South Platte River fun!

  I had all morning to go play! I like to check the local birding websites to see what birds are around. There have been several posts about lots of birds being seen on the S. Platte, so I decided to go check it out. The day was a bit gray and gloomy. So the light was not great for photos but I had to give it a go.

I decided to park at 88th as it crosses over the S. Platte. There was a nice parking lot and a bike path along the river. The S. Platte starts in the foothills of the rockies, goes through downtown Denver and heads for Nebraska. As soon as I got out of the car, I could see there were lots of ducks on the water...sweet! I had a feeling it was gonna be a fun day!

I walked the bike path for a minute but I wanted to get closer to the river. So I started walking through the high grasses to get to the water. I startled a female goldeneye as I came to the water's edge. Check out the drops of water on her back....very cool!

  There were at least 20 green winged teals on the river. I just love these guys and have never seen this many in one spot. Usually I see 1-2 at a time. So this was cool! You can see why they are called green winged teals. That green is so beautiful!

    Next I spotted some pintails! Excellent! I only saw them one time last winter and did not get good pics of them. So I was excited!

     I continued along the river and heard the distinct call of a kildeer. I soon found him and got a nice pic! I see them quite often but they are a challenge to get a good pic of. This one is card worthy for sure!

       Sweet! More pintails! I took quite a few pics of these guys....

      Here's a nice pic of a couple of pintails....

     As I was enjoying the water birds, I saw an eagle flying off to the south. But he was way too far to get a pic. Then soon after another flew by but was obstructed by some chainlink fence. I asked him to circle around and come back and he did! The light was terrible to get good pics but I was so excited he flew by to give me a chance............

       Then out of nowhere, a bird flies by. I have learned to shoot first and see it who it is     
     afterwards. A harrier hawk! Oh these guys are so cool. Not the best pic, but I'll get one someday :)

   Some pintails came flying along and I got a decent shot.....

 I was so happy I came to check this spot out. I will be back very soon on a clear day to get moe pics! I had time, so I headed over to Prospect to see if the wood duck pair was around. They were not but the was this cute widegon- female.

 And there was a cute ring necked duck too.

                                  Finally it was time to head home! What a fun day!