Action with the great birds in Eleven Mile Canyon got off to a slow start on Friday morning. Crowds of fishermen arrived early, filling the canyon with dust, and scaring away the birds. As we were repeatedly passed by anglers from the city roaring up the canyon, we knew our morning was going to be limited.
Early in the day we spotted an osprey high in a dead tree, in terrible light. We stopped the car to get a better look, and the raptor took immediate flight.
Soon however, we were rewarded with a great blue heron sighting, wich also ended quite abruptly. However I was fortunate to capture a couple of images before the prehistoric looking shorebird disappeared upstream and around the bend in the river.
A trip all he way to the dam produced nothing, and we were left with the hope that we might see an osprey along the river, or perhaps the heron would reapppear. As we neared the end of bird habitat downstream, it appeared the day would be a bust. However, careful observation of the stream on the way back downstream proved fruitful. Our heron was putting on a good show, and posed for us for about 45 minutes before a truck roaring past startled him into flight.
I crept down to the riverbank and found a good spot to sit where I cold brace my big lens with my knee as I watched the action unfold. The great bird walked around on the rock, and I hoped he would spot a fish and hop in after it. A few times the giant bird made promising movements, but never did jump into the placid pool beneath him.
Of course as I mentioned earlier, the truck went by and the big bird spread his wings and flew right at me. I held down the back focus button with my thump, activating continuous focus as I tracked the flight.
Steven W. Krull is a renowned photographer and author who has been photographing and writing of the beauty and wildlife of the Colorado Rocky Mountains for over two decades. Please visit his website at S.W. Krull Imaging to view his work, including thousands of prints for sale, stock images for commercial use, and his library of published books.
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Colorado Photographer / Author / Wildlife Advocate | Steven W. Krull 