Rock Canyon trails at Lake Pueblo State Park. The Arkansas River was well populated with fishermen which generally is a good thing – everyone should be out enjoying such a day – but is kind of a bummer for me because all that river traffic cuts down on my chances of seeing Belted Kingfishers and/or Great Blue Herons the two shyest birds in the park. Still I…
Environment:Start Time: 8:35 AM Temperature: 48 degrees Sky: Sunshine with light breeze. December is starting out on the warm side. I mean walking along the river in a T-shirt is not what you would expect. Not complaining though. Activity is picking up, too. There were a lot of American Robins darting in and out of the trees along the Arkansas. I think this was a group of migrants stopping for a rest. They were popping down to the water for some pretty long sips of water as pictured below. I also saw a couple of Belted Kingfishers working the river…
Environment:Start Time: 9:20 AM Temperature: 52 degrees Sky: Sunshine with some clouds in the West. Check out last year’s walk on this day! Sightings:Birds: Mallards, Blue-winged Teal, Northern Flicker, Gulls, Great Blue Heron, Killdeer, Blue Jay, Canada Geese, Double Crested Cormorant, Belted Kingfisher, American Robins, European Starlings, Turkey VultureCritters: Prairie Dogs, Grasshoppers, Cabbage Butterfly Gear: Nikon D5600, 55-300mm
Environment:Start Time: 7:15 AM Temperature: 58 degrees Sky: Sunshine, few clouds, heavy haze, no breeze. Wildfire haze is back on the heavy side. With the addition of some light high clouds the sunlight was a bit on the fuzzy side. Still a good day for a walk if you didn’t do a lot of breathing. Not so many birds or critters today though I did capture some long shots of various types perching as demonstrated in the mini-gallery below. A few Cormorants were working the Arkansas River and allowed me to get kind of close for a few frames. Today’s…
Environment:Start Time: 8:25 AM Temperature: 55 degrees Sky: Sunshine no clouds with a light breeze Took yesterday off to let Lake Pueblo State Park dry out from the heavy rain that fell the day before. Everything was looking good under a cloudless sky and, even though the Arkansas River is still running high, the Canada Geese were back out on the water. A pair of Osprey were on the hunt over the Anticline Fishing Pond as I arrived this morning. I saw (and tried unsuccessfully to photograph) a couple of strikes but the Osprey, like me, came up empty handed….
Environment:Start Time: 7:50 AM Temperature: 59 degrees Sky: Sunny, few clouds with light breeze Another early morning with another warm day ahead. Pretty mellow morning with only the Starlings and Mourning Doves out and about in force. Today’s featured image is of the seed clusters that are decorating most of the Cottonwood branches. Below is a shot of a Red-winged Blackbird snacking on one of the clusters and I saw a couple of Yellow-rumped Warblers doing the same. An American Robin posed for me in really good light and I was surprised to see a Dark-eyed Junco – I thought…
Environment:Start Time: 7:00 AM Temperature: 61 degrees Sky: Sunshine, no breeze A much nicer day for casual birding while waling in the park. Less haze, more sun, less humidity and more birds made for an excellent morning. Though there were not many of the larger birds around I did get a shot of a Flicker and a Juvenile American Robin. The real highlight was when I caught sight of a Long-billed Thrasher rummaging through some of the low brush along the Arkansas River. Not that I knew at the time that it was a Long-billed Thrasher – I only determined…