Saturday Bird Walk

We had a fun 40°F Saturday morning, participating in a guided bird watching walk through Tucker Gulch in Golden. 

The secluded creekside path allowed us to view several different birds that were attracted to the dense foliage. 

According to our guide, we saw or heard a Black Throated Blue Warbler, Say’s Phoebe, Lazuli Bunting, Yellow Rumped Warblers (Audubon’s and Myrtle), and Northern Parula, along with House Finches, Chickadees, Towhees, Flickers, American Robins, and Lesser Goldfinches. And yes, we heard a chicken in someone’s backyard. We were even flashed by a Cooper’s Hawk working their way through the trees barely above our heads. 

Our new spotting scope and tripod saw their second outing, and I viewed several of the new birds up close, but I caught only one useable picture, of an American Robin, as all the other birds were moving around too quickly for me to get setup. 

I practiced on stationary objects, which were very cooperative in waiting for me get setup to view them through the scope. I guess I’ve got a steep learning curve for this type of outing - lugging equipment around that conceivably could produce some fun pics, and learning how to get it set up quickly enough to be useful… 🤷‍♂️ I’m starting to think that a camera with a zoom telephoto might be a much better accessory for these outings. Back in the day, I had an Olympus OM-1 film camera with a zoom lens attachment, that I just loved, but I got disenchanted, when it quickly became contaminated with sand or something else gritty inside the mechanism, that prevented the zoom from working.  

Fun day overall!