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!
