Category Archives: Nature

Birds of Waterton Canyon

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Waterton Canyon is a nearby attraction for me (southwest of Denver, Colorado), and it’s both scenic and peaceful — so it’s just a shame that I don’t get there very often. The canyon was carved by the Platte River, and has an incredibly gentle trail to hike (repurposed from its original genesis as a railroad bed), so I don’t even have difficulty as an excuse.

Regardless, I went on a hike there recently along with other members of a local photography group — we were primarily there to see bighorn sheep, but ran across some interesting birds in the process.

Let’s start with the Spotted Towhee:

Spotted Towhee

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Unlikely guardians

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A pair of Peruvian thick-knees keep an eye on the ruins of Pachacamac (near Lima), Peru.

Unlikely guardians

These little guys normally live in shrubland and grassland, so it’s impressive how prevalent they are in Pachacamac — it’s about as dry a desert area as you’ll find (no shrubs or grass), although it’s relatively close to grassy areas by the Pacific coast.

EXIF:
OM System OM-1 camera, M.Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8 lens
40mm, ISO 200, f/11, 1/320 sec

Purple Mountains Majesty

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We recently went camping in the White River National Forest, here in Colorado. The camping areas are adjacent to the Flat Tops Wilderness, so we enjoy being able to dip into the wilderness on some quick hikes. Here’s a 2-frame panoramic view across Anderson Lake (near Trapper’s Lake), looking south from the Wall Lake Trail in 590nm infrared, with a few color tweaks — click to enlarge it:

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Colorful Reflections

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A scene from 2023’s “Blossoms of Light” at the Denver Botanic Gardens.

Colorful reflections

“Blossoms of Light” is always an enjoyable and visually arresting visit in the run up to the holidays. This view looks south across the Monet Pool toward the Hive Garden Bistro.

EXIF:
OM System OM-1 camera, M.Zuiko 12-45mm f/4 lens
ISO 2000, 19mm, f/11, 0.8 sec

Fully partial

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Folks in a large swath of the western hemisphere were fortunate to have the opportunity to see an annular solar eclipse today (weather permitting, of course). We decided to forgo a drive to the path of annularity, opting instead to watch it as a partial eclipse — from our front porch. We got lucky as a thin layer of cirrus blew out of the way just in time, and I was able to make some photos.

Fully partial -- partial solar eclipse photographed a few minutes past maximum.

This was the eclipse as seen from Denver, about 10 minutes past maximum. Look closely, and you can see a sunspot in the upper right part of the crescent.

EXIF:
OM System OM-1 camera, M.Zuiko 100-400mm f/5.0-6.3 lens, MC-14
560mm, f/9.0, 1/320 sec, ISO 500