A Taste of Autumn at South Platte Park

 View of the Rockies across one of the ponds at the South Platte Park

It is the day after the wedding and we are packing for home. A cold northwest winds is blowing over the parking lot as we load our car. Clouds hang low and heavy, like the downy gray underside of a Canada Goose. The air smells like autumn with a hint of winter in its wings.

We meet the newlyweds at the park. Since we arrive first, I start counting birds on the way in. Gus stops the car alongside the road so I can count and identify the birds. Though I brought my compact binoculars along to the wedding yesterday, I resisted the urge to pull them out until the ceremony was over and most of the people had left. I didn’t see anything then. Now I am hoping to make up for that! With a view of some starlings, a magpie and a red-tailed hawk I am thinking this will be a promising walk!

When you live in a desert water starts to seem almost magical and I love the look of these still blue pools reflecting the world. I can see a large flock of gulls at the far end but they are too far for me to identify. A lone gull that is closer turns out to be a ring-billed gull, but I can only guess at the others. A few mallards and shovelers float below me paddling around in the silver wet stuff that is such a large part of their world.

When Renee and Randy finally arrive we set off on a trail around a different pond. High overhead in a cottonwood tree a northern flicker lands amidst dried autumn leaves. There is grass here and tall trees and I am loving this golden autumn feel to the day.

As we start down the trail a kingfisher flies in scolding with its rattling call. It lands on a branch over the pond looking intently around him.

In the water below Gadwall are floating lazily on this cool autumn day.

 

Gray skies and autumn bronze are reflected in the rippling water.

 

Overhead a small flock of Canada Geese fly honking their wild call.

 

In a tall tree above a tangle of bushes and vines a gray squirrel nibbles away at a seed. It seems to eat in a hurry as if it cannot bulk up fast enough for the coming winter. Most of the bushes and trees are now bare, but a few still retain the colors of autumn.

I listen to the sound of leaves crunch as I wander down the woodland path. I know that I am here, now in this place, but my mind is wandering other paths  from previous years and in other states. Autumn is such a rich time, full of promise, full of the bounty of the harvest, yet holding out the picture of the coming winter, of death and dormancy and the promise of rebirth. Why is it that I am so drawn to this season of mixed emotions? There is a dichotomy of peace and drama at this time of year. Autumn is an ambivalent season it seems.

I wonder what the ducks think as they float on this watercolor lake. Do they see it as I do? Do they realize the colors they are floating in? Water is safety for them. Do they also see its beauty? I think they do know that water is LIFE.

I glance overhead as a string of pelicans flies by like musical notes in the sky.

Can I sing the song of the pelicans too?

My daughter walks ahead of me, lingering while I stop to observe birds, to observe nature. I am as aware of her as she is of me. I remember all the hikes we have done together and I am thankful that she loves to be outside as much as I do. It is hard to live so far away from her.

It seems that all of Colorado is gold and gray with bits of blue.

 

My thoughts and emotions dissolve like ripples in the water.

 

This is my kind of Rocky Mountain High!

 

A Black-capped chickadee reminds of New England even as I stand on ground that is a mile high in Colorado.

 

Everywhere I look I see another picture.

 

Autumn Lake

 

Autumn Path

 

Clark’s Grebe

 

A cormorant flies by

 

Buffleheads, Coots, and Gadwall

 

Northern Shrike

 

Autumn Dreams

It is 1.7 miles around the lake and it takes us two hours to do it. Everyone was patient with me as I dawdled and looked and counted and soaked in a season’s worth of Autumn colors. We all hugged each other in the parking lot and said our good-byes. Then Gus and I got in the car and headed south.

Birds seen at South Platte Park in Littleton, CO on November 4, 2012:

1. Canada Goose
2. Gadwall
3. Mallard
4. Northern Shoveler
5. Bufflehead
6. Hooded merganser
7. Green-winged Teal
8. American Widgeon
9. American White Pelican
10. Great Blue Heron
11. American Coot
12. Double-crested Cormorant
13. Pied-billed grebe
14. Western grebe
15. Clark’s Grebe
16. Ring-billed Gull
17. Red-tailed Hawk
18. Rock Pigeon
19. American Crow
20. Black-billed magpie
21. Belted Kingfisher
22. Northern Flicker
23. Black-capped chickadee
24. European Starling
25. Northern Shrike
26. Tree Sparrow
27. White-crowned Sparrow
28. Song Sparrow
29. Common Grackle
30. Red-winged Blackbird
31. House Finch

Good-bye!

 

 

 

Renee

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Randy

 

Widget

Links:

• A Rocky Mountain Wedding
• Reflecting on the Bride to Be
• South Platte Park