On this cold, cloudy, breezy morning along the Front Range, a friend and I visited South Platte Park. While the songbirds had retreated to protected feeding sites, we encountered a good variety of water birds.
A large flock of American widgeon cruised across one of the lakes while multiple flocks of ring-billed gulls and double-crested cormorants arrived from the north. A quartet of American white pelicans glided overhead, a pair of black-crowned night herons moved along a shoreline and belted kingfishers noisily hovered and dove for their breakfast.
Nevertheless, the autumn waterfowl migration remains behind schedule, likely due to relatively mild weather across their northern breeding range. But if this morning's weather was any indication, they should arrive soon enough.
