This was a rather fun encounter from early last month. This juvenile Bald Eagle was hanging out across the road from a small pond, clearly keeping an eye out for an opportunity to snag its breakfast. As I watched it, it focused its laser beam stare on the far side of the pond and took off at a furious pace. I captured an entire sequence of images as it launched and flew by. It’s chosen hunting ground was too far away for me to get pictures of it snagging its catch but with its meal firmly in its grasp it flew right back by me. The first image is of the raptor as it departed to hunt, the second is of it on its return trip with a small fish in its talons. Have a great weekend!
Wile E Coyote keeping watch
Perhaps this beautiful creature was looking for the Roadrunner? 😉 Not likely given the location in the suburbs north of Denver however it was keeping an eye out for a meal. It was absolutely gorgeous as it stood tall and proud surveying its options.
Coyotes are amazingly adaptable animals and have not been greatly impacted by human expansion. Here in the area I live, this has resulted in some human – coyote conflicts, mainly with the coyotes attacking domestic pets. They range across North America and some have even been seen into Central America and Panama.
Not your usual barking dog
We are all familiar with the bigger barking dogs in our neighborhoods. These guys prefer much less crowded environs but can be just as noisy when you intrude on their homes. Prairie Dogs are quite common here on the plains of Colorado and I usually completely ignore them. However, after having what was a less than successful photo day one day last week, I was desperate to capture pictures of something – anything. This little guy provided a good opportunity and I have to admit, it was kind of cute.
Sunset on the Colorado Front Range
Beautiful sunrises and sunsets are a pretty common occurrence on the Colorado Front Range. Every now and then though, Mother Nature gives the scene an extra ‘kick’ to make it that much more awesome. Such was the case on this evening last week when not only were the colors and formation stunning, there was a hint of iridescence at the edges. I do wish I had a clear view of the horizon but pics above look awesome anyway. Taken in Thornton, Colorado.
White-tailed Deer doe makes faces at the photographer
😉 Well, not really. She was in fact just finishing up a bite of grass and I happened to catch her mid-chew. Overall the deer are looking a bit rough right now as they begin to lose their winter coats in favor of a thinner, cooler covering for the summer.
White-tailed Deer are North America’s smallest deer. They are very fleet-footed capable of speeds up to 30mph and able to leap as high as 10 feet and as far as 30 feet in a single bound.
High contrast driftwood
What to do when you are sitting near a river waiting for the wildlife you are watching to do something interesting? Take pictures of driftwood! My patience was wearing thin and I was bored so I started pointing my camera at random things. The amount of detail in this piece of wood was somewhat compelling and made for an interesting subject. What do you think? Color or black and white?
That’s a lot of geese!
Snow Geese don’t spend much time in Colorado, only coming through in the early fall and late winter as they migrate. Last week I was at one of their stopover points, a lake northeast of Denver. They unfortunately kept their distance but that allowed me to capture images showing just how many there were. There had to be thousands of them and they were quite loud.
High-power launch
In looking for worthy photo subjects, sometimes you do a lot of driving for little return. Those days can be disappointing and maybe, just maybe, you get lucky at the end of your trip like I did when I found this gorgeous creature. I had spent a few hours out and on a weekend day last month and had little to show for my effort.
It was disappointing until, not 10 minutes from home, I spot this eagle on top of some very tall high tension power poles. A chance to salvage the photo day! Thankfully it worked out as the raptor gave me a fantastic launch and flyby series, this being one of the first of them as it took to the air.
Jailbreak! A sextet of Bald Eagles leap into the air all at once
This is a pretty darned fun capture I think. These six were hanging out in this tree along the shoreline of Jackson Lake State Park on Colorado’s northeastern plains last Friday. I’m sitting on the ground just enjoying watching them when suddenly the top, adult eagle decides it is time to go. That was enough to convince the others to depart as well leading to this image of all of them as they started to leap into the air.
The action is fun but one of the coolest things about the image is that it does a nice job showing the different plumage of Bald Eagles at various ages all in one capture. The bottom left two would be between 1 and 2 years old still having the dark heads they were born with. The bottom right two are about 3 years old and getting their white heads and yellow beaks. The upper two are full adults, showcasing the distinctive plumage that we are all familiar with on these majestic raptors.
Red-winged Blackbird sounds the changing of the seasons
Red-winged Blackbird sounds the changing of the seasons. You know spring is coming when you begin to hear these noisy fellows. Soon after sunrise the other day this one was making sure every lady in the area knew he was awake and around. 😉