Sterne Park, August 2014

After some very rewarding time shooting in the Pea Patch Community Gardens on Wednesday morning, I headed over to Sterne Park less than a mile away to see if anything interesting was going on around the pond. Last year I'd gotten some nice shots of Wood Ducks there, so it seemed worth checking out.

And what did I find?  Loitering teenagers.  Sheesh, I could have just stayed home to see one of those.

I always find grooming behavior in birds interesting.  When all you have to keep yourself clean is a beak, I suppose you make do.

Nice to get the encyclopedia shot.

Neat statue with some nice reflections on the pond.  A kid or two playing on it with some expressions of unbridled joy on their little faces were really needed to make this shot special.

I expected more dragonflies -- all I saw were a couple of these and another larger one that wouldn't sit still for a picture.

Lori Price Bolendonk from the Front Range Wildlife Photographers Facebook group comes through with the ID -- a common whitetail male.  Thanks, Lori!

After completing a lap around the pond, the teenage Mallards had advanced from simply lying around to some vigorous stretching.

More stretching and grooming, with a little bit of a Karate Kid vibe between the setup for the crane kick and the bow.

The gang eventually waddled over to me looking for handouts, which I didn't have and wouldn't have given if I did.  Always nice to find a little beauty in the everyday!