A few birds I found in the City Park

City Park is a cool place to walk in the morning. There are still not too many people on the trails and the birds are everywhere. Do you remember the Common Merganser family? Yep, the funny one ;) So, I was really interested to check on them and I found they still live in the same small lake and the Merganser-mom is still watching for any danger...

 

Just if you forgot... the first time I spotted them, the ducklings were only a day or two old, and mostly riding on their mom's back. It was the funniest thing I've ever seen! All eight of them looked so cute!

A couple weeks later, the ducklings were a little bigger, but were super active and swam, dived and caught prey almost as often as their mom. Not all of them survived these two weeks, and only five were there under watchful eye of Merganser-mom.

I haven't been in the park for over a month, so last Saturday I stopped by to see if they were still there and I was really happy to see that they were. Mom (unsurprisingly) looked exactly the same ;)

But the ducklings... Oh my... now they were almost as big as the mom! Still wearing the baby colors, but size!

And, that was sad to see, but there were only three of them. Still stick together and swim in circles, diving all the time in search of breakfast.

And... to my surprise (hmm... why, actually, I was surprised?) they often surfaced with a crayfish in their beak! In the 15 minutes that I was around, they caught at least 4 of them! And not only caught, but also devoured in a matter of seconds ;) Good, at least they are not hungry and have a really good diet ;)

And after breakfast, everyone went ashore and stayed there, basking in the July sun and cleaning their feathers. It was a special fun to watch, to be honest ;)

What else did I find that day on the lakes? A few Canadian Geese (I would be surprised if I didn't find them).

Some mallards (another common occupants of all Denver's small lakes).

Surprisingly, I didn't see many cormorants. Have no idea why, but the once bustling cormorant island looks abandoned and so quiet. Any idea where the birds flew to?

Snow Egret was out for breakfast and it was interesting to watch this bird.

It wadered around and looked for some small fish. The bird moved slowly and carefully looked into the water, waiting for the perfect moment to attack.

Quick peck and the small fish was a reward in the bird's beak! It's so fast and very efficient...

Gorgeous bird, isn't it?

Breakfast time meant it didn't stop and after capturing one fish, it still kept looking for more... and more...

And another prey ended up in the bird's stomach. It was a nice performance I witnessed there ;)

On my way back to the car, I stopped by a couple of juvenile Northern Flickers that were fooling around. I was surprised to find out these woodpeckers feed on the ground.

And not only feed, but also argue and fight with each other. But not very seriously. Like any normal siblings, they would fight and make peace only to start a fight again.

It was a really nice walk in the park and I really enjoyed it. And I was also very glad that the Mergansers were still there. Such a sweet family, don't you agree?

Click here to see the same birds but over a month ago - It's all about family... and some feathery drama!

Pictures were taken on July 23, 2023.