Revealing the Hidden Beauty of Colorado
Environment:Start Time: 3:35 PM Temperature: 56 degrees Sky: Sunshine with a slight breeze Sightings:Birds: Common Goldeneye, Gulls, Canada Geese, Starlings, American Robin, Song Sparrows, Downy Woodpecker, Great Blue Heron, Belted Kingfisher, HawkCritters: Mule Deer, Tree Squirrel Gear: Nikon D5600, 55-300mm
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: 3:25 PM Temperature: 64 degrees Sky: Cloud filtered sunshine. Sightings:Birds: Mallards, Common Goldeneye, Buffleheads, Gulls, Canada Geese, Starlings, American Robin, Dark-eyed Juncos, White-crowned Sparrow, Sparrows, Northern Flicker, Black-capped Chickadee, Belted KingfisherCritters: Prairie Dogs, Mule Deer Gear: Nikon D5600, 55-200mm
Environment:Start Time: 8:15 AM Temperature: 52 degrees Sky: Clouds and sunshine, light breeze. Sightings:Birds: Mallards, Blue-winged Teal, Double Crested Cormorant, Canada Geese, Starlings, Killdeer, Gulls, Northern Flicker, Audubon’s Warbler, Red-tailed Hawk, Blue Jays, Great Blue Heron, Belted KingfishersCritters: Prairie Dogs, Woodlouse, Monarch Butterfly, Mule Deer, Cabbage Butterfly, Tree Squirrel Gear: Nikon D5600, 55-300mm
Environment:Start Time: 8:25 AM Temperature: 56 degrees Sky: Sunshine, few clouds, healthy breeze. Sightings:Birds: Mallards, Osprey, Double Crested Cormorants, Canada Geese, Starlings, Killdeer, Gulls, Red-tailed Hawk, Belted Kingfisher, Northern Flicker, Turkey Vulture, Swallow, White-crowned Sparrow, Blue JayCritters: Prairie Dogs, Woodlouse, Monarch Butterfly, Orange Sulphur Butterfly Gear: Nikon D5600, 55-300mm
Environment:Start Time: 6:45 AM Temperature: 59 degrees Sky: Mostly sunny. Light breeze. The Sun was finally able to muscle through the haze and clouds this morning and shed some glorious light onto Lake Pueblo State Park. A light breeze made walking quite pleasant. Even though birding was pretty much limited to the usual suspects, there was one bit of excitement on the banks of the Arkansas River. A Belted Kingfisher had caught what looked to me like a crayfish and was flying over to a perch when a Grackle (I think) swooped in to try and steel the Kingfisher’s prize….
Environment:Start Time: 7:45 AM Temperature: 46 degrees Sky: Sunny with light breeze When the local weather forecaster predicts an 84 degree high temperature for the day – I get to the park as early as possible. Walking and photography conditions could not have been better. Well, a few more cooperative birds wouldn’t have hurt. But I did see a lot of birds so heading out early did pay off. Today’s featured image demonstrates Spring’s progression. The blooms on the Prunus Americana are giving way to the leaves. I was also fortunate enough to capture an in flight shot of a…
Environment:Start Time: 2:40 PM Temperature: 46 degrees Sky: Mostly cloudy, spotty sunshine, light breeze Winter continues to frustrate my walking plans. I finally decided to hit the trail today because snow is predicted again for tonight. Conditions were not what I would call ideal but I’m sure it will be much worse tomorrow. The one high point was the absence of fellow walkers – only a few fishermen were braving the river. But there were some birds. A nice variety, actually. The ducks were limited to Common Goldeneye and a few Mallards. There were four or five American Coots, a…
Environment:Start Time: 1:50 PM Temperature: 41 degrees Sky: Sunny, clear, light breeze After a long three day pause the weather finally seemed inviting enough to take a turn at Lake Pueblo State Park. Despite the (I hope) seasonal scarcity of birds I had a couple strokes of good luck capturing birds in flight. The luck can be largely credited to my choice of the Nikon D5100 for the camera du jour. That Belted Kingfisher (today’s featured image) that has been tormenting me of late finally made it onto my memory card as he took flight. A little later I spent…