Just west of Boulder County’s Walden Ponds Wildlife Habitat is a privately owned pond. This photo of the pond and the trees beyond will serve as the establishing shot for the visit that Sharon and I paid to Walden and Sawhill Ponds early this morning.

A Touch of Fall Color Near Walden Ponds This Morning

Click on the picture above to enlarge

Sharon and I started our morning hike at what the county calls Cottonwood Marsh, which is actually a lake. Just as we got there, a coyote was scouting the far bank while four Killdeer patrolled the shore.​

The Little Killdeer at Left Ignore the Big Coyote

Click on the picture above to enlarge

We have several ponds, wetlands, and marshes here. This area is consistently at the top of the eBird sightings in Boulder County and brings Sharon and me back here more than to any other park.

The county’s Walden Ponds is adjacent to the city’s and state’s Sawhill Ponds Wildlife Preserve. Owned by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, it is managed by the city’s Open Space and Mountain Parks Department.

As Sharon and I walked the trail between the two wildlife areas we looked for the Great Horned Owls that we sometime see there. Then, right there on the fence between the two areas we spotted a rare Potted Owl that hadn’t been there when we visited last month.

This Potted Owl Was a Life Bird for Both of Us

Click on the picture above to enlarge

As we continued through Sawhill Ponds the loud “mag mag mag” call of a Black-billed Magpie was hard to miss. We followed it to this tree. It is one of only four songbirds in North America whose tail makes up more than half its body length.

A Black-billed Magpie Does Have a Long Tail

Click on the picture above to enlarge

But I don’t limit myself to photographing birds. I will that photos of anything interesting and unusual that catches my eye. I could hardly miss this grasshopper perched at my eye level. Usually when I want to photograph a grasshopper, I have to lie down on the ground.​

A Grasshopper Rests on a Common Mullein Stalk

Click on the picture above to enlarge

As we left Sawhill Ponds we walked through dozens of butterflies feeding on some of the last flowers of summer.​

A Butterfly Feeds

Click on the picture above to enlarge

But birds were the stars of the show today. We were watching this House Finch. Then it left, but I didn’t mind.

A Male House Finch Takes Off

Click on the picture above to enlarge