Denver City Park: July 2015

Another photographer at Kountze Lake tipped me off to the nesting birds at Denver City Park. Having never made the trip when we lived there, I thought it was a good destination for my photo outing last Tuesday.

Most of the nesters can be found on a small island on the south side of Ferril Lake.  I was delighted to finally get a Black-crowned Night-Heron in decent light!

This Cattle Egret had the youngest babies that I could see.  She never strayed too far from the nest.

These two fledgling Black-crowned Night-Herons had a brief squabble, possibly over whose turn it was to perch on the good branch.

The earlier cattle egret in a rare moment away from her chicks.

Snowy Egrets continue to grow on me more and more.  They're typically quite elegant, though not so much in this moment.

When they fluff out their breeding plumage is when they really make an impression.

Some juvenile Black-crowned Night-Herons were testing their wings a bit, taking tentative walks out on branches ...

... and making short "hops" -- I can't really call them "flights" -- a bit closer to the ground.

This is a flight.

Duck Lake is home to a huge population of cormorants.  With all their coming and going, they provided many opportunities to practice flight photography.

At least one duck came by to remind that the lake was, after all, named after them.

A winged denizen of the invertebrate variety -- Eastern Pondhawk, I believe.

The two lakes provide wonderful visibility to the birds.  A shame I didn't visit sooner!