My alarm sounded long before sunrise and I struggled to open my eyes. A few seconds later, and I had vanquished the unwelcome noise and sat up in a daze. What was the reason for the rude awakening? I gathered my wits and remember that it was Friday, our day to get an early start for a photo adventure in the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.
After a quick cup of coffee, I was on the road with a full thermos of the hot beverage at my side. Beautiful rays of golden sunlight were just beginning to stream over the mountaintop, and the anticipation began to build. Hopes for the day were burrowing owls, Snowy egrets, a report of a cattle egret, and of course all the regular attractions.
The first lap around Wildlife Drive yielded little, although I did capture a very cute image of a prairie dog sitting like a person beside his buddy. We continued on around past the eagles nest and fishing area without success, and finally decided to take the short hike into Havana Ponds to look for Snowy Egret. A short discussion with another photographer on his way out gave us encouragement. He had seen one egret and some killdeer, one of my other favorite subjects!
We hiked around the north end of the lake, soon spotting one of the beautiful white herons fishing along the north shore. Another soon joined him and before long there were five spread out along the northern waters of the main pond. The majestic birds didn’t seem to mind our presence, and continued with their fishing activities while we tried our best to capture them in action. We probably spent the better part of two hours shooting them fishing and flying around before departing the west end of the lake.
Soon we heard the unmistakable sound of Killdeer just ahead, doing their best to lead us away from their nest, hidden deep in the reeds. We of course stopped to photograph their antics, and I was pleased to collect a couple of very nice captures of them posing on the rocks.
Another lap around Wildlife Drive was unfruitful, which was our signal to head for the camera stores. Unfortunately I was unable to add to my collection of camera gear, however Kevin snagged a couple of good deals in the used lighting equipment section. The camera store guy did help me identify the proper sized bolt for a new footer on my old monopod though, so a new set of those is now on order from Amazon!
Here are a few more of my favorite images of the day, hope you enjoy them!
If you would like to learn where to find our magnificent Colorado wildlife, and how to capture beautiful pictures for yourself, please consider a purchase of my book, Wildlife Photography in the Colorado Rockies. This full size publication is just one of several books I have published, and is filled with dozens of full color glossy pictures of Colorado wildlife, along with valuable tips and tricks for tracking and photographing them! Your purchases of course are a great way to support this site and my work helping to preserve our wild heritage and public forest lands.
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 | Steven W. Krull 