An online journal sharing my interests in photography, nature, coffee life, journaling, fountain pens, spirituality and asking deep questions.
A steady rain has been falling since about 7:30 am this morning and the weather app says this will be the norm for the next 6 days. Always good to get a gentle rain. I needed time in nature yesterday afternoon and drove out east into Weld County. The sky was beautiful with the clouds over the mountains. But my focus switched to birds as meadowlarks and Western Kingbirds were out and offering me photo opportunities. The sun is out for now. May go for a walk.
Just as I was about to get into my car at about 4:50 am I noticed a raccoon across the parking lot making their way towards Julie’s condo. She has one of those large planters just outside her bedroom window that now has a Canada Goose nesting there with about 5-6 eggs. I watched as the goose stood her ground with her eyes focused on them. Luckily there was no conflict as the racoon moved on to find easier pickings.
I then drove out to the open space at the intersection of William Neal Parkway and County Road 9 and setup my tripod for pre-dawn and sunrise photos. A good way to start may day. Lots of activity already going on there. Great Blue Herons wading the edges of the pond, geese and ducks floating above, meadowlarks singing, and barn swallows darting everywhere. I stayed for about 45 minutes and spent way too much time swatting the mosquitoes the barn swallows were missing. I really do like this area and the sunrise view it offers. I’ll post more images from this location later. I decided not to post another pre-dawn or sunrise image but instead posting this Western Kingbird taken this past Thursday afternoon. Rain expected later today. Enjoy your weekend!
Took an evening drive to Weld County for some bird photos at a marshy area along County Road 13 and County road 78. Had an enjoyable evening watching, listening and photographing plenty of birds. This is a Western Kingbird. They belong to the flycatcher family so you can understand why they hang out in the insect laden marshes. They are actually a very lovely gray-headed bird with a yellow belly and a whitish chest and throat. The tail is black with white outer tail feathers. An easy bird for me to spot. I normally see them on fence wires or single branches such as this. They make this cute little repeated “kit, kit” sound.
“The innocence and silence of the animal world has a huge subtlety to it that is anything but dumb, but rather notices everything and is present in everything. Animals carry a huge ministry of witness to the silence of time and to the depth of nature. They are like the landscape in a sense: they live too in a mode of silence.”
John O’Donohue
I believe this to be a Western Kingbird. I am not that familiar with them but they are a beautiful bird. I encountered this one along Weld County Road 15 in an open prairie area. This is a major crop and looks fairly decent.