It was a cloudy, almost cold morning in the South Platte Valley. The gray overcast muted the fall colors and the river was very low but the chilly conditions significantly reduced human traffic on the hike-bike path.
Mallards dominated the waterfowl but the autumn migration is beginning to accelerate; gadwalls, American wigeon, buffleheads, green-winged teal and a pair of hooded mergansers were also observed. Other sightings included a great blue heron, a Harlan's red-tailed hawk (the first of the season), a sharp-shinned hawk, kestrels, killdeer, a Say's Phoebe and plenty of noisy magpies, flickers and blue jays.
We are expected to warm up over the weekend but the trend is clear along the Colorado Front Range: longer nights, chilly mornings, sunny but mild afternoons and, before long, the white gold of the West (snow).
