Revealing the Hidden Beauty of Colorado
Environment:Start Time: 6:35 AM Temperature: 62 degrees Sky: Wildfire haze filtered sunshine Sightings:Birds: Mallards, Starlings, Osprey, Barn Swallows, Double Crested Cormorants, Western Kingbirds, American Robins, Canada Geese, Mississippi Kite, Mourning Dove, Northern Flicker, Hairy Woodpecker, Redheaded Woodpecker, Orchard Oriole, Red-winged Blackbird, unidentified long legged wading bird, Great Blue Heron, Blue JayCritters: Cabbage Butterfly, Prairie Dogs, Mule Deer
Environment:Start Time: 6:35 AM Temperature: 63 degrees Sky: Sunlight. Light breeze. Sightings:Birds: Mallards, Starlings, Osprey, Barn Swallows, Double Crested Cormorants, Western Kingbirds, American Robins, Canada Geese, Common Grackle, Mississippi Kite, Mourning Dove, Northern Flicker, Common Crow, Great Horned OwlCritters: Cabbage Butterfly, Prairie Dogs, Mule Deer, Squirrel, Widow Skimmer, Stink Beetle
Environment:Start Time: 6:35 AM Temperature: 63 degrees Sky: Sunlight. Healthy breeze. Sightings:Birds: Mallards, Starlings, Osprey, Barn Swallows, Double Crested Cormorants, Western Kingbirds, American Robins, Canada Geese, Eastern Kingbird, Common Grackle, Mississippi Kite, Mourning Dove, Red-winged Blackbirds, Redheaded Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Green Heron, Great Blue Heron, Blue JayCritters: Cabbage Butterfly, Prairie Dogs, Mule Deer
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: 6:35 AM Temperature: 64 degrees Sky: Cloud filtered sunshine. Moderate breeze. Much less haze today but the clouds did a nice job replacing it. Third day in row with muted sunlight. Makes for good walking but not so good for photography. Fortunately there was not a lot to photograph this morning so I guess things worked out. Today’s feature image (above) is the group of Cormorants that have chosen to make this particular tree overlooking the Arkansas River their gathering place. In this picture they seem to be having a group grooming session. I did also stumble across…
Environment:Start Time: 6:45 AM Temperature: 61 degrees Sky: Wildfire haze and cloud muted sunshine. No breeze. Sightings:Birds: Mallards, Starlings, Osprey, Barn Swallows, Cormorants, Western Kingbirds, Eastern Kingbird, American Robins, Canada Geese, American Kestrel, Common Grackle, Mississippi Kite, Brown-crested Flycatcher, Downy Woodpecker, Mourning Dove, Red-winged Blackbirds, Yellow-headed Blackbird, House WrenCritters: Cabbage Butterfly, Prairie Dogs, Mule Deer, Butterfly
Environment:Start Time: 6:50 AM Temperature: 60 degrees Sky: Wildfire haze muted sunshine. No breeze. Sightings:Birds: Mallards, Starlings, Osprey, Barn Swallows, Cormorants, Western Kingbirds, American Robins, Canada Geese, Orchard Oriole, American Kestrel, Common Grackle, Mississippi Kite, Western Wood Pewee, Brown-crested Flycatcher, Great Blue Heron, Great Horned Owl, Downy Woodpecker, Mourning DoveCritters: Cabbage Butterfly, Prairie Dogs, Mule Deer, Common Tan Wave Moth, Cottontail Rabbit
Environment:Start Time: 6:45 AM Temperature: 60 degrees Sky: Wildfire haze filtered sunshine. Very little breeze. I arrived early again this morning with high hopes for a good day – I mean, it’s 7-11 after all. If there was a highlight for today’s outing it would have to be the presence of many American Kestrels. I saw one tree with three and another with four. I believe these were family outings with the younger ones getting some hunting pointers from the adults. I only got one presentable shot (below) of what I believe to be one of the youngsters. There were…
Environment:Start Time: 6:45 AM Temperature: 70 degrees Sky: Sunny with a stiff (but still welcome) breeze Sightings:Birds: Mallards, Starlings, Osprey, Barn Swallows, Cormorants, Western Kingbirds, American Robins, Canada Geese, Red-winged Blackbird, Northern Flicker, American Kestrel, Common Grackle, Mississippi Kite, Great Blue Heron, Turkey VultureCritters: Cabbage Butterfly, Prairie Dogs, Mule Deer Gear: Nikon D5600, 55-300mm
Environment:Start Time: 7:10 AM Temperature: 64 degrees Sky: Sunny with a welcome breeze Sightings:Birds: Mallards, Starlings, Osprey, Barn Swallows, Cormorants, Western Kingbirds, Eastern Kingbird, American Robins, Canada Geese, Red-winged Blackbird, Northern Flicker, American Kestrel, Common Grackle, Green Heron, Mississippi KiteCritters: Cabbage Butterfly, Prairie Dogs, Widow Skimmer, Mule Deer Gear: Nikon D5600, 55-300mm