When I arrived at the park this Saturday morning the first thing I saw was dried up Goldenrod plants. They reminded me that it was indeed much later in the season than it feels. Temps are still mild and there was plenty of sun today, making it feel more like early October versus mid November. Heading toward the duck pond I again ran into a couple of friends of mine who told me about a monstrous Buck they had just seen in the area. So after chatting for a few minutes I scouted around in search of some Deer. While heading along the wood chip trail north of the duck pond, a pretty Doe walked right out in front of me and just stood there.
It made for a nice portrait with the big Cottonwood trees in the background. I was seeing a few birds here and there, including a few Cardinals and Woodpeckers. I paused for a bit to watch this Downy Woodpecker do his thing and he inched closer and closer to me until he was less than about 6 feet away. I still enjoy taking photos of common birds if they are close and/or doing something interesting. I love being able to see the feather detail in the photos later on as it's something you don't see for very long in the field.
While standing there admiring the Downy, I noticed another Deer in the field of cattails just past the trail. It was a buck with a healthy, yet smaller rack of 4 tines on each side. This one was a bit more shy than the first and stayed mainly in the cattails, not giving me any good clear looks. After a while I turned my attention back to the trailside in search of birds but then yet another buck stepped out onto the trail in front of me! It's been some time since I've seen this much deer activity in the park and I was glad that not all of them had been taken by the archery hunt. This particular buck had what first looked to be just a single spike on each side, though be it very tall ones.
After he too posed nicely for a few photos, he turned to the side, sniffing along the trail and I could see that each spike was paired with a second, much smaller spike pointing off to the back. I also noticed he looked kind of "beefy" around the head and neck which is probably a sign of their mating season or "rut." The next thing that caught my eye was a bright red male Cardinal who seemed to be playing hide and seek with me through the brush. I thought to myself "it's hard to hide when you're this bright!"
I sure love seeing Cardinals but unless they're busy at a feeder, they can be tough to approach without bumping. You also need some pretty good light for photos as they're SO red that your camera often wont pick up the feather details. So I definitely have more less than favorable photos of Northern Cardinals. After having finally moved on from the duck pond, I came across one very interesting waterfowl species that pretty much made my day. A single Gadwall was swimming in the little pond on the east side of the park, just south of the parking lot. It was actually right up near the trail and I was too close when I spotted it, sending it heading away from me rather quickly. But at least it didn't fly off to the next pond and I was able to observe it for a while.
Gadwalls will usually show a "black butt" when they're in mating plumage. This one had mostly black, but also some light feathers there too so it may have been a first-year bird, or maybe they just lose some of their color this time of year like other waterfowl. Either way I was thrilled to see a Gadwall at the park again!
It made for a nice portrait with the big Cottonwood trees in the background. I was seeing a few birds here and there, including a few Cardinals and Woodpeckers. I paused for a bit to watch this Downy Woodpecker do his thing and he inched closer and closer to me until he was less than about 6 feet away. I still enjoy taking photos of common birds if they are close and/or doing something interesting. I love being able to see the feather detail in the photos later on as it's something you don't see for very long in the field. 
While standing there admiring the Downy, I noticed another Deer in the field of cattails just past the trail. It was a buck with a healthy, yet smaller rack of 4 tines on each side. This one was a bit more shy than the first and stayed mainly in the cattails, not giving me any good clear looks. After a while I turned my attention back to the trailside in search of birds but then yet another buck stepped out onto the trail in front of me! It's been some time since I've seen this much deer activity in the park and I was glad that not all of them had been taken by the archery hunt. This particular buck had what first looked to be just a single spike on each side, though be it very tall ones. 
After he too posed nicely for a few photos, he turned to the side, sniffing along the trail and I could see that each spike was paired with a second, much smaller spike pointing off to the back. I also noticed he looked kind of "beefy" around the head and neck which is probably a sign of their mating season or "rut." The next thing that caught my eye was a bright red male Cardinal who seemed to be playing hide and seek with me through the brush. I thought to myself "it's hard to hide when you're this bright!" 
I sure love seeing Cardinals but unless they're busy at a feeder, they can be tough to approach without bumping. You also need some pretty good light for photos as they're SO red that your camera often wont pick up the feather details. So I definitely have more less than favorable photos of Northern Cardinals. After having finally moved on from the duck pond, I came across one very interesting waterfowl species that pretty much made my day. A single Gadwall was swimming in the little pond on the east side of the park, just south of the parking lot. It was actually right up near the trail and I was too close when I spotted it, sending it heading away from me rather quickly. But at least it didn't fly off to the next pond and I was able to observe it for a while. 
Gadwalls will usually show a "black butt" when they're in mating plumage. This one had mostly black, but also some light feathers there too so it may have been a first-year bird, or maybe they just lose some of their color this time of year like other waterfowl. Either way I was thrilled to see a Gadwall at the park again!
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