Kountze Lake and South Platte Park, December 2019

I made my semiannual pilgrimage back to Colorado over winter break, as usual. The first full day saw comfortable temperatures and clear skies, so I headed out looking for waterfowl.

Kountze Lake was my first stop, and as I approached the water there was a small group of birds still sleeping on the ice around the shore. including this Mallard hen.

Of more interest than the Mallard, however, was a Northern Shoveler.  I'd never gotten a great shoveler pic, but this fellow let me get pretty close.  Still, he was keeping a wary eye on me.

When he finally did fully wake up, he was unhurried.  Always a good idea to limber up before getting in the water.

He moved on, and I continued around the perimeter and caught another male swimming away but also at a leisurely enough pace for me to get a nice shot.  My best shoveler images by far!

The seed heads on these cattails had burst, which I always find interesting.

A tiny bird nest was exposed just off the trail.  It was surprisingly close to a well-trafficked path, so I assume that enough foliage covers it in the spring and summer to keep it safe.

After Kountze I grabbed a coffee and headed to South Platte Park, but my luck with waterfowl returned to its traditional form.  That is to say, I couldn't get close enough to most of them to get any kind of decent shots.  The only exception were a couple of Common Merganser hens, and even with them my results were far from stunning.  Still, it's decent documentation.

 A decent, casual, low-key start to the visit!