The day before Halloween would prove to be a nice sunny day full of of great sights. My first encounter was the only one that would not count as "close" but I figured I'd post the photo anyway as it's the first Merganser I've ever seen at Palmer Lake. I think this is actually a female "Hooded Merganser" as opposed to a "Common Merganser" due to the way the tail is pointed upwards. I sure would love to see a Male Hooded here -they are probably the neatest waterfowl I've ever seen!
On the east side I stumbled upon the Doe and two fawns who are now so used to people that they allow me to get amazingly close. I watched the trio forage on the inside of the trail, then cross the trail to the outside. Mom went across first, then the two fawns. They've lost all their spots now and are pretty much the same color as any other deer.
The only way you'd recognize them as fawns is by their smaller size. As I was watching the deer, a large Pileated Woodpecker was flying back and forth over the trail. At one point he even landed right behind one of the fawns as I was taking another picture. I couldn't focus on both and I was in a dilemma on what to photograph first! Later I'd end up with both as I crept up on the large Woodpecker from behind.
My previous encounter with two Pileated's took forever as I kept scaring them away. This one I walked almost right up to and snapped a couple of real nice pics before it took off. This one is a female with a black "moustache" behind it's bill. I've noticed that they seem to use their long tail feathers to balance themselves on logs -almost like a third leg. Upon coming back to the parking lot, I spotted an Eagle that I'd seen a couple times during my walk, flying over the middle of the park. This time I caught him perched in a tree against the clear blue sky.
For the longest time I really thought this was a Golden Eagle but the more I thought about it, a Juvenile Bald Eagle seemed to make more sense. One thing that really throws me is that his bill is pretty dark colored near the tip -very different from the familiar bright yellow bill I'm used to seeing on Bald Eagles. But quite possibly his full coloring has not developed yet if he's still young.
The day before Halloween would prove to be a nice sunny day full of of great sights. My first encounter was the only one that would not count as "close" but I figured I'd post the photo anyway as it's the first Merganser I've ever seen at Palmer Lake. I think this is actually a female "Hooded Merganser" as opposed to a "Common Merganser" due to the way the tail is pointed upwards. I sure would love to see a Male Hooded here -they are probably the neatest waterfowl I've ever seen! 
On the east side I stumbled upon the Doe and two fawns who are now so used to people that they allow me to get amazingly close. I watched the trio forage on the inside of the trail, then cross the trail to the outside. Mom went across first, then the two fawns. They've lost all their spots now and are pretty much the same color as any other deer. 
The only way you'd recognize them as fawns is by their smaller size. As I was watching the deer, a large Pileated Woodpecker was flying back and forth over the trail. At one point he even landed right behind one of the fawns as I was taking another picture. I couldn't focus on both and I was in a dilemma on what to photograph first! Later I'd end up with both as I crept up on the large Woodpecker from behind. 
My previous encounter with two Pileated's took forever as I kept scaring them away. This one I walked almost right up to and snapped a couple of real nice pics before it took off. This one is a female with a black "moustache" behind it's bill. I've noticed that they seem to use their long tail feathers to balance themselves on logs -almost like a third leg. Upon coming back to the parking lot, I spotted an Eagle that I'd seen a couple times during my walk, flying over the middle of the park. This time I caught him perched in a tree against the clear blue sky. 
For the longest time I really thought this was a Golden Eagle but the more I thought about it, a Juvenile Bald Eagle seemed to make more sense. One thing that really throws me is that his bill is pretty dark colored near the tip -very different from the familiar bright yellow bill I'm used to seeing on Bald Eagles. But quite possibly his full coloring has not developed yet if he's still young.
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