I have no idea what kind of gull this is but was pretty darned persistent trying to fish a local pond. While I waited for my favorite raptors to appear, I used it for a bit of camera target practice. I loved its bright white plumage against those beautiful, deep, blue Colorado skies.
Gotcha! Bald Eagle snags itself a nice breakfast
My goodness. What a charmed day this past Saturday was. A friend (thank you, Bill!) secured us access to a private pond where Bald Eagles have been hanging out. The action was pretty intermittent but when it did happen, it was fast and furious.
This eagle caught itself one fish but soon returned for another and this image captures that second pass. It was clearly an experienced hunter, never missing once and, for me, yielded probably the best ‘eagle fishing’ pic I have ever taken. Such a thrill!
If you’re interested in a print of this image, it is available. I can see this one hanging on my wall very, very soon. You can too – see here!
Pretty posing Hummingbird
We’ve been busy putting the wraps on planning our summer and so my mind is naturally drifting toward some of the photo subjects that time of year. Among the highlights of the Colorado high country are these little guys. This particular Hummingbird (a Rufous?) took to hanging out at our campsite in Lake County and gave me some nice shots, including this one when it was isolated on a long branch.
Merganser swims right by
I don’t normally take pictures of ducks as most tend to be quite skittish and I don’t have the patience to do the work required to get close. Yesterday however, this male Common Merganser swam right by where I was sitting on the shore of a pond. He looked pretty darned cool so I of course had to take a few pics of him.
Galloping Pronghorn buck
It’s been a while since I have seen any of these speed demons so this capture dates back to last July. As usual, he wasn’t too willing to pose for pictures but also didn’t take off at a flat out run giving me a chance to grab a couple of shots.
Before the arrival of western Europeans, it is believed as many as 40 million of them roamed the open rangelands of North America – possibly more than there were bison. Hunting and fragmentation of their habitat by fences and human settlements took its toll and as few as 20,000 remained at the start of the 20th century.
Thankfully conservation and education saved them from extinction and they now number almost 1 million.
Portrait of Freedom
A very simple picture for the day of this majestic creature – it is so fitting that Bald Eagle’s are the national emblem of the United States. This particular one was kind enough to pose against that beautiful, blue Colorado sky this past weekend. I hope you all had a fantastic Friday Enjoy your weekend.
Eastern Screech Owl makes some noise
This past weekend I was ecstatic to see not just one, but two of these awesome little owls in the wild. They were in fact the first non-captive screech owls I have ever seen. Both are found within two different suburban parks southwest of Denver, Colorado and while one was relatively easy to spot in its cavity, this one was much harder to locate.
As you can see, it fills the cavity and unless you knew where it was, you would be hard pressed to find it. In fact, I walked right by it three times before finally locating it. It spent the vast majority of the time I was with it sleeping, with very little movement.
However, for some unknown reason, at one point it woke up and began making the distinctive ‘trill’ call they are known for. After a few minutes, it closed its eyes and went right back to sleep. So much fun to see – and hear!
What do they sound like? Check out this page from Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s website here.
Coyote on the prowl
As you can tell, once it saw me, its focus changed from hunting for breakfast to the guy with the camera. It was pretty well concealed and I had to work to get even these half-way clear captures. Still fun to see these guys and am always amazed at how well they have adapted to urban and suburban encroachment on their territory.
Barred Owl in flight on a gorgeous winter’s day
One of the cool things about visiting wildlife education facilities is the opportunity to see species that we don’t have here in Colorado. Such is the case with Wicket, a Barred Owl.
Wicket was found with an injured wing, rehabbed, and taught to be an educational bird. He put on a nice little flight show for us.
In North America, these owls are found across the eastern half of the United States, the Pacific Northwest and southeastern Canada with a few spots in Mexico. They aren’t migratory, usually hanging out within a very small area during their lives, choosing forests near water for their homes.
Taken at Nature’s Educators in Sedalia, Colorado.
Fabulous dark morph Ferruginous Hawk
Every year there are at least a couple of these dark-plumed beauties hanging out northeast of Denver. This year I have struggled getting pics of them which annoys me. I did get some images of this one a few weeks ago. Light was low so the quality isn’t the greatest but I am still happy to have captured the pics.
These are my favorite hawks. They are very large and can be mistaken for an eagle at a distance. Their plumage is just gorgeous and that smile that they seem to have very cool. While they can be found here in Colorado year-round, they are most common during the winter months.